Chapter Text
Qin Jiu crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against a wall as he waited for his second-in-commands to arrive. The building in front of him was an abandoned factory, one often used as neutral ground for deals and business transactions. As Qin Jiu watched the factory, he spotted three figures emerge from a black car, walking to the factory’s front entrance. One black-haired man, a red-haired woman, and a blonde woman. A, his second, and his third. Of course, all of them were dressed in black. As expected of Obsidian.
The sound of a car caught Qin Jiu’s attention and he looked over to see a bright yellow sports car pulling up in front of him, stopping with a sputter. His second-in-commands climbed out faster than monkeys, standing at attention in front of him with slightly guilty expressions. Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow. “You’re late.”
The shorter one sent the other one a side-eye. “922 decided he wanted waffles.”
Qin Jiu’s eyes flicked to 922, who smiled sheepishly. His eyes narrowed. “Where’s mine?”
When 154 and 922 failed to answer, he sighed and shook his head in disappointment, pushing off the wall and walking towards the factory’s back entrance. 154 and 922 scrambled after him, their footsteps falling into step with his in an intimidating cadence. He walked through a set of open doors and entered the factory, where he saw a table set up with an empty chair and an occupied one. The black-haired man — A — sat at the table, eyes locked on Qin Jiu as he made his way to his seat. 154 and 922 stood on either side of him, nodding at A’s flanks in greeting.
As Qin Jiu sat down across from A, his eyes scanned the two women on A’s either side, looking for hidden weapons. This negotiation between Obsidian and Raven was to be done unarmed, so Qin Jiu and his two subordinates had left their arms behind before entering. Behind him, 154 and 922 issued matching grunts, indicating they didn’t notice anything amiss either. On A’s side, both women nodded after examining the three new arrivals.
Qin Jiu sat down, resting his elbows on the table in front of him. “So, A.”
A lifted his chin. “You’re late.”
Qin Jiu hooked his thumb at 922 behind him. “Gut him for it.”
922 choked back a gulp as A’s eyes flicked to him, then relaxed when A muttered dismissively, “Whatever.”
Qin Jiu grinned at A’s response and leaned forward. “Shall we start?”
A nodded and gestured for the blonde woman behind him to bring forward a briefcase. A opened it to show Qin Jiu 5 pristine pistols, all with a sleek form and engraved snakes gracing the grips. He turned the case to Qin Jiu, letting him examine the firearms.
Qin Jiu reached for the gun closest to him, picking it up with gloved fingers. He traced the grip, the barrel, the trigger, then held it in his hand, turning it from side to side. Finally, satisfied, he set it back down in the briefcase and nodded up at A. “How much?”
“30 grand each.”
Qin Jiu’s eyebrows shot up at that. “Each?”
A shrugged, leaning back and crossing his legs. “They’re Venom-made.”
Qin Jiu’s next argument froze in his throat at that. Venom was the group ruling the central part of the city, and while their members were quite pathetic and they weren’t rich by any means, they stayed afloat due to their strength in the arms trade. Venom-made firearms were hard to come by, and their quality was always guaranteed.
Qin Jiu looked over the guns again, assessing more carefully this time. As he leaned closer to the briefcase, a flicker of movement near the factory’s back door caught his attention. In a single, swift motion, he grabbed the gun closest to him, released the safety, and pointed the gun in A’s direction. A’s eyes narrowed, though he had no ground to stand on.
Because in his hand was another one of Venom’s guns, pointed straight at Qin Jiu’s forehead.
Qin Jiu met A’s eyes, then flicked his eyes to the right of A’s head and fired a single shot. In almost the same breath, another shot rang out as A fired as well. The sound of two bodies hitting the ground was masked by the sound of footsteps as masked men charged in from the factory’s front and rear entrances. Qin Jiu cursed and grabbed two guns, tossing them to 154 and 922, who started firing as soon as the guns reached their hands. A scowled at Qin Jiu but tossed his gun to the blonde women, leaving the red-haired lady to pick up the last gun in the briefcase. A then reached for his belt, pulling a garrote out from his belt straps. Qin Jiu, glancing at him between shots, almost laughed. Unarmed his ass.
Looking over at 154 and 922, he noticed that 154 was out of bullets, only pretending to fire to keep the intruders away. Mind racing, he ran to the wall on his right. Grabbing a lighter from his back pocket, Qin Jiu tried his level best to set the factory’s old wood walls on fire. He felt a presence behind him and looked back to see A standing in front of him, firing steadily as he deterred anyone from shooting their way. Qin Jiu barely had time to wrap his mind around 1) how A had a gun and 2) why A was protecting him, as the wall finally caught fire.
Looking back at where 922 and 154 were firing from guns they’d picked up from fallen intruders, he shouted, “Fuck my mother!” before going back to setting more fires along the wall. The intruders, finally noticing the fire, yelled and ran for him and A.
A few seconds, Qin Jiu heard 922 distantly yell, “I already did!” and didn’t have to look back to know that 922 and 154 were out of the factory.
