It was strange going back out into the field after so long. Galea had tried her best to go to bat for him, but due to his "connections" with Jo Kai, he had been demoted, transferred to D7 to live and work around the area. They couldn't have his partner in the Majors, never mind that he was a Lamnii to boot. Who knows if they were working together.
But now, now he could prove himself again. Or at the very least ... he could make amends in some way. Not to his superiors, but to those who were affected by Tritan.
He takes a breath as he's being introduced, and while he wants to bristle, he keeps his posture slightly relaxed. No point in being completely obvious with his possible intentions.
He's grumbling as he's pointed toward an apparently malfunctioning turbine - and the power cuts out. He's immediately on his guard, reaching for a sidearm he had concealed beneath the mechanical jumpsuit. His eyes widen when the person who had come with him to point out the malfunctions drops his own array.
Zhou Fei can't help but smirk at Seren, at the wide eyes that regard him. There's a touch of regret hidden away, a burning deep within his ribs, and he holds up a finger.
"Ah! Not anymore," Zhou Fei shakes his head. "Didn't you hear? Jo Kai died on spit of space rock known as Tritan."
Should've died, Zhou Fei muses silently as he takes a step closer to Seren, the screams of the past echoing in his ears. He survived because of Seren, because of the breathing exercises, so he owes his former partner at least one save.
"I'm Zhou Fei," he continues, crossing his arms. "And you need to leave. Today."
Seren has seen his face now, but Zhou Fei is certain it's the only way to get his former partner to give up, to throw in the towel before Zhou Fei has to kill him or, worse, expose him as the undercover cop he is.
"No, you're -" Seren can feel his body trembling, but whether it's out of fear of what might happen or anger that his former partner showed his face like this again. But he has to stay calm. He levels his pistol, forcing himself to take deep breaths, eyes narrowed. "I'm not leaving. You're not exactly in a position to be giving me any orders, either." And no, it's not supposed to be sexual but he's free to interpret that as such considering their past endeavors as partners.
Never mind that if he's here... then there's definitely something going on.
Of course Seren says no. Seren would say no. Zhou Fei expected a no, and yet hearing Seren say no to him after all this time stirs something up inside. For a moment, time rewinds and Zhou Fei sees them in the bullpen at the agency, standing on opposite sides of a petty argument instead of a drug operation. Back when he was Jo Kai, back when he could breathe without a rumble in his chest.
With a shake of his head, Zhou Fei washes away that image of the past.
“You’re wrong,” he replies, taking another step or two closer. “Cause you’re still with the agency. And It only takes one whisper from me for everyone to know.”
Which is a bit of a bluff. He doesn’t know if Seren has indeed continue to follow the same organization that tried to kill him, that did kill fifty of their comrades.
For all their time together at the Agency, of course Seren would say no in this situation. He's never been the type to back down from a challenge, and most that know him understand that's just how he is. Never mind a development considering the circumstances that he came to be in after leaving the lamnii homeworld.
He gets his finger ready, resting right over the trigger guard. It would only take him a second to shoot. But something in him is telling him not to, despite every other instinct telling him to do so, and if it were anyone else, he wouldn't have hesitated when Jo Kai- no, Zhou Fei - steps forward.
"Like hell. So what, you lured me out here to kill me? You know that if you do that, it'll only confirm any suspicions." Which was true, and something that he didn't like to think about, but knew for a fact would be the case in the event that something did happen to him.
Zhou Fei's eyes drop momentarily to Seren's fingers on the trigger guard. Huh. Been a while since he's stood on this side, at least since they played a happy couple. Without pause, he continues to move closer, one slow, sauntering step after the other.
"Shoot if you're going to shoot," he replies with a grin. "You'd be doing the Agency a favor. And Azul, if I remember correctly. Our neighbor from our happy home."
His grin dims only a few watts. "He didn't believe when I said you wouldn't come save me. Who thought you'd prove me wrong?"
By now he's a foot beyond the extension of Seren's arms, lined up with the sight of the gun.
"If you think I came here to kill you, you're a fool," Zhou Fei finishes, his smile vanishing for a moment before he pastes it back in place. "Get out of here."
"I'm not leaving. The fact that you're even trying to convince me is only more reason for me to stick around." I want to know what happened. I want to know the truth directly from the source.
He motions for Zhou Fei to move, though he clearly bristles at the mention of their undercover mission before everything had gone to shit. How Seren had charged in to fight a known serial killer, Jo Kai had gotten stabbed, and -
He shakes his head. Nope, nope, nope. No distractions. He can't let his thoughts get away from him, even if he's felt like he's seen a ghost. Even if there had felt like there was the start of something-
Recounting their past seems to have some kind of effect on Seren. Zhou Fei presses his advantage as soon as he thinks he has one. Telling the full story of how Azul caught him might not be in the cards, but maybe how he got the knife in his thigh, how he nearly bled out half-tied to a bed, so stupidly sure his partner wouldn't save him.
