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Chapter Text

Xuan feels lightheaded, disoriented and like the room around him was spinning when he comes to; It’s a struggle to open his eyes but can feel the heavy restraints bounding his arms behind his back by the wrists and kicks his feet against the dirty cell floor just to get the feeling in them again.

All his belongings were taken from him; His weapon, his gear and supplies among other things. Stripped down to just his bodysuit and socks, completely defenseless.

Whatever they nailed him with durning the fight was a heck of a sedative, his head won’t stop pounding and his body feels so heavy.

For hours he just laid there, listening to the footsteps that past by his cell; Obviously his captors checking him, most likely wanting to get information. Sucks for them because his lips are sealed and there’s probably already a team looking for him.

Xuan groans to himself, managing to open his eyes a bit to get a look at his surroundings. It’s just a cramp little room with a barred door to the side, the most he can see passed it was a barely lit hallway. He has no clue where he is or if his team saw which way they took him, if they left any tracks…It all happen so quick, one moment he was fighting a thug off of their healer so she could do her job of helping the wounded, the next he was dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

The last thing he remembers is white heeled boots.

“…Anesidora…” He growls under his breath, kicking his feet again to force himself to sit up and tries to free himself of his chains. This has to be her doing, probably wanting to cut him open like some freaking science project and run tests on him before tossing his corpse to the side. He refuses to become that sadistic woman’s test subject, he’ll go kicking and screaming if he has to.

The Ops Chief lifts his head when he hears it.

The sound of footsteps echoing down the hallway gets his attention and closes his eyes, hoping they would just pass by like they’ve done so many times before so he can have more time to come up with a plan of escaping. Whoever it is stops in front of his cell, holding his breath, sensing the pair of eyes staring back at him like they were studying him as goosebumps covers his arms.

“You’ve never been real good at that…” Xuan tenses at the familiar voice, his heart skipping in his chest, opening his eyes and lets out the breath he been holding at the sight of his brother. “I could always tell when we were younger that you were pretending.”

“Yun...” Xuan breathes out, mostly in disbelief and hears the chains behind him rattle as he leans forward. “Little brother, I-“

“Not so high and mighty now.” Yun says softly through the bars of his prison, setting his staff to the side to lean against the door yet despite his gloating, his twin’s expression looks miserable. “You’re so foolish to run into a battle so recklessly, leaving yourself open to an attack the way that you did.”

“I was protecting my teammate.” Xuan replies defensively, looking away and hears his brother huff before returning his gaze to the door when he hears it creak open. Yun closes the door behind himself and the red head sneers when he sees Freddy waiting for him outside the cell before returning his attention back to the other. “I’m sure the Shadow Decree isn’t used to such chivalry.”

“You think my teammates wouldn’t protect me?” Yun asks, kneeling in front of him with the smallest of smirks on his lips.

“They’d throw you under the bus just to save their own skin.” Xuan replies, glaring over his brother’s shoulder at Freddy as the wolf man crosses his arms and leans against the stone wall, chuckling to himself in amusement. “There’s no loyalty-“

“You have no room talking about loyalty, Xuan.” Yun cuts him off bitterly, frowning at him but unable to meet his brother’s eyes so instead stares at Xuan’s socked feet. “You abandon me when I needed you most, you talk about defending others when you wouldn’t even protect me.”

“You chose to leave the Union, to leave me and your friends!” Xuan snaps back, earning his brother’s attention again. “I never wanted you to go…” He lets out a heated breath and grits his teeth, not wanting his emotions get the better of him. “I should have paid more attention, if I had saw the signs sooner then maybe I could have helped you.”

“No, you were too busy playing hero to care.” Yun replies angrily.

“No.” Xuan shakes his head, trying to lean closer, wanting to embrace his brother and reassure him that he cares for him more than anything else. “I want nothing more than to save you.”

“I don’t need saving.” Yun snaps back, gritting his teeth and his ears flicks in frustration. “I needed you and you chose your friends over me-“

“Please!” Xuan begs, blinking his tears away and shakes his head, denying his harmful words. “Stop this nonsense, you’re my brother.” For a moment, neither of them spoke and just stared at each other; Xuan’s eyes pleading while his twin’s were skeptical. “Yun, I would never…I care about you so much and was devastated when you left; There doesn’t go a day where I don’t think about you and wonder if I could have done something different.”

“Then leave them and join me.” Yun tells him, watching his older brother’s eyes widen in shock and scoots closer to rest his hand on Xuan’s knee. “We can be together again, be brothers again like it used to be; Don’t you want that?”

“Of course I do.” Xuan’s voice breaks, throat tightening and feels an ache in his chest. “More than anything but I can’t abandon the Union, you know that.”

Yun inhales through his nose, ears drooping at his response and clenching his teeth before abruptly pulling away, staring at him angrily.

“This is sweet and all but we need to get what we came for and get going.” Freddy says from outside the cell, shifting from one foot to the other. “Big boss doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“I know.” Yun growls through his teeth, giving him a disapproving glare from over his shoulder then turns back to Xuan. “We need to know where your people are hiding out, safe houses and how many are stationed there.”

“I’m not going to rat out my team.” Xuan replies, closing his eyes to hold back his tears and can feel his heart breaking all over again; Realizing they only sent his brother to break him down so they could get intel from him.

