Work Text:
Du Cheng knew this mission was a bad idea the moment it came out of Shen Yi’s mouth. As he sat there, listening to Shen Yi explain that he would act as a buyer to try and buy back an incredibly rare and stolen piece of artwork that was going to be auctioned off at an underground, illegal art auction, the frown on Du Cheng’s face kept deepening until he was practically scowling. Once the meeting was over, Du Cheng quickly stood up from his chair and grabbed Shen Yi by the wrist before he dragged him to Shen Yi’s office, Jiang Feng and Li Han watching them leaving with small frowns on their faces.
“How mad, on a scale of one to ten, is Captain Du?” Li Han murmured. Jiang Feng scoffed.
“Hella” he answered.
~*~*~*~*~*~
When Du Cheng and Shen Yi reached Shen Yi’s office, Shen Yi yanked his wrist out of Du Cheng’s grasp before shooting him a glare.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” he exclaimed, making Du Cheng’s eyes widen.
“Me?! What the hell is wrong with you?!” he shouted. Shen Yi blinked at him in shock as Du Cheng pointed at him.
“You shouldn’t be going on solo missions like this! Do you remember what happened the last time you did a solo mission?!” he exclaimed. Shen Yi huffed.
“Of course I remember. But according to Director Zhang, I'm the only one who can do this mission. So, if you have a problem with it, you can take it up with her. Now, if you’ll excuse me” he hissed before he grabbed his shoulder bag and stormed out of his office, harshly shouldering Du Cheng on his way out. Du Cheng’s eyes widened and he spun around, watching Shen Yi storm away from his office before he looked up to see Jiang Feng, Li Han, and the others staring at him with wide eyes but the minute they saw him looking at them, they quickly scattered, heading off to do work. Du Cheng huffed and shook his head before he headed to Director Zhang’s office, bursting into the room without even knocking, the thing she hated the most.
“Why do you never knock?” she demanded, but Du Cheng wasn’t playing those kinds of games today.
“Why did you give Shen Yi that mission? Don't you remember what happened the last time he went out on a mission by him?!” he snapped. Director Zhang looked at him in shock, for he hardly ever snapped at her (especially since he knew better), but she huffed and crossed her arms.
“Do you know anyone on your team who knows art better than him?” she inquired. Du Cheng paused before he shook his head.
“No, but still—” he started when Director Zhang held up her hand.
“This plan wouldn’t work if we were to send anyone else so it has to be Shen Yi. And while you may not like it, it’s not like I forced him to say yes. I showed him the case and gave him the option to say no. He’s the one who agreed to do it” she stated. Du Cheng looked at her before he huffed and crossed his arms, almost pointing.
“I don’t like it” he grumbled. Director Zhang chuffed.
“You don’t have to like it; you just have to go along with it” she replied before she motioned to her door.
“Now shoo” she ordered. Du Cheng looked at her and nodded as he headed towards the door, stepping out before closing the door behind him, letting out a heavy sigh once he was outside her office. He then stood there for a moment, thinking, before his eyes hardened.
“Just because I have to go along with it doesn’t mean I just have to sit on the sidelines and not do something about it” he murmured as he quickly pushed himself away from the door and headed to his office, his mind whirring with a plan.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that evening, as Shen Yi was getting ready to head out to the auction, there was a knock at his door, making him look over at it in confusion.
“Who could that be?” he murmured before he walked over to the door and opened it, only to find Du Cheng standing before him, a small smile on his lips. Shen Yi blinked in surprise before he huffed.
“What are you doing here?” he grumbled as Du Cheng tilted his head.
“You’re not going to invite me inside?” he asked. Shen Yi looked at him before he sighed and stepped aside, allowing Du Cheng entrance into his studio apartment. Du Cheng smiled and stepped inside, first kneeling down to pet Xiaoxuan who came to greet him before he stood up and turned to look at Shen Yi, who was raising an eyebrow at him.
“What do you want? Here to yell at me again?” he demanded. Du Cheng smiled and shook his head.
“Nah, I think I did enough of that at the station this morning. I came by to give you these” he stated, holding out a small box. Shen Yi frowned and reached out, taking the box from him before he opened it to reveal two small cufflinks.
“Cufflinks?” he asked, looking up at Du Cheng in confusion. Du Cheng chuckled as he reached out and took the box back from him, removing the cufflinks from the soft velvet inside before he reached out and took Shen Yi’s wrist in his hand.
