Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lana couldn’t see the resemblance at all. Maybe a little around the mouth. But that wasn’t the trace of Jonny that Lana was looking for. She expected to walk in and be drawn to Willis immediately. To feel this connection over Jonny, that they would instantly start working together and – with her new job in the department – they’d figure out what happened within a couple of weeks.

That’s how it worked on TV anyway .

This wasn’t a TV moment.

“You’re a waiter, just act normal,” Lana said.

“Welcome to The Golden Palace,” Willis said unnaturally.

Willis Wu. Jonathan Wu’s baby brother.

Lana had been racking her head for days for any memory of Jonny talking about his brother, looking for a way to get into The Golden Palace, to meet Willis and start piecing the puzzle together. The only thing she could remember was their dad owning a Kung Fu school and teaching them both there. Which wasn’t helpful.

“Okay, do you see those guys over there…” Lana said, stopping Willis’ stilted welcome speech before he could move on to the specials again. She outlined her mission. No mention of Jonny , that didn’t feel right yet. But she pointed out the exchange happening across the room and gave Willis his task. Left her card under the menu and walked away like a seasoned pro, only to be chewed out by Green for acting like an irresponsible rookie.

For days her mind compared the two brothers. Jonny was so confident, so passionate and full of life. He was always rearing to go, ready for anything. It was almost twelve years since she last saw him, but she couldn’t forget the energy he brought to every room. Willis was the exact opposite. A living shadow. If Jonny was still around, Lana wouldn’t be able to see him. But then, maybe if he hadn’t disappeared, Willis would’ve grown into a different man.

Even when he climbed into her front seat, face bruised and cut from a recent fight, she couldn’t see Jonny: the "Kung Fu Guy."

Willis went in the back after that. It was safer. Not to be seen together.

When they searched the empty construction site together, Lana finally dared to ask about Jonny. What Willis remembered. She filed away what he said about Jonny pulling away towards the end – like he did with her. But t heir investigation was starting to feel hopeless. And if she couldn’t solve this murder, detective would be another job on her résumé of failed side-kicks.

But then, it all came together.

“Oh my god. The pet store owner. He’s the only one in Chinatown to wear these weird hippie shoes!” Willis pointed out excitedly.

The clues flowed between them until they painted a perfect picture of the crime. It was like she was watching Green and Turner, except it was Lana and Willis. Lee and Wu.

Maybe they could actually do this.

On the way back to the car, Willis went to sit in the back again but Lana stopped him.

“Ride up front.” She said, pausing by the driver's side for just a moment to check he was listening. He stepped into the glow of a streetlight and she had to blink.

“What?” Willis asked.

“Nothing,” Lana said quickly, opening the door and getting behind the wheel.

You just looked like your brother for a second.

Chapter Text

“Anyone seen Janitor anywhere?” Someone called outside. “We got a spill over here.”

Randall pushed back his chair and disappeared from the break room without a word. Felix would’ve felt bad for the guy, his food would get cold, but as he glanced across the table into Janice’s widening smile he found himself forgetting all about his friend.

He about forgot how to speak too.

“Terrible weather we’re having, huh?”

Felix cringed. The weather?

“It is.” Janice agreed, rooting through her container for another piece of eggplant. “I feel bad for Willis going back and forth on his bike, it’s coming down like stair-rods out there.”

Quirking a brow, he questioned the expression. “Stair-rods?”

“Yeah.” Janice held up one hand and motioned down, not pausing in eating her meal. “The rain’s coming straight down. Like stair-rods.”

She only looked back up when he didn’t answer. “Sorry, is that a weird thing to say? My parents would say it.”

He chuckled. “Learn something new every day working here.”

Janice joined him in laughing and he felt his heart swell.

“But yeah, that must suck for Willis,” Felix said. “I wonder if he could hang around until the end of my shift? I could run him back to the restaurant. Bet his bike would fit in the trunk.”

