Hey there :] Here's chapter 4!

Sorry about updating later and later - but I'm finally on break so I can write nonstop!

This chapter is... meh. It's an okay chapter.

I'm currently working on chapter 5, so expect another update in the next few days!

And I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been reviewing! You make writing more enjoyable :]

So, enjoy and please review!

The Present—Year 2019:

Shih-na walked with a sense of lost pride since the only place she could wander around was her little cell. She sighed, and even groaned a little. Then, she heard footsteps approach. She walked over to the barred door and tried to stick her head out as far as possible to see the company she had received.

But, she scowled—it wasn't who she was expecting at all; it was a guard. The stupid one from the day before, even.

She growled before he walked by her to open her cell. "Ms. Shih-na," he said timidly, not even attempting to make eye contact with her piercing stare, "Mr. Lang will be accompanying you to the courthouse."

She nodded. So, wolf-boy's bringing me, she thought, sighing. She knew they would be merciless and pull out every single crime she had committed, all the way down to her littering before. She got out of the cell and hung her head low, as to not see the disgusting inhabitants of the other cells.

As she reached the lobby of the jailhouse, she saw Lang sitting like a depressed little boy all alone in the corner of the room. She sighed. Is he really going to act like this? she thought, a little annoyed by it. She walked up to him, her heels clacking loudly with every small step she took.

Lang looked up at the sound of her heels, but did not smile as she walked up to him. In fact, he sighed.

What's wrong with him? she thought, Stupid kid needs to keep his emotions in check. As she stood in front of him, she took the initiative to start complaining immediately. "Are you taking me to court? Why are you being nice?" She looked around. "I would've rather been taken by a police officer than you. You're making this extremely awkward, you know—"

Lang looked up at her, but did not say a word.

He should be saying, 'Aiya, you're talking too much. You act differently than you look you know'… she thought angrily. "Why are you being so quiet?" She said, raising her voice; she didn't care that all the other people in the lobby were staring at her. Why am I acting so angry all of a sudden? This isn't like me, she thought, but she couldn't afford to back down now.

He didn't respond, but winced. He then gave a bitter laugh.

Shih-na turned a little pink. She lowered her voice and asked, "W-what?"

"I'm sorry if I'm angering you, but I'm having a hard time moving. The wound in my leg has yet to heal." He cringed, but tried laughing it off.

Shih-na slammed her fist onto a nearby table. "W-what's your problem?" she yelled, a very heavy kind of guilt washing over her. "I never asked for you to save me, dammit! If you were smarter, you wouldn't have done it…" She balled her fists. It's just like last time, she thought. That is, except for the fact he got shot this time…

Thirty-Seven to Forty-One—The Past—Year 2017:

Aiya, thought Lang. His mind could barely process anything—actually, it could only process one thing; Shih-na was being held at gunpoint.

All of Lang's subordinates' guns were trained on the very tense suspect. He was sweating bullets and the hand holding the gun was shaking uncontrollably. "D-don't you dare make a move," he said uncomfortably, "or I'll shoot her!"

He was practically choking Shih-na with his burly arm, which was held tightly against her throat. She said nothing, and only acted indifferent. She was the only calm one in the situation.

Lang tried to take a step forward. But the suspect fired a shot into the air. "D-don't move! Or I will shoot the girl!" His hand was still trembling.

Damn, Lang thought, baring his fangs at the suspect. "What do you want?" he asked, his tone of voice getting more and more hostile.

"Y-you don't have to d-do anything! J-just let me go, and I'll let her go…" the suspect trailed off, as if thinking of something else.

Lang took this opportunity to inch closer to him and Shih-na. Lang threw a glare MiB's way, which was the signal for a maneuver they had practiced numerous times beforehand.

Lang snapped, and MiB charged against the suspect. "G-gah!" the suspect cried, and he immediately let go of her.

Shih-na took this opportunity to get a few feet away from her offender. She was so close to Lang, when she looked up at him and saw his face a bit shocked. What's wrong with him? she thought, not daring to turn around again.