“You can’t go disguised as a buyer at a fancy art auction and not have fancy cufflinks. You’ll stand out like a sore thumb. These people are the elite of the elite; if you don’t look the part, they’ll suspect something’s up” he explained as he carefully placed one of the cufflinks in the cuff of Shen Yi’s tuxedo before taking Shen Yi’s other wrist and placing the other cufflink in that cuff. After he had snapped the cufflinks into place, he carefully straightened out Shen Yi’s suit jacket and fixed his hair before he hummed, clapping him on the shoulders.
“There…now you’re ready” he declared. Shen Yi looked at him with wide eyes before he blushed slightly and cleared his throat.
“Um…thanks” he thanked. Du Cheng smiled as he tilted his head at him.
“You need a ride to the place? I can take you” he offered. Shen Yi’s eyes widened before he shook his head.
“Oh, no. It’s fine, I can just take a taxi—” he started when Du Cheng shook his head.
“Nonsense. I don’t mind” he assured as he looked Shen Yi in the eyes.
“Besides, it would make me feel better to know the place that you’re getting dropped off at” he explained. Shen Yi blinked before he nodded slowly.
“Oh…uh…okay” he murmured. Du Cheng smiled before he motioned to the door.
“Shall we go? We don’t want to be late for the auction” he stated. Shen Yi nodded and made his way towards the door, Du Cheng following after him, closing the door behind them. They then headed downstairs to where Du Cheng’s Jeep was, both men getting into the car before Du Cheng put the car into drive and began driving towards the auction location. As they drove to where the auction was going to be held, Du Cheng glanced over at Shen Yi and smiled fondly when he saw that he was fast asleep, his head lolled to the side like it always was whenever he road in Du Cheng’s car. He then turned his attention back to the road and sighed softly; he still hated the idea of Shen Yi doing this mission alone but once he had calmed himself down after talking to Director Zhang, he found that she was right. Shen Yi really was the only one capable of pulling this mission off.
‘I just hope he doesn’t get hurt’ he thought to himself as his little kitten had the ability to find himself in danger. He then shook his head as he continued to drive to where the auction was being held; he couldn’t put those thoughts out there or else the universe would take them as a challenge and put Shen Yi in serious danger. When they finally arrived at the auction house, Du Cheng stopped the car and looked over at Shen Yi, smiling softly at his sleeping face before he sighed and reached out, gently shaking his shoulder.
“A-Yi” he called out softly, Shen Yi making a soft noise in response as he opened his eyes and looked at Du Cheng in confusion.
“Hmm?” he replied. Du Cheng chuckled softly.
“We’re here” he murmured. Shen Yi blinked and squinted his eyes as he looked around before he recognized the hotel that he was supposed to enter for the auction, his eyes widening slightly before he looked back at Du Cheng.
“Thank you” he murmured. Du Cheng smiled slightly and nodded as Shen Yi opened the door and stepped out, just as Du Cheng held out a hand.
“If you need anything, just call, okay?” he instructed. Shen Yi looked at him and nodded before he headed towards the hotel, Du Cheng watching him walk away before he pulled out his phone and opened an app, watching as a small red blip appeared on the screen.
‘Oh good. It works’ he thought to himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~
As Shen Yi entered the hotel, he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
‘I can do this…I can do this’ he thought to himself as he made his way to the auction hall, grabbing a masquerade mask the attendant was holding at the door. He then slipped the mask over his head and stepped into the hall, an attendant guiding him to his seat. He dipped his head to the attendant before he sat down and grabbed his betting number, taking a deep breath; he knew exactly what piece he was betting on and he was hoping that if he bet high enough, he could win the piece that had the drugs in it before the actual buyer could get their hands on it. Was it a gamble? Sure. But did he think he could pull it off? Maybe. Just then, an attendant walked over to the front of the stage, where a podium with a gavel and a microphone was standing and stepped behind the podium, looking out into the audience.
“Good evening, everyone. We will begin the auction now!” he declared, causing everyone in the auction hall to clap while Shen Yi just took a deep breath and clutched his number tighter.
‘Oh I hope I know what I’m doing’ he thought to himself before he quietly cleared his throat and focused on the auction screen, watching as each auction piece popped up. He listened to each bidder bid what seemed like to him a ridiculous amount of money for each piece until it came time for him to bid on the painting he had come there for.
“Starting bid: $1,000,000” the auctioneer called out.
