[fic]Retribution Fifteen
I promised I would update on Fei Long's birthday, did I do good or not? XD So sorry for the unforgivably late update, but hey, at least I managed to get back into the fandom. I didn't have much time to edit so sorry for all the crappy stuff. I hope you all enjoy and join me wishing Fei a very happy birthday!
Title: Retribution Fifteen
Rating: PG-13
Warning: violence, OOC (if you agree with FNR), AU (if you agree w/ FNR), but for those who disagree: CWC (Canon? What Canon?)
Characters: Fei Long, Mikhail, Yoh, AxA, Feodora (OC), Tao
Spoiler: Spoiler for NT arc
Disclaimer: All VF characters belong to Yamane Ayano.
Beta: angel0399
Previous Chapters: For new readers, 'Retribution' is the third arc of a Mik x Fei trilogy that I've suffered my readers with since 2007. In order to make sense of it I'm afraid you will need to read 'Cruel Intentions' and its sequel 'Revelation' before you begin 'Retribution.' All the links are organized on the side bar of my lj kajornwan along with the trilogy's one-shot fillers. Russian, Chinese, Polish, Spanish (COMPLETED! OMG!), German, French, and newly added VIETNAMESE! (thank you everyone!) translations by readers are also found here. To make life even easier, a dear reader gryffin-draco has gone through the trouble of putting these in PDF files for download. Cruel Intentions and Revelation. Thank you so much sweetie.
“I don’t like it,” Feodora said with an expression that looked like someone had put too much sugar in her tea. Yoh doubted that such an event would ever happen, although her not liking Mikhail’s plan probably occurred a lot, if not every time.
“You don’t believe he can pull this off?” Yoh placed his espresso down on the saucer. The doubt on her face had somewhat ruined his appetite. A woman’s intuition was usually right, especially if it’s someone like Feodora’s. The woman had, after all, survived an entire family of Arbatovs-that had to account for something supernatural.
She shook her head slowly, still deliberating about the issue in her head. “Mikhail can pull off any scheme he dreams about. It’s what happens afterwards that he never seems to take into account.” One fine example would be getting involved with Baishe from the beginning. She was willing to bet her husband never saw trouble coming when he had set his eyes on Fei Long. Living like there’s no tomorrow had always been the core of his personality and it’s what always had drawn people to him. Even she knew she would not have loved him so much otherwise. “Can we not just kidnap one of his bastards for an exchange?” Feodora sighed in defeat. She knew the answer to that question, only it still sounded like a good idea.
Yoh stilled for a moment-he didn’t know that she had come across that information. Phillip Toh had two bastard sons that he didn’t acknowledge, and only few in his organization knew about them. “They’re toddlers.”
“You speak as if that’s the reason you haven’t brought it up.” Feodora sneered. She saw the kind of man that he was the first time they’d met. That stubbornness of his could dominate any moral issue that got in his way-an attribute that would make him the most valuable subordinate… if one could capture his loyalty. However without that loyalty, he would be the biggest threat to the organization and would have to be eliminated immediately. It was an issue she had to find an answer to quickly, considering what Mikhail was planning.
“As a pregnant woman, shouldn’t it be yours?”
The surprise she showed on her face was slight, but in her mind the man had immediately put her on guard. She had to be more careful around this man-the former mole was better at his job than he appeared. “As a pregnant woman, my priority is the survival of my child.”
Yoh nodded in acknowledgement. In her position, it was hard enough keeping everyone in her own family alive. A normal woman probably has it in her to care. A woman who has had her entire family murdered overnight probably couldn’t afford to. “They lack the significance to be used as pawns,” he said. “At this point, we need to make sure we have enough man and fire power to pull this off. Mikhail needs your cooperation.” He knew that she was the only one who could make things happen in her husband’s absence. The only problem was getting her to agree with the plan.
“We don't," she said with the kind of certainty in her tone that made Yoh wish he hadn’t asked. Something in her eyes, however, made him listen on. "Not with Baishe backing them." They were already at war both in Russia and China. If Toh sensed an attack, one phone call from him to Baishe could initiate an attack on their territory that they would not be able to counter. It was too risky.
The last sentence was spoken with conviction, not out of despair. She had a plan. "If you kill Liu Yan Tsui while Fei Long is missing, Baishe would crumble from the internal conflict. I can’t let that happen, neither would Mikhail." Baishe was the most important thing to Fei Long-sacrificing it wouldn’t be any different from killing the man with their own hands. But Baishe was a problem, this, she was not wrong.
"I’m not going to kill him," she said, her eyes glittered sharply. "He just needs to be put away." For now.
"It's not going to work.” Yoh shook his head skeptically. “Toh has too many connections.” Not to mention that he must have already used them to get Yan Tsui back into Hong Kong.
“So do we,” she smiled.
Her confidence over the situation was remarkable. Still... “You will need some concrete evidence, which we don’t have.”
Feodora placed her teacup down slowly and leaned back on the soft leather cushion of her armchair. “Why do you think Asami Ryuichi is here?”
Yoh didn’t know whether to congratulate her for coming up with the idea, or to pity her for dreaming of something impossible. He knew Asami Ryuichi; he had worked for the man for more than a decade to know he would never expose himself publicly at any cost. "The only reason he has survived this long and this well is because he’s always kept himself a mere shadow in the underworld. He would never testify.”
"Won't he?" She smiled again, and Yoh felt an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. "Phillip Toh is not the only one who knows how to utilize a hostage, which is why I have two Japanese guests in my house."
Arbatovs, he almost said it out loud. The Russians have always been the experts at kidnapping and taking hostages. Silently, Yoh cursed himself-he’d been too focused on saving Fei Long to think carefully about his former boss. Asami was the only one who witnessed the murder of Liu senior and could be counted as solid evidence if he decides to cooperate. Still, she shouldn’t think that the plan wouldn’t come with serious consequences. "You touch Takaba, and you will find yourself at war with Asami Ryuichi. This I guarantee." If the Arbatovs couldn’t handle both Toh and Baishe, there was no way in hell they could handle Asami Ryuichi’s vengeance on top of it all.
"Asami Ryuichi is just one man who lives in his own shadow. You said so yourself," she calmly said while examining her flawless manicure. Then, her eyes refocused on him. "Do you think that I wouldn't kill a man in my own home, or do you think that I couldn't?"
She wasn’t wrong. Keeping a virtually invisible profile comes at a cost-no one notices or misses you after your death. His former boss only had to die here with his own two bodyguards, also conveniently held in the villa, to completely disappear. Should he refuse to testify, Takaba will pay the price. Should he comply, the Russians could still eliminate him right after to avoid dealing with the man’s vengeance. Either way, it was what Yoh considered a nightmare. "And you think it's safe to tell me this, knowing I once worked for the man?"
"I have nothing to lose." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and threw one leg over the other. "You, on the other hand, would be the one to suffer all of the consequences of your choice, depending on the path you choose."
"Here is option one-you can run to tell your former boss and betray Fei Long once again. In which case you’ll leave him to rot wherever he is and I'll be rather happy. Or you can pick option two, where you’ll keep your mouth shut and go along with the plan to save your precious Fei Long. Asami will have to sacrifice his anonymity and stronghold by testifying, saving his pet in the process. But he will most likely die right here, unless by some miracles he chooses to forgive and forget all this.” She paused to lean forward. “Who are you willing to sacrifice this time? Fei Long or Asami Ryuichi?”
As the scenes played out in his head, he could feel her eyes measuring every breath he took, every twitch of his brow, and every second he hesitated. If only Mikhail had loved her, there was no limit to what they could conquer together. That said, if she had insisted on winning back her husband, Fei Long would have had to deal with a problem much bigger than Toh. "You still haven't answered my question,” he said without a change in expression. “Why are you telling me this?"
She straightened herself haughtily as her smile slowly receded. “What you're asking for has consequences that I would pay with my blood to prevent,” she told him, her expression suddenly hardened, her words full of venom. "If I am to do this, you'd better be willing to sacrifice more than your life."
Not waiting for an answer, she rose from her chair and placed a brown envelope on the table. “You were in Hong Kong working for Asami Ryuichi the night Liu senior was killed. Sign these papers to confirm his whereabouts before you go to Toh, and I will take it from here.”
“It’s so ironic, isn’t it?” She turned around once more before leaving the table. “He lets you live, and now you get to decide if he should die by your hand.”
***
The wounds have already healed, but the pain had never been too far away.
That was another day when he felt it - the burns that stung like someone had lit his back on fire, the roughness of the hand that dug deep into his flesh afterwards. He remembered nothing, not visually anyway. All he recalled was the pain, the stench of that attic and the feeling of utter disgust on his own skin. The pain he could deal with, it’s the stains that were the hardest to wash off.