“Not even for me?” Yun questions, getting back up on his feet to stare down on him. “That’s a petty, here I thought we could be reunited again but you still only care about yourself. Always so selfish, dear brother.”

His words feel like a knife in the chest and it’s tearing him apart from the inside out while Yun turns away to leave.

“Yun, wait!” Xuan calls out, so close to begging but finds Yun in his face, angry and snapping back at him.

“If you refuse to be my brother then you’ll be my prisoner.” He tells him in a strained voice before pulling away and stomping out of the cell while Freddy waits, holding the door open for him.

He feels big tears forming in his eyes as he stares the wolf man down though his anger quickly crumbles as his brother walk out of his line of vision.

“Yun!” He calls out, hearing Freddy snicker at his desperation and turns to follow after the other twin. “I won’t give up on you! I swear, I’ll save you! No matter how long it it takes!” He shouts, hoping his brother would listen and take his promise to heart. “Come back! Please! Yun!”

Xuan struggles against his chains and kicks his feet in frustration, tears freely trailing down his cheeks as he curses to himself; After all these years, he finally sees him again and his brother shuns him. He wants to tell himself that they must have brainwashed Yun, that his little brother still loves him and he can still help him but he can’t shake the feeling that he lost him all over again.

They’ll be back to tear him down some more because they sure the mental manipulation will work. The Shadow Decree knows how much his brother means to him and they’re just using Yun as a pawn to get what they want, eventually he’ll break.

Maybe Yun is right, he’s not as strong as he thinks he is because he feels pretty helpless right now. Useless! Absolutely useless! He was right there and he still couldn’t do anything to bring his brother back to the light.

Xuan cries quietly to himself, feeling more alone than the day his brother left the Union.

Chapter Text

Xuan manages to lay down on his side since his brother left him alone in the cell, drifting to sleep for short periods of time but always waking up to the sound of someone checking on him, hoping to see Yun again.

But Yun never came back.

He wants to talk to him, persuade him to return to the union so they can be together again.

He lets out a miserable breath, cheek pressed against the dirty floor as he watches the door, hearing footsteps and voices he didn’t recognize coming this way.

“This way, Chuyi; I think he’s in here.” It’s a young voice so it wasn’t Freddy, Xuan lifts himself upright so he was sitting when the pair reached his cell. “Oh! He’s awake!”

“Stop shouting.” Chuyi replies, approaching the other and glances into the cell towards him. A chill runs down Xuan’s spine when their eyes met, their innocent faces hide their ill intentions and he won’t be fooled; He’s seen these two before in reports and heard how cruel they could be.

“He looks dirty.” Yuzhi teases, pinching his nose and waving his hand in front of his face like he smelled. “We should spray him with a hose.”

“We’re just here to see if he needs to relieve himself, not give him a bath.” Chuyi mutters to his brother and the other chuckles, unlocking the door. This could be his chance to escape, there’s just two of them but he could easily overpowered them if he could get these cuffs off.

Unfortunately, instead of releasing him and taking him to a restroom like he thought they would, there’s a bucket tossed at his feet, followed by cruel laughter from the boy dressed in white. Xuan stares at the bucket before glaring at Yuzhi, not at all impressed by his idea of a joke.

“Aw, I made him mad.” Yuzhi teases playfully as his brother pulls him back out of the cell.

“Where’s Yun?” Xuan growls through his teeth, kicking the bucket across the floor.

“Yun, who?” Yuzhi repeats, not quite sure who he was referring to until his brother spoke up.

“He’s talking about Tang, the mopey guy with the extra ears.” Chuyi explains, crossing his arms as it seems to click in the other and watches Yuzhi lean against the cell door, ready to torment their captive further.

“Oh, that’s right; Yun!” He smiles, tilting his head with a twisted smile on his face. “You’re both brothers from what I’ve heard through the grapevine. They do look a lot a like, don’t you think?”

“They’re twins.” Chuyi points out, pressing up his glasses and his observation seems to excite his brother.

“Ohhh, so you miss your brother? Wanna talk to him?” Yuzhi teases, earning another heated glare from the red head. “Too bad, he’s busy and doesn’t have any time for you~!”

“You two!” He hears from down the hall, making the two brothers jump. “Back to your posts!”

The brothers scramble away from his cell to get back to their duties, leaving the Esper fuming until he realizes they hadn’t locked the cell door behind them. Xuan perks up and tugs a bit on his shackles, if he can just get these off then he’ll have a chance; They’re a bit snug around his wrists but he pulls hard enough, he just might be able to free himself.

He start pulling on them, feeling a metal dig into his skin and clenches his teeth and winces through the pain. His arm jerks forward as he frees it from cuff, hissing under breath then realizes he tore the skin around the sides of his hand. It’s bleeding but he’ll have to worry about it later and focus on freeing his other hand.

Xuan is able to turn around and tug harder to free himself, biting back his noises of discomfort before falling flat onto his back, clutching his hands to his chest. He sucks in a breath through his teeth, forcing himself back up to get a good look of his hands and process the damage.

He’ll need to treat them once he’s safely back at base but…what about his brother? He didn’t want to leave when he’s so close by but trying to talk some sense into Yun is too risky, he’s liable to sound the alarm and have him thrown into another cell. As much as Xuan didn’t want to, he’s defenseless as he is now and had to focus on his own safety.

The esper gets to his feet and creeps over to the door to make sure no guard is in sight before slipping out of the cell, being light on his feet as he makes his way down the hallway. Pressing his back against the wall to peer around the corner and only moving when it’s clear.