Smiling softly, Janice agreed. “Or I could? I have my car. Besides, no one notices if I’m not around.”

“I notice.” Felix countered. Once his mind caught up to his words he flushed with embarrassment. “Err, I mean. I’m sure that’s not true. You do such an important job around here. Getting those files archived is a big job, the higher-ups must really trust you to put you in charge of all that.”

“Thanks, Felix,” Janice said softly, ducking her head to hide a pleased smile.

Felix just caught its edges beneath the soft strands of hair falling around her face and felt encouraged. Willis’ words still echoed in his mind; maybe he wasn’t crazy. Crazy about Janice, yes. But could she maybe feel the same?

Before he could doubt it for another second, Felix blurted out, “So, err, I was thinking. There’s meant to be a new exhibit opening at the Art Gallery this weekend. Would you maybe want to go? Together. I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want. Go to the Art Gallery. We could do something else? Or, err, we don’t have to do anything together if you don’t want to. I was just thinking, if it’s still raining – well it’s good to stay inside.”

He could slap himself.

“I’d love to,” Janice said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Go with you, I mean. To the Art Gallery. That’d be really nice.”

Grinning, Felix asked if she really meant it.

“Yes. Of course. That sounds lovely.”

His face hurt from smiling so widely but he couldn’t help it.

“Saturday.”

“Saturday.” Janice agreed.

They both tucked back into their meals, sharing happy smiles between bites until Randall came back and then they tried to focus on normal conversation about the station.

Felix couldn’t wait to tell Willis when he got back from – well, wherever he went when they were eating.  

Chapter Text

Heading upstairs, Lily made her way to Joe’s door and tapped in her usual fashion. It took him the usual amount of time to answer then he opened up and let her inside.

She passed him his dinner without a word but, instead of leaving, Lily made a beeline to the bed to take a seat. He didn’t have a couch, only the one chair, so it was the only option if he had company. And she wasn’t sure that happened very often, not unless Willis came to check in.

The couple didn’t talk every day, but Joe took her lead and – after putting his food away – came to join her.

“I’m cleaning out Old Fong’s room,” Lily told him.

Joe nodded.

“I’m doing it up,” She explained, hands waving in front of her like she was painting her vision.

He nodded again.

“So I can rent it.”

This nod was slower.

“All the furniture needs taking out, all of it. Then I’m putting up new wallpaper, adding fresh cabinets and replacing the lamps. Make it a new space. Somewhere inviting, where someone can make a home. Maybe a nice couple.”

“Eugene agreed?” Joe asked.

“He knows,” She replied elusively.

“No one else claimed it?”

“No. So I’m going to rent it. Bring some new life to this building.”

Joe nodded.

“I need you to move out the furniture. Fatty will help.”

He sighed softly but that was the extent of his protest.

“We’ll put it in the lobby, then anyone who wants it can have it. And I should be able to salvage some things, I’ll put those in my room for now. Okay?”

“Okay.” Joe agreed.

“It will be good,” Lily continued, more for herself than Joe. “I found tenants for the laundromat, an apartment will be easy. Thriving community in the heart of Chinatown, close to restaurants, shops, erm…” she paused, trying to remember the pitch she’d created, “bars. Nice neighbours. Tight-knit community.”

Joe looked but didn’t feel the need to point out she was repeating herself. Lily knew.

She sighed. “I’m going now to look through the furniture. I’ll tie string on the pieces to leave, everything else can be moved. Fatty will come get you when he’s ready. Yes?”

“Yes.”

Their shoulders were so close to touching as they sat side by side on Joe’s narrow bed, it would only take the slightest movement from either one of them to bring them together, but Lily could feel the distance stretching between them for miles.

With a tired sigh, she stood up and let herself out.

Chapter Text

It was his first time at Golden Palace since he’d told Fatty to quit for him and Willis was doing his best not to shit himself. Uncle couldn’t seriously be a suspect, there had to be a reason for all of this.

