pairing: ChenLay
length: 2789 words
A/N: Written at the request of kakashilover! Hope you like it!
Part One: Please
Part Two: For You

Jongdae pulled against the chains holding him down in the dank, dimly lit prison cell. Well, it wasn’t really a prison cell, but it might as well have been one with the amount of security that was placed around the barred room. Several of Yifan’s cronies watched him in rotation. He knew all of them: Jang Hyunseung, Lee Taemin, Hwang Chansung, Lee Jonghyun, Lee Changmin, and Choi Younghak. They watched him in pairs, changing up the combinations every few shifts, and every single one of those idiots glared at him with the same hate that existed in Zitao’s eyes.

God, he couldn’t believe he had ever considered these fools his allies. They were like sick dogs who blindly followed around Yifan with dopey loyal looks on their faces whenever they listened to him give orders. In fact, they were worse than dogs. At least dogs knew when to bite the hand that fed them, especially if that hand was treating them as if they were less than dirt. But these idiots listened to every word that came out of Yifan’s mouth, even if all he did was throw insults at them and have them beaten up for doing even the slightest thing wrong. Anyone who wasn’t Yixing, Zitao, or Jongin was ultimately treated like trash.

He needed to escape. And he needed to find Yixing. His best friend was the only one worth rescuing from this dump. Yixing wasn’t like everyone else. He wasn’t blind or stupid. He had noticed Yifan’s wrongdoings himself and tried to confront the Wu Clan’s leader about them. But it was to no avail, since Yifan would smoothly talk his way out of every accusation Yixing threw at him.

Jongdae only hoped he would be able to reach Yixing before Yifan could brainwash his right-hand man again. However, the small man’s chances were looking very bleak as he struggled against the shackles that bound him to the gray stone wall. He had no weapons, gadgets, or anything that could help him bust out of the dungeon cell. Jongin and Zitao had made sure to strip the man of anything that could be used for escaping before tossing him into the musty room and locking him in.

It was amazing how downhill everything had gone in just one day.

But at least Yixing was alive. That was all that really mattered at that moment.

--

“Did you know, my dearest Yixing, that our dear Jongdae has been fraternizing with a member of the Seoul Police Department?” Yifan gently the side of Yixing’s pale face, grinning as he observed Jongdae’s expression grow stormy out of the corner of his eye. Yixing hadn’t yet been formally discharged from the hospital wing and looked as if he should still be in bed, but he was here in Yifan’s main office on the Wu Clan leader’s orders. Jongdae was chained to a wooden chair in the middle of the office with Zitao and Jongin flanking him on either side

“Y-you’re lying,” Yixing said, feeling his hands turn clammy and drops of sweat slide down his temples. He glanced at his best friend, who had ugly bruises all over his skinny body. “Jongdae would never betray us to our worst enemies.”

“Oh, my dearest Yixing, you know I would never lie to you,” Yifan rebutted smoothly, the ends of his eyes crinkling up as he watched Jongdae fidget in his seat, unable to move because of the heavy metal chains keeping him attached to the wooden chair. “What was that fellow’s name again? Byun Baekhyun, I believe?”

“What did you do to him?” Jongdae roared as he tried to leap forward, albeit unsuccessfully as the chains clanked due to his sudden movement. His blood ran cold, knowing that Yifan had possibly gotten his hands on the friendly police officer who had been helping Jongdae with his mission.

Yifan smirked triumphantly as he cooed to Yixing, “See? Even our dear Jongdae admits to his misconduct. He has been conspiring against us with that terrible man named Byun Baekhyun.” The Wu Clan’s leader lowered his husky voice another octave as he added, “Our dear Jongdae never cared about you. He would have sold you out for his own selfish means and allowed you to rot in jail.”

“Don’t listen to him!” Jongdae yelled, rattling against the chains as he helplessly watched Yixing fall under Yifan’s spell again.

“Shut up, you filthy traitor,” Zitao snarled with a sharp kick aimed at Jongdae’s chest.

The small man coughed roughly, his ribs aching painfully after Zitao’s attack. “Yixing, you know I would never betray you,” Jongdae wheezed, trying to ignore the crushing feeling in his chest. “You have to believe me!”

“Our dear Jongdae was never truly there for you,” Yifan purred to Yixing, who had briefly looked away from the Wu Clan’s leader when Zitao kicked Jongdae.

Yixing’s mind whirled with multitude of emotions, ranging from hurt to confusion to fear, as he tried to discern which words were truths and which were lies. Should he trust the man who had saved him as a child or the man who had been his partner-in-crime for most of life? Conversely, should he trust the man whose ruthless nature knew no bounds or the man who had disappeared sporadically over the past few months without a single word? Yixing felt that he would lose, no matter which choice he ended up making.

