11-July-2002
Pet Shop of Horrors: Earthsong
by bonnejeanne and cassiopeia
Title: Earthsong
Author: bonnejeanne (bonnejeanne@yahoo.com) and Cassiopeia (cassiopeia@gundamwing.net)
Archive: http://www.no-assumptions.com/gundamwing/
Category: yaoi, AU
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: Series
WARNINGS: Lemon/Limey stuff, AU
Disclaimer: Pet Shop of Horrors characters and universe are the property of the copyright owners. Our stuff is ours. No money being made here. As with all our fics, while our goal is to stay as in character as possible, any discrepancies are our mistakes.
Feedback: Any and all comments welcome, be they short or long.
NOTES: This is a sequel to our first fic, "Blood". See Part One for full Notes.
Earthsong: Part Five
As he sat at his desk, head bent over a large, indistinct pile of "official documents", or useless garbage, whichever way you wanted to think of it, Leon raised his arm to check the time again. Another three minutes had managed to crawl by and he let out a long, frustrated breath.
People were always wanting him to read stuff. They could never just get it over with and *tell* him what he needed to know. It was always, 'Have you read the report?' About now, he was seriously considering raking everything off the top of his desk and into the nearest trash can.
Leon picked up the top few sheets of paper, not quite as crumpled as the rest of them seemed to be, as if he might do just that, but stopped short of wading them into nothing. His eye had caught on something... this one had to do with Chinatown.
He stood, reading over the particulars quickly, his eyes skimming efficiently down the page. Leon frowned, the look deepening with each detail. The night before, they'd brought in some kid that Leon had never heard of, apparently a member of one of the local gangs. Leon knew the kid must have been relatively new or stupid or scared, because once in custody, he'd started talking. True to form (these guys never had anything good to say), he'd 'let it slip', obviously trying to draw attention away from the predictable drug charges he'd been brought in on, that a new group had recently moved into the area. From Hong Kong, big fish, Triad leader. If even part of what the kid had said was true, Leon knew the boy didn't have much longer to live.
As he made his way through the mostly empty office, everyone either out to lunch or just out, Leon couldn't help thinking of Chang. He wondered if... but no, he was just some cocky kid. He might know something, though. Leon kept it in mind, entering his chief's office, letting the door stand open behind him. "Why wasn't I told about this?" he demanded in a loud voice, flapping the unruly stack of papers he held in his hand towards the man behind the desk.
He was greeted with a scowl and a string of his infractions for the week. "...and since you have the report in your hand it was probably on your desk, which means you *were* told, now GET OUT OF MY OFFICE I'M BUSY!!!"
Leon blinked a few times, thought of yelling back at the man, thought he didn't want to lose his job, then backed out of the room with a deep frown on his face. Continuing to step backwards, he pulled the door not quite shut in front of him and turned, almost as if he were looking for someone else he could yell at.
Innocent of the immanent peril, Jill walked through the precinct room with a stack of folders. "Oh, hi Leon."
"Oh, Leon, that Chinese guy is hanging around outside the precinct, he looked like he was waiting for something," she added as she dropped the stack of folders on her desk with a sigh.
Leon looked at Jill for a minute, shifting gears, then handed her his stack of papers. "Did you know about this?" he asked, far less outrage in his voice than the moment before. He didn't look at her but around her, towards the exit, an impatient quality in his stance.
"Which 'this', Leon?" Jill managed to be almost soothing as she privately rolled her eyes over his assumption she could read minds.
"Hong Kong guys in Chinatown? Some Triad leader?" Leon said it as if he was certain that everyone in the office besides himself knew all about the report, as if there was nothing else that could possibly be going on to occupy anyone's time. "I thought you read all of this stuff," he added, stabbing the top sheet with a finger. At the same time, he checked his watch and saw that there was a good reason 'that Chinese guy' might be hanging around outside... Leon wasn't exactly being punctual this afternoon. Not that they'd set a specific time, other than 'tea time', but that was as good as saying 'at sundown', so regular was the hour at which D served the meal. A fact which Leon had taken full advantage of in the past.
"Oh that... yes, what about it? It's just a rumor, no reason to take it seriously," Jill answered, a little perplexed.
Leon snorted, annoyed that she could be so casual about the whole thing. Was he the only one who took things seriously? "Nevermind," he said, heading for the door, "I've got to go." Pausing in his steps, he added, "Chief's in a bad mood. Watch it." And then he moved off and out of the room, grabbing his jacket off his chair as he passed.
Jill shook her head as she watched him leave. "Oh, but what about your..." she started and then closed her mouth quickly as he disappeared, regretfully thinking she was probably lucky he hadn't heard.
Outside, Leon caught sight of a familiar form, hanging around his car, and frowned pleasantly by way of greeting. He went immediately to the driver's side door, pulling it open.