He had no idea where his gear was or where he is in the base, had to be a lower level since there were no windows which concerns him; There’s probably guards posted near the stairs or elevator.

It’ll be tricky to get around guards with his hair making him stick out like a sore thumb, he wishes he had something to cover it with; Maybe he can find a spare uniform laying around? He looks around him, hoping to find a break room or something, somewhere where employees normally stashed their clothes. Spotting a door up ahead, he makes his way over to it and creaks it open enough to peer inside.

Not a break room but it was a storage closet of some sort, maintenance probably but it did have a janitor’s uniform. He slips inside and closes the door behind him with a relieved breath, taking a moment to calm himself before grabbing the overalls and slipping it on over his own clothes. It’s big enough to slip his long braid down the back and puts on a hat, could also wrap a bandanna around his head to cover the lower part of his face.

Xuan still needs shoes, he looks down at his dirty socks as he ties the bandanna securely around his head; The lack of shoes surely will turn a few heads and bring him unwanted attention but there wasn’t much in the small storage he could use. A few bags, could tie them around his feet to appear that he was tying to keep his feet tidy…

He didn’t know how convincing that would be but it’ll have to work and slides them over his brightly orange socks, even spots some gloves to cover his injured hands. Once he gently slips them on, he hears noise coming from outside and holds his breath, listening to some goons passing by, talking about something he couldn’t quite hear through the door.

Doesn’t sound like they realized he’s escaped yet, he should find the stairs before the guards make their usual rounds. Once he hears their footsteps fading away, he slips out and closes the door quietly behind them, biting the inside of his cheek on his piercing out of anxiousness. Watching down the hallway as he heads in the opposite direction to make sure they didn’t backtrack and spot him.

He runs into something, something big and soft, spinning around on his feet with his heart up in his throat.

“Oh! I didn’t see you there!” Li Ao says, his belly jiggling from Xuan running into him and grabs his shoulder before the smaller esper could fall on his rear. “Need to be careful, small fry like you could get squished!”

“Uh…I…was trying to find the main floor.” Xuan says, having a hard time keeping eye contract with the large man; Normally he wouldn’t feel this intimidated but without his gear and with his hands injured, he feels so small and vulnerable. “It’s my uh, first day and I’m sorta lost.”

“Lost?” Li Oa repeats, scratching his head before brightening up. “Follow me, little guy; I’ll take you upstairs but first I have to check on our prisoner; I’m sure he’s hungry by now!”

So this is guard that’s been passing by his cell?

“I-I think I saw a few guards pass me a moment ago, I’m sure he’s been check on-“

“Still needs to be fed, dead prisoners aren’t of any use!” Li Oa laughs, patting his back a little too hard and makes him stumble a bit. “He’s a scrawny as you are, some food would do him some good; Oh, what about you?” He pauses for a second to look Xuan over. “Have you eaten yet? I’ve made plenty, we can go grab some portions from the kitchen upstairs and you can help me bring it to him.”

“Wouldn’t I get into trouble if I don’t do my duties?” Xuan asks, looking for any excuse to slip away after he shows him upstairs. “Can’t slack in my duties, you know?”

“It won’t hurt to get a quick bite to eat, come.” Li Ao leads him down the hall by his shoulder, body tensing against his large hand each passing second and glances up at the other’s shadowily face. Xuan can’t see his face well enough to tell what expression he had but the shape of his eyes tells him that he’s content and not at all suspicious yet. The big guy doesn’t seem mean, quite the opposite…he even came down here to make sure he was fed but for all he knew, it could be a cruel joke like those two boys pulled earlier.

Li Oa leads him to an elevator and as expected, it’s guarded by two thugs. He keeps his head down as the heavyset esper presses the button and leads him inside, not even getting a glance from the guards. Oof, security must not be the greatest around here, this guy hasn’t even questioned who he was or to show him any identification, just trusted him on his word.

Xuan almost feels bad for the guy….if he weren’t working for the Shadow Decree and how the heck does someone like him even get involved with people like this? Was he tricked into joining like his brother? He seems to nice and thoughtful, even humming to himself as the elevator rose. Xuan keeps glancing at him from the corner of his eyes, shuffling awkwardly on his feet while trying to come up with a reason to slip away.

“Nervous on your first day?” Li Ao asks, turning to look down at him and tilts his head curiously. Xuan nods, having trouble to meet his eyes again. “Never got your name.”

“Oh, uh, it’s…” He starts at the floor, trying to think of a name on the spot. “…Huan.”

“Huan…huh; Have we met before?” Li Ao asks, scratching his head in thought. “There’s something familiar-“

“Nope, I think I would remember meeting you.” Xuan chuckles, sweating as the elevator doors finally opens and they step out on the ground floor, relieved to see windows but the place is crawling with goons.

Safer to stick with the big guy and slip out a back door in the kitchen when he gets the chance.

He can tell when they getting close to the kitchen because he can smell a wonderful aroma whiffing through the air and hearing a cheerful hum, metal pots clanking as pokes his head around the door frame to see an another massive esper hunch over the stove. Li Ao passes him to enter the kitchen, munch on a pork bun from off the table while he stands awkwardly at the door and scans the room for a back door.

“Back already, Ao?” The one at the stove mutters, briefly glancing over his shoulder at them then gives a double take at Xuan and then back at Li Ao. “Who’s your friend?”