“$1.2 million” Shen Yi called back, raising his number, making everyone turn to look at him in surprise, mainly the main buyer he was trying to bid the painting away from. The buyer narrowed his eyes at him before he raised his own number and turned to look at the auctioneer.
“$2.5 million” he declared. Everyone in the auction hall gasped before they looked back at Shen Yi, who felt himself flinch under their gazes before he took a deep breath and shut his eyes.
‘I’m sorry jie’ he thought to himself as he raised his number again.
“$4.5 million!” he exclaimed. Everyone in the auction hall fell silent in shock, save for the auctioneer, who just smiled and looked over at the other buyer.
“Will you go above 4.5 million?” he asked. The buyer said nothing and instead just opted to glare at Shen Yi, who flinched again under his glare. The auctioneer hummed before he looked at Shen Yi.
“$4.5 million going once, going twice, sold!” he declared as he motioned to Shen Yi.
“Congratulations sir. Please, follow one of our attendees and they’ll take you to the vault” he stated. Shen Yi nodded and stood up from his seat, following after an attendant who had walked over to him, not realizing that the other buyer motioned with his head to two of his lackies to follow after them.
~*~*~*~*~*~
As Shen Yi and the attendant headed towards the elevator, Shen Yi took a deep breath and smiled to himself. He had done it. He had actually done it! Oh, Du Cheng and Director Zhang would be so proud of him. He then stepped into the elevator with the attendant, both men riding it up to the thirteenth floor before Shen Yi stepped out and showed his identification card to the attendant that was waiting outside. The man then took his card and scanned it, making sure that he was the correct bidder of the item, before he handed the card back to the man and nodded.
“This way sir” he stated, motioning for Shen Yi to head down the hall. Shen Yi dipped his head and headed down the hall, his attendant quickly catching up to him before overtaking him so that he could guide him to the vault where all the items were. Once they reached the vault, the two attendants waiting inside quickly grabbed the painting Shen Yi had won and showed it to him.
“Is this up to your standards, sir?” they asked. Shen Yi then took a step forward, studying the painting to make sure that it was the real deal and not a fake, before he looked at the attendants, nodding.
“Yes. Thank you” he thanked. The attendants nodded and quickly rolled up the painting, placing it in a protective case before handing it to Shen Yi.
“There you are, sir” one of them declared. Shen Yi dipped his head and slung the case around his body before he turned and headed out of the vault, heading back to the elevator. The attendant at the elevator then pressed the button, waiting for the elevator to arrive and when it did, he motioned for Shen Yi to enter.
“Please” he instructed. Shen Yi dipped his head and headed inside, the doors closing behind him as he began to ride back down when the elevators suddenly stopped and the doors opened, revealing the two lackies of the other buyer. They then stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close before one of them reached into the pocket and pulled out a taser, quickly tasing Shen Yi in the neck, causing him to cry out in pain and collapse to the floor of the elevator. While he was lying on the floor, unconscious, one of the men raised their phone to their ear.
“Boss, we got the painting. But what do we do with him?” they asked.
“Make him swim with the fishes. And bring me my painting” the boss ordered.
“Yes sir” the man replied before he looked over at the other man.
“You take the painting to the boss, I’ll take him” he declared, pointing to an unconscious Shen Yi. The other man nodded and knelt down, carefully removing the painting from around Shen Yi before placing it around himself as the first lackey pressed the -2 button on the elevator that led to the basement garage.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, outside the hotel, Du Cheng was diligently keeping his eye on the red dot on his tracking app, making sure that Shen Yi remained inside that hotel. However, as he stared at the app, he noticed that the red dot was beginning to move away from the hotel, making him frown.
“What the hell?” he murmured before he looked up to see a black car exiting the parking garage and driving away from the hotel.
“That can’t be it” he murmured as he looked back down at his app, only to see that the dot was moving in the same direction as the car.
“Oh shit, it is” he hissed, quickly putting his phone down before he shifted his car into drive and stepped on the gas, speeding after the car. As he sped after the car, he quickly dialed Jiang Feng’s number, putting the call on speaker.
“Hello?” Jiang Feng answered.
“Jiang Feng. I need you to track the location of my phone and send backup to wherever my phone is. I think something went wrong, Shen Yi’s tracker is moving away from the hotel” Du Cheng answered.
“Is Shen Yi okay?!” Jiang Feng exclaimed.
