Hanh's POV

"Got it?" Soryu asked. I nodded, relieved to the point where there were tears forming in my eyes. Soryu set me down and released his hold on me, and his left hand was holding my right hand.

"We are going to make a run for it. I have one of my own cars near here, and that's where we are headed. Ready?"

I nodded, and he motioned 3, 2, 1, and we took off. I could hear loud curses in the air, and I was even more relieved that they belonged to my kidnappers than Soryu. He led me to a small black car, and I rushed into the backseat with him following after me. The car took off the moment Soryu was in the car, not even giving him time to shut the door. Soryu kept glancing back, checking to see if we were followed. Then Soryu's pocket vibrated, and Soryu quickly took it out to answer that phone call.

"Yes….Good….Move them to ours… I want them alive…I'll be there in a bit…." he said. I stayed quiet in my seat, letting all the adrenaline run its course, as my heart slowed, and I only felt like throwing up. The gun was still in my hand, as heavy as ever. Once Soryu disconnected the phone call, he turned towards me. Before he got a word in, I quickly said, "Thank you."

He paused for a bit. He placed his hand on the gun that I was holding, and I let go, letting him take it away. Then he gently grabbed my wrists, rubbing the red marks that were left by the ropes before. My own hands were trembling, as I sat in the quiet car.

"You have some questions to answer," he whispered.

"I know."

"But first, how are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere else?"

I shook my head. If I was hurt anywhere, I couldn't tell right now. My nerves and my heartbeat were calming down now. I didn't know what to make of it. I continued to stare out the car, not wanting to make eye contact with Soryu, because I didn't even know how to process that information.

"Here," Soryu said.

I turned my head to look back at him and what he was suggesting. He was holding the phone that he had originally given me. I stared back at the matching pictures of Ainsley, Mei Ling, and me on the back.

"You should probably call your friend. She was worried about you. And so is Mei Ling, so I think they would appreciate you calling them to let them know."

I slowly took the phone back. It still had some power, and I pressed Ainsley's number.

"Hello?"

More tears swelled in my eyes.

"Hey," I responded.

"Hanh?"

"Yes?"

"You really are super lucky! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No, not really. I think I'm fine. I was running on adrenaline the whole time."

"Are you safe now?"

"Yes, Soryu came and got me."

"Wow, he did? How did that go down? And where are you now?"

"I'm not sure. We are in a car right now."

Before Ainsley could say anything more, I could hear Mei Ling in the background.

"Hanh, I am so sorry you got kidnapped instead of me!"

"Mei Ling, it's fine. I'm okay now!" The next batches of conversation was Mei Ling and Ainsley checking up on me, but I was getting very tired. With the end of the adrenaline rush, I was feeling very exhausted. I didn't think I would get more exhausted compared to the night that I was sold at the auction. My eyelids were feeling very heavy, and next thing I knew, I had fallen asleep in the car.

I opened my eyes to a white ceiling, laying in an unfamiliar bed in an empty room. I sat up, looking around to take in my surroundings. The one window in the room, showed that it wasn't too dark out. The sun was beginning to rise.

"You're awake," Soryu said behind me. I turned around to look at him, remembering the last events that had happened. I didn't know what to say, but I wanted to start off with gratitude.

"Thank you for coming to get me." He just stared at me.

"Tell me what happened."

"Well… We were at the movies," I started, looking at him to see what reactions he had, only to gain nothing from his expressionless face.

"And I had gone to the bathroom. And then I was going to get a refill on popcorn when I was attacked and kidnapped. They knocked me out, so I didn't know where I was going. When I woke up, I learned that they kidnapped me because they thought that I was Mei Ling. I didn't correct them. And when I had the opportunity, I ran away." During my explanation, Soryu didn't show any signs of emotion, which only served to make me more nervous about the whole thing. I didn't have anything else I needed to add, or wanted to add to my story, so I just looked at him. Soryu looked the same as very. His suit was nearly pressed, not a single wrinkle in sight, his expression remained as stoic as ever, and his gaze piercing through my soul. His eyes narrowed.

"So you didn't know who they were, or where they were coming from? All you know was that they were after Mei Ling?"

"Yes."

"Did they interrogate you or questioned you during the whole experience?"

"No, they had kept me tied up. I think they mentioned that I or Mei Ling, really, was their golden ticket. They knew that the boss of the Japanese branch of the Ice Dragons was with us. I think they were guessing that Ainsley and I were Americans."