“Huan.” Li Ao responds, packing a bento cheerfully while Xuan feels the bull-like man’s stare burning into him. He takes back what he said about Li Ao being intimidating, this man is definitely intimidating and probably not as easily fooled like the other. “It’s his first day and got lost.”

“Lost, huh?” Djoser questions, turning away to return his attention back to his own cooking. “Not really a big place to get lost in.”

“He’s helping me bring food to the prisoner.” Li Ao informs him. “Bit shy and awkward.”

“So you’re feeding him?” Djoser huffs amusedly, turning off the stove and removing his skillet from the heat before turning to face them, wiping his hands off. “So… Huan, you’re a janitor?” Xuan just nods, afraid his voice would give him away and shallows a lump in his throat while the other studies him. “Welcome to the team then, I’m sure you’ll open up more once you start making friends here.”

Xuan didn’t know if he wanted to vomit from how nervous he was feeling or let out the breath he’d been holding.

He gives another nod as Djoser returning to his meal prepping then turns his attention back to Li Ao, not sure why or how either of these two men got mixed up in this organization but then again, he didn’t know a thing about them; They could be just as cruel and sadistic as the rest of them.

He spots a door in the back corner and bites the side of his cheek again, wondering how he could get past the two of them without being suspicious. Both men seem preoccupied with food so he walks around the two, watching them from the corner of his eyes.

“Huan?” He hears and curses under his breath as Li Ao is looking around the kitchen for him before spotting him across the room. “There you are, little buddy; Help me with this.”

He holds up a bento, having three in total; One for Huan, himself and the ‘prisoner’. Xuan glances back at the door then walks over to him when he sees Djoser looking his way. He takes the bento while the larger esper carries the other two, leading him out of the kitchen while Li Ao looks pleased with himself.

“Hey…” Xuan speaks up once they were out of earshot of the other man, using his quick thinking and asks. “Care if I use the toilet real quick?”

“Of course!” He replies cheerfully, taking the bento from him and points out the restroom for him. “Hurry, don’t want the food getting cold.”

Xuan smiles, quickly creating distance between them and slips inside, letting out a breath and relaxes against the door.

That was a close call; For a moment there, he could have sworn that guy in the kitchen saw right through his disguise. His heart feels like it’s racing and lifts his hat to wipe the sweat forming on his brow. He hates to leave the other guy hanging since he’s been so friendly with him but maybe there’s a window he could crawl out of or something.

The sound of a toilet flushing in one of the stalls makes him jump and quietly gets into another stall, holding breath as the stall door opens.

The glimpse of the tail from underneath the stall door is enough to tell him who it is on the other side and knew there was no fooling him; He’s fought Long Mian enough times to know that the other would recognize him immediately.

Xuan decides to wait until the icy esper leaves before coming out and listens to him washing his hands before an alarm blares, making the both freeze.

Long Mian mutters something he couldn’t hear and storms out of the restroom, leaving Xuan frozen in the stall.

Did they know? There’s no way… Li Ao was the guard that was checking him and he’s right outside waiting for him, how did they-

There’s a rumble that shakes the entire frame of the building, making him stumble and lean on the stall divider to keep from falling.

No, the alarm means that there’s an attack on the base which means his friends are finally here. Xuan jolts out of the stall and rushes over to the window, trying to pry it open but it’s firmly stuck into place so he looks out of it to see if he could tell where that rumble came from.

He should just smash it out.

“Huan, little buddy; You still here?” He hears the door open and looks over his shoulder to see Li Ao staring back at him. “We got to go, you’re not safe here.”

“What’s going on?” Playing the part of a ignorant newbie to get information, he needs to know where the attack is taking place so he can try to find his allies.

“Union is attacking.” Li Ao tells him, dropping the bentos to grab and pick him up before Xuan can realize what he’s doing. “I’ll take you some place safe.”

“Wait, I’m fine!” Xuan says, struggling to get down but the other’s grip is strong as he carries him out of the restroom. “Put me down.”

“No can do, can’t have you getting hurt.” He tells him but Xuan manages to get out of his grasp and falls on his feet, tripping a bit and tries to make a run for it. Suddenly feeling a cool breeze through his hair and stops, reaching up to realize the hat is gone. He turns to look and sees it in Li Ao’s hand, both staring at each other and watches as the realization dawns on the other man. “Y-you’re the prisoner!” Xuan doesn’t hesitate, he darts down the hallway as the large esper calls out for him and hears him take chase. “Come back, I’m supposed to be in charge of watching you!”

“Sorry, buddy! Time that I bounced!” He calls back, turning the corner and easily outruns the guy. He looks back and sees Li Oa turn the corner, already out of breath yet trying to keep up with him.

The pitiful sight makes him almost feel bad until he abruptly engulfed in something and bounces against whatever that’s trapped him, falling on his rear. Wait, no; This can’t be happening.

Xuan gets up on his knees in a panic and tries to free himself from his imprisonment; He forgotten about Li Ao’s ability.

Chapter Text

“You can’t run away or else I’ll be in big trouble.” Li Ao says from outside the beast. Xuan loses his temper for a moment and hits the inside of the thing before crossing his arms in frustration. This ability is limited so all he’ll have to do is wait it out but he’s still annoyed to get caught in it in the first place. “I should take you back-“

Li Ao lets out a grunt, followed by a loud thud then Xuan finds himself free of the beast and sees the shadow guard on the ground. He’s rubbing his head and there’s pieces of a ceiling tile scattered around feet while the building shakes again, followed by more tiles crashing down all around them.