The sound of running water used to quiet his thoughts. The heat used to make him feel like he was able to strip his skin bare. That day neither made a difference. His skin still crawled, his stomach still turned, and the smell of dried semen still lingered somewhere he couldn’t escape. That day the stain didn’t go away, not after he’d rubbed his skin red and sore washing it for the tenth time.
“Mikhail.” Feodora called him reluctantly from behind. He didn’t know how long she had been there, or what she had seen. Slowly, she reached out to touch him on his shoulder and he jumped at the contact. “Stop,” she pleaded, her voice soft and quiet like the times she had begged him to quit the drugs. “Just stop.”
He wanted to, but it won’t come off. “It won’t come off,” he told her, scrubbing his hands again and again under the scalding hot water. Memories were racing to catch up with him. He had to get rid of the stains before they swallowed him whole. He couldn’t allow himself to break, not when he was so close to getting Fei Long out. It had to come off. It had to!
It was exactly as she had feared. Feodora had seen him like this before, when he was still suffering from the trauma that had later led to his drug addiction. As if he couldn’t stand his own skin, Mikhail had insisted on cleaning himself repeatedly every time something triggered his memory until he bled or until someone interfered. She didn’t know what he had done during that meeting with Toh, but it wasn’t so hard to guess. Her husband was the master of disguise-he could hide his pain like no other when he needed to. For decades, he had never spoken of the events of that night, and those who knew had prayed that it was because he had put it all behind him. That day, for Fei Long, he had opened that door once more by forcing himself to service an enemy. The thought of what it might trigger and what it might do to him frightened her more than her own nightmares. She knew what he was going through. She had been there before, time and time again.
“It won’t come off,” he repeated, cursing under his breath at the stain only he could see. Despite his composure, the fact that he said those words was enough to tell her how close he was to losing it.
“You don’t have to do this.” She forced him to look at her, hoping that it would bring him back to reality. Alexei was gone, and she was the only one left who had seen him go through this. The only problem was whether he would let her in. “Do you hear me? You can’t do this, and you know it!” She bit down on her lip to hold back the tears. In a way, she knew it was a waste of time. Mikhail had no choice, and he was not the kind of man to back out under any circumstances. But that day was just the beginning-who knew what Toh would put him through under the circumstances. It had been over two decades and she could still remember his fright when he saw the marks of bondage on his wrists. For five years after, his trauma would return every time he was forced to be near a pair of handcuffs or a whip, and he had dragged himself to therapy for years before he could handle them again. Facing the same situations, coupled with his new sobriety, and all that he had worked so hard to overcome would resurface. If she couldn’t bear to go through that again, what would it do to him?
Mikhail clenched his fists as he listened to the words he knew were right. He knew what he was at risk of. He remembered better than she did what it did to him. Even if he could get Fei Long out, their relationship would never be the same. Fei Long would never look at him the same way again, and there wouldn’t be much of him left to fix if he relapsed. There would be no hope for the future afterwards, but the other outcome, to him, was not an option. “I can’t lose him, Feodora.” It was not an option. “I won’t lose him.”
There were times when he was in his most vulnerable state, when he had his back to the wall and nowhere to run, times when she was the one he would seek out for comfort. Those days seemed like a hundred years ago, and she had always known she would sacrifice every drop of her blood to be that shelter for him again. That day he looked at her as he once did, and she immediately knew that it was the point of no return. Why did it have to be over this? He was asking her for support on something that would lead to his self-destruction, and she didn’t have the strength to refuse him. Mikhail had only needed to ask, and she would die to fulfill his wish if that’s what it took.
“Then we’ll get him out.” If this was what fate had in store for them both, then so be it. There wasn’t one part of her that wanted to save Fei Long, but if this was what Mikhail had chosen to turn to her for, then she would see it through even if she had to live with dire consequences afterwards. When he has to relive his nightmares, when Fei Long abandons him for what he was about to do, Mikhail should know he could count on her to be there for him. “We’ll get him out.”
There was a hint of relief on his expression when he heard those words, before the loving arms she once knew wrapped around her body, pulling her close. His hands dug into her back until she felt sore, less to give her comfort and more for his own. As he laid his head on her shoulder, she bathed herself in the scent of him, the aftershave he had been using since he was eighteen, the rosemary mint conditioner that she used to adore, the faint smell of espresso that clung to his clothes, everything that linked her to him for the past three decades. It had been a while since she had last cried in the warmth of his embrace. He was her friend, her family, her savior - the last remaining person in the world to live for. There was no limit to what she was willing to do for him. She wanted him to know this. She wanted him to believe in it. Always.
Yoh was standing by the bedroom door when she walked out. She was certain he had been there for a while and had heard the conversation. After all, it was what the former mole was specialized in.
“I’ve made my decision.” He handed her the brown envelope, his expression remained stoic as he spoke. “What’s yours?”
She reached for the documents and found that they had all been signed. If Yoh had hesitated, it certainly wasn’t for long. “Why are you all doing this for him?” Fei Long was pretty, but men like Yoh and Mikhail wouldn’t sacrifice so much for just a pretty face.
Why was a question he had never had to answer. What was it that drew him and Mikhail to Fei Long and had forbidden them to leave? For him, things had started to change at a certain point when they were back in prison. He had almost forgotten what it was but now that she asked, he remembered.
“If there is one man who never gives up on what he believes in, despite having failed and lost everything he had ever loved and cared for in the past twenty-eight years, that man is Liu Fei Long.” He wouldn’t change, no matter how many times he had been knocked down, betrayed, or cast aside. He would still trust when no one else would trust, and love when love had scarred him time after time despite all his efforts to refrain from it. In the face of misery, when everyone would try their best to forget or put it behind them, Fei Long would live in it, day after day, tasting every pain as if it was the very thing that kept him alive. Some people had called it a weakness - the way he’d allowed his emotions to dictate his life. To Yoh, it takes an unimaginable amount of courage and strength to live that way. But it was who he was-Fei Long would live, love, and suffer with every breath he took and every bone in his body. Yoh was certain Mikhail had seen this too, perhaps even Asami, which was why he had once allowed Fei Long to get under his skin. The man could deny it his grave, but the mess that he had left behind almost eight years ago does not lie.
“Fei Long lives for what we all lack the courage and strength to live for. If he does not make it, then there’s no hope for any of us.” He wouldn’t expect anyone who has never suffered a day in his life at the hands of another to understand, nor would anyone without a heart. For someone with a past like Feodora, someone who can see beyond the surface of things, it was just a matter of knowing him.
For the first time, she began to understand why Mikhail and Alexei had been so drawn to the Chinese man. Perhaps if she had had more time to get to know him, under different circumstances, she too might have wished to see him survive. For now, it didn't matter. Mikhail had asked this of her, and she would stand by him, all the way.
"We have to do this quietly and quickly, before Toh gets a wind of it. Are you sure you're ready for this?"
In their world, quietly and quickly meant drastic measures. In Feodora's dictionary, it probably meant the extreme end of it. He knew there would be no time for smooth-talking now, not that it would help anyway.
Yoh nodded. "Tell me what to do."
***
Asami had been in a bad mood since that night. Akihito had an inkling that it was due to the fact that he had overstepped his boundaries and pressed for answers, even though it had proven to be as fruitless as before. All he had gotten out of it was yet another rough night that left him wobbling for two days after. Sex was the only way Asami knew to make things go his way. He would strip your control bare with his touch, and expect you to forget whatever happened in the morning. Most of the time he could let the issues go and not think too much afterwards. This time, every bit of it stayed. The truth about Fei Long had long troubled his heart since he’d met to Chinese man, and it was one of the main reasons why he had decided to come to China. He had made a decision that this time it would not end with sex, and judging from the irritation on his face, Asami had probably sensed this too. He’d like to fool himself that it was because he cared, but Akihito knew that expression by heart. A “nuisance” would be the perfect way to describe Akihito’s pain according to the older man. Asami liked his life simple, predictable, and in control. Still, he had allowed Fei Long to get close enough to mess up every rule. Why?
The older man glanced at him from across the room as he discussed something in English with Arbatov and intentionally ignored the glare that Akihito gave him. The man probably thought that he needed another good fuck and then it would all go away. He had to admit, there wasn’t a single day in his life when he’d wanted to fuck the man over as he did in that moment, if only to teach him a lesson.
“Do you know what they’re saying?” Tao whispered to him from behind. The boy obviously hadn’t been included in their previous conversation about the plan to get Fei Long out, but he seemed to have picked up that something was about to go down.
“They’ve made a deal with Toh, and Yoh is going to go to Fei Long to get him out.” He patted the boy’s back. It was the simplest explanation he could come up with to not worry the kid.
“Why doesn’t Mr. Arbatov get him out?” The boy gave him a look that was pretty clear he didn’t like the idea.
“Because he has another job to do,” Akihito cleared his throat as he tried to explain. “Which has to do with helping Fei Long, of course.”
“I don’t trust Yoh. He’s betrayed Fei-sama before.”