Which is why Lana suggested dinner. It would all get sorted out.

Willis just had to get everyone to agree to come.

Before going into the restaurant, he headed home to call in on his Mom. To his surprise, he found his Dad at the same time.

“Hey,” he said cautiously, knocking against the door as he opened it. “Err, sorry. Is this a bad time?”

Lily looked up from the dining table. There was a stack of sheets in front of her which she tidied away before Willis could even ask.

“No. No, it's not a bad time. Come in, come in.” She encouraged. “You’re home early. You didn’t have work today?”

“I did,” Willis said, taking the seat opposite Joe. “But I did some overtime yesterday, so I got an early finish today.”

His Mom beamed. “You’re always working so hard. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, Mom. Erm, well. I’m kinda here for that reason.”

“You need money?” His Dad asked, folding his arms over his stomach.

“No, nothing like that,” Willis said, keeping his eyes on his Mom. “Thing is, I met someone. At work. Her name is Lana and…”

Lily gasped. “A girl?”

“Lana is a girl's name, yeah.”

Beaming, Lily took the chair next to him and took his hand. “What is she like?”

“She’s great. Smart, funny. Bit of a toothpick problem but,” seeing Lily’s expression, Willis dropped that, “yeah, she’s great. And, if it’s okay with you, I was thinking about bringing her over. For dinner. Maybe tomorrow night? With the family?”

Lily looked at Joe. “Did you hear that, Joe? Willis wants to bring a girl for dinner.”

“I heard.”

“Tomorrow is fine. I’ll sort everything, you just bring her over here. Is Fatty coming?”

“Sure.” Willis agreed. “Do you think Uncle would come too?”

“You know how busy the restaurant is now,” Lily said, clicking her tongue. “You’d have to ask.”

“Well, do you think you could…”

“You have to talk to him sometime, Willis,” Joe said. “Best to get it over and done.”

“Yeah. I mean, I will. I’ll talk to him at dinner.” Pushing back his chair, Willis got up. “I’ll go check in with Fatty, see if he can make it. Let me know what Uncle says okay? Thank you.”

He hastened over to the door before anyone could argue. Uncle would be way more likely to turn up if Auntie asked him. Besides, it’d be hard enough for Willis to get Fatty there. His mom could handle Uncle.

Starting with a text, Willis walked back to his room. By the time he got home, he had a reply.

“Why the fuck would I want to do that?”

Typing back, Willis said, “Come on, man. You know my Mom doesn’t do family dinners anymore, it’ll be special.”

The three-button icon showed that Fatty was trying and failing to come up with a retort.

“Fine. Only because Uncle will be there. Can’t wait to see him hand you your ass.”

Willis grimaced, his Mom must’ve already asked. Still, a win was a win.

“Thanks, dude.”

…

“Don’t fuck this up,” Fatty replied.

Chapter Text

“Do anything fun this weekend?”

“What?” Green asked, glancing up from the body she was inspecting.

“Maybe go shopping?”

“No.” She said, looking back down at the stab wound in the victim’s neck.

Another week, another corpse. This crime wave was getting out of hand. And where the hell was Lee? The victim was another Chinatown resident, so where was their Chinatown expert? What a joke. She’d be taking it up with the Chief as soon as they got back to Port Harbour.

“Get a haircut?”

Looking back up, Green shot Turner a disparaging glare. “What the hell is the matter with you?”

“You usually have your hair up. Don’t think I’ve ever seen it down before.”

Gesturing to the body beside her, Green said: “Is this appropriate?”

“What? I can’t ask my partner about her weekend.”

“You’ve been the one bugging me about being professional at a crime scene, Turner. Now would you let me focus.”

He held his hands up and wandered off to the closest sergeant to ask some questions. Once she’d finished checking over the initial scene, Green ordered the coroner over.