Once street trash, always street trash.
"You know why they sealed the tapes from the house?" Zhou Fei continues to step closer until Seren's pistol is pointed squarely at his heart. " ' Cause I begged them. I was so humiliated by what Azul got out of me."
Zhou Fei's eyes drop down to the pistol and then back to Seren's face.
"I told him you weren't coming," Zhou Fei says evenly. "With a knife in my femoral artery, said you wouldn't bother. And I was so confident, he could pull the knife right then and there."
Sure, he was drugged to the stars and back, but that wasn't the point. Seren had arrived just in time to save the day, unlike on Tritan, Zhou Fei mentally notes.
"Why...?" Seren swallows, though he's at least keeping his aim steady. "You know I would've come for you. I'm not the type to abandon anyone like that. Fuck the undercover mission, I wasn't going to abandon you regardless." Even if what had caused him to realize any of this was ... ill-timed - besides the whole thing of trying to bait Azul out of hiding so they could properly apprehend him.
"I wouldn't leave you behind. I won't leave you behind."
"Wouldn't you?" Zhou Fei's fingers close around the handcuffs, itching to press a step or two closer, but he stays just where he is with the pistol pressing against his chest. "Dead partner gets you a promotion, most cases."
Though something tells him that Seren didn't get anything like a promotion after his own apparent death of Tritan, especially if Seren's doing grunt work like undercover. Still, Zhou Fei can't help but consider that Seren is standing here as a free man before him, rather than his own growing debt to the Unbroken Circle.
"There's still time, I guess," Zhou Fei replies as he flicks his gaze back down to the pistol. "Time for you to kill me, that is. Not for you to stick around."
Or maybe Seren should stay around. In a more permanent nature. Zhou Fei fingers the handcuffs again, considering his options.
"You know what I left behind, you think I give a fuck about a promotion?" Seren snaps back, honestly more agitated that Zhou Fei would even think that he was like that in the first place. It was something they bonded over - running to the Agency for their own reasons, leaving their respective homeworlds behind for their own reasons.
If he had any clues about what was going to happen at Tritan, he would've done something. Maybe he would've volunteered to go instead, or teach them all the same techniques that he had given his partner in order to make sure they survived in case of a leak or a suit malfunction. It's something he's thought about more than a few times since, and god it makes him ache thinking about it.
Seren's hands don't waver at least, but he shifts his aim toward Zhou Fei's legs. "Take one more step and I'll blow your kneecap off. Don't make me do this. Just stop and get on your knees, and I can take you back. We can work something out."
"It's been five years since I last saw you," Zhou Fei replies, tone sharp and unforgiving. "Who knows if you're the same Seren I knew."
When the gun moves, Zhou Fei pretends not to notice, but he tracks the movement in his peripheral vision.
"Will you?" Zhou Fei asks, hands tightening on the handcuffs in his pocket before he moves, covering the last of the distance and attempting to push Seren back against the railing. If he can, Zhou Fei aims to latch one handcuff around Seren's gun hand and the other around the railing, trapping him in place.
"Or will you come up empty handed," Zhou Fei continues, holding his now empty hands out. "Shame. Too bad I need to call the foreman on a cop like you. I liked my project here."
Seren was actually going to fire - nothing lethal, just a warning shot before moving for the incapacitation - when he's shoved back and groans when his back hits the railing, snarling before swinging with his free hand. Even cuffed, he's not going down without a fight.
Even with tactics like this.
"Fuck you!" He spits, and while there's betrayal and anger clear on his face, there's also a small hint of sorrow, longing. This shouldn't have turned out like this.
The swell of power, of triumph, that billows through his body results in a wide, cheshire grin. He’s *won*. He’s fought back and when he steps back further out of reach he can’t help the wild fire burning beyond control.
“One day, maybe,” Zhou Fei replies with a sneer as he reaches down for his radio. “Not now.”
He tugs his maintenance mask up over his triumphant glow before speaking into radio, “Undercover cop here. Cuffed in Sector D4.”
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no subject
But now, now he could prove himself again. Or at the very least ... he could make amends in some way. Not to his superiors, but to those who were affected by Tritan.
He takes a breath as he's being introduced, and while he wants to bristle, he keeps his posture slightly relaxed. No point in being completely obvious with his possible intentions.
He's grumbling as he's pointed toward an apparently malfunctioning turbine - and the power cuts out. He's immediately on his guard, reaching for a sidearm he had concealed beneath the mechanical jumpsuit. His eyes widen when the person who had come with him to point out the malfunctions drops his own array.
"You... - Jo Kai?"
no subject
"Ah! Not anymore," Zhou Fei shakes his head. "Didn't you hear? Jo Kai died on spit of space rock known as Tritan."
Should've died, Zhou Fei muses silently as he takes a step closer to Seren, the screams of the past echoing in his ears. He survived because of Seren, because of the breathing exercises, so he owes his former partner at least one save.