“I don’t know, but I’m going after his tracker. Just trace my phone and send backup to the location wherever I end up” Du Cheng ordered before he hung up and stepped on the gas.
‘I knew this was a bad idea…I knew this was a bad idea’ he thought to himself as he chased after the car.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Du Cheng continued to speed after the car until he came to an abandoned pier, causing a deep chill to run through him.
“No, no, no, not again. Not again” he hissed as he quickly got out of the car, grabbing his phone on the way out. He then looked down at the tracking app and followed the blinking dot until he came upon a bound and gagged Shen Yi and the lackey.
“Shen Yi!” he screamed, causing the lackey and Shen Yi to turn and look at him, Shen Yi’s bleary eyes widening at the sight of him. He then began to struggle in his bonds, only to have the lackey jerk him forward and nearly send him off the pier into the dark water.
“Shen Yi!” Du Cheng cried again, making Shen Yi look at him with terrified eyes, his own fear filled eyes looking back at him. The lackey then cackled as he looked at Du Cheng.
“You want him? Go get him” he sneered before he gave Shen Yi a good shove, causing Shen Yi to let out a muffled cry as he fell into the water, sinking like a stone.
“SHEN YI!” Du Cheng screamed before he glared at the lackey.
“You son of a bitch” he snarled. He then ran at the man, who quickly pulled out a switchblade, and began scuffling with him, throwing in a few kicks and punches before the man got lucky and stabbed Du Cheng in the side, causing Du Cheng to grunt in pain. However, Du Cheng was a lot stronger than he looked and instead of collapsing, like the lackey thought he would, he just grabbed the lackey by the arm and wrenched it behind him, causing him to cry out in pain. Du Cheng then kicked him in the ass, sending him face down onto the pier, before he turned and ran towards the end of the pier and dove in, swimming after Shen Yi, who was sinking like a god damn stone.
‘Damn it Du Cheng, swim faster’ he thought to himself as he continued to push himself, straining nearly every muscle in his body to fucking reach Shen Yi before he drowned. When he finally reached Shen Yi, the young man’s body was already limp, and he could see bubble slowly exiting his nose.
‘Shit’ he thought to himself before he reached out and wrapped an arm around Shen Yi’s waist and using whatever strength he had left in his body, pulled both himself and Shen Yi to the surface. He then carefully lifted Shen Yi up on onto the pier before dragging himself up after him, ignoring the way his side ached from the stab wound. As soon as they were both on land, Du Cheng crawled over to Shen Yi and carefully ripped the tape from around his mouth before removing the tape from around his wrists. Once he was free, Du Cheng began doing chest compressions, looking down at Shen Yi with fear in his eyes.
“Shen Yi. Shen Yi! Come on, Shen Yi” he begged, continuing to do chest compressions, just as the sound of sirens echoed in his ear, making him look over to see Jiang Feng, Li Han, and EMTs running towards them.
“Da ge! Da ge!” Jiang Feng shouted as he, Li Han, and the EMTs surrounded them, Du Cheng looking at the EMTs.
“Take him. Hurry” he ordered. The EMTs nodded and carefully scooped Shen Yi onto a gurney, beginning to carry him back when Du Cheng’s eyes fluttered and he collapsed, making Jiang Feng and Li Han scream in surprise.
“DA GE!” they shouted before they looked over at the EMTs.
“Bring another gurney! Quickly!” Jiang Feng barked as Li Han knelt down beside Du Cheng and looked him over before she noticed that the water around him was tinged red. She then carefully turned Du Cheng on to his back and looked him over before she finally found the knife wound, her eyes widening in horror.
“Jiang Feng!” she exclaimed, making Jiang Feng look over at her as she pointed to the knife wound on Du Cheng’s abdomen, causing his own eyes to widen.
“Da ge!” he exclaimed, quickly placing his hands over the knife wound, trying to stop the bleeding before he looked towards the ambulance.
“Hurry, please! Our boss has been stabbed!” he cried. The EMTs soon ran back over to them and carefully placed Du Cheng on a gurney before running back to the ambulance, Jiang Feng and Li Han running after them, heading back to the police car that they came in when an officer ran over to them, holding the lackey by their arm.
“Sir, we found him trying to escape. What should we do with him?” he asked.
“Take him back to be interrogated” Jiang Feng barked before he and Li Han got into their police car and quickly reversed out of the abandoned pier, following after the ambulance.