“Get him to the morgue, I need an autopsy stat. This man was dead before he was stabbed.” Pulling her sunglasses out of her jacket pocket and pushing them up her nose, Green announced to the assembled team, “This was a cover-up.”

“New sunglasses?” Miles asked, appearing beside her.

Turning on him, she asked again what his problem was.

“You just look different.”  

“Yeah, so. So do you.” Green pointed out.

“I know.” Miles nodded. “We’ve got a different car too.”

“Yeah, we’ve been due an upgrade for ages. So what?” She pushed, wanting him to get to the damn point so they could get back to solving a case.

“We’re pretty far outside Port Harbour.”

“We’re the main police department for this entire region. You know this.”

“Looks real different out here. Didn’t know we were so close to desert.”

“Dammit Turner.” Green sighed. “What are you getting at?”

He turned to look around them. The rest of the team had scattered, doing all the things they usually did. Week in, week out. It was just the two of them.

Guiding Green away from the corpse still at their feet, he said, “Things feel different is all. Small things. Our clothes, the car, your hair. But I feel like we’re being pushed in a new direction. Same parts, but a little different too.”

Shaking her head, Green said, “Look. Things are different. We’ve got Wu on the team, Lee is always off doing – god knows what – and we’re running a cold case. That’s it. That’s all that’s changed. But you’re still my partner and we’re out here on a job. Right now, I just want my partner to help me solve this case. Can you do that?”

He was about to say something else so Green tacked on, “Please?”

Miles shut his mouth, pressing his lips into a tight line before giving her a sharp nod.

“Yeah. Course. Let’s get back to the station, see what the coroner has for us.”

Turner put on his own shades and headed for the car.

Chapter Text

The game, which had moved so impossibly fast when she was trying to win it, seemed to slow down to a taunting pace as Lana waited. If she was right, this message from Jonny – one meant for Willis – would be the first time she’d heard from him in twelve years. When he’d disappeared from her life in a move she thought had been heartless cruelty, only for some mysterious stranger to turn her life upside down with that newspaper clipping. For Willis to finally solve the mystery and uncover Jonny’s death, the wrenching turn of events that took him to that pier, and the strange game he’d played which Lana now found herself in again.

How were they meant to win?

D glitched onto the screen and she leaned in closer, shielding the game from view as busboys wandered in and out of the kitchen.

I rolled into place besides it, the music of the game drowned out as the doors swung open and the sounds of the banquet crept in.

E tumbled into place and Lana’s heart dropped to her stomach. Running her eyes back over the message, as if she hadn’t been paying attention and had somehow misread, she was confronted with the unmistakeable instruction:

DIE.

Eyes widening, she took a step back and the game returned to stasis; the title credits popping up again.

“Die.” She whispered to herself, taking another step back and forcing Carl to dance around her with his arms full of plates.

“Careful, dude.” He said, cheery as ever.

“Sorry.” Lana muttered, her mind still reeling. She couldn’t think beyond those three letters and the word it spelt. It flicked across her mind on an endless reel, blurring behind her eyes.

DIE.

DIE.

DIE.

She shook her head. It couldn’t be right. And yet…

Jonny handcuffed himself to the yacht. He knew it was sinking. He could’ve jumped out – swam for the shoreline. He could’ve made it, he was strong, he was brave. Instead he went below deck and handcuffed himself to the damn wreck.

Was death really the answer?

Was that the answer she’d give Willis? Jonny killed himself to – what? Escape this play. This show. That was only an escape if something was on the other side, if not it was just an ending. Death, the inescapable end, and it couldn’t be curtain call for Willis.

Jonny had tried to warn her; tried to warn everyone. He was the first person to see it, the reality of their home. And he had escaped from the ending created for him; somehow. Leaving Lana, leaving his parents, leaving his little brother who missed him so much she could still see the ache in his eyes after all these years. If Willis did the same, what would be left of this family?

Turning to face the banquet room, Lana only knew one thing: this time, she wouldn’t be left behind.