“Don’t worry,” said Feodora, who had just entered the room and overheard their conversation. “This time, if he does I’ll let you shoot him. He will be your first kill, that I promise you.”
Tao nodded, and Akihito found himself at a sudden loss for words. The woman didn’t sound like she was kidding and neither one of them took it as a joke. Tao had been training under her supervision for the last few days, but Akihito was expecting him to be able to shoot, not turn into another Arbatov. Honestly, he didn’t like that Tao had learned how to handle a gun in the first place, but in a way, the boy had the right to choose his own path. He doubted Asami would ever allow him to.
“Gentlemen,” she turned to her husband and his guests, waving a small piece of paper she was holding between her fingers. “I have the server address and the password from Toh. He had someone dropped them off just now.”
There was a brief exchange of look between Arbatov and Yoh that was more stressful than eager. At first, he thought that they both would be glad to be able to see the direct CCTV feed from Fei Long’s cell, instead they both looked like they were about to walk into a field full of landmines. Akihito couldn’t blame them. Fei Long had obviously been tortured with God knows what for the last few days. If the thought of what he looked like now made his stomach turn, what would it do to them?
When no one made a move, Feodora took the initiative. “I’ll set it up,” she said briefly before heading to the monitor room.
They all entered afterwards, one by one, and it did feel like walking into a room full of landmines. The monitors went blank for a few seconds, before it revealed a room with white walls and no windows. The cell seemed to be clean enough from the distance, and was equipped with a washbasin and a shower with privacy glass door. In the middle of the room, against the wall was a twin bed covered in what appeared to be fresh, new sheets. On it was Fei Long, sitting with his arms around his knees and his face buried behind the curtain of his jet black hair.
Silence took over the room like Death had just descended and swept it clear of life. Akihito held his breath as he watched the Chinese man from the monitor, waiting for a movement, any movement to be made. Mikhail and Yoh stood as still as two statues cemented to the ground, their eyes focused on the exact same spot on the screen for what was hidden beneath the disordered hair.
Feodora moved forward and touched a button on the keyboard. The camera moved to a different angle at the stroke. Like instinct, Fei Long lifted his head and looked straight at them from the monitors, each one of them revealed the face of a man Akihito did not recognize.
The two bruises, one just above the right cheekbone, the other near the left corner of his lips, had already turned dark purple and did their part well in disfiguring the once-perfect face. The inch-long row of stitches above the right brow did too. But what had truly rendered the man foreign to him was the pair of sharp, dark eyes that shone from underneath the pool of hair. Akihito found himself cold at the fingertips. He knew Fei Long could be scary at times, but the way he seethed with hatred that day told him even Tao’s tears wouldn’t get through to the man.
"He knows," Feodora said, her eyes fixated on the screen. She had expected to see a helpless, bruised and battered being from the video feed. The man was bruised and battered all right, but helpless was far from being the appropriate word to describe what she saw. The fact that Fei Long seemed to be burning with vengeance in every breath could only mean that he knew what was at stake and dreaded the idea as much as she did. In a way, she was glad to see it. The man is worth saving after all. “You’d better get him out of there before he chews through the concrete and initiates a massacre."
Akihito knew she wasn’t kidding. He didn't know who Phillip Toh was, but he was certain the man was going to be in a worse situation than Asami, if Fei Long gets out, that is.
There was a strange kind of silence surrounding the three men and the kid, all of whom had a long history with the Fei Long. He had expected Tao to cry, but judging from the tightness of his jaws he was more furious than sorry for his guardian. Asami was staring quietly at the screen with an expression that often came up when something from the past was bothering him. But what had surprised Akihito the most were the two men who mirrored each other in reaction, despite all of the differences in their personalities. Mikhail and Yoh both had a look of relief and hope on their faces, and in that moment he understood what Fei Long had truly meant to them. The most important thing was that Fei Long was alive. It was love beyond pride and possession, beyond vengeance and ego. The two of them would sacrifice anything for Fei Long. Would Asami have done the same for him? He had to wonder.
"You ready for this?" Mikhail asked, not that he needed to hear the answer. There was no going back now. Ready or not, the plan must go into action.
Yoh nodded. "Get the microchip. We have to get moving. Now."
***
The microchip was an undetectable, remote-controlled tracking device that was only five millimeters in length and three millimeters in width. It was designed to be injected under the skin and completely invisible under any kind of screening known to man when it’s not transmitting a signal. According to Feodora, it was developed by the Russian military and top secret. The catch was that it was in the testing phase and there was a certain degree of uncertainty about its functionality and range. Knowing this, Yoh didn’t think twice when he rolled up his sleeve.
"As soon as we see you on-screen with Fei Long, I will turn on the transmitter from here and coordinate an air strike to give you an exit," Feodora explained as she readied the microchip injector. "You will be dropped some weapons to help get you both off of the premises. Since we won't know where you will be until the moment the transmitter is turned on, you won’t have a getaway vehicle. From then onwards, you will be on your own."
Yoh nodded. “How will you fly over without being shot down on sight?”
“We’ll use a stealth fighter to go in. They won't be able to detect it under their radar ahead of time, and it's too fast to shoot at from the ground."
"That means getting a fighter jet in two days. How?" It’s not like there’s one available on Ebay.
“We don’t have to get one,” Feodora replied as she pressed the injector on Yoh’s arm and punched in the microchip. When the man didn’t wince, she smiled. “He has one in storage.”
“He has what in storage? An F-35?”
“T-50, 4th generation,” Mikhail answered. “It’s a little old but it’ll have to do.”
“Why?” For Baishe’s security reasons, he had to ask. Even though he was certain Fei Long and Asami could have gotten one if they wanted to, there was never a need for a state-of-the-art military stealth fighter.
“Because my 5th generation is in Moscow,” Mikhail replied irritatingly. He didn’t quite understand why the man needed the newest model.
Yoh suddenly gave up the will to interrogate. Fei Long can do that later. “Even then, you can’t expect to fly a Russian fighter jet in China without being shot down.”
“Mikhail has clearance to play with most of his toys,” Feodora replied, rolling her eyes at her husband.
“Okay.” He still didn’t quite understand how Fei Long could have dated the man for so long. “I assume that you have a pilot you can trust to fly this thing then?”
“She doesn’t have a license, but yes, you can trust her.”
“She?” Yoh looked up at Feodora who was standing over him, checking the microchip's signal on a GPS. “You can fly a fighter jet?”
“I’m married to Mikhail Arbatov, in case you haven’t noticed. He does not settle for second best,” she replied before turning off the transmitter and putting the GPS away. “The microchip seems to be working. Now we need to make a move on Baishe to make sure everything goes as planned."
"What about Baishe?" For the first time, Asami had a question. It was something no one had discussed with him before.
"With us all gone, it only takes one phone call from Toh to Liu Yan Tsui to attack us. We have to deal with Baishe before that happens," Feodora explained. "I've made the necessary steps for the police to take him into custody, we're just waiting for some documents to be signed." She placed a small stack of paper on the table and pushed it towards the Japanese man. "That's where you come in."
With his usual calmness, Asami flipped through the documents casually and placed them back on the table. "No." His answer was short, simple, and absolute.
Feodora took a glance at Yoh. He gave her an almost unnoticeable nod. But before they had made their moves, Akihito rose from his chair and cut in.
"Please sign it," he said, pushing the documents closer to the older man. "I know everything now. It's the only way." What Asami had refused to tell him, he'd heard it all from Yoh the day before. He had waited long enough and tried hard enough for Asami to open up to him that he had decided it was time he figured things out on his own. It wasn't right, but something had to be done, something had to change. First, this unfinished business with Fei Long had to come to an end, once and for all. "You owe him this much."
The look on Asami's face that day told Akihito that he had done it. He remembered that expression by heart since the day on the casino ship, when the man had pointed a gun at Fei Long with every intention to kill. It wasn't an easy thing to stomach, knowing exactly who it was he was sharing his bed with at night. But he had ignored that truth long enough and was now ready to face it.
"This is the last time you’ll get to interfere with my business," Asami warned using a tone he'd never before used with the boy. For years he had tried to keep Takaba away from his work. It was the only way to protect what was, to him, an oasis to come back to. Takaba Akihito was never to be involved with all of this, especially with Fei Long. That day would be the last day they remained in China, this he'd decided and would see it through. "My answer is no, and it's final."
"I thought so," Feodora said.
By the time Asami saw the revolver, she was already aiming it at Takaba. "Come here," she told the boy, dragging the chair next to her out from under the table.
Akihito looked at his lover, whose eyes had turned a frightening shade of gold, and understood what was happening-he was being taken hostage… again. Only this time, he understood why. He did what he could to draw whatever courage he had inside of him to do the right thing. He took a step back, and then another, moving away from the man and closer to the Russian.
