Chapter Text
“Sir! He’s not here either!”
Petro’s men had just searched the building again, but they couldn’t find Eiji.
“I can’t believe you call yourselves members of the Corsican Mafia!” Petro yelled at them. “I’ll say this one last time: bring me that Japanese guy or you’ll take a bullet for him”
“But sir-”
The guy was suddenly shot silent, and Petro stood there with the gun still warm from the shot.
“As I said…” he continued “you’ll bring him to me. Alfa team, search the second floor again. Delta team, search the back area”.
“Yes sir!”
And with that said, the teams fled to carry out Petro’s orders. Silence filled the room, and after a minute or two, Ash and Eiji emerged from the air vent above.
“That was close” Eiji whispered once he landed as quietly as possible.
“Too close” Ash landed next to him. It really resembled a lynx jumping down from a tree. No sound whatsoever. “Let’s use the front door since they’re searching somewhere else”
He checked behind them just in case before grabbing the knob, and once he was sure they were not being followed, they stepped outside. It was cold and not a soul could be seen in the abandoned lot. There were two staircases that led nowhere in particular, but maybe Alex was already waiting for him hidden somewhere.
“A-” Eiji’s voice was suddenly cut by a much colder voice. Ash spun around, gun in hand.
“How rude of you to leave without stopping to say hello, Ash” Petro greeted him with the warmth of an iceberg.
To Ash’s dismay, Petro was holding his gun against Eiji’s temple, and he was covering Eiji’s mouth with the other.
“Eiji…” he said in a shaky breath.
“So that’s his name” Petro arched an eyebrow. “Good to know before I kill him”
He put his finger over the trigger and Eiji closed his eyes shut tightly.
“WAIT!” Ash screamed, putting both hands up, surrendering. “This has nothing to do with him. This is between you and me” he tried to reason.
“True, but you seem to care more about his life than your own” Petro sneered at him. “Put the gun on the ground, Lynx. I don’t trust you even with your hands up”
Ash lowered his gun slowly, keeping eye contact with Eiji. He hoped he was able to transmit some kind of reassurance as he did so.
“There” Ash kicked his gun away. “Now let him go”
“I never agreed to that” Petro laughed.
Ash gritted his teeth but tried to remain calm.
“This is all about money, isn’t it?” Ash kept his hands up. “I swear I don’t have it, not anymore”
“Like hell you don’t!”
“Alright, you don’t believe me. Then tell me what you want” he said slowly. “Access to bank accounts? Passwords?”
Petro kept his eyes on Ash and then shifted to Eiji.
“You know what Ash? This was indeed a mere transaction. But now that I think about it, before getting what’s mine, I should make sure Eiji here pays for what he did to my brother as well” he turned his head to Eiji. “You killed him…” he whispered in his ear.
Eiji started trembling. That couldn’t be true. It was only a few meters, right? There’s no way he could have actually died from a fall like that. Unless he fell head first. Unless he broke his neck and it snapped like a branch. He had taken a life. He had blood on his hands…
He was now barely standing, that disgusting palm still firmly pressed against his mouth.
Ash suddenly became too serious, too calm.
“Don’t change the subject” he growled. “He did it because you and Simon kidnapped him. You tortured him inside that building. It was self-defense”
“So? He’s the one who killed a man” he almost laughed. It was sickening to hear a person speak about his own brother’s death like that.
“As if you hadn’t. I saw you shoot that man who was under your command”
Petro seemed genuinely annoyed by this.
“What’s the matter, Ash? I never expected you to be so morally correct. Aren’t you the cold-blooded murderer everyone talks about?”
Ash evaded the question.
“To you, the only thing that matters is that I was Dino’s slut. I got the money from the Corsican Foundation a few years ago and now you want it, don’t you?”
“It’s only what I’m entitled to have” Petro lifted his chin up. “Now enough with the chit-chat. You’ll transfer the money to one of my accounts. Today”
Ash looked too smug to be at a disadvantage.
“Oh? Tax havens?” he arched an eyebrow.
“You damn brat!” Petro was losing his cool “This is why Isaac did everything he could to kill you! You know too much!”
“I think you speak too much” Ash countered.
Just then, and before Petro could retort, Charlie’s voice was heard through a megaphone.