“Yixing, please. You know I only want what’s best for you.”

And then Yixing remembered how earnestly Jongdae had pleaded with him that one chilly night.

“Yixing, please. You don’t have to listen to him.”

“Yixing, please. You can be your own person.”

“Yixing, please. Just…do the right thing…”

Seeing Yixing stare blankly into space, Yifan nodded to Jongin and Zitao. “Take him away and dispose of him,” he ordered with a lazy flick of his hand. “We have no use for him any longer. And after you toss him out with the SPD trash, bring my dearest Yixing back to the hospital wing.”

“NO! LET ME GO! YIXING, DON’T LET HIM CONTROL YOU FOREVER!” Jongdae screamed as he wildly thrashed against the chair, almost toppling himself over due to the sheer force of his movements.

Yifan smiled as he a finger against the black ribbon tied around Yixing’s neck. “I’m afraid this is the last time you shall see our dear Jongdae, so say your goodbyes now.”

“YIXING! DON’T DO THIS TO YOURSELF!”

And somehow, the raw desperation in Jongdae’s voice caused Yixing to shatter.

With a pistol he had tucked inside his jacket, Yixing began shooting the bottom of the chair, completely obliterating the locks that chained Jongdae in place, and the floor near Jongin and Zitao’s feet, causing them to leap back in surprise.

A strong hand quickly s around Yixing’s, stopping the man from continuing his shoot-out. “What are you doing?” Yifan asked in his silky smooth voice, doing a first-class job of concealing his panic that Yixing was essentially going rogue right before his eyes. “This isn’t like you, my dearest Yi—”

The deafening sound of a gunshot filled the air and Yifan’s face twisted painfully as he released Yixing’s hand to clutch his bleeding right shoulder instead. “Don’t touch me,” Yixing ordered murderously, his aura growing blacker by the second. When Zitao and Jongin started towards him, Yixing pulled out another pistol and pointed one at each man. “Move one step and you die.”

Jongin grunted as he reluctantly stepped back. However, Zitao’s eyes were blazing with rage as he yelled, “Are you crazy?! Jongdae’s the one you should be shooting at, not us or Yifan!”

Another bullet fired past Zitao’s face, just barely skinning his high cheekbone and causing the thinnest of cuts to appear on his left cheek. “Don’t test me.” Yixing kept one gun trained on Yifan while the other gun continued facing Jongin and Zitao, who was cursing loudly as he brought the back of his hand to his cheek to blot away the blood that was trickling from the wound. He quickly stepped over to Jongdae, who was hacking up pools of blood after being mistreated for so long. “We’re leaving.”

“W-we’re what?”

“I’m doing the right thing and taking you away from here.” Yixing smiled down sadly at Jongdae, heaving up the injured small man as he continued, “Isn’t that what I should’ve done the first time?”

A loud bang sounded and both men whipped their heads back towards Yifan, who was gripping a pistol of his own in the hand that wasn’t pressed against his injured shoulder. “I did not expect subordination from you, my dearest Yixing. You were always the one who exceeded my expectations and did everything just as I wished.” The smile was wiped from the Wu Clan leader’s face; in fact, not the slightest hint of emotion could be detected on Yifan’s face as he stared down his right-hand man. “I always knew Jongdae would sell us out one day. He was weak and I only kept him around because you were so fond of him.” Jongin and Zitao were about to move, but Yifan motioned for them to stay back as he continued speaking. “But you, on the other hand, were supposed to rule the streets of Seoul with me. We would have taken over the entire city together and eventually, we would have expanded our territory to encompass the entire country before moving on to conquer countries and continents. My dearest Yixing, I had a beautiful vision that I wanted you to fulfill.”

It did sound beautiful. Before Yifan, Yixing had nothing. He had been nothing. Yifan had given him a once-in-a-lifetime chance to start a brand-new life. And while they were technically criminals, they were the dark knights that would save society. Yixing had witnessed first-hand how corrupt the Seoul Police Department was. How these bigoted police officers abused their power and trampled over any semblance of hope that the civilians tried to frantically hold onto. Whenever Yifan spoke of a revolution, Yixing had listened with stars in his eyes because with the power of the Wu Clan, he would be able to overhaul the system. He would never allow any other orphan boy to suffer the way he had when he was young.

But Jongdae had also been right. The Wu Clan was just as rotten if they were able to cast away someone they had called their brother like a filthy piece of trash. Jongdae wasn’t weak. He was strong—stronger than any of those backstabbing fools would ever be—for pursuing his beliefs and never sacrificing his ethics.

“If you do this, you know that only death awaits you.”

He knew that. After all, his body was hurting. A lot. He should be resting in a bed right now, but instead, he was hovering over his more injured best friend while being surrounded by the three men he used to called his family. Yixing was tired of this. He was tired of everything.