When Asami reached for him, a shot went off somewhere near the boy's arm and punched a hole on the wall between them.
"Don't move," Yoh said. In his hand held a gun with a smoking barrel.
"You will die for this," Asami warned his once faithful subordinate. He didn't let the man live for this, and he would not make the same mistake again.
"I once said I would always be your faithful subordinate, that’s not a lie," Yoh told him without an intention of backing down. "But given no choice, I would willingly die for him. You know this. You always have."
As much as it pained Akihito to move towards Feodora, he knew he didn’t have a choice. But he also knew that if this didn't push the man to come clean and include him as a part of his life - a real part - no amount of love would have mattered. There was a wall he needed to break to get close to the man, and he wanted that to happen so much. If this was what it took, then so be it.
"You know this will never get you anywhere," Asami addressed them all with the kind of calmness that told Akihito a storm was coming. "You kill him, and you will lose everything."
"True," Feodora said before she forced the boy to sit down on the chair. "But just to demonstrate the level of my seriousness on the issue, let me entertain you with a game, shall we?"
With professional efficiency, she unloaded her weapon and picked up a bullet from the table. "I'm sure you are familiar with this game," she smiled as she pushed the bullet into the revolver. "But I am an Arbatov, and two is the tradition." Another bullet was added without delay. Before Asami could voice his objection, she snapped the barrel in place, spun it around and pulled the trigger.
It was the first time Akihito had learned the reason why men wet their pants in situations like this. The revolver made a clicking sound that taught him what miracle meant. The first shot was too quick for him to have had enough time or understanding for it to really get under his skin. But it was the second time, when she held the revolver against his temple, that every inch of his body became aware of what was about to happen. His heart was slamming against his chest loud enough that he could hear nothing else, not even the sound of his own breathing. This is it, he thought. Right here, right now, his life was about to end. And the only man who could save him was sitting across the table, contemplating whether he was worth the sacrifice.
"I swear to God, if he--"
Before Asami could finish the sentence, she spun the barrel and pulled the trigger once more, and this time Akihito found himself in tears as another click sounded in place of a bang.
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure my family is safe," Feodora said, her eyes revealed every intention to fulfill her promises. "Your pet means nothing to me, and I will sleep soundly tonight after putting a bullet through his head. You ask yourself now how much your anonymity is worth, and how you will live from this point onwards knowing he died for it."
She pressed the revolver harder against Akihito's skull. "I will count to three. Sign it, or die right here with him. One." She had no time to waste, and if Asami had truly loved the boy, he would have needed no time to decide.
Akihito could see Asami’s chest heaving with every breath he took. His hands curled tight into fists on the table as he stared the woman down with eyes that could set ice on fire. It was possibly the first time the man had been cornered that way, and the first time his love for him was truly put to the test.
“Please,” Akihito pleaded as tears continued to pour down the sides of his face. A part of it was certainly fear, but the other part was the knowledge that Asami had waited this long to decide.
Is this all I’m worth to you?
“Two,” the Russian woman didn’t wait for long. Akihito didn’t have to look at her to see the expression that must have matched her husband’s on the casino ship, when Akihito had been taken hostage and treated like nothing more than an object. To these people, his life was as insignificant as a fly’s. They could kill him and Asami at any given time, without hesitation, without remorse, and without fear of the consequences. Asami was right, he didn’t know what he was walking into when he had brought them all here.
It was the first time Akihito had seen Asami tremble in anger. He looked at the documents, and then to him. The sound of Yoh cocking his gun echoed loudly through the room when Asami reached inside his pocket. That moment, despite his surprise, he had no doubt Yoh was more than ready to shoot his former boss. The man, too, had been cornered. He would never let Fei Long die by doing nothing.
There was a click that came from Mikhail’s direction when Asami had finished signing the papers. Akihito saw a surprised look on his lover’s face as he placed his hand over the nape of his neck. In matters of seconds, the man collapsed on the table.
Forgetting the gun on his temple, he turned around and saw Mikhail Arbatov standing at the back of the room with what appeared to be a tranquilizer gun.
Another click sounded. Akihito felt a needle prick his arm before his conscious slipped away.
***
Mikhail was standing with his arms crossed behind his back in front of the screens when Yoh entered. The man didn’t move at the sounds he made, perhaps because he was lost too deep in his own thoughts, or perhaps he had come to recognize Yoh’s presence.
“We put them in separate cells down in the basement. She’s going to keep Takaba drugged and dependent on life support until everything’s cleared.” To make sure that everything clears, as a matter of fact. That way Asami had no choice but to comply with everything she needed done. “Your wife is,” he tried to think of a word...and failed. “Indescribable.”
“She has been my father’s right hand man for ten years, much longer than she has been my wife.” There was a tenderness to his tone when he spoke of her, even though it was not with the same kind of affection as when he did Fei Long. He should not have expected any less from the man. Mikhail Arbatov would have had to be an idiot to not see the value of this woman, and Fei Long would not have fallen for an idiot.
“She’s worried that you’ll snap when you go to Toh,” Yoh said as he moved to stand next to the man where he, too, could see Fei Long clearly in his cell. She didn’t have to tell him, and she wouldn’t have. He could see it in her eyes every time she looked at her husband. He also could sense that Mikhail had been under stress since he came back from the meeting. The plan needed both of them at their best to be accomplished. “I need you to hold it together until I get him out. How do I know you won’t snap?”
Mikhail stilled for a second at the question. He glanced at the other man from the corner of his eyes as he removed the cigarette from his lips and placed it on the silver ashtray. A long, deep breath was taken and held before he reached for Yoh’s collar and pulled him up into a kiss.
It lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough to drive a point through.
“Do I look like I’m about to snap?” The Russian asked when he pulled away.
“Considering that you’ve just kissed the second man you’d rather see dead, you have a point,” Yoh replied. "Let's just hope you do as well when you go to Toh."
Mikhail pressed his lips together in distaste. "I need a cigarette."
"I agree," Yoh added without a second thought. After that unexpected...demonstration, he needed one as much.
Mikhail picked up the rest of his Treasurer Black from the ashtray, before offering Yoh a new one from the pack.
Together they stood in absolute silence, looking at the man who sat alone on the bed, unmoving. Fei Long had been there for hours since they’d first received the camera feed, either lost in his thoughts or planning something in his head. Every once in a while he would look up at the camera, and, having been by the man's side for more than seven years, Yoh could tell that stress and anger kept multiplying by the minute in the Baishe leader’s heart. Ex-leader to be exact, Yoh corrected himself. Fei Long was being imprisoned and tortured by his own blood, he had lost everything he had and was about to lose the only man that he had come to treasure with his life. If that doesn't push a man to the edge, he didn't know what will.
"You do know he would rather die than to see you do this, don't you?" Yoh asked, nearly wincing at the thought.
"I doubt it," Mikhail replied with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Perhaps also with a trace of pain somewhere that he'd refused to show.
"And if you're wrong, what then?" He knew Fei Long better than anyone to be wrong. He had been observing everything the man did for almost a decade, every second of every day. "What do I tell him?" He was not good with words, nor did he possess the power or enough influence to change Fei Long’s mind.
"If I am wrong," Mikhail said, pausing to take another puff on the cigarette, his eyes focused at the screen as if his words could be heard on the other side. "Tell him I want him to live, that for everything I have done for him, he is to give me this in return."
There was another pause, but the way he held his breath told Yoh he wasn't finished. There was still something he wanted Fei Long to know, and he needed to gather his strength to say it, without showing his true weakness in front of another man.
"Tell him," he said, choking momentarily on his own words as Fei Long unknowingly looked up and caught his eyes. "That I have something that belongs to him, that will always belong to him, and I want him to come back for it. I want him to come home."
It had been a while since something had made Yoh smile. While it was undeniably painful to witness the strength of their relationship, the point was that he had witnessed it all. Apart from the two of them, only he knew the meaning of those words. He knew what was written on the card that came with the key. He knew the significance of the piece of jewelry Fei Long had always worn close to his heart. He had seen everything, every smile, every tear, and every look Fei Long had upon his face when he touched it. It was why he knew how much the Russian had meant to the man - something that Mikhail would never truly understand. Like Feodora who had held a place in her husband's heart Fei Long cannot touch, he too had a place by Fei Long's side that cannot be taken away. It was in that moment that he understood how she had endured it all so well. Was it not, in a way, what he had always wanted? To be given the privilege to witness what Fei Long would not allow others to see?
"What time is it?"
Mikhail tugged at his sleeve and looked at the watch. "8:15, why?"
Yoh smiled an almost unnoticeable smile as he turned to leave. "Nothing."
There was a sparkle of something gold on that other wrist. Mikhail Arbatov was ready, and so was he.
***
P.S. I hope it wasn't awful and that it was worth the wait. Even if it was, please drop me a line and let me know. Or if you don't know what to say, how about supporting the rest of Fei fans that are still here and wish him a very happy birthday! It would be so warm to see how many of us are still around ^_^ Thanks again for reading and keeping me going.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FEI LONG!