He looks up and flinches as one falls directly at him, using his arms to shield his head and closes his eyes, dreading the impact. Suddenly he’s on his back and being yanked across the floor by his ankle, tile just barely missing him. Xuan opens his eyes, lifting his head to see Li Ao had pulled him out of the way of danger with one hand while protect his own head with the other.

He sits up and winces at the pain of his wrists, torn skin throbbing and bleeding through the gloves so he pulls them off to inspect the damage.

“You’re hurt.”

“I’ve been hurt.” Xuan replies without much thought as Li Ao sits up to get a closer look. “They just reopened.” He leans away when the giant esper gets back to his feet, staring up at Li Ao with a lot of mixed emotions running through his head. Xuan doesn’t even know this man yet he’s shown more kindness to him than his own brother has, it brings a familiar ache in his chest. “I’m hurt, tired and just want to leave with my friends.”

Li Ao didn’t respond, looking down at him with an unreadable expression then glances up when the building shakes to make sure none of the ceiling came down on them again.

“Lets get your hands bandaged up.” Li Ao says, reaching down to help Xuan back up on his feet and keeps a firm hand on his shoulder in case he tries to run again. “Don’t want them to get infected.”

“I want to leave with my friends.” Xuan repeats more sternly, trying to shrug his hand off but it held strong as the larger esper leads him down the hallway, gripping the back of the overalls when he tries to pull away.

“I’m in charge of you so you have to stay with me.” Li Ao replies, angering the smaller man but despite the obvious displeased look on his face, the shadow guard hums. “Of course that means I have to treat your wounds too, Tang will be angry with me if you got sick.”

“Tang?” Xuan stops struggling at the mention of his brother. “Tang Yun?”

“Mmhm.” Li Oa nods, releasing his overalls to pat his back. “He was very strict about checking on you and making sure you didn’t get hurt.” Xuan’s mouth parts in realization, it was Li Ao’s voice he heard when those two brothers were reprimanded for taunting him at his cell. “He must care a lot about you.”

“…” Xuan stares at the ground, wishing he thought the same way but his brother sounded so cold the last time they spoke to each other. “Where is he?”

“Hmm…” Li Oa ponders to himself, tapping his chin before looking down at him. “Was on a mission with Hall, they should have been back by now; I wonder if that’s how the Union found our base?”

“What?!” Xuan asks alertly, wanting to find his twin to stop him but he’s pulled back yet again by Li Ao and taken into a small room. He’s made to sit on a chair as Li Ao motions for him to stay put as he grabs something from a cabinet before sitting on the floor in front of him.

Li Ao reaches for one of his hands and uses the tip of his finger to put ointment on the wounds, neither of them spoke while he finishes the one hand then moves onto the next. Once he’s done with that, he takes bandages to wrap each hand and sits back to examine his work.

“I’m not a healer.” He frowns, staring at Xuan’s bandaged hands. “Wish I could do more…”

“They’re fine.” Xuan replies, shrugging and wanting to tell him that they had healers that could take care of it if he just let him go. “Can you take me to my brother?”

“Brother?” Li Ao questions, not sure who he’s referring to.

“Tang Yun, he’s my twin.” Xuan replies, watching his eyes widen as shadow guard leans back to get a good look at him.

“Oh! You two do look alike!” Li Ao says gleefully then thinks over his request. “No, if he’s fighting then it’s my job to keep you away from the fight.” Xuan is starting to become frustrated and feels like he can’t even get angry with this guy because he’s been nothing but nice to him. He breathes heavily through his nose, glancing at the door and contemplates just making a run for it again; If he can just find someone, anyone from the union then he’ll have a better chance of making it out of here. “Just means we can hang out more together, little buddy!”

Xuan’s anger deflates instantly, drooping in his chair as he lets out a breath and reaches up to rub his face, still thinking over his options; He could make a run for, maybe find an ally which is unlikely since he doesn’t know where the fight is happening and risk getting caught in Li Ao’s beast cage again or stay here with him until the chance of someone comes across them and helping him.

The obvious option would to make a run for it again but it didn’t feel right, Li Ao, regardless of being his enemy, has been only kind to him.

“Ao…have you ever thought about leaving the Decree?” Xuan asks as Li Ao tilts his head at him, looking confused as to why he would even ask such a thing. “You’re really nice and I just don’t understand why you would be apart of this organization.”

“All my friends are here.” He tells him honestly, reaching into his bag and pulls out a wrapped pork bun, offering it to him like it’s a peace offering since he hasn’t eaten. “I go where Bonnie goes.” Who is Bonnie? Xuan doesn’t asks and stares down at the bun in his hand, listening as he continues. “I feel used to feel bad about how much I ate but the people here made me feel like I can be myself.”

The Esper Union would have done the same and it seems like the only reason he’s here is because of this friend, he wonders what kind of person they could be to get someone like Li Ao involved in this.

“Why did Bonnie join the Decree?” Li Ao frowns at his question, not sure if it’s his right to share his friend’s business. “Just forget I asked, I’m sure she…had her reasons, whatever they are.”