Looking at the incoming enemies, Qin Jiu got up and raised an eyebrow as A cursed under his breath and tossed his gun away — clearly, he was out of bullets. “Cheater.” At A’s questioning scowl, he nodded at the garrote now in A’s hand.
A shrugged, then scoffed, lips curling slightly as Qin Jiu got up and grabbed a knife from his ankle. “Look who’s talking.”
Qin Jiu grinned devilishly and lunged forward.
---
You Huo entered through the window of the apartment’s bedroom. It was an dilapidated unit, one he hadn’t come to in years. But a safe house was a safe house, and this was the place closest to the factory. He looked around before landing in the bedroom without a sound, closing the window and pulling the curtains behind him.
Chu Yue and 021 had managed to escape as well, in the chaos created by that Yi’s stabbing mania. You Huo didn’t know how that maniac continued moving with so much blood clouding his vision, but it wasn’t like he could talk. His clothes were sticking to him, soaked in blood.
Stumbling slightly in the dark of the room, You Huo moved to the bed and sat down heavily, pulling at the lampshade to offer some brightness to the room. Finally, he took a look at his injuries. A few cuts here and there, a shallow wound on his forearm from a bullet grazing him, and a large slash on his back that contributed to most of the blood staining the back of his shirt. Gritting his teeth, You Huo reached for the hem of his shirt to pull it off.
The door behind him creaked open.
Qin Jiu, balancing on his right leg, stared at You Huo from the doorway of the small bathroom attached to the bedroom.
You Huo just stared at him for a few seconds. Then he reached for his hip at the same time Qin Jiu did, both cursing as they realized they were fully unarmed. You Huo eyed Qin Jiu warily. They’d grudgingly cooperated in the fight earlier, but that was because there was a common enemy. Now, in this small bedroom, they had no obligation to each other.
Qin Jiu was the first to move. Limping as though favoring his left ankle, he moved to the bed and sat heavily, facing away from You Huo. You Huo wasn’t dumb enough to miss noticing the olive branch this was and exhaled, feeling the wound on his back throb more painfully with the spike in adrenaline. He took a few deep breaths, then got up and started looking for a first aid kit.
Qin Jiu did so as well, looking in the nightstands on the sides of the bed when a quiet “Fuck,” came from behind him. Turning around, he saw You Huo holding a small first aid kit. Qin Jiu cursed as well. If his memory served him right, there was only one of those in this goddamn apartment, and there probably wasn’t enough to fully treat both of them. Qin Jiu found his adrenaline slowly rising as the possibility of another fight grew near, but You Huo just tossed the kit onto the bed with clear irritation, as though he was regretting his actions as he performed them.
He didn’t look at Qin Jiu, but his actions were clear enough to Qin Jiu, who knew the difference between hostile and grudgingly peaceful signs very well. So he silently sat on the bed and reached for the kit, laying its contents out on the bed. Qin Jiu picked up the tube of antiseptic and moved a good distance away from the bed, leaning on the wall as he rolled up his sleeves. You Huo headed to the bathroom and Qin Jiu heard the sound of running water as he washed his cuts.
Still balancing on one leg, Qin Jiu tore open the ointment packet with his teeth and roughly applied antiseptic to the wounds he could reach. His ankle throbbed like a little nuisance, but experience told him that it was nothing worse than a mild strain.
You Huo walked out of the bathroom in a matter of minutes, sitting on the bed with a muted hiss and reaching for antiseptic. Qin Jiu watched as he applied it to the wounds he could reach, then as he tried to reach for the large slash on his back. Qin Jiu watched the barely-scabbed edges of the wound reopen, remembering the jagged dagger that’d made that cut.
After barely trying to reach his back, You Huo simply tossed the half-used ointment packet aside, lying on his side with a sharp exhale. Qin Jiu, still leaning against the wall, raised an eyebrow as You Huo clearly ignored his largest wound. “Trying to get tetanus? At least it’ll make for a good story.”
You Huo scowled at him, sitting up and reaching for a roll of gauze with a motivation driven more by annoyance than any sense of self-preservation. He faced away from Qin Jiu in an almost petty gesture, and ripped open the packet. But instead of wrapping it around his torso, he held an end of the gauze in his teeth and wrapped it loosely around his left arm, where Qin Jiu could see an ugly cut. He debated his options, then sighed and hobbled back to the small bed, standing behind You Huo. His eyes dropped to You Huo’s back and he pressed his knee into the deepest part of the cut on his back.
You Huo hissed in pain and reached back, grabbing Qin Jiu’s knee and throwing him onto the bed. Qin Jiu hit the bed, looking up as You Huo pressed him into the covers, knee on his chest. He looked up at You Huo, and You Huo barely had time to register the dangerous glint in Qin Jiu’s eyes before he felt his world spin. This time, it was You Huo pressed face first onto the bed as Qin Jiu sat on top of him. You Huo opened his mouth to snarl a threat at Qin Jiu, but Qin Jiu ripped aside his already tattered shirt and You Huo froze.