Title: Retribution Fifteen
Rating: PG-13
Warning: violence, OOC (if you agree with FNR), AU (if you agree w/ FNR), but for those who disagree: CWC (Canon? What Canon?)
Characters: Fei Long, Mikhail, Yoh, AxA, Feodora (OC), Tao
Spoiler: Spoiler for NT arc
Disclaimer: All VF characters belong to Yamane Ayano.
Beta: angel0399
Previous Chapters: For new readers, 'Retribution' is the third arc of a Mik x Fei trilogy that I've suffered my readers with since 2007. In order to make sense of it I'm afraid you will need to read 'Cruel Intentions' and its sequel 'Revelation' before you begin 'Retribution.' All the links are organized on the side bar of my lj kajornwan along with the trilogy's one-shot fillers. Russian, Chinese, Polish, Spanish (COMPLETED! OMG!), German, French, and newly added VIETNAMESE! (thank you everyone!) translations by readers are also found here. To make life even easier, a dear reader gryffin-draco has gone through the trouble of putting these in PDF files for download. Cruel Intentions and Revelation. Thank you so much sweetie.
“I don’t like it,” Feodora said with an expression that looked like someone had put too much sugar in her tea. Yoh doubted that such an event would ever happen, although her not liking Mikhail’s plan probably occurred a lot, if not every time.
“You don’t believe he can pull this off?” Yoh placed his espresso down on the saucer. The doubt on her face had somewhat ruined his appetite. A woman’s intuition was usually right, especially if it’s someone like Feodora’s. The woman had, after all, survived an entire family of Arbatovs-that had to account for something supernatural.
She shook her head slowly, still deliberating about the issue in her head. “Mikhail can pull off any scheme he dreams about. It’s what happens afterwards that he never seems to take into account.” One fine example would be getting involved with Baishe from the beginning. She was willing to bet her husband never saw trouble coming when he had set his eyes on Fei Long. Living like there’s no tomorrow had always been the core of his personality and it’s what always had drawn people to him. Even she knew she would not have loved him so much otherwise. “Can we not just kidnap one of his bastards for an exchange?” Feodora sighed in defeat. She knew the answer to that question, only it still sounded like a good idea.
Yoh stilled for a moment-he didn’t know that she had come across that information. Phillip Toh had two bastard sons that he didn’t acknowledge, and only few in his organization knew about them. “They’re toddlers.”
“You speak as if that’s the reason you haven’t brought it up.” Feodora sneered. She saw the kind of man that he was the first time they’d met. That stubbornness of his could dominate any moral issue that got in his way-an attribute that would make him the most valuable subordinate… if one could capture his loyalty. However without that loyalty, he would be the biggest threat to the organization and would have to be eliminated immediately. It was an issue she had to find an answer to quickly, considering what Mikhail was planning.
“As a pregnant woman, shouldn’t it be yours?”
The surprise she showed on her face was slight, but in her mind the man had immediately put her on guard. She had to be more careful around this man-the former mole was better at his job than he appeared. “As a pregnant woman, my priority is the survival of my child.”
Yoh nodded in acknowledgement. In her position, it was hard enough keeping everyone in her own family alive. A normal woman probably has it in her to care. A woman who has had her entire family murdered overnight probably couldn’t afford to. “They lack the significance to be used as pawns,” he said. “At this point, we need to make sure we have enough man and fire power to pull this off. Mikhail needs your cooperation.” He knew that she was the only one who could make things happen in her husband’s absence. The only problem was getting her to agree with the plan.
“We don't," she said with the kind of certainty in her tone that made Yoh wish he hadn’t asked. Something in her eyes, however, made him listen on. "Not with Baishe backing them." They were already at war both in Russia and China. If Toh sensed an attack, one phone call from him to Baishe could initiate an attack on their territory that they would not be able to counter. It was too risky.
The last sentence was spoken with conviction, not out of despair. She had a plan. "If you kill Liu Yan Tsui while Fei Long is missing, Baishe would crumble from the internal conflict. I can’t let that happen, neither would Mikhail." Baishe was the most important thing to Fei Long-sacrificing it wouldn’t be any different from killing the man with their own hands. But Baishe was a problem, this, she was not wrong.
"I’m not going to kill him," she said, her eyes glittered sharply. "He just needs to be put away." For now.
"It's not going to work.” Yoh shook his head skeptically. “Toh has too many connections.” Not to mention that he must have already used them to get Yan Tsui back into Hong Kong.
“So do we,” she smiled.
Her confidence over the situation was remarkable. Still... “You will need some concrete evidence, which we don’t have.”
Feodora placed her teacup down slowly and leaned back on the soft leather cushion of her armchair. “Why do you think Asami Ryuichi is here?”
Yoh didn’t know whether to congratulate her for coming up with the idea, or to pity her for dreaming of something impossible. He knew Asami Ryuichi; he had worked for the man for more than a decade to know he would never expose himself publicly at any cost. "The only reason he has survived this long and this well is because he’s always kept himself a mere shadow in the underworld. He would never testify.”
"Won't he?" She smiled again, and Yoh felt an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. "Phillip Toh is not the only one who knows how to utilize a hostage, which is why I have two Japanese guests in my house."
Arbatovs, he almost said it out loud. The Russians have always been the experts at kidnapping and taking hostages. Silently, Yoh cursed himself-he’d been too focused on saving Fei Long to think carefully about his former boss. Asami was the only one who witnessed the murder of Liu senior and could be counted as solid evidence if he decides to cooperate. Still, she shouldn’t think that the plan wouldn’t come with serious consequences. "You touch Takaba, and you will find yourself at war with Asami Ryuichi. This I guarantee." If the Arbatovs couldn’t handle both Toh and Baishe, there was no way in hell they could handle Asami Ryuichi’s vengeance on top of it all.
"Asami Ryuichi is just one man who lives in his own shadow. You said so yourself," she calmly said while examining her flawless manicure. Then, her eyes refocused on him. "Do you think that I wouldn't kill a man in my own home, or do you think that I couldn't?"
She wasn’t wrong. Keeping a virtually invisible profile comes at a cost-no one notices or misses you after your death. His former boss only had to die here with his own two bodyguards, also conveniently held in the villa, to completely disappear. Should he refuse to testify, Takaba will pay the price. Should he comply, the Russians could still eliminate him right after to avoid dealing with the man’s vengeance. Either way, it was what Yoh considered a nightmare. "And you think it's safe to tell me this, knowing I once worked for the man?"
"I have nothing to lose." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and threw one leg over the other. "You, on the other hand, would be the one to suffer all of the consequences of your choice, depending on the path you choose."
"Here is option one-you can run to tell your former boss and betray Fei Long once again. In which case you’ll leave him to rot wherever he is and I'll be rather happy. Or you can pick option two, where you’ll keep your mouth shut and go along with the plan to save your precious Fei Long. Asami will have to sacrifice his anonymity and stronghold by testifying, saving his pet in the process. But he will most likely die right here, unless by some miracles he chooses to forgive and forget all this.” She paused to lean forward. “Who are you willing to sacrifice this time? Fei Long or Asami Ryuichi?”
As the scenes played out in his head, he could feel her eyes measuring every breath he took, every twitch of his brow, and every second he hesitated. If only Mikhail had loved her, there was no limit to what they could conquer together. That said, if she had insisted on winning back her husband, Fei Long would have had to deal with a problem much bigger than Toh. "You still haven't answered my question,” he said without a change in expression. “Why are you telling me this?"
She straightened herself haughtily as her smile slowly receded. “What you're asking for has consequences that I would pay with my blood to prevent,” she told him, her expression suddenly hardened, her words full of venom. "If I am to do this, you'd better be willing to sacrifice more than your life."
Not waiting for an answer, she rose from her chair and placed a brown envelope on the table. “You were in Hong Kong working for Asami Ryuichi the night Liu senior was killed. Sign these papers to confirm his whereabouts before you go to Toh, and I will take it from here.”
“It’s so ironic, isn’t it?” She turned around once more before leaving the table. “He lets you live, and now you get to decide if he should die by your hand.”
***
The wounds have already healed, but the pain had never been too far away.
That was another day when he felt it - the burns that stung like someone had lit his back on fire, the roughness of the hand that dug deep into his flesh afterwards. He remembered nothing, not visually anyway. All he recalled was the pain, the stench of that attic and the feeling of utter disgust on his own skin. The pain he could deal with, it’s the stains that were the hardest to wash off.
The sound of running water used to quiet his thoughts. The heat used to make him feel like he was able to strip his skin bare. That day neither made a difference. His skin still crawled, his stomach still turned, and the smell of dried semen still lingered somewhere he couldn’t escape. That day the stain didn’t go away, not after he’d rubbed his skin red and sore washing it for the tenth time.