“Why don’t you join too? To be with your brother? I’m sure you miss him by how you worry about him.” Li Ao asks, completely unconcerned with the reality of the situation and gently takes his hands to lift them, encouraging him to eat. “And we can be buddies, me and Bonnie can take you to all our favorite places to eat!”

Xuan knows his expression is giving away his thoughts, unable to keep the eye contact and looks down at the bun in his hand; He is hungry but he didn’t feel right accepting the guard’s kindness since he wasn’t going to abandon the Union.

What if this is all an act? Xuan’s eyes widen at the intrusive thought and grows still as Li Ao pulls away, slowly looking up as the other esper turns his back on him to put away the medical kit. Is this just another mind game to make him feel guilty? A way to manipulate him into giving in to what they want?

He’s a fool for believing anyone in the Shadow Decree could be genuinely kind, especially to him, an Ops Chief from Union. No, that couldn’t be it; Li Ao had no idea who he was until he pulled his hat off and even then, he went out of his way to protect him from the fallen rumble. Xuan feels so conflicted with his thoughts but knew for sure now that he shouldn’t stay here. He makes sure that Li Ao is distracted with cleaning up before getting up quietly, setting the bun down before darting for the door.

Li Ao quickly looks over his shoulder, dropping the first aid kit in the process and nearly trips on it to stop him but the smaller man is already out the door and running down the hallway. He needs to stay out of his sight to prevent getting caught in his ability again and follow the source of the fight until he finds his team, he’d be delighted just to see Q at this point.

There’s a stumbling noise behind him but he doesn’t bother to look back, turning a corner to get out of vision and books up a flight of stairs to create distance.

“Wait! Don’t run away!” Li Ao’s voice calls out desperately through the hallway, slowing down as he runs up the stairs after him and has to stop to catch his breath midway. “Tang!”

Ignoring the guilt forming in the pit of his stomach, Xuan ignores his pleads and sprints down the hall. There’s movement up ahead, a bunch of goons scattering from flames bursting right behind them and perks up up when he hears a familiar voice shouting after them.

He sees Lewis appear from around the corner, glancing down his way then back ahead of him before doing a double take and his face lights up.

“Hey!” He smiles, forgetting the people he was chasing to run over to him, scooping Xuan up in his arms and hugs him tightly. “Oh man, we’ve been searching everywhere for you, brother.”

“Lets just get out of here.” Xuan wheezes against his chest before Lewis lets him down again, resting his hand against his shoulder with a big smile. His smile fades when he spots Li Ao coming down the hallway, out of breath and calling out for Xuan. The Shadow guard only pauses when he sees that he’s not alone and stops in his tracks.

“This the guy who’s been hiding you?” Lewis asks, fists already up and ready to knock his block off.

“Yes but he’s…practically harmless.” Xuan says, reaching for his raised fists and looks back at Li Ao. “Listen, I don’t want to fight you since you’ve been so kind to me but I’m leaving with my friend.”

“I thought we were friends?” Li Ao asks sadly, both of the Union espers look at each other; Lewis’s being confusion while Xuan’s is riddled with mixed emotions. “Me and Bonnie would have welcomed you.”

“Bonnie?” Lewis asks, caught of guard at the mention of the name and perks up. “Doesn’t that mean my sis is around? How’s she been? Doing okay?”

“What? Lewis-“ Xuan questions, both him and Li Oa taken aback by the sudden change of demeanor.

“Tell her I miss her seeing her mug and love her so much, man.” Lewis says, placing his hand on Xuan’s shoulder and nods his head to the left. “But we gotta go-“

“He’s my responsibility, I’m in charge of him!” Li Oa argues, getting frustrated like a child would and clenches his fits. “He stays with me!”

“That’s not how this works, man; Tang wants to leave so he’s coming with me.” Lewis chuckles lightheartedly. “Maybe we’ll catch you out in the field sometime and have a spare, be loads of fun.”

“Fight me then!” Li Oa demands, stomping his foot angrily and raises his own fists but both of them can see that he’s clearly exhausted from chasing him.

“Fighting you isn’t my priority.” Lewis says, shoving Xuan behind him with his fist clenched. “And Tang asked me not to, you should be grateful he’s returning your kindness.”

“I can’t just let you take him.”

“I didn’t ask you to.” Lewis smirks, spinning on his heel and heaving Xuan onto his shoulder before taking off with him the way he came. “Li Ling and Mona are somewhere close by, they can hold the enemy off long enough so we can get outside.”

From where he is on Lewis’s shoulder, he can see Li Ao following them, appearing exhausted as he tries to keep up; Got to give him some credit, the guy doesn’t know when to quit.

“Unhand him!” They hear from above and before they could look to see where it’s coming from, Lewis is knocked off his feet, both hitting the floor hard. Lewis grunts painfully as somebody lands on his chest, having the end of a staff directed at his face and looks up to see his assailant. “Move and you’ll be shallowing your own teeth.”

Yun narrows his eyes down at him, lifting the end of his weapon closer to Lewis’s face with the intent to harm him and turns when he hears movement just outside of his vision. Xuan tackles him off his friend, Yun tripping over Lewis’s leg and falls underneath his brother’s weight as Xuan tries to yank the weapon out of his brother’s hands.

“I don’t want to fight you, Yun.” Xuan snaps, using his own weapon pin his brother down and tries to pleads with him. “I don’t want to be your enemy.”

