Fei-Long sat there silently under the covers on the futon, his gun drawn and pointed at the door. It was silent outside the room, the only sound that could be heard was shuffling in the hall and the breathing of his men. What was going on? Last time he saw Mikhail it was in Mongolia, they had agreed to meet because Mikhail wanted to negotiate a piece of land and property that Fei-Long owned that he was holding for ransom. Fei-Long rejected the offer and made Mikhail another one. Back and forth they fought, both stubborn about the deals. For weeks they had bickered again and again, trying to outsmart the other. The property and land wasn't too important but Fei-Long had to keep up his reputation.
Then suddenly it all suddenly stopped.
Fei-Long got the call from Asami that they found Kai in Japan. He could hardly keep the excitement contained, but what about the deals that they were making? Mikhail raged when Fei-Long said that he was leaving but let him go with almost no problems, something about the way he acted didn't sit right with Fei-Long but he pushed it to the back of his mind as he traveled to Japan. The plane ride back had been almost physically painful, he could barely sit still. Over and over again he played different scenes in his head, how was he going to greet Kai? What was she doing in Japan? What was her physical, not to mention her mental health, like without the drug?
"What's going on out there? Why is it so quiet?"
Fei-Long's men stood beside Fei-Long with their guns pointed at the door, footsteps could be heard coming from the front of the house. One . . . two . . . three . . . four pairs of footsteps, what had happened? There was a growl and a chuckle, "Fei-Long . . . I know you're in there . . ."
The door slowly slid to the side, Kai stumbled in the room, her hands behind her back. Her eyes looked as if a red glow was surfacing from beneath the violet of her irises, from the looks of her face she was not happy in the least bit. Shit. They were stepping too close to a landmine.
Fei-Long almost lowered his gun and went to her. Almost. It was painful to not go and see what happened but Fei-Long knew that it could be a bad decision. Mikhail was a sick bastard, no need to give him more ammunition against Fei-Long. One of Mikhail's men came next, grabbing onto Kai by her hair, pulling her forcefully to the side. "Drop your guns."
Kai growled at the man and gnashed her teeth at him, trying to take a bite out of anything she could grab. She was rewarded swiftly with the butt of the man's gun across her face. She went limp and stayed that way, her eyes scanning the room. Did he know how close he was to dying?
"Stupid bitch." The man growled and looked at Fei-Long's men. "Drop the damn guns or she will get it."
Fei-Long's men hesitated, looking at him for confirmation. He nodded at them to put their guns down, keeping his own. "My men will give up their guns but I keep mine." He kept the gun as still as possible, feeling himself vibrate with rage. No one was allowed to touch him property.
Mikhail walked into the room, a smile on his face. "Now, now. Let's not make a big fuss of this. I am only here to conclude our business." He pulled Kai away from the guard and in front of him. "Sit."
Kai spit in his face, leaving a red trail to travel down his cheek. She raised a leg to strike at him, seeing an opportunity to disable the man, but stopped as Mikhail touched her with a small black box. Her body jerked as the electrical currents travelled in and out of her body, a scream ripped from her throat.
Fei-Long's men surged forward and stopped when Fei-Long put out a hand to stop them.
Mikhail forced her down on her knees as her body still twitched, sitting down himself beside her.
It was surprising that Kai was staying so meek and reserved, she looked up at Fei-Long and he had realized why. In her mind's eye it was as if she was back under Smith, her instincts were kicking back in. Her eyes were wildly looking around, her breathing labored. If Fei-Long wasn't careful with this situation there was a chance that he would have to put her down for the safety of everyone.
"Why would I want to do any business with you when you come in and abuse my property?" Fei-Long said through his gritted teeth.
Mikhail continued to smile, "Come now, she will heal. Getting a few bruises is good for someone. Maybe now she will learn not to get in my way of my goal."
"Forgive me if I don't stand." Fei-Long kept his gun trained on Mikhail.
"No forgive me for not knowing that you were ill, I would have come at a different time." He pushed Kai back into the arms of one of his men, a small line of blood on the side of her face. "Hold her still, don't let her go." The man nodded. He looked to the other man, "Bring Fei-Long's men outside with the others, take away any other weapons and devices they have. Let no one enter the house until I come out."
The guard nodded and took Fei-Long's men out at gun point. The other man kept a firm grip on Kai, keeping her kneeled on the floor. "What do you intend to do, Mikhail?"
Mikhail looked at Fei-Long with a smirk, loosening his neck-tie. "Drop the gun Fei-Long, I have you surrounded. You don't have any way of escaping, if you don't your pretty little bodyguard will get hurt." He glanced at Kai and back to Fei-Long, "or at least, more hurt than she is. She might end up as damaged goods."
He held on to the gun, "What. Do. You. Want?"
"I want to conclude the deals that we were discussing previously, we never came to an agreement."
"How many times have I told you that I don't want to make any deals? I have grown tired of you chasing me, keep the land and property and get out of my sight." Something was happening to his vision, Mikhail was starting to blur around the edges. The gun in his hand started to shake.
"This isn't just about land or objects anymore Fei-Long. I've heard talk that you've been keeping a side business selling and trading people for the past year. More specifically the people who came from Smith's labs. I want part of it, it's a large paying business that I would do anything to get my hands on."
Fei-Long glanced at Kai, she jerked against the man who held her. Her arms had moved a little further apart, she had loosened the ties on her wrists a bit. All he needed to do was stall until she could make her attack. A sudden bout of nausea raged over Fei-Long's senses. He covered his mouth, the gun trailing to the side.