“Mikhail.” Feodora called him reluctantly from behind. He didn’t know how long she had been there, or what she had seen. Slowly, she reached out to touch him on his shoulder and he jumped at the contact. “Stop,” she pleaded, her voice soft and quiet like the times she had begged him to quit the drugs. “Just stop.”
He wanted to, but it won’t come off. “It won’t come off,” he told her, scrubbing his hands again and again under the scalding hot water. Memories were racing to catch up with him. He had to get rid of the stains before they swallowed him whole. He couldn’t allow himself to break, not when he was so close to getting Fei Long out. It had to come off. It had to!
It was exactly as she had feared. Feodora had seen him like this before, when he was still suffering from the trauma that had later led to his drug addiction. As if he couldn’t stand his own skin, Mikhail had insisted on cleaning himself repeatedly every time something triggered his memory until he bled or until someone interfered. She didn’t know what he had done during that meeting with Toh, but it wasn’t so hard to guess. Her husband was the master of disguise-he could hide his pain like no other when he needed to. For decades, he had never spoken of the events of that night, and those who knew had prayed that it was because he had put it all behind him. That day, for Fei Long, he had opened that door once more by forcing himself to service an enemy. The thought of what it might trigger and what it might do to him frightened her more than her own nightmares. She knew what he was going through. She had been there before, time and time again.
“It won’t come off,” he repeated, cursing under his breath at the stain only he could see. Despite his composure, the fact that he said those words was enough to tell her how close he was to losing it.
“You don’t have to do this.” She forced him to look at her, hoping that it would bring him back to reality. Alexei was gone, and she was the only one left who had seen him go through this. The only problem was whether he would let her in. “Do you hear me? You can’t do this, and you know it!” She bit down on her lip to hold back the tears. In a way, she knew it was a waste of time. Mikhail had no choice, and he was not the kind of man to back out under any circumstances. But that day was just the beginning-who knew what Toh would put him through under the circumstances. It had been over two decades and she could still remember his fright when he saw the marks of bondage on his wrists. For five years after, his trauma would return every time he was forced to be near a pair of handcuffs or a whip, and he had dragged himself to therapy for years before he could handle them again. Facing the same situations, coupled with his new sobriety, and all that he had worked so hard to overcome would resurface. If she couldn’t bear to go through that again, what would it do to him?
Mikhail clenched his fists as he listened to the words he knew were right. He knew what he was at risk of. He remembered better than she did what it did to him. Even if he could get Fei Long out, their relationship would never be the same. Fei Long would never look at him the same way again, and there wouldn’t be much of him left to fix if he relapsed. There would be no hope for the future afterwards, but the other outcome, to him, was not an option. “I can’t lose him, Feodora.” It was not an option. “I won’t lose him.”
There were times when he was in his most vulnerable state, when he had his back to the wall and nowhere to run, times when she was the one he would seek out for comfort. Those days seemed like a hundred years ago, and she had always known she would sacrifice every drop of her blood to be that shelter for him again. That day he looked at her as he once did, and she immediately knew that it was the point of no return. Why did it have to be over this? He was asking her for support on something that would lead to his self-destruction, and she didn’t have the strength to refuse him. Mikhail had only needed to ask, and she would die to fulfill his wish if that’s what it took.
“Then we’ll get him out.” If this was what fate had in store for them both, then so be it. There wasn’t one part of her that wanted to save Fei Long, but if this was what Mikhail had chosen to turn to her for, then she would see it through even if she had to live with dire consequences afterwards. When he has to relive his nightmares, when Fei Long abandons him for what he was about to do, Mikhail should know he could count on her to be there for him. “We’ll get him out.”
There was a hint of relief on his expression when he heard those words, before the loving arms she once knew wrapped around her body, pulling her close. His hands dug into her back until she felt sore, less to give her comfort and more for his own. As he laid his head on her shoulder, she bathed herself in the scent of him, the aftershave he had been using since he was eighteen, the rosemary mint conditioner that she used to adore, the faint smell of espresso that clung to his clothes, everything that linked her to him for the past three decades. It had been a while since she had last cried in the warmth of his embrace. He was her friend, her family, her savior - the last remaining person in the world to live for. There was no limit to what she was willing to do for him. She wanted him to know this. She wanted him to believe in it. Always.
Yoh was standing by the bedroom door when she walked out. She was certain he had been there for a while and had heard the conversation. After all, it was what the former mole was specialized in.
“I’ve made my decision.” He handed her the brown envelope, his expression remained stoic as he spoke. “What’s yours?”
She reached for the documents and found that they had all been signed. If Yoh had hesitated, it certainly wasn’t for long. “Why are you all doing this for him?” Fei Long was pretty, but men like Yoh and Mikhail wouldn’t sacrifice so much for just a pretty face.
Why was a question he had never had to answer. What was it that drew him and Mikhail to Fei Long and had forbidden them to leave? For him, things had started to change at a certain point when they were back in prison. He had almost forgotten what it was but now that she asked, he remembered.
“If there is one man who never gives up on what he believes in, despite having failed and lost everything he had ever loved and cared for in the past twenty-eight years, that man is Liu Fei Long.” He wouldn’t change, no matter how many times he had been knocked down, betrayed, or cast aside. He would still trust when no one else would trust, and love when love had scarred him time after time despite all his efforts to refrain from it. In the face of misery, when everyone would try their best to forget or put it behind them, Fei Long would live in it, day after day, tasting every pain as if it was the very thing that kept him alive. Some people had called it a weakness - the way he’d allowed his emotions to dictate his life. To Yoh, it takes an unimaginable amount of courage and strength to live that way. But it was who he was-Fei Long would live, love, and suffer with every breath he took and every bone in his body. Yoh was certain Mikhail had seen this too, perhaps even Asami, which was why he had once allowed Fei Long to get under his skin. The man could deny it his grave, but the mess that he had left behind almost eight years ago does not lie.
“Fei Long lives for what we all lack the courage and strength to live for. If he does not make it, then there’s no hope for any of us.” He wouldn’t expect anyone who has never suffered a day in his life at the hands of another to understand, nor would anyone without a heart. For someone with a past like Feodora, someone who can see beyond the surface of things, it was just a matter of knowing him.
For the first time, she began to understand why Mikhail and Alexei had been so drawn to the Chinese man. Perhaps if she had had more time to get to know him, under different circumstances, she too might have wished to see him survive. For now, it didn't matter. Mikhail had asked this of her, and she would stand by him, all the way.
"We have to do this quietly and quickly, before Toh gets a wind of it. Are you sure you're ready for this?"
In their world, quietly and quickly meant drastic measures. In Feodora's dictionary, it probably meant the extreme end of it. He knew there would be no time for smooth-talking now, not that it would help anyway.
Yoh nodded. "Tell me what to do."
***
Asami had been in a bad mood since that night. Akihito had an inkling that it was due to the fact that he had overstepped his boundaries and pressed for answers, even though it had proven to be as fruitless as before. All he had gotten out of it was yet another rough night that left him wobbling for two days after. Sex was the only way Asami knew to make things go his way. He would strip your control bare with his touch, and expect you to forget whatever happened in the morning. Most of the time he could let the issues go and not think too much afterwards. This time, every bit of it stayed. The truth about Fei Long had long troubled his heart since he’d met to Chinese man, and it was one of the main reasons why he had decided to come to China. He had made a decision that this time it would not end with sex, and judging from the irritation on his face, Asami had probably sensed this too. He’d like to fool himself that it was because he cared, but Akihito knew that expression by heart. A “nuisance” would be the perfect way to describe Akihito’s pain according to the older man. Asami liked his life simple, predictable, and in control. Still, he had allowed Fei Long to get close enough to mess up every rule. Why?
The older man glanced at him from across the room as he discussed something in English with Arbatov and intentionally ignored the glare that Akihito gave him. The man probably thought that he needed another good fuck and then it would all go away. He had to admit, there wasn’t a single day in his life when he’d wanted to fuck the man over as he did in that moment, if only to teach him a lesson.
“Do you know what they’re saying?” Tao whispered to him from behind. The boy obviously hadn’t been included in their previous conversation about the plan to get Fei Long out, but he seemed to have picked up that something was about to go down.
“They’ve made a deal with Toh, and Yoh is going to go to Fei Long to get him out.” He patted the boy’s back. It was the simplest explanation he could come up with to not worry the kid.
“Why doesn’t Mr. Arbatov get him out?” The boy gave him a look that was pretty clear he didn’t like the idea.
“Because he has another job to do,” Akihito cleared his throat as he tried to explain. “Which has to do with helping Fei Long, of course.”
“I don’t trust Yoh. He’s betrayed Fei-sama before.”
“Don’t worry,” said Feodora, who had just entered the room and overheard their conversation. “This time, if he does I’ll let you shoot him. He will be your first kill, that I promise you.”
