AN: There's not a lot to say about this chapter... Only that I had a lot of fun with it.
Also, on another note, please tell me ; should I add Turkey/Greece in this story or shouldn't I? I'll probably follow the majority, but if nobody says anything, I'll just add that pairing in there somehow, because they're a lot of fun to write. I'll respond to all the reviews right away. Oh, and chapter 14 is a b*tch to write.

Neredeyse çok geç - Almost too late (Turkish)

Word count : 1573

"I really think you shouldn't talk to him today."

"But I need to ask him something about what happened yesterd-"

"Trust me, you've never seen Lars in a bad mood."

"I have-"

"SHUT UP PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE."

"...No, you haven't. Now you'll excuse me, I have something to take care of."

"Ow... My head hurts now-"

"Antonio, go home. You're not supposed to be here anyway."

"What about you?" Antonio asked, rubbing his throbbing head.

"I did not need any hospitalization and I did not drink with friends yesterday night."

"But being with Francis an Gilbert is a lot of fun, you know! We know each other for, what, fifteen years? You should have come with us!" he looked up, taking a little time to indulge in old memories. "But you don't look well." He stated. "How come?"

His partner grunted. "Something interrupted my sleep."

"Really? What was it?"

"Antonio. Go. Away." Why did he even come, today, if he couldn't even stand straight properly? And why was Antonio here? He was supposed to stay home for at least two weeks because of his injuries (mostly his nose), so why was he here? He plopped his head down in his arms, and settled for ignoring his friend for the time being.

"Laaars..." Antonio had not just whined. He was a grown male, damn it, he didn't whine.

"Laaaaars..." … And he was Antonio.

"What." Antonio's mood suddenly brightened ; Lars hated it when the dreary atmosphere turned into something as cheerful in less than a second. It was very bad for his sanity.

"You know, I was thinking about something." Lars held back any comments about Antonio actually thinking, although it was so very tempting. "Do you remember the man I ran into? Because I don't."

Man? "What man?"

"You know, in that old building. Why did the lift still work, by the way? It looked abandoned..."

"…" Why, just why did he have to do this job? "Maybe was it just old, but not abandoned. And what man do you mean?"

"I don't know, just remember that I ran into someone... Someone taller than me." he frowned. "You know who I mean?"

"… Yes. But I didn't really look at them either..."

"Them?" Antonio was confused ; not that he wasn't often so, but his hangover added on top of his usual self surely wasn't helping.

"I guess you just ran into one of them without noticing there was another man. He was shorter. Quite short, now that I think of it. And he looked very annoyed."

"Would you be able to recognize him?" That was determination, in his eyes.

"… Probably not."

(- -)

"HEY! When are ya gonna let me outta here?"

"Please, sir, wait a moment. A colleague is going to let you out soon." Raivis said, walking past the cell without even according it a glance. He was in no mood to, not with Lars having already shooed him away about four times, Antonio annoying the hell out of him, and his boss asking for photocopies ; someone would end up letting Sadiq out anyway. Him being in a cell for a night was a common occurrence, for he always had fights with... whatever his name was, Hercules-something, maybe... and to prevent any further escalations, they would have to lock him up somewhere.

Well. Technically, he didn't need to be locked up. But when Lars or Juanma were on duty, they tended to keep him in custody because they were both... a little rough.

"Kid! Hey, kid! Wait! Shit, what's his name again... KID!" And there was his last chance, walking away. Damn, he'd have to stop trying to beat Herakles up every time he was being too annoying. Which would be difficult, since Herakles was always annoying.

But he could not just stop having fights with Herakles! It was a custom since middle school!

"Is anyone here?"

He slumped down the wall at the lack of response, his head in his hands and sighing heavily. He didn't even know what time it was, and he needed to be at his appointment with Chao at nine thirty. He was probably already late anyway, and Chao was always punctual... He'd get scolded though, technically, he was the boss. Not like there had ever been this kind of relationship between them to begin with.

He instinctively looked at his wrist, only to notice once again the lack of a watch, so he started rubbing his eyes with his hand. Time was passing way too slowly.

After more long and torturous minutes, he finally heard footsteps again. Sadiq jumped up and turned towards the door, to meet face to face with the man who had thrown him inside and the one because of whom he was in there in the first place. He suddenly felt worse.