Chang was dressed all in black, a black silk Chinese styled shirt replacing the white tunic of the day before. A small jeweled pin was visible in the mandarin collar. He also had a small package in his hand, squarish and wrapped with a large silk scarf. Sliding into the passenger seat as if he sat there every day, he gave the detective a slight grin and then resumed his usual stance of looking bored out the window.
Leon didn't say anything until they were on the road to the pet shop. "I've got good news and bad news. Good news, he's probably in a good mood today." Leon paused, smiling to himself as he remembered he and the Count's activities of the night before, then went on. "Bad news, I'm not. I got a disturbing piece of information a few minutes ago. You might know something about it."
"What would that be, Mister Detective?" Chang answered in a bored but not unfriendly voice.
"Some friends of yours, possibly, from Hong Kong have moved into Chinatown. Could be headed up by a Triad leader. Know anything about that?" Leon stopped the car at a red light, continuing to stare out the windshield as he spoke.
Chang favored Leon with a brief look. "A Triad leader? From HK? Sounds like a bad dude. I don't think I'd want to know anything about that. I guess I could ask the cousin I'm staying with but I hope he doesn't know anything about it either."
Not entirely satisfied with the answer, Leon took off as the light turned green. He knew the boy was hiding something, he could feel it. He also knew that Chang had no reason, really, to share any information with him. But persistence was an Orcot family trait. "I'm glad to see you're smarter than the guy they got this information from. If you find out anything, send it my way. The last thing I need is something else to have to watch around here." As he finished, the pet shop came into view, as if on cue, and he sighed.
"Okay," Chang answered. A thoughtful considering look. "I'll tell you something else, though. You know my uncle, used to work for the Chinese government?"
"Yeah?" Leon said, paying extreme close attention to what Chang said, even though he only appeared to be parking the car.
"His old house man seems to think there are some mainland government guys around town right now. Refugees from the cold war... you know, spies... Probably the old guy is insane but I plan to try and wrap my business and go home without finding out." Chang continued to sound very unconcerned.
Leon didn't care if the old guy was insane or not. Insane people still saw stuff, and granted, sometimes it was stuff that wasn't there, but he'd learned not to write people off quite that easily. Beginning to wonder if Chang didn't sound a bit *too* casual about the whole thing, Leon turned off the car and started to open his door. "I don't know, you've got your work cut out for you here, assuming this is your only remaining business. D's pretty... stubborn."
Chang's casual demeanor seemed to melt away. "Somehow I'm not surprised. Well I won't give up without giving it my best shot."
Leon didn't comment on the boy's declaration, and moved off in the direction of the pet shop. He opened the door and went inside, heading straight for the main room, in which the Count always served guests.
Chang managed to stay gracefully on Leon's heels with no apparent effort. He was tense but there was no one to observe him that closely at this point and he covered it with a mask of respectful neutrality.
Leon was not disappointed, D was seated in his chair as he had been so many times before when the detective had come to visit. The tea tray was already on the table with three cups, a fourth being in the Count's hand. He placed it down and rose, a special spark in his eyes for Leon, flaring briefly before the neutral mask of the pet shop keeper returned to possess his features.
He was not the only one in the room, however. On the sofa sat a small figure now familiar to Leon. He was dressed in a more formal outfit, but his red hair was just as wild and unruly. The scent of incense was heavy as always but in this case seemed to not quite mask an undertone of strong musk.
"Good afternoon," D said formally. "You are just in time."
Leon moved to the sofa silently and sat next to the child. He didn't touch anything from the tea tray, only watching the others to see what drama might unfold. He felt he was in a strange position, like he always did in Chinatown, around people so unlike himself. Not an outsider, though he knew he was, but an observer. He could watch things here, solve cases here, arrest people here... but that was it. Leon had a professional relationship with the town, but nothing more. The only exception was D, but Leon hardly counted that, as the Count could be considered an exception to just about everything.
Chang bowed deeply to the Count as before, the slightest frown creasing his brows as he took in the boy on the sofa. However he presented the scarf-wrapped box to the Count with a murmur of "in gratitude for your kindness".
The attitude of the Count towards the package was polite interest, certainly not feigned, but it lacked the intense, instant excitement Leon was familiar with from his own gifts. He opened the silk covering and smiled. The box had the mark of a bakery in Chinatown. Opening it, he exclaimed over the pastries within, but again Leon thought that while genuine, it seemed a degree or even several degrees slightly less than the Count showed with his own offerings. However it wasn't anything anyone else would have noticed, perhaps.
"Have a seat, Mister Chang," the Count offered regally. "I have someone you wanted to meet. Chang Fei Hong, this is Ti-lung."
Chang had been in the process of sitting and stood up abruptly. His expression registered surprise and a flash of disbelief before settling to an almost shocked understanding. As the boy watched him, he bowed very deeply. "I am honored," he said simply, and took his seat.