Tao nodded, and Akihito found himself at a sudden loss for words. The woman didn’t sound like she was kidding and neither one of them took it as a joke. Tao had been training under her supervision for the last few days, but Akihito was expecting him to be able to shoot, not turn into another Arbatov. Honestly, he didn’t like that Tao had learned how to handle a gun in the first place, but in a way, the boy had the right to choose his own path. He doubted Asami would ever allow him to.
“Gentlemen,” she turned to her husband and his guests, waving a small piece of paper she was holding between her fingers. “I have the server address and the password from Toh. He had someone dropped them off just now.”
There was a brief exchange of look between Arbatov and Yoh that was more stressful than eager. At first, he thought that they both would be glad to be able to see the direct CCTV feed from Fei Long’s cell, instead they both looked like they were about to walk into a field full of landmines. Akihito couldn’t blame them. Fei Long had obviously been tortured with God knows what for the last few days. If the thought of what he looked like now made his stomach turn, what would it do to them?
When no one made a move, Feodora took the initiative. “I’ll set it up,” she said briefly before heading to the monitor room.
They all entered afterwards, one by one, and it did feel like walking into a room full of landmines. The monitors went blank for a few seconds, before it revealed a room with white walls and no windows. The cell seemed to be clean enough from the distance, and was equipped with a washbasin and a shower with privacy glass door. In the middle of the room, against the wall was a twin bed covered in what appeared to be fresh, new sheets. On it was Fei Long, sitting with his arms around his knees and his face buried behind the curtain of his jet black hair.
Silence took over the room like Death had just descended and swept it clear of life. Akihito held his breath as he watched the Chinese man from the monitor, waiting for a movement, any movement to be made. Mikhail and Yoh stood as still as two statues cemented to the ground, their eyes focused on the exact same spot on the screen for what was hidden beneath the disordered hair.
Feodora moved forward and touched a button on the keyboard. The camera moved to a different angle at the stroke. Like instinct, Fei Long lifted his head and looked straight at them from the monitors, each one of them revealed the face of a man Akihito did not recognize.
The two bruises, one just above the right cheekbone, the other near the left corner of his lips, had already turned dark purple and did their part well in disfiguring the once-perfect face. The inch-long row of stitches above the right brow did too. But what had truly rendered the man foreign to him was the pair of sharp, dark eyes that shone from underneath the pool of hair. Akihito found himself cold at the fingertips. He knew Fei Long could be scary at times, but the way he seethed with hatred that day told him even Tao’s tears wouldn’t get through to the man.
"He knows," Feodora said, her eyes fixated on the screen. She had expected to see a helpless, bruised and battered being from the video feed. The man was bruised and battered all right, but helpless was far from being the appropriate word to describe what she saw. The fact that Fei Long seemed to be burning with vengeance in every breath could only mean that he knew what was at stake and dreaded the idea as much as she did. In a way, she was glad to see it. The man is worth saving after all. “You’d better get him out of there before he chews through the concrete and initiates a massacre."
Akihito knew she wasn’t kidding. He didn't know who Phillip Toh was, but he was certain the man was going to be in a worse situation than Asami, if Fei Long gets out, that is.
There was a strange kind of silence surrounding the three men and the kid, all of whom had a long history with the Fei Long. He had expected Tao to cry, but judging from the tightness of his jaws he was more furious than sorry for his guardian. Asami was staring quietly at the screen with an expression that often came up when something from the past was bothering him. But what had surprised Akihito the most were the two men who mirrored each other in reaction, despite all of the differences in their personalities. Mikhail and Yoh both had a look of relief and hope on their faces, and in that moment he understood what Fei Long had truly meant to them. The most important thing was that Fei Long was alive. It was love beyond pride and possession, beyond vengeance and ego. The two of them would sacrifice anything for Fei Long. Would Asami have done the same for him? He had to wonder.
"You ready for this?" Mikhail asked, not that he needed to hear the answer. There was no going back now. Ready or not, the plan must go into action.
Yoh nodded. "Get the microchip. We have to get moving. Now."
***
The microchip was an undetectable, remote-controlled tracking device that was only five millimeters in length and three millimeters in width. It was designed to be injected under the skin and completely invisible under any kind of screening known to man when it’s not transmitting a signal. According to Feodora, it was developed by the Russian military and top secret. The catch was that it was in the testing phase and there was a certain degree of uncertainty about its functionality and range. Knowing this, Yoh didn’t think twice when he rolled up his sleeve.
"As soon as we see you on-screen with Fei Long, I will turn on the transmitter from here and coordinate an air strike to give you an exit," Feodora explained as she readied the microchip injector. "You will be dropped some weapons to help get you both off of the premises. Since we won't know where you will be until the moment the transmitter is turned on, you won’t have a getaway vehicle. From then onwards, you will be on your own."
Yoh nodded. “How will you fly over without being shot down on sight?”
“We’ll use a stealth fighter to go in. They won't be able to detect it under their radar ahead of time, and it's too fast to shoot at from the ground."
"That means getting a fighter jet in two days. How?" It’s not like there’s one available on Ebay.
“We don’t have to get one,” Feodora replied as she pressed the injector on Yoh’s arm and punched in the microchip. When the man didn’t wince, she smiled. “He has one in storage.”
“He has what in storage? An F-35?”
“T-50, 4th generation,” Mikhail answered. “It’s a little old but it’ll have to do.”
“Why?” For Baishe’s security reasons, he had to ask. Even though he was certain Fei Long and Asami could have gotten one if they wanted to, there was never a need for a state-of-the-art military stealth fighter.
“Because my 5th generation is in Moscow,” Mikhail replied irritatingly. He didn’t quite understand why the man needed the newest model.
Yoh suddenly gave up the will to interrogate. Fei Long can do that later. “Even then, you can’t expect to fly a Russian fighter jet in China without being shot down.”
“Mikhail has clearance to play with most of his toys,” Feodora replied, rolling her eyes at her husband.
“Okay.” He still didn’t quite understand how Fei Long could have dated the man for so long. “I assume that you have a pilot you can trust to fly this thing then?”
“She doesn’t have a license, but yes, you can trust her.”
“She?” Yoh looked up at Feodora who was standing over him, checking the microchip's signal on a GPS. “You can fly a fighter jet?”
“I’m married to Mikhail Arbatov, in case you haven’t noticed. He does not settle for second best,” she replied before turning off the transmitter and putting the GPS away. “The microchip seems to be working. Now we need to make a move on Baishe to make sure everything goes as planned."
"What about Baishe?" For the first time, Asami had a question. It was something no one had discussed with him before.
"With us all gone, it only takes one phone call from Toh to Liu Yan Tsui to attack us. We have to deal with Baishe before that happens," Feodora explained. "I've made the necessary steps for the police to take him into custody, we're just waiting for some documents to be signed." She placed a small stack of paper on the table and pushed it towards the Japanese man. "That's where you come in."
With his usual calmness, Asami flipped through the documents casually and placed them back on the table. "No." His answer was short, simple, and absolute.
Feodora took a glance at Yoh. He gave her an almost unnoticeable nod. But before they had made their moves, Akihito rose from his chair and cut in.
"Please sign it," he said, pushing the documents closer to the older man. "I know everything now. It's the only way." What Asami had refused to tell him, he'd heard it all from Yoh the day before. He had waited long enough and tried hard enough for Asami to open up to him that he had decided it was time he figured things out on his own. It wasn't right, but something had to be done, something had to change. First, this unfinished business with Fei Long had to come to an end, once and for all. "You owe him this much."
The look on Asami's face that day told Akihito that he had done it. He remembered that expression by heart since the day on the casino ship, when the man had pointed a gun at Fei Long with every intention to kill. It wasn't an easy thing to stomach, knowing exactly who it was he was sharing his bed with at night. But he had ignored that truth long enough and was now ready to face it.
"This is the last time you’ll get to interfere with my business," Asami warned using a tone he'd never before used with the boy. For years he had tried to keep Takaba away from his work. It was the only way to protect what was, to him, an oasis to come back to. Takaba Akihito was never to be involved with all of this, especially with Fei Long. That day would be the last day they remained in China, this he'd decided and would see it through. "My answer is no, and it's final."
"I thought so," Feodora said.
By the time Asami saw the revolver, she was already aiming it at Takaba. "Come here," she told the boy, dragging the chair next to her out from under the table.
Akihito looked at his lover, whose eyes had turned a frightening shade of gold, and understood what was happening-he was being taken hostage… again. Only this time, he understood why. He did what he could to draw whatever courage he had inside of him to do the right thing. He took a step back, and then another, moving away from the man and closer to the Russian.
When Asami reached for him, a shot went off somewhere near the boy's arm and punched a hole on the wall between them.
"Don't move," Yoh said. In his hand held a gun with a smoking barrel.
