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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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2021-10-24 09:50 pm (UTC)"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
Date: 2021-10-31 09:01 pm (UTC)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
Date: 2021-11-01 02:02 am (UTC)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
Date: 2021-11-05 01:52 am (UTC)"I wouldn't leave you behind. I won't leave you behind."
600 years later
Date: 2022-09-12 12:55 am (UTC)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
Date: 2022-12-24 02:56 pm (UTC)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
Date: 2022-12-24 10:34 pm (UTC)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
Date: 2023-01-12 01:03 am (UTC)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
Date: 2023-01-21 05:23 pm (UTC)“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.