“You should have just stayed in your cell.” Yun snaps back, glaring up at his brother with clenched teeth, pushing back on the staff as he kicks his feet to try and knock him off. “If you didn’t want me as an enemy then you would have done what I asked.”

“Don’t make me do this.” Xuan asks, already so close to begging him. “I love you, Yun; You’re my brother.”

Yun’s anger dissipates, no longer struggling and stares up at him with a miserable look in his eyes.

“I love you too.” Yun says in a soft voice, just hearing him say that brings tears to his eyes. “I don’t want you to leave, I miss you.” Xuan wipes his tears away with his shoulder then returns his attention to his brother and sees that he’s close to crying too, voice breaking as he continues. “Why do you have to choose them over me?”

“I didn’t, Yun.” He says, his own voice shaking and leans back so his brother can sit up, wiping away his forming tears and just holds his brother’s face. “I got so caught up in my duties that I didn’t even realized you needed me, I admit that and regret it everyday.” Xuan makes a an effort to smile through his tears and heaves a raspy sigh. Lewis sits up, rubbing the spot where the younger twin landed on him and glances over to Li Ao, who stood a few feet away, watching silently; Neither of them want to speak or move to intrude on the moment. “But I never chose them over you.”

“Yet you still chose to stay with them.” Yun argues, pulling away from his brother’s hands to look away.

“All our friends are with Union.”

“Your friends.” Yun corrects him, getting up and dusting off his sleeves, glancing over to Lewis before meeting his brother’s eyes again. “Fine; Leave if you want.”

“Yun…” Xuan gets up, reaching for him but the other pulls away from him to pick up his staff.

“That’s what you wanted, right?” Yun says as he walks over to Li Oa and motions with his hand to go. “If you take the stairs on the left down, there’s a open door that will lead outside.”

“Come with us.” Xuan offers, helping Lewis to his feet and then turns to Yun. “I’ll never neglect your feelings again, we can go back to the way things were before, I promise.”

“It’ll never go back to the way it was before after all the things I’ve done, after all the people I’ve hurt.” Yun replies quietly, staring at the floor and tightens his hands around his staff. “I can’t ask them for forgiveness because I don’t deserve it; They’ll only look at me with distrust.”

“It’ll take time to regain their trust, Yun but I’ll be there every step of the way.” Xuan tells him, holding his hand out for his brother to take.

For a moment, the red head thought he would take him up on his offer; Yun is staring at his outreached hand and raises his own…but the moment is quickly shattered by a blast of ice landing in between, causing both parties to stumble back.

Long Mian stood at the end of the hall, twirling his trident, glancing at Yun and Li Ao before his eyes lock on the two Union espers. Jacob strolls up beside him, yawning and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“Did I really have to get up for this?” He asks the icy man beside him and takes in the group before him. “Are we have bizarre party? Why aren’t you guys fighting each other?”

“We’re just have a little chat so if you don’t mind, butt out.” Lewis pops off at them, motioning with his hand for them to leave tail and leave. “You weren’t invited.”

“Rude mouth on that one.” Jacob huffs, his snake curling around his feet and leans over to see Xuan standing behind him. “Isn’t that the prisoner?”

“Tang Yun, you were given responsibility for him because Sander sympathize that he’s your brother.” Long Mian says, taking a step towards them. “He was even gracious enough to offered to welcome him in our ranks with open arms if you convinced him to join but here you are contemplating returning to the Union?”

“I’m not.” Yun responses sharply, meeting his brother’s eyes then quickly looking away shamefully.

“Then why aren’t you capturing the two of them? Do you need me to do it for you?” He asks, a clear threat in his words as he looks over to Xuan and can’t help but to smirk. “I think you’re brother would make a fine addition to my collection-“

“No!” Yun cries, looking alarmed and ready to argue when Jacob butts in.

“Sander wouldn’t authorize that and I don’t wanna go through the piles of paperwork.” He whines, tugging on Long Mian’s sleeve with a over exaggerating pout. “I wanna get this over with so I can go back to my nap, just throw them both into the cell or something.”

This is looking really bad; Lewis is fully capable to hold his own in battle but it’s two against four and he’s in no shape to be fighting, he’ll only slow the other down.

“Hey boys!” They hear before a cloud of smoke engulfs them and suddenly Xuan feels himself being swept off his feet, he can’t see a thing but feels the person carrying him running down the hallway. Once they clear the smoke, he sees it’s Lewis carrying him and looks back at the overly façade hallway before they turn a corner, going down a flight of stairs. Some else clears the corner after him and can’t hold back his smile when he realizes it’s Arcana who saved their asses. “Think they enjoyed my little disappearing act?”

“What took you so long?” Lewis asks as they get to the bottom of the stairs, looking at the magician with a unimpressed glare. “A second longer and we would have been popsicles for that weirdo’s collection.”

“I had some obstacles to get through to get to you guys.” Arcana explains quickly, looking over their shoulder to make sure they weren’t being followed. “This place is going into lock down so we must hurry.”

He leads them towards an exit, using his whip to clear the way of any goons that crossed their path and makes a break for open door. Lewis passes all the fights happening around them without a second glance, prioritizing getting his friend as far away as possible while Arcana holds off any of Shadow Decree targets them.

“Li Ling!” He calls out at the esper overhead and manages to get his attention. “Take Tang and take him back to the base.”

“You found him!” He says, looking back at the fight but floats down to them to take Xuan from Lewis regardless, heaving him up into his arms. “But won’t you need me here?”