"You will die for this," Asami warned his once faithful subordinate. He didn't let the man live for this, and he would not make the same mistake again.
"I once said I would always be your faithful subordinate, that’s not a lie," Yoh told him without an intention of backing down. "But given no choice, I would willingly die for him. You know this. You always have."
As much as it pained Akihito to move towards Feodora, he knew he didn’t have a choice. But he also knew that if this didn't push the man to come clean and include him as a part of his life - a real part - no amount of love would have mattered. There was a wall he needed to break to get close to the man, and he wanted that to happen so much. If this was what it took, then so be it.
"You know this will never get you anywhere," Asami addressed them all with the kind of calmness that told Akihito a storm was coming. "You kill him, and you will lose everything."
"True," Feodora said before she forced the boy to sit down on the chair. "But just to demonstrate the level of my seriousness on the issue, let me entertain you with a game, shall we?"
With professional efficiency, she unloaded her weapon and picked up a bullet from the table. "I'm sure you are familiar with this game," she smiled as she pushed the bullet into the revolver. "But I am an Arbatov, and two is the tradition." Another bullet was added without delay. Before Asami could voice his objection, she snapped the barrel in place, spun it around and pulled the trigger.
It was the first time Akihito had learned the reason why men wet their pants in situations like this. The revolver made a clicking sound that taught him what miracle meant. The first shot was too quick for him to have had enough time or understanding for it to really get under his skin. But it was the second time, when she held the revolver against his temple, that every inch of his body became aware of what was about to happen. His heart was slamming against his chest loud enough that he could hear nothing else, not even the sound of his own breathing. This is it, he thought. Right here, right now, his life was about to end. And the only man who could save him was sitting across the table, contemplating whether he was worth the sacrifice.
"I swear to God, if he--"
Before Asami could finish the sentence, she spun the barrel and pulled the trigger once more, and this time Akihito found himself in tears as another click sounded in place of a bang.
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure my family is safe," Feodora said, her eyes revealed every intention to fulfill her promises. "Your pet means nothing to me, and I will sleep soundly tonight after putting a bullet through his head. You ask yourself now how much your anonymity is worth, and how you will live from this point onwards knowing he died for it."
She pressed the revolver harder against Akihito's skull. "I will count to three. Sign it, or die right here with him. One." She had no time to waste, and if Asami had truly loved the boy, he would have needed no time to decide.
Akihito could see Asami’s chest heaving with every breath he took. His hands curled tight into fists on the table as he stared the woman down with eyes that could set ice on fire. It was possibly the first time the man had been cornered that way, and the first time his love for him was truly put to the test.
“Please,” Akihito pleaded as tears continued to pour down the sides of his face. A part of it was certainly fear, but the other part was the knowledge that Asami had waited this long to decide.
Is this all I’m worth to you?
“Two,” the Russian woman didn’t wait for long. Akihito didn’t have to look at her to see the expression that must have matched her husband’s on the casino ship, when Akihito had been taken hostage and treated like nothing more than an object. To these people, his life was as insignificant as a fly’s. They could kill him and Asami at any given time, without hesitation, without remorse, and without fear of the consequences. Asami was right, he didn’t know what he was walking into when he had brought them all here.
It was the first time Akihito had seen Asami tremble in anger. He looked at the documents, and then to him. The sound of Yoh cocking his gun echoed loudly through the room when Asami reached inside his pocket. That moment, despite his surprise, he had no doubt Yoh was more than ready to shoot his former boss. The man, too, had been cornered. He would never let Fei Long die by doing nothing.
There was a click that came from Mikhail’s direction when Asami had finished signing the papers. Akihito saw a surprised look on his lover’s face as he placed his hand over the nape of his neck. In matters of seconds, the man collapsed on the table.
Forgetting the gun on his temple, he turned around and saw Mikhail Arbatov standing at the back of the room with what appeared to be a tranquilizer gun.
Another click sounded. Akihito felt a needle prick his arm before his conscious slipped away.
***
Mikhail was standing with his arms crossed behind his back in front of the screens when Yoh entered. The man didn’t move at the sounds he made, perhaps because he was lost too deep in his own thoughts, or perhaps he had come to recognize Yoh’s presence.
“We put them in separate cells down in the basement. She’s going to keep Takaba drugged and dependent on life support until everything’s cleared.” To make sure that everything clears, as a matter of fact. That way Asami had no choice but to comply with everything she needed done. “Your wife is,” he tried to think of a word...and failed. “Indescribable.”
“She has been my father’s right hand man for ten years, much longer than she has been my wife.” There was a tenderness to his tone when he spoke of her, even though it was not with the same kind of affection as when he did Fei Long. He should not have expected any less from the man. Mikhail Arbatov would have had to be an idiot to not see the value of this woman, and Fei Long would not have fallen for an idiot.
“She’s worried that you’ll snap when you go to Toh,” Yoh said as he moved to stand next to the man where he, too, could see Fei Long clearly in his cell. She didn’t have to tell him, and she wouldn’t have. He could see it in her eyes every time she looked at her husband. He also could sense that Mikhail had been under stress since he came back from the meeting. The plan needed both of them at their best to be accomplished. “I need you to hold it together until I get him out. How do I know you won’t snap?”
Mikhail stilled for a second at the question. He glanced at the other man from the corner of his eyes as he removed the cigarette from his lips and placed it on the silver ashtray. A long, deep breath was taken and held before he reached for Yoh’s collar and pulled him up into a kiss.
It lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough to drive a point through.
“Do I look like I’m about to snap?” The Russian asked when he pulled away.
“Considering that you’ve just kissed the second man you’d rather see dead, you have a point,” Yoh replied. "Let's just hope you do as well when you go to Toh."
Mikhail pressed his lips together in distaste. "I need a cigarette."
"I agree," Yoh added without a second thought. After that unexpected...demonstration, he needed one as much.
Mikhail picked up the rest of his Treasurer Black from the ashtray, before offering Yoh a new one from the pack.
Together they stood in absolute silence, looking at the man who sat alone on the bed, unmoving. Fei Long had been there for hours since they’d first received the camera feed, either lost in his thoughts or planning something in his head. Every once in a while he would look up at the camera, and, having been by the man's side for more than seven years, Yoh could tell that stress and anger kept multiplying by the minute in the Baishe leader’s heart. Ex-leader to be exact, Yoh corrected himself. Fei Long was being imprisoned and tortured by his own blood, he had lost everything he had and was about to lose the only man that he had come to treasure with his life. If that doesn't push a man to the edge, he didn't know what will.
"You do know he would rather die than to see you do this, don't you?" Yoh asked, nearly wincing at the thought.
"I doubt it," Mikhail replied with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Perhaps also with a trace of pain somewhere that he'd refused to show.
"And if you're wrong, what then?" He knew Fei Long better than anyone to be wrong. He had been observing everything the man did for almost a decade, every second of every day. "What do I tell him?" He was not good with words, nor did he possess the power or enough influence to change Fei Long’s mind.
"If I am wrong," Mikhail said, pausing to take another puff on the cigarette, his eyes focused at the screen as if his words could be heard on the other side. "Tell him I want him to live, that for everything I have done for him, he is to give me this in return."
There was another pause, but the way he held his breath told Yoh he wasn't finished. There was still something he wanted Fei Long to know, and he needed to gather his strength to say it, without showing his true weakness in front of another man.
"Tell him," he said, choking momentarily on his own words as Fei Long unknowingly looked up and caught his eyes. "That I have something that belongs to him, that will always belong to him, and I want him to come back for it. I want him to come home."
It had been a while since something had made Yoh smile. While it was undeniably painful to witness the strength of their relationship, the point was that he had witnessed it all. Apart from the two of them, only he knew the meaning of those words. He knew what was written on the card that came with the key. He knew the significance of the piece of jewelry Fei Long had always worn close to his heart. He had seen everything, every smile, every tear, and every look Fei Long had upon his face when he touched it. It was why he knew how much the Russian had meant to the man - something that Mikhail would never truly understand. Like Feodora who had held a place in her husband's heart Fei Long cannot touch, he too had a place by Fei Long's side that cannot be taken away. It was in that moment that he understood how she had endured it all so well. Was it not, in a way, what he had always wanted? To be given the privilege to witness what Fei Long would not allow others to see?
"What time is it?"
Mikhail tugged at his sleeve and looked at the watch. "8:15, why?"
Yoh smiled an almost unnoticeable smile as he turned to leave. "Nothing."
There was a sparkle of something gold on that other wrist. Mikhail Arbatov was ready, and so was he.
***
P.S. I hope it wasn't awful and that it was worth the wait. Even if it was, please drop me a line and let me know. Or if you don't know what to say, how about supporting the rest of Fei fans that are still here and wish him a very happy birthday! It would be so warm to see how many of us are still around ^_^ Thanks again for reading and keeping me going.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FEI LONG!