D appeared to have a very slight air of mild approval that he'd limited his reaction.
Ti-lung watched Chang with an attempt at a severe expression, which had lightened when Leon sat down next to him and resumed as the newcomer bowed. The boy was considerably more restrained than he had been last night when Leon had seen him.
The Count simply poured tea and sampled one of the confections, making a small approving noise.
After a moment, Chang took a breath and said, "I am grateful to see you in good health, Honored One," but to Leon's surprise, the words were directed to the boy.
Leon turned to look at the child, Chang's words causing the slight air of confusion that had been hanging around him for the entire conversation to intensify into an all out fog. He couldn't see anything special about the kid, and wondered how Chang happened to know him. And he was getting annoyed with all of this 'Great One' and 'Honored One' crap. It made him move a little closer to the edge of his seat. Hadn't they come here to talk about the little lizard? Chang was turning out to be almost as confusing as D. It had to be a Chinese thing.
The boy scowled, though at that moment D glanced at him and the child seemed to tone down the look reluctantly. Then his small hand did a little furtive sideways crabwalk across the couch and tried to insert itself into Leon's.
"No thanks to you!" the boy blurted out.
Chang flinched ever so slightly.
The Count placed a small confection on a plate and placed it in Ti-lung's lap. "Mister Chang was not responsible for the actions of his uncle."
Feeling the child's hand, Leon jumped a little in surprise, but he did not look down. He grasped it slowly, unsure of what it might do, and could only think how small and smooth it felt compared to his own. It was not a comfortable feeling, but somehow, that did not matter.
The small hand closed gratefully on Leon's large one. The boy took a bite of the confection, holding it with his other hand. Then he put down the rest and put the plate on the table.
"Why do you want to talk to me?" he asked Chang, his voice taking on a slightly imperious tone.
The young Chinese man took a deep breath. "I am here to ask... to entreat you to return to your home with me, where you will be protected, honored and cherished."
The scowl returned to the boy's face. "My home is here," he said stubbornly.
Chang managed to retain his composure but it wasn't difficult to detect that he was anything but happy with the boy's declaration.
Leon looked from the boy to Chang and back. Then he shot D a look... what was he missing? Chang wanted to take the lizard back to Hong Kong with him, at least, that's what he'd said. But they all seemed concerned with the boy, Ti-lung... maybe the lizard belonged to the boy? Leon continued to watch D as if he might find the answer in the other man's face, though his eyes darted glances at Chang frequently.
Count D spoke, his voice calm and melodious and deep. "How did you feel when you were taken away from your first home?"
The boy's fingers tightened on Leon's hand. "Bad. Angry. It hurt."
Chang's eyes riveted on his own knees, his head bowing slightly.
"Because you loved it," Count D said softly. "Are you sure you would not like to go back there?"
Chang looked up at D, a flash of surprise in his dark eyes.
Ti-lung fought with this concept almost physically. Then he turned and climbed into Leon's lap. "I dunno." It was a cross, unhappy sound.
Leon started, the boy's action shocking him. It was one of the strangest things he'd ever felt, and made his mind turn backward, to another child. Another child who had not wanted to leave his home, too young and stupid to have figured out what Leon had known since he was eight years old. There was no home to worry about leaving.
One arm went loosely around the child in his lap, apparently to still or steady the boy, but also giving the appearance of protection, as if Leon was ready to act if needed. Again, it was not a comfortable feeling, but something made it okay. He did not know what it was.
Ti-lung settled there as if taking Leon's protection for granted.
Chang's eyes widened slightly and then looked back up to meet's Leon's, something snapping in the ebony depths. However he kept his expression carefully controlled.
Reaching into his pocket, he took out something large enough to fill his palm and spill over some. It was wrapped in a small piece of silk. Taking the wrapping away, he held it out.
It was a piece of jade, deep green flecked with reddish brown. The shape was less carved than it looked grown, the edges smoothed by time. The shape was almost familiar. It reminded Leon of the little lizard - in fact it was remarkably accurate to what he remembered.
"This piece of jade is two thousand years old and its value is beyond calculation. I would like to give it to you. If you decide to stay, it will do me no good whatsoever anyway." Chang spoke quietly, holding out the object.
The boy looked at the object and something seemed to come over him, first a sense of recognition, then wistfulness and longing, then an almost regal air. His hands reached out, and from the tension in his body Leon felt that he wanted to snatch the thing up and run away with it.
Instead, his smoothed his small hands over it and withdrew. His back straightened and he said, "Bring it back tomorrow."
Chang looked up, his eyes widening slightly. Then he bowed again and recovered the object, tucking it away.
Standing up, he bowed to Count D, who rose also. "Thank you for the tea. If I can impose on you, I will return tomorrow."
"Of course," D said