So, even if his body was screaming at him to surrender to Yifan who would take care of him, Yixing scooped Jongdae in his arms while tossing one of the guns to him and using the other gun to fire several warning shots at Yifan, who immediately dived behind his desk for cover. “Cover me,” Yixing commanded, his eyes narrowed as he turned to aim at Jongin. “We’re getting out of here.”

Jongdae grinned feebly as he used both hands to steady the gun his best friend had given him. He took aim at Zitao and fired. The tall male jumped out of the way, another stream of curses escaping his mouth while his eyes glared daggers at the two men who were escaping. “I’m glad Yifan banned everyone but you from carrying weapons in his office,” Jongdae commented with a laugh as they flew down an empty corridor. “I think Zitao would’ve thrown a few of his knives at me if he’d had them on him.”

Yixing just sent the smaller male a lopsided smile as he focused on trying to maneuver the dim hallways without attracting more attention. He knew Yifan, Jongin, and Zitao wouldn’t stay down for long, especially since he hadn’t really incapacitated any of the three. But he hoped that the shock of the second-in-command going rogue would be enough to allow him to escape with Jongdae. It helped that he knew this building like the back of his hand. Whenever he heard the clattering of footsteps from a certain direction, Yixing would reroute accordingly and sometimes jump up a floor while Jongdae clung onto him for life.

A cacophony of angry voices and gunshots rang throughout the building as Yixing ran. His lungs felt like giving out, his arm and leg muscles burned like crazy, and his abdomen was in excruciating pain but he forced himself to keep running forward. Every so often, he’d shoot at their pursuers and satisfying sounds of fallen bodies thumping onto the floor kept his adrenaline levels up with the knowledge that he still had a chance to successfully escape the Wu Clan. Jongdae helped out by firing several bullets whenever he had a clear, easy target and his body wasn’t wracking with bloody coughs.

They managed to arrive at the rooftop of the Wu Clan’s headquarters, but waiting for the two injured males were Yifan, Zitao, and Jongin who were all armed. A long, serrated knife sped through the air and Yixing dodged it while firing another bullet in their direction. The three quickly scattered and began to cage the two in the middle of the rooftop. Jongdae spotted the helicopter pad and realized what Yixing’s plan had been. But of course, the other three had also guessed what Yixing would do, seeing as they had managed to intercept them up here instead of scouring the lower levels with the other members of the Wu Clan.

“You are too simple, Yixing,” Jongin said while raising his fists into a fighting stance. They were decorated with his beloved silver knuckle straps that shot out deadly spikes, some of them laced with poison.

“We’re killing you both right here,” Zitao added, his hands each gripping a throwing knife.

Yifan just held up his pistol and said, “Goodbye. I am sorry it had to end this way, my dearest Yixing.” But right when the three of them were about to fire their weapons at the center where Jongdae and Yixing were, a smoke bomb suddenly dropped and filled the air with heavy opaque smoke.

“This is the Seoul Police Department. Everyone, put your hands up!”

But Yixing ignored the order, using the smokescreen to conceal his movements as he hastily snuck past Jongin and Zitao who were coughing loudly. The closest helicopter was in his reach, and he was about to swing onto the air vehicle when a gunshot fired and Jongdae howled loudly as he was hit in the side by the bullet.

“Yixing, you and Jongdae will not leave this place alive if I can help it!” Yifan roared as he clawed his way through the thick gray smoke. “I will not allow it!”

“Stop where you are! This is the Seoul Police Department!”

“Just…l-leave me…” Jongdae panted through painstaking breaths. Yixing had paused at the door of the helicopter to firmly place a hand on his best friend’s wound in an attempt to staunch the flowing blood. “Y-you need…to g-get out…b-before Yifan kills y-you…”

“You didn’t leave me when I was dying, so there’s absolutely no way I’m leaving you now,” Yixing replied fiercely as he aimed another shot at Yifan, who staggered to the side to dodge the speeding bullet. “Just bear with me for a few seconds, okay? It’s going to get rough.” Jongdae barely managed to nod while his fluttering eyes threatened to close. Yixing rested him against the side of the helicopter before fishing out his emergency weapon that he only ever used as a last resort. He used his teeth to rip off the cap and deftly undid the safety clasp before quickly tossing the hand grenade towards their three pursuers.

It detonated in midair, causing another explosion of smoke and fire to fill the air.

“You all are under arrest by the Seoul Police Department! Anyone attempting to escape will face severe consequences!”

“Too late. We’re out,” Yixing muttered as he hauled a barely conscious Jongdae onto the helicopter and immediately revved up the engine of the aircraft. He hit full throttle as the chopper began to ascend and piloted them far away from the burning building he had previously called home for the last fifteen years.

♈♈♈