“Petro Zakharov, you’re surrounded”
Petro scanned the place with a manic look in his eyes, holding Eiji tighter against him desperately. Ash stood in front of him, his hands still behind his head, but with a satisfied smile on his lips.
“You’re under arrest for murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and possible tax evasion… Well, you just confessed everything. Just lower your weapon and behave” Charlie’s voice was heard again almost fed up with the situation.
“You can’t arrest me!!” Petro screamed, but when he turned around to look for his men, he found them kneeling on the ground in a line, hands behind their backs, and around 30 cops standing behind them. There were also two paramedics taking a very conscious Simon inside an ambulance that had just arrived.
“It’s over” Ash finally said, his eyes grave and resolute.
Charlie emerged from behind the wall where he had been hiding the whole time, just around the corner where they were standing. He approached Petro cautiously, gun in hand. Petro had no option but to obey.
The second Eiji was released, Ash ran to his side to hold him. Eiji panted, the adrenaline of the situation slowly leaving his body.
“Eiji? Are you okay?” Ash pressed him hard against his body and then separated just enough to inspect his face, his hands, his torso.
“He’s alive, he’s alive…” Eiji stammered. “I’m so glad…”
It took a moment for Ash to understand he was talking about Simon.
“Yes, love” Ash held him again. “You didn’t do anything wrong”
“I was so scared…”
“You did what you had to do” he kissed the top of his head.
“Did you know? Did you know Charlie would come?” Eiji asked him.
“The concrete is still wet from the rain” he explained, pointing to a particularly unleveled area of the floor where more water had accumulated. “I saw Charlie’s reflection when he hid. But no, I didn’t know he would come. I told him NOT to come”
Both of them turned to see where the cops were putting Petro’s men inside the police cars one by one. Petro himself was being patted down, his hands still behind his head.
As they saw the danger pass, Alex and the other members of the gang also emerged from the shadows.
“Boss, I didn’t see any signal, so we didn’t act” Alex explained.
“And that’s exactly what I asked you to do” Ash slapped Alex’s back.
Among the familiar faces of his own men, Ash recognized a very young face. He arched an eyebrow.
“You came?” Ash asked Jeff.
“I can’t believe you’re gonna let these fuckers walk away” Jeff spat. The kid seemed to have a permanent scowling face.
“Charlie arrested them” Ash sighed. Talking to Jeff always made him feel tired. “We can deal with that later. Let’s go”.
“They almost got me killed some weeks ago. If they leave, they’ll be back in no time to get revenge”
“We can deal with that later” Ash insisted, taking Eiji’s hand and ready to go home. “Let’s go”
As they were leaving, Ash’s mind was finally relaxing. He felt Eiji lean against him and he smiled. They were safe. Just then, amidst the noise and voices, he heard a ‘click’ of the safety trigger of a revolver. On instinct, he reached behind his back for his revolver and spun around.
But the shot came right from his side.
Jeff had taken his gun and he had shot where Petro was.
“DON’T!” Ash shouted, knocking the gun out of reach.
They were still pretty close to the police, and Ash could see that Jeff had in fact shot Petro right on his leg. He was also close enough to see the pained look on his face which quickly turned into a choleric outburst.
“YOU FUCKING BRAT!” he screamed, and in the middle of the confusion, he grabbed Charlie’s gun from his belt and shot back.
Ash saw it happen almost in slow motion. He pushed Jeff out of the trajectory of the bullet, and then he felt the familiar heat of blood on his shoulder. The next thing he knew, there were cops screaming next to him and the sound of handcuffs. For the first time in a long time, it was not him being arrested. They were taking Jeff, completely uninjured, to one of the police cars. Petro, on the other hand, was shoved inside the ambulance next to his brother.
“Ash! Ash! What were you thinking?!” Eiji’s voice brought him back to reality. He was carefully placing a hand on his neck and the other on his shoulder. “You’re hurt”
Ash finally noticed his shirt was slightly ripped by a bullet that had barely touched him. It had grazed his skin making him bleed, he couldn’t even say he was shot.
“It’s nothing” he said sincerely “It’s fine” he assured Eiji.
“You crazy American!” Eiji scolded him “Putting your life in danger like that!”
Ash gave him a smug look before replying.