"Sadiq Adnan, this man here decided not to complain and admitted that he also shares the fault in your dispute. None of you asked for further investigations, you may leave if you want." While Juanma said it, he opened the door of the cell, leaving Sadiq to glare at Herakles, and the Greek to calmly look back, his eyes half-closed. Before he could walk out, though, the Cuban's voice prevented him from doing so. "Sadiq, Herakles, it'd be great if you had less fights, the both of you. All those procedures are quite annoying. And really." he looked at Herakles. "Aren't you tired of going to the hospital for broken limbs, black eyes, and whatnot?"

The fact that he usually was the one to get hurt was annoying. The fact that someone would rub it under his nose was ten times worse. Herakles walked away.

"I'll think 'bout it, mister Savón. But I can't promise ya anything."

Juanma sighed. "I guessed." A short silence. "Well, don't you have anything else to do?"

That brought him back to reality. "Shit! What time is it?"

"Almost eleven." Juanma didn't have the time to ask what was wrong : Sadiq was already out of the room. He was over an hour late! Chao would probably have waited (he was too polite not too- his brother's influence was to blame, undoubtedly) but it was still too long!

He ran out of the police station, took no time in resting or greeting anyone he happened to know (but he still unintentionally bumped into Herakles when he saw him outside). He had told him they'd meet in front of the Asian restaurant, which was both a good and a bad thing, come to think of it. He would not get too bored, but both Kiku and Yao would assist to his unpunctuality, and he liked the both of them too much to look bad in front of them.

This stupid town had never been so big before, so why was it taking him so long to get there?

When he spotted the golden lettering from the Ougon no Ryuu, he finally allowed himself to breathe again, and slowed down a bit.

Chao wasn't there. Well, he'd probably just walked in.

Sadiq stepped inside, stretching his neck and still breathing with a little difficulty. A few customers turned around to stare at him, turned around to whisper something at the person sitting next to them. Why were there so many, at this hour of the day... Oh, yes, it was almost noon already, he'd almost forgotten that.

He moved towards the kitchen (he'd been hanging around Kiku for almost as long as Herakles, and that was long enough for him to pop up in the kitchen uninvited), walked in, and greeted Yao who was currently cooking something.

"Smells good!"

"It always smells good, aru!"

Sadiq laughed. "Yeah, sure. Say, where's your brother?"

He stopped cutting whatever vegetable it was, and stared at him. "Chao, aru?"

"Yes? Ya don't have any brothers I'm not aware of, right?"

Yao waved it off. "Of course not, aru. But why should he be here? I haven't seen him in days!"

"Were you waiting for him, Sadiq-san?" That was Kiku coming in, the Turk quickly shook his hand (never show any kind of affection towards Kiku, he had understood that on their very first meting).

"Yeah. Told him we'd meet in front of here, but I was late. Hope he's not gone."

Kiku and Yao looked at each other. They both knew Chao, and he wasn't the kind of person to make someone wait, and even less to leave before he was told straight out that the person he was waiting for was not going to come.

That caused Yao to panic, him who rarely ever lost his self-control. "What if something happened to him, aru?"

"I don't think it's anythin' like that. Maybe he got to talk to a pretty girl and lost track of time, huh?"

"Chao's not like that, aru!"

"Pardon me." Everyone turned around. The man bowed down, his joined hands hidden under the long sleeves of his traditional Chinese costume. "I am truly sorry for being so late, Mister Adnan. I will make sure this will never happen again, such behavior is unacceptable."

"That's fine, Chao!" Oh, good, he was fine. "What happened? You look rather tired."

The Chinese didn't react at first. "I wish not to talk about it, if you don't mind." he said, bowing down once more.

Well. That was strange. Awfully strange.

AN: Lars needs his sleep. Antonio is being annoying and should not be working because of all his wounds but he's still at the Police station. Juanma is cranky because he's had troubles with Alfred ; Raivis is annoyed because of Lars. Sadiq and Herakles have an unhealthy love/hate relationship that's close to 'I need you because you're the only person I can annoy this much'. Yao is the born over-worrier, and Chao's hiding something. Too much suspense and I talk too much.

Chao Yuen [29] is Hong Kong. He is almost Yao's little brother, whose family has taken care of but never adopted or anything since he lived with his grandparents. He's a singer and musician.

Sadiq Adnan [28] is Chao's manager (and why the hell is he younger?). He met Yao and Kiku thanks to him.

Herakles Karpusi [26] is a psychologist and has been trying to get rid of Sadiq for a few years now. Unfortunately, they keep on somehow working at the same places. Hang in there, Herakles!