~*~*~*~*~*~
When Shen Yi woke up hours later, he found himself in a hospital bed and hooked up to different machines, an oxygen mask over his face.
‘What the hell? How did I end up here?’ he thought to himself before he remembered the pier, Du Cheng, and being practically thrown into the ocean. At the thought of Du Cheng, his eyes widened and he quickly looked around before noticing the man lying in a hospital bed not too far from him.
“Du…Cheng” he weakly called out, but Du Cheng didn’t answer him.
“Du Cheng!” he called again. That time, Du Cheng let out a soft groan and turned his head, smiling when he saw Shen Yi looking at him.
“You’re awake” he greeted. Shen Yi nodded before he frowned.
“What are you doing in a hospital bed? Did you get hurt too?” he asked. Du Cheng laughed softly.
“Ah…that guy that threw you into the ocean…stabbed me in the stomach” he admitted.
“What?!” Shen Yi exclaimed, quickly sitting up, only to have Du Cheng motion for him to lay back down.
“Easy, easy. Take it easy. I’m fine” he assured, just as Jiang Feng and Li Han stepped into their room, anger on Jiang Feng’s face.
“You’re “fine”, my ass!” he shouted, making Shen Yi and Du Cheng look over at him with wide eyes as he pointed at them.
“You two…you two are going to give us fucking heart attacks!” he shouted, Li Han nodding in agreement.
“We already had to deal with you almost drowning once, Shen Yi! And then to see Captain Du stabbed…it was too much!” she exclaimed. Shen Yi and Du Cheng glanced at each other before they both looked at them and smiled fondly.
“Sorry. We didn’t mean to scare you” Shen Yi apologized as Du Cheng looked at Jiang Feng.
“What about that lackey? Where is he?” he inquired.
“Director Zhang is interrogating him herself” Jiang Feng answered.
“And the painting?” Shen Yi added.
“We arrested everyone that was involved with that auction and searched every room. The painting is safe in your office” Li Han answered. Shen Yi flopped back onto his bed and let out a sigh of relief; he didn’t almost fucking drown for nothing. Du Cheng glanced over at him before he looked at Li Han and Jiang Feng, motioning them out of the room.
“We need to rest. You being here isn’t helping” he stated. Jiang Feng’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to protest when Li Han quickly grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the room, leaving Shen Yi and Du Cheng alone. Once they were gone, Shen Yi looked over at Du Cheng and frowned slightly.
“How did you know where I was?” he asked. Du Cheng looked back at him and smiled.
“You know those cufflinks I gave you?” he replied. Shen Yi nodded before his eyes widened.
“They were tracking devices?” he breathed. Du Cheng shrugged.
“What can I say? I was worried about you. I didn’t want something to happen to you” he explained. Shen Yi was stunned into silence before he sighed.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier, you were right, I wasn’t cut out for something like this” he murmured. Du Cheng scoffed.
“You did just fine. Things like this happen; you can’t beat yourself up over it. If anything, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I know you’re a capable cop…I just didn’t like the idea of you going off on your own because I was afraid of you getting hurt. Hence the cufflinks” he explained. Shen Yi smiled slightly.
“Well…I’m grateful for them. So thank you” he thanked. Du Cheng smiled.
“Can’t let anything happen to my kitten now, can I?” he teased. Shen Yi tsked.
“Are you sure you’re not on any drugs right now?” he asked. Du Cheng huffed.
“You’re hilarious” he grumbled, making Shen Yi smile, his eyes turning into half-moons.
“I know” he replied. Du Cheng scoffed softly and rolled his eyes.
“Get some rest” he instructed. Shen Yi chuckled and snuggled under his blanket, shutting his eyes before he paused and looked over at Du Cheng again.
“Du Cheng” he started.
“Hmm?” Du Cheng hummed.
“Thank you. For saving me” Shen Yi murmured. Du Cheng huffed softly as he looked back at him and smiled.
“We’re partners. I’ll always be there for you” he promised. Shen Yi smiled in return.
“Me too” he declared, making Du Cheng raise an eyebrow.
“Hmm?” he replied.
“I’ll always be there for you too” Shen Yi declared. Du Cheng chuckled.
“I don’t doubt it” he agreed. Shen Yi smiled as he turned back and shut his eyes, Du Cheng watching him slip off to sleep before he shut his eyes, a small smile on his face as he slipped off to sleep, the sound of soft breathing and softly beeping machines soon the only sounds in the room.