"Poor thing, it looks as if you are still quite ill." He took his neck tie off and let it fall beside him, unbuttoning the top of his shirt he looked at Kai. "I thought you were only interested in Asami's boy. Why is it that you are keeping such a delicious piece of meat to yourself?" He crawled forward, taking the gun from Fei-Long's hand and pushing him down. "Well?"
Fei-Long breathed past the nausea, his body feeling heavy and slow, "She is a girl I bought long ago, no one to concern yourself with." Why at a time like this would his body do this to him? The medicine that was given to him earlier was supposed to help right? Maybe it was still effecting his system.
"Is this the one that Smith loved to brag about long ago? I remember someone like her, Smith used to love to take me back where he kept her and show her off. It was you who killed him, wasn't it? I had heard that his building burned but inside only a few bodies were found, every unit of his merchandise had disappeared." He looked at Kai, remembering her in that tank. "A definite rare and expensive jewel you've found for yourself." Mikhail bent over and touched his forehead to Fei-Long's, "It seems that your body is still fighting that sickness. How about we try to bring down that fever?" He slowly rubbed a hand on Fei-Long's crotch, feeling that despite him being sick he was getting hard. "How long has it been since you've slept with someone?" Mikhail pushed aside Fei-Long's robes so that he was exposed to the open air.
Fei-Long started to breathe harder, "Do you think that sleeping with me will help you make any deals?" He looked at Kai who was looking at them in horror. It pained Fei-Long for Kai to see him this way. "You're a sick bastard."
Mikhail stopped, "Why thank you, I feel honored but sleep with you? No, never. I don't want to sleep with a man who is sick. I'm going to sleep with that pretty little girl you keep looking at over there and then I'm going to take her for my own. Having Smith's prized possession will make me look like a god." He sat up, still straddling Fei-Long. "Bring her over." The guard drug a struggling Kai closer to Mikhail, "Now, now my dear you shall be in gentle hands." He took a hold of Kai, "Take Fei-Long's arms and hold them above his head, make sure you do not lose your grip."
He moved Kai to take his place on Fei-Long's hips, making her face Fei-Long. "Be thankful that I'm letting you see your former master one last time before I take you away."
Kai stayed silent, staring at Fei-Long with a blank but serious face. Her eyes flickered to the window, looking at something.
Mikhail grasped her chin and roughly bent her head back to him, "Can you not speak?"
"Ashes to ashes. Red hot ashes."
He pushed her down so that her face was on Fei-Long's chest. "Smith never could keep his things in good condition, it looks like she was no exception. I don't have to worry about damaging her then since she is already damaged." He took hold of the back of her thin dress and ripped it, exposing her bare back and the top of her buttocks.
"What do you think you'll gain from this, Mikhail?"
He smiled and stroked Kai's back, tracing circles on her bare skin and sliding his hands farther down. Kai jerked like she was shocked again as his hands went past her butt to touch her most sensitive parts between her legs. She involuntarily let out a small gasp as she buried her face against Fei-Long's chest, wishing she was somewhere else at the moment. "I have made the effort of chasing you all over the place, Fei-Long. I want something for it."
Fei-Long tried weakly to pull his wrists from the man holding him.
Gunshots could be heard from outside.
Kai looked up at the window, trying to see what was going on. Mikhail forced her head down roughly.
An explosion shook the house, blasting the windows and sending glass flying all over the place. "What is going on?" Mikhail stood, drawing a gun from the inside of his coat. The man holding Fei-Long let go and stood, also drawing a gun.
Fei-Long hugged Kai, rolling himself on top her. "Stay low." A loud and ear piercing sound was heard heading for the house, a smoke bomb was thrown into the room, filling the air with heavy smoke. "I think it's time to leave." Shots were fired to and from the room, Fei-Long couldn't tell where they were the shots were headed or who were firing them.
They started crawling for the door, Fei-Long untied Kai's wrists, using her for a crutch after she was freed. Kai kicked the door down and turned into the hallway. Fei-Long pulled her toward what he assumed was a backdoor.
Kai pulled him down just a moment before the door exploded above their heads. "We need to find a way out." Fei-Long coughed, holding onto Kai tighter.
She looked over the hole in the door and smiled, "Everyone is red, such a pretty color."
Fei-Long pushed her weakly, "Let's go. Surely Sebastian had another way out?"
Kai looked at him with playful eyes, "Down to hell we go." She lifted him easily, practically dragging him while dodging shrapnel on the way. They came up to a small closet and looked inside, "Down, down to hell." She started to sing as she pulled the false bottom to the side, revealing a cold dark tunnel that led farther down. She gently lowered him into the tunnel and then jumped down herself, hiding the both of them. She put an arm around Fei-Long and pulled him further on as fast as she could.
Fei-Long ran a hand along the wall of the tunnel, it was so dark that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. "It's amazing that Sebastian came up with this under his home." Another wave of nausea took him down to his knees, Fei-Long turned his head and threw up what was left over of the airplane food he ate yesterday.
Kai stopped and made sure that his hair was pulled back. She let out a sudden gasp, "The medicine!" She turned to run back but stopped as Fei-Long caught her hand.
"Let's just go and we'll worry about my sickness later. There will always be more that I can get."
Another blast shook the ground, raining dirt and tree roots on their heads.
"We need to keep moving, find us a way to the surface."
Kai started forward again.
The ground shook again, bringing the ceiling down.