“Sorry Eiji, but the risks I take are not up to you”
The pout he earned from Eiji was priceless. He was so tempted to kiss him right there.
“Sorry to interrupt your endless bickering” Alex finally said “but we MUST go. Charlie is being extremely generous. They took Jeff because the brat shot a gun, but he’s clearly giving us a chance to go”
And it was true. Before leaving, Ash nodded in his direction as a universal sign of “thank you” or “I owe you one” , and Charlie just waved off urging them to go.
—----------------------
They were back in Eiji’s apartment.
Ash was sitting on the same kitchen stool he sat a few days ago when he visited Eiji’s apartment for the first time. This time, he was shirtless. Eiji was sitting in front of him, a gauze carefully held with a pair of tweezers, ready to disinfect his shoulder wound.
“I’m telling you it’s okay”
“And I’m telling you to stay still” Eiji furrowed his brows.
He delicately pressed the gauze in the affected area. Ash observed the concentrated expression on Eiji’s face. It was hard to tell which parts of his face had become “older” since he didn’t have any fine lines and his skin had the same healthy complexion. There was a certain something, however, that was different about Eiji. An air of maturity that wasn’t there all those years ago.
“You’ve changed” he heard himself say.
The silence was almost palpable.
“How so?” Eiji asked without paying too much attention to their conversation. His mind was devoted to the task at hand.
“I don’t know” he admitted.
Eiji snorted.
He finished patching his shoulder up and he gave Ash a new clean shirt.
“Your turn” Ash said once he was dressed.
Eiji looked confused. “I wasn’t shot”
“No, but that scumbag used you as a punching bag” Ash’s voice exuded anger. “Take off your shirt”
Eiji almost blushed at the command, but he let out a defeated huff instead. He took his shirt off and stood there.
“That bastard…” Ash looked angry again.
There were purple bruises all over Eiji’s stomach. There were also some small cuts on the corner of his mouth and his right cheek was slightly swollen from some punches.
“I’ll live” he joked.
“He shouldn’t” Ash wasn’t.
The blond disinfected the cuts on Eiji’s body with precision and care. Then, he applied an antiinflammatory gel over his cheek and lip. Eiji felt his finger slide lightly, working the gel with barely any pressure. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling.
When he opened his eyes, Ash’s gaze was fixed on his lips. Eiji swallowed and unconsciously licked his lips, almost as if his mouth went dry when Ash looked at him like that.
Eiji was pulled like a magnet. He left a soft kiss on Ash’s lips and then fluttered his eyes open to check on Ash. Before he could focus his eyes, he felt Ash’s hands on each side of his hips, guiding him closer.
“Come here” Ash whispered against his lips.
And Ash kissed him slowly, the tip of his tongue teasing his lower lip. It sent a shiver down Eiji’s spine, and he pressed himself closer. When they separated, Ash kept their foreheads connected. He let a breathy laugh escape his mouth.
“What?” Eiji asked.
“Nothing, it’s…”
“Tell me” Eiji pouted.
“I can’t help remembering our first kiss” Ash’s smile became wider.
“Oh… no, please, I don’t want to hear it” Eiji separated completely this time, covering his ears and then his face.
“Why are you still so embarrassed?” Ash asked, but the mischievous grin on his face didn’t help.
“Because… you know why!” he started putting his shirt back on as if that would prevent him from feeling exposed. Being reminded of his obvious inexperience was always something embarrassing.
“You were so nervous when I got closer…”
“Oh my God… you’re gonna re-tell the whole thing no matter what I say right?”
Ash ignored him.
“I’m not gonna lie, I thought you might slap me or even punch me once you realized I wanted to kiss you”
“I should have…” Eiji rolled his eyes.
“But you didn’t. I got closer incredibly slow…” Ash laughed again. “And you parted your lips for me…” he added, his voice a velvety sound.
“Ash, please…” Eiji was the living definition of hot and bothered.
“And the little sound you made when-”
Eiji shut him up with a kiss.
“I bet you can make me do the same now” Eiji whispered next to his ear.
Ash was speechless, enchanted by Eiji’s words.
“I-”
“So let’s rest today and test that theory tomorrow, okay?”
And so he led a tongue-tied Ash into his bedroom. If it wasn’t obvious already, Ash wasn’t the only one who had gotten bolder over the years.
Ash loved it.