“He needs medical attention.” Lewis explains, “Once everyone is out, we’ll be right behind you both.”

“Fine.” He sighs, sounding a bit disappointed about not getting in on any part of the action but grins at the man in his arms, moving to fly them out of the battle. “Let’s get you patched up, red.”

“I’m so grateful that you guys came for me.” Xuan says, looking back towards the building, wondering if Yun was somewhere watching them. “I don’t think I would have been able to get out myself.”

“Of course we did, no man gets left behind.” Li Ling replies, flying them out out range of the danger and notices the look on his face. “Upset because of your brother?” Xuan just nods, staring off in the distance and feels Li Ling give him a reassuring squeeze. “He’ll come around, Tang; Just give him time.” Xuan turns his head towards his chest, mostly to protect his face from the wind but also because of the subconsciously need of comfort and the warmth radiating off his comrade helps keep his mind off of it. “I don’t like seeing you like this, red; Once Heng Yue looks you over and fixes you up, I’ll make you all the strawberry pudding you can possibly eat.”

Xuan knows comforting isn’t Li Ling’s strong suit but appreciates the effort as he closes his eyes because the whole ordeal has him worn out; Depleting any bit of vigor he had left in him, physically and emotionally. Eventually he nods off in his friend’s arms with the rays of the sun warming his clammy skin, knowing he’s safe and can finally gets some much needed rest.

Later he wakes up in the clinic, Sally checking his vitals and perks up delightfully once she sees that he’s awake yet sets a gentle hand on his shoulder when he tries to sit up.

“Rest, dear; You shouldn’t put any strain on your hands until they’re healed.” She explains, making the esper lay back down and offers a sweet smile. “You’re off duty until you make a full recovery on Clara’s orders.”

“I’m on bed rest over a few little cuts on my hands?” Xuan asks, flopping his head back against the pillow with a huff.

“That and we’ve found some residue of a sedative; We want to flush your system and put you on fluids.” Sally tells him. “Clara said to restrain you if I had to.”

Sally chuckles under her breath as she turns from him.

“Agh.” He groans in complaints, which only makes Sally chuckle more as she pets his leg and opens the door to say something to someone waiting outside. Xuan lifts his head and sees her step aside as Li Ling comes in with a tray of pudding.

“Hey, man; You just passed out on me on the way here.” Li Ling says, setting the tray down on a side table beside his bed. “We were supposed to eat a ton of this stuff together, remember?”

“Sorry, I was exhausted.” Xuan moves to get up but stops when he hears Sally clear her throat and remains still. “So…how did it go? Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah, totally; Everyone got out and came home.” Li Ling shrugs, scooping up some pudding and holds it out for him to eat. Xuan gives him an unimpressed look as he makes the head of the bed raise up while the older esper chuckles at his expense, tauntingly motioning the spoon around in his face until the red head ate it. “The mission was a success, no major injuries or issues. I think Lewis might come by later, said he had something to tell you.”

“Like what?” He asks, taking another offered bite and watches Li Ling shrug.

“Don’t know, he didn’t share it with me.” He offers him another bite and smiles as Xuan eats the pudding off the spoon. “We’re all just happy we found you in one piece, Byrnn was almost reduced to tears thinking those people were going to cut you open like a science experiment.”

“Yun wouldn’t have let that happen.” Xuan tells him defensively, staring down at his hands so Li Ling sets the bowl and spoon down to better focus on their conversation.

“Lewis said he wanted you to join the Shadow Dcree but you played the reverse uno card game on him and he almost agreed?” Xuan nods, wishing Long Mian and Jacob hadn’t intruded on them when they did, Yun could have been with them here right now. “See? Like I said, give him time; He’ll come around.”

“What if they had punished him?”

“For what?” Li Ling asks, raising a brow as concern spread across Xuan’s face.

“Us escaping, him and Li Ao were just standing there speaking with us when they found us-“

“Hey, relax; I’m sure your brother is fine.” Li Ling reassures him, reaching over to rest his hand on top of his bandaged one. “I’ll keep an eye out for him on my next mission since you’re out of commission for a while, we can ask Lewis to do the same.”

“Ask me what?” Li Ling turns to see Lewis poking his head in and closes the door behind him. “Hey, good to see you awake.”

“Lewis-“

“He’s worried about Tang Yun.” Li Ling answers, giving Xuan’s hand a gentle squeeze then smiles warmly towards him. “But I already told him he didn’t have to worry because we’ll check up on him, isn’t that right?”

“Yeah, man; We’ll talk to him for ya.” Lewis nods, pulling up a seat beside his bed. “Just focus on resting.”

“Li Ling said you wanted to tell me something?” Xuan says, staring at Li Ling’s hand before meeting Lewis’s eyes as the fiery esper perks up.

“Yeah! After we handed you off to Li Ling, the battle got intense; I saw your brother join the fight so I fought him; Just knocked him around a bit but nothing to really hurt him.” Lewis explains, resting his arms on the edge of the bed to lean closer. “Your brother asked if you were safe and taken care of then asked me to tell you that he’ll think about your offer.” Xuan’s eyes widen, holding his breath as Lewis pats his leg with a smile on his face. “He misses you a lot, I can tell by the way he spoke; You still have a chance to get your brother back.”

“So…Want anymore pudding?” Li Ling asks, motioning to the bowl with his hand.

“…Please…”