"I'm Zhou Fei," he continues, crossing his arms. "And you need to leave. Today."
Seren has seen his face now, but Zhou Fei is certain it's the only way to get his former partner to give up, to throw in the towel before Zhou Fei has to kill him or, worse, expose him as the undercover cop he is.
no subject
Never mind that if he's here... then there's definitely something going on.
no subject
With a shake of his head, Zhou Fei washes away that image of the past.
“You’re wrong,” he replies, taking another step or two closer. “Cause you’re still with the agency. And It only takes one whisper from me for everyone to know.”
Which is a bit of a bluff. He doesn’t know if Seren has indeed continue to follow the same organization that tried to kill him, that did kill fifty of their comrades.
no subject
He gets his finger ready, resting right over the trigger guard. It would only take him a second to shoot. But something in him is telling him not to, despite every other instinct telling him to do so, and if it were anyone else, he wouldn't have hesitated when Jo Kai- no, Zhou Fei - steps forward.
"Like hell. So what, you lured me out here to kill me? You know that if you do that, it'll only confirm any suspicions." Which was true, and something that he didn't like to think about, but knew for a fact would be the case in the event that something did happen to him.
no subject
"Shoot if you're going to shoot," he replies with a grin. "You'd be doing the Agency a favor. And Azul, if I remember correctly. Our neighbor from our happy home."
His grin dims only a few watts. "He didn't believe when I said you wouldn't come save me. Who thought you'd prove me wrong?"
By now he's a foot beyond the extension of Seren's arms, lined up with the sight of the gun.
"If you think I came here to kill you, you're a fool," Zhou Fei finishes, his smile vanishing for a moment before he pastes it back in place. "Get out of here."
no subject
He motions for Zhou Fei to move, though he clearly bristles at the mention of their undercover mission before everything had gone to shit. How Seren had charged in to fight a known serial killer, Jo Kai had gotten stabbed, and -
He shakes his head. Nope, nope, nope. No distractions. He can't let his thoughts get away from him, even if he's felt like he's seen a ghost. Even if there had felt like there was the start of something-
no subject
Once street trash, always street trash.
"You know why they sealed the tapes from the house?" Zhou Fei continues to step closer until Seren's pistol is pointed squarely at his heart. " ' Cause I begged them. I was so humiliated by what Azul got out of me."
Zhou Fei's eyes drop down to the pistol and then back to Seren's face.
"I told him you weren't coming," Zhou Fei says evenly. "With a knife in my femoral artery, said you wouldn't bother. And I was so confident, he could pull the knife right then and there."
Sure, he was drugged to the stars and back, but that wasn't the point. Seren had arrived just in time to save the day, unlike on Tritan, Zhou Fei mentally notes.
no subject
"I wouldn't leave you behind. I won't leave you behind."
600 years later
Though something tells him that Seren didn't get anything like a promotion after his own apparent death of Tritan, especially if Seren's doing grunt work like undercover. Still, Zhou Fei can't help but consider that Seren is standing here as a free man before him, rather than his own growing debt to the Unbroken Circle.
"There's still time, I guess," Zhou Fei replies as he flicks his gaze back down to the pistol. "Time for you to kill me, that is. Not for you to stick around."
Or maybe Seren should stay around. In a more permanent nature. Zhou Fei fingers the handcuffs again, considering his options.
no subject
If he had any clues about what was going to happen at Tritan, he would've done something. Maybe he would've volunteered to go instead, or teach them all the same techniques that he had given his partner in order to make sure they survived in case of a leak or a suit malfunction. It's something he's thought about more than a few times since, and god it makes him ache thinking about it.
Seren's hands don't waver at least, but he shifts his aim toward Zhou Fei's legs. "Take one more step and I'll blow your kneecap off. Don't make me do this. Just stop and get on your knees, and I can take you back. We can work something out."
no subject
When the gun moves, Zhou Fei pretends not to notice, but he tracks the movement in his peripheral vision.
"Will you?" Zhou Fei asks, hands tightening on the handcuffs in his pocket before he moves, covering the last of the distance and attempting to push Seren back against the railing. If he can, Zhou Fei aims to latch one handcuff around Seren's gun hand and the other around the railing, trapping him in place.
"Or will you come up empty handed," Zhou Fei continues, holding his now empty hands out. "Shame. Too bad I need to call the foreman on a cop like you. I liked my project here."
no subject
Even with tactics like this.
"Fuck you!" He spits, and while there's betrayal and anger clear on his face, there's also a small hint of sorrow, longing. This shouldn't have turned out like this.
no subject
“One day, maybe,” Zhou Fei replies with a sneer as he reaches down for his radio. “Not now.”
He tugs his maintenance mask up over his triumphant glow before speaking into radio, “Undercover cop here. Cuffed in Sector D4.”
He waves his fingers and then he’s gone.