Author's Note:

So a new friend I met on AO3 and I were seriously appalled at the lack of slash fiction with this pairing, considering the potential it has and because the TV show is surprisingly good. It's a good action-comedy with good dramatic elements woven in.

Anyways, Midnightwriter from AO3 had written the first (and only, as of now) fanfiction for the new show, and considering that it was also featuring this pairing... well. She had mentioned having a general idea for a oneshot, and I offered to write a story and to weave in her other ideas into a fanfiction since she's too busy at the moment to make any more stories at this time... and I had the time and ambition so...

We shared some emails and collaborated on ideas for elements to toss into a fanfiction.

So this is me, ensuring that I am properly crediting her influence on this piece. It was her idea to have Lee move in with Carter, and she has some cute, fluffy and domestic scene ideas and elements that I will be incorporating in my fic (as I tend to focus a lot on drama build-up and crime, that sometimes I forget to add in some cuteness and domesticness).

I think this fic will be a good one, with both of our ideas. If you want to check out some of her work on AO3, look up Midnightwriter, or simply search Rush Hour (2016) - hers is, sadly, the only fic posted at this time (until I post this collaboration).

*Oh, yes! I have an AO3 account now, under the same username. If anyone wants to follow me there too (it'd be redundant, but could use the support) feel free to!*

Okay... enough... on with the intro!

Kallen

Chapter One:

It doesn't take Lee long to pack his bag and get ready to move; again. The Asian cop looks around the small guest room with a frown on his lips and a guilty furrow in his brow. After the chaos with the Kwan Dou, cleaning up the precinct and slogging through paperwork – little time had been spent on anything else.

Jonathan knew he owed Didi a big apology. Not only for destroying her property, but for bringing danger into her home and frightening her and her son. Both Carter and Didi had been adamant in their reassurances that all was forgiven, but that didn't change how badly he felt about the overall outcome – even though he was not at fault.

The morning after Kim had broken in, Didi had sat him down and reassured him over breakfast that she would still like him to stay, and he had planned on it…

But then as events unfolded…

Lee still felt regret at not being honest with his partner from the start, and after their conversation two nights ago, when they found the women… he saw the wisdom in Carter's words. The concern, honesty and loyalty promised in the American's voice threatened to pull forth emotions he thought were long buried.

The Chinese officer straightens up and pulls his bag off the couch-bed, and takes one more glance about the room before leaving – shutting the guest room door softly behind him. Lee takes a moment to listen in on the conversation going on in the living room and as he listens to his new family laugh at some joke, he feels a smile pull across his face.

Then he hears his partner shouting for him jovially, so he schools his face into a neutral expression and strolls the short distance into the family room.

"Ready to go?"

Carter drops his arms to his sides and gives him a comically exasperated expression, though the warmth in his eyes stays – "Dude, I was waiting on your ass." He tsks good-naturedly and rolls his eyes, gesturing towards the door. "Let's get goin', ninja-man. We're gunna have take-out tonight, and you're buyin'."

A smirk tugs at his lips, "Very well." Lee approaches Didi and waits for Carter to finish his goodbyes before accepting a quick hug from the lady of the house. In two minutes, him and Carter are in the car and drive in a companionable silence.

Lee allows himself to get lost in his thoughts again as he idly takes in the L.A. night as they drive. After a few minutes of silence, he chances a glance at his partner and notices the tired look on his face and frowns slightly before looking away again.

When Carter had asked him the day after they found the girls if Lee could stay at his home, he had hesitated – but not for the reasons his partner had thought. When Carter had picked up on his hesitation, the American had a… fallen look about him. It was slight, but the man's shoulders dropped and his face fell just a tad; but that wasn't what made the decision for him, no.

It was the honest concern and compassion he saw in his partner's eyes that made him say 'yes'. Lee did still have his trepidations about moving in with his partner and friend. But he couldn't deny, as he turns to look again at the man sitting beside him in the driver's seat, that he didn't feel a sense of security and belonging.