The suspect ripped open his jacket and revealed a bomb. He jumped back, and quickly pointed the gun to Shih-na's head. He was about 10 feet away from her now. "I'm not afraid to ignite this," he said, the detonator in his now free hand.

"So you are the suicide bomber…" Lang growled, a malicious glare sent the suspect's way.

"That's right," he said, his gun still pointed to Shih-na. "Now, are you going to cooperate with this criminal?"

Lang roared. "What are you talking about? If anything, you are the criminal!" Lang pulled up his gun at the suspect and so did his subordinates.

Shih-na froze. He knows, she thought morbidly. He must be from one of those smaller smuggling rings… They're getting rid of the gofer spying on Interpol…! A drop of sweat fell from her head. Her eyes darted to Lang. They showed a certain emotion. Something that barely happened. They showed fear.

Lang's eyes widened, and then narrowed. He knew what had to be done—he had to save her.

A dozen of Lang's subordinates screeched, and out of reflex, the suspect shot in their direction. During this time of distraction, Lang darted to Shih-na. Just then, the suspect turned back around and shot a bullet. Lang jumped and pushed Shih-na out of harm's way.

The subordinates that were shot at had bulletproof jackets on, and they charged at him again, and quickly apprehended him. They lifted him away as Lang sat on the cold, concrete floor with Shih-na.

She shivered, and was staring at nothing. "Shih-na," Lang said, his voice getting soft, "are you okay?"

She didn't respond, and her eyes still showed the fear that inhabited them. She tried opening her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She grimaced, and lowered her head. Why, she thought, I shouldn't be afraid. Lang would have saved me. I know he would have. So why am I still doubting him?

Lang sat closer to her, and lifted her head. He caught her eye, and he did not look away. "It's okay," Lang assured, talking gently. "Believe me, I would have saved you, even if the bullet would hit me."

Shih-na did not say anything, and lowered her head again.

Lang did not say anything; rather, he wrapped his arms around her shivering body. "I'm right here," he murmured. "And I'm not leaving."

The Present—Year 2019:

The really bad thing about that day was that the only time available for the trail was early in the morning, and the jailhouse was distant from the courthouse itself. So, Shih-na had been woken up at four in the morning, and she didn't get much sleep the night before. As she boarded the armored car, she could not help but let a yawn escape.

Of course, this did not escape the attention of Lang, who quickly asked, "Would you like to sleep on the way?" He even removed his jacket once again for her to use as a sort of pillow.

Shih-na ignored the question; she was about to say yes, but she knew better than to let Lang think that she even had a remote affection for him. Instead, she sat as far away as possible from him, and scrunched up near the window, as to try to avoid him for the entire car ride.

Lang, in response, sighed and sat on the other far end, as to not anger her. He knew that if he wanted to patch things up, he would need to stay on her good side—if she even had a good side.

The car roared as it started, and the air in it was freezing cold. Shih-na vigorously rubbed her arms to try and keep warm, but it just did not work. She groaned a little, getting embarrassed.

And, before she could say anything, Lang quickly placed his jacket over her shoulders. Then, he retreated to the other side of the car. Staring straight at Shih-na, he said, "It'll keep you warm, so just keep it on. I know you don't want to have anything to do with me, but let's just take this as the last nice thing I might ever do for you." He turned away just in time to not see Shih-na's broken expression.

She didn't say anything, and the only thing making noise was the rustling of Lang's jacket against her pale skin. She buried her face in a sleeve, and inhaled deeply. Soon, she was fast asleep.

Lang slowly turned to Shih-na and moved a bit closer to her. When he was sitting right beside her, he waved his hand in front of her face to see if that would trigger any kind of reaction. When nothing happened, he sighed. Really, he thought sullenly, you're nothing like I expected. He gently moved her head and placed it against his shoulder. "But," he murmured, "That doesn't mean I feel any different." As his eyelids got heavy, he placed his head on top of Shih-na's, and they both slept in peace.