I continued to hold his gaze, trying to see if that extra information from me changed his expression. It didn't. I swallowed as I racked my brain for more information during this silence.

"How did you get the gun?" My eyes widened. My brain was already going a million miles an hour, and unfortunately for me, this is turning out to be bad.

"There were two men. One had left. The other one didn't seem to be worried about me…" I trailed off. I didn't know how to best explain that I managed to free myself and take out one fully grown man without looking suspicious. I already understood that I was in a bad position. Soryu was already suspicious of me, because of Ainsley's cop background. I knew that the silver lining was that outside of Ainsley, I had lived quite the normal life, so I shouldn't be that suspicious. However, this turn of events probably made me shoot back onto the top of his list. My fingers curled into the sheets beneath me, my nerves going crazy.

"Are you telling me that you took down a fully grown man, and got his gun?"

As a normal person on this earth, and as a writer, I knew that reality was always stranger than fiction. I thought about lying, saying how I had training with Ainsley in martial arts, that I could take a grown man down with my fists. I also thought back how I used my rosary to free myself, and give the credit to God. I wouldn't be far off, because how was it possible that my 5'1" small Asian self could fight a man that appeared to be 6'. I had a feeling that telling a lie wouldn't be smart either. Soryu was part of the triads — the Chinese mafia basically, and I did not want to know what would happen if he discovered I lied. I decided on a half truth.

"Yes. He was distracted on his phone. I prayed to God to give me an opportunity. He did, and I took it." Soryu's expression still didn't change, but the silence seemed to be heavier now, urging me to continue talking.

"I used my purse strap to choke him out."

Finally, his expression changed. For a second, a flicker of something crossed his face, but it went back. He leaned forward slight. "You choked him out?"

I nodded. "I wrapped my purse strap around his neck, pulled, didn't stop until he stopped moving. Then I took his gun and escaped."

"You know how to use a gun?"

"I'm American," I responded, almost offended he asked that question.

Soryu let that hang in the air between us. His gray eyes studied me, unreadable. Then he leaned back in his chair, letting out a dry chuckle, one laced with disbelief. "That's impressive. You don't seem like someone who's had to do that before."

"I haven't. You would have known that in your little background check," I muttered, looking down and rubbing the rope burns I had around my wrists. Soryu didn't respond to that. My eyes remained on my wrists, still rubbing, and then wincing a little at the pain. Then, Soryu let out a sigh. "You're right. Your background is clean. No history of fighting, even as a child. There was no reason that you should have been able to do what you did."

"I didn't have a choice. I didn't know you were coming. I couldn't count on that," I whispered. I heard him shift around in his chair, and then his hands grabbed my left forearm and pulled it towards him. I looked up in surprised, only to blink my eyes in doubt. His expression seemed to soften.

"You're right," he said, as he started to rub ointment on my wrist. I couldn't respond. I didn't know how as I watched this mobster apply medicine on me. He applied it on both wrists before wrapping them up.

"Are you hungry?" he asked once he was done. My stomach answered instead, and heat rushed up to my cheeks. He chuckled.

"Can you stand? Or would you like something to be brought in?"

"I think I could stand," I responded, lifting the blanket and then trying to get up. My legs were stiff, but it seemed like everything was in working order. I followed him out of the room into the kitchen. It was a pretty small house from what I could have gathered, but all the curtains were drawn so I couldn't see outside. The kitchen was modern with an island, but there was something off out the kitchen. There was a faint smell of bleach in the air, but it didn't seem to bother Soryu. He pulled out a chair at the table and gestured for me to sit. He moved swiftly to the fridge, pulling out some eggs, bacon, and bread. He preceded to cook the eggs, and a while later, plopped a plate in front of me. A plate of eggs, bacon, and toast.

"I heard Americans like to have this for breakfast." I blinked. Sure, it looked like a common breakfast, but I grew up in an Asian household, and lowkey expected some rice at least. I wasn't going to tell him that since he had cooked for me.

"Thanks," I replied, grabbing the fork besides me. I wanted to ask if he was planning on eating anything but a man walked into the room. He was an older man and had a scar right down his left eye. He glanced at me, before going to Soryu and whispered something in his ear, making Soryu's eyes narrow.

"Stay here," Soryu said to me, before leaving me alone in the kitchen. At least I had food.