Him and Carter shared a secret – or rather, his secret. Detective James Carter was the only other person on this earth who knew about his sister, and who cared enough about Lee and his dilemma to help him. Living in closer quarters will help them in their investigation, will help them keep each other safe and, Lee couldn't deny – he was curious to learn more about his American friend, who he had grown close to in such a short amount of time.

When he settled into Carter's guest room that night, he recalls the stakeout they had done the morning after closing the human trafficking case, after overhearing The Dragon… after Carter had looked him in the eye and told him he was with him, the empty hole in his chest filled, and for once, Lee knew he was not alone in this.

James let his partner stew in silence on their way to his house, he decides to forgo stopping at the dinner for take out and instead makes the executive decision to order pizza for delivery. Again.

Hell. Lee probably thought he couldn't feed himself, what with all the times he's grabbing take out or snatching leftovers from the precinct break room. Carter starts to drum his fingers against the steering wheel as the silence in the care stretches. He's totally fine with companionable silence once in awhile, especially with all the heavy stuff that has happened this week.

He felt for his friend. He really did. Asian Batman could act as serious and stoic as he wants, but Carter has seen beneath the carefully sculpted mask well enough to know he was not the 'robot' he continually proclaims his partner to be.

That said, he's still getting uncomfortable with this silence, though he doesn't know what he could possibly blather on about to fill it. From the occasional glance he has stolen of Lee since they got in the car, his partner doesn't seem to be wallowing; merely contemplative and thoughtful.

But then Lee's always thinking, isn't he?

As he makes a right turn onto his street he lets out a sigh of relief. They could end the day shortly, and hopefully tomorrow will be less heavy and awkward.

"We're here!" he pipes up, though his tone is rough and he winces at how wrecked his voice sounds. Carter hadn't slept well this week, and from the looks of his friend throughout the day, the same goes for him as well.

He parks his car in the small driveway to his house and cuts the engine, but not before rolling up the windows and ensuring that the roof to his convertible was secured.

Carter may be a cop, and get a decent enough paycheck… but he didn't live in the best part of town. Just a modest little one story, two bedroom, one-and-a-half bath with a sorry excuse for a yard.

He waits for Lee to meet him at the front step before unlocking his front door, trying to fill the silence between them with idle chatter as he throws his arm about the front area of the house, and absently apologizing for the mess. His partner-now-roommate seems to be too tired to tease and/or chastise him about the sorry state of his home, because he just nods absentmindedly and asks which room is his.

Small victories.

Maybe he can wake up before the guy tomorrow and tidy up a bit.

Pssh.

Not a chance.

After showing Lee to his room he lets him get settled, and while his partner is occupied in the guest room (thanking the powers above that he had the foresight to at least make up the bed with new sheets before leaving for work that afternoon) Carter hurriedly picks things up in the bathroom. He hadn't cleaned it thoroughly in a while, but it didn't look too bad…

Honestly, he just didn't have the time. When he did, cleaning was the last thing he wanted to do.

When he hears Lee open his bedroom door, Carter hurries out of the bathroom and brushes by the Asian man as he passes him in the small hallway.

"I'm gunna call Papa John's – we should eat something. I don't have food in the house, we can go shoppin' in the morning."

Carter doesn't turn around, but he imagines Lee nodding when he quickly and quietly answers him back "Okay." He hears the bathroom door being shut and locked for a moment. He just hit the call button and is holding his phone to his ear when he hears the bathroom door open back up again. Curious, he quickly strides to the left a bit and looks down the hallway to see Lee giving him serious look, which is ruined by the smile that threatens to tug at the corner of his lip, "And no pineapples. Seriously. They are gross."

He bursts out laughing when he hears the bathroom door shut firmly, and he missed the pizza guy hanging up on him.

Carter has to wait a few minutes before he calls back to place their order.

Yea. They'll be okay.