In a swift motion, Qin Jiu squeezed antiseptic on You Huo’s back wound, spreading it roughly with his free hand. You Huo hissed, clenching his fists, but the pain of his wound, made worse by the burning sensation of the antiseptic, left him unable to move even after Qin Jiu climbed off him.
It took You Huo a good few seconds before he was able to sit up, and the first thing he did was direct a scathing glare in Qin Jiu’s direction. “You’re asking for your death.”
Qin Jiu, taking the lack of immediate violent action as a sign of You Huo’s grudging gratitude, winked. “Shouldn’t you be thanking me? I just saved you from sepsis.”
You Huo scoffed, looking away. But in his very next breath, he grabbed Qin Jiu’s ankle and pulled him toward the bed, throwing him off balance. Qin Jiu’s eyes widened as he grabbed onto the creaky bedframe to steady himself. “You—”
You Huo pulled his left shoe off, throwing it aside, and rolled down his sock in a rough movement. Qin Jiu snorted, holding back a wince as You Huo manhandled his sore ankle. “What, do you have some Victorian obsession with ankles or—”
He abruptly cut off, gritting his teeth as You Huo sqeezed his ankle. Judging by the glint in You Huo’s eyes at his discomfort, he had a feeling he’d done it just to shut him up. You Huo looked up at Qin Jiu, raising an eyebrow. “Hypocrite.”
He leaned over, grabbing an instant ice pack from the first aid kit and tossing it over to Qin Jiu, letting go of his ankle. “You’re welcome.”
Qin Jiu rolled his eyes as he caught it and sat on the bed, icing his ankle. “Touché.”
You Huo shifted, leaning his shoulder against the bed’s headboard as he stared at the wall. His mind raced as he thought of everything that’d gone wrong that day. Those intruders, they clearly weren’t Qin Jiu’s men. The Ravens never wore ski masks, and Qin Jiu wasn’t idiotic enough to attack a group like Obsidian. Thinking back, You Huo remembered seeing snakes on lots of the intruders’ forearms, and a memory of a snake etched into one of the guns he’d picked up from a fallen intruder entered his mind. Venom. Someone must’ve snitched, ratted their meeting out to those snakes from the central city. But who would dare…
His thoughts were cut off by Qin Jiu’s voice.
“Did you know that was going to happen?” His voice carried open suspicion, which wasn’t unwarranted. It would’ve been easy for You Huo to fake a deal gone wrong just to land a good blow at the Ravens, and a few cuts here and there wouldn’t be too big a price to pay for crippling a leader as influential as Qin Jiu.
But You Huo shook his head. “No. But I could’ve guessed it.”
He turned back to see Qin Jiu staring off into space as well, likely thinking over who could’ve fucked him over on his side as well. “Venom?”
You Huo nodded and Qin Jiu continued. “Was it that shifty one from your side who turned? With the goatee and the flower tattoo?”
You Huo raised an eyebrow. “You know Rose?” She was one of the people You Huo had left in charge of their holdings near the city center. Someone must’ve gotten to her, convinced her to turn against Obsidian.
Qin Jiu blinked, clearly surprised. “That’s a girl? But the goatee— never mind. Yeah, I’ve seen that person around Crow — my arms dealer — around the time I started suspecting him of turning.”
“You knew he would turn?”
“Mine? Yeah, saw it coming when he started fucking Pitbull.”
You Huo exhaled heavily, closing his eyes. He heard a matching sigh from Qin Jiu, who muttered darkly, “If I see Rose, I don’t give a fuck that she’s one of yours. She’s dead.”
You Huo snorted. “Be my guest. And if I see Crow…”
“Put a hole in his skull for me.”
You Huo let his lips twitch as he sat up. “We never speak of this.”
Qin Jiu nodded, watching him get up. “Of course.” He let out a world-weary sigh and stood up as well, reaching for his phone and calling someone. “154.” He walked out of the bedroom, sliding on his shoes and opening the door. In the blink of an eye, he was gone, the abandoned ice pack and bloodied tissues the only signs that he was ever there.
You Huo leaned back against the headrest, ignoring the pain blooming across his back as he took out his phone as well, dialing 021. “Bring a car to the tattoo shop by 3rd Street.”
His third-in-command sputtered for a few seconds before she regained control. “Yes, Boss. But are…are you okay?”
“Mn.” You Huo hung up and pulled on one of the old shirts in the bedroom’s closet. He left the dingy apartment minutes later, ducking under a broken roof tile as he walked towards a small tattoo shop hidden away behind louder, more colorful food stalls. He barely had to wait a minute before a black motorbike rolled up to the shop, braking in a flurry of dust and smoke. The driver flipped the visor of her helmet up, nodding at You Huo. “Boss.”
You Huo frowned as he approached her. “I asked for a car.”
021 shrugged apologetically, tossing him a helmet. “Z told me to pick you up in this, to attract less attention with all the shit going on.”
You Huo sighed and pulled the helmet on, sitting behind 021, who revved the engine and surged forward as soon as he was seated. As they passed that apartment, You Huo looked up at the window of that bedroom, eyes lingering for just a second before glancing away.