What Lang didn't know was that MiB had been watching them with a little surveillance camera her set up just in case Shih-na went berserk. He gulped, and started to contact all the other subordinates on his phone to gossip about the new unraveling of facts. As he started to message all the other subordinates, he murmured, "I can't believe Shifu would lie like this…"

Seventy-Nine and Eighty—The Past—Year 2017:

They all came so suddenly, I couldn't realize what was going on. I was just sitting in Lang's office doing my paperwork when all of his subordinates stormed his office. As they barged in, they looked where I was sitting—near the entrance—to Lang, who was practically across the room. Most of them had very angry looks on their faces.

"Shifu," MiB addressed anxiously. Surprisingly, he looked tense.

Lang stood up, just as confused as I was. "What is it?" he asked.

MiB looked down, his uneasiness evident even through the glasses he always wore. "We… we have to ask you a very important question." All the subordinates looked at either Lang or me and they murmured inaudible things.

"What is it?" Lang asked, getting a little suspicious. I was too.

MiB gulped. "Shifu… do you have any kind of affection for Shih-na?"

At this, Lang and I both flinched. This was not supposed to be known to the others yet—we didn't even plan on telling them. It wasn't their business, anyway. I gulped, hoping Lang wouldn't say anything stupid.

Lang looked at me for a split-second, and in that split-second, there was one emotion in that glance—pride. Lang smirked, then arrogantly said, "What are you talking about? Why would you get an idea like that?"

Luckily, I was wearing my glasses, so no one could see my eyes widen. And then, I realized it—Lang's pride and reputation were more important to him than I was. And then, I realized my mistake in trusting a guy like him. I should've known that when you trust someone, they would stab your back sooner or later; but I thought I was going to be the one to do the backstabbing.

The subordinates all looked at me with confused looks. "Shifu… excuse my rudeness, but… you seem to be spending a lot more time together." All the subordinates agreed with him.

But, Lang did something I thought he wouldn't do—he laughed. "Aiya, are you serious?" he said as let his fangs show. "Why would I have any affection for Shih-na? Our relationship is really only professional."

At this assurance, all the subordinates and MiB sighed, apologized for the intrusion, and left the two of us alone. After we were alone again, Lang banged his head on his desk. I looked at him in surprise.

"Shih-na…" he said angrily, "I'm sorry, but I just can't tell them yet… It's just that—"

I bit my lip and turned away from him. "It's fine. Really." I lied. "I understand."

I didn't see, but I knew Lang was staring straight at me. "Are you sure? You have to believe that what I told them is a complete lie…"

"I'm sure," I lied again. "Really."

The Present—Year 2019:

As the car reached the courthouse, it was already 5:30, so right when the car stopped, Lang peeled his eyes open. He stretched out and gently shook Shih-na. "Shih-na, we're at the courthouse already. You need to get up," he said, still shaking her.

"Mm," she replied, opening one eye. She looked exhausted. "What? Are we here already?" she crankily asked. She pushed Lang out of the car and got out to stretch. Then, realizing she was still wearing his jacket, she quickly pulled it off despite the freezing weather and threw it at Lang's face.

"What's wrong?" Lang asked sounding a bit surprised.

Shih-na just replied, "Tch!" and started to walk into the courthouse.

Lang followed slowly behind her as he watched her rubbing her cold arms out of irritation. He quickly caught up with her and held her by the arm.

"What?" Shih-na snapped, still rubbing her arms.

Lang sighed, and replied, "I'm going to have to escort you to court, remember?"

Shih-na stayed quiet as Lang spoke with the only guard at the entrance of a courtroom. Lang spoke first, asking, "Is this the room that will be used for Shih-na's case?"

The guard silently nodded, and opened the door for the two.

In the courtroom there was nobody. The room was still and silent. Lang brought Shih-na to the witness stand, and they stood there, alone, in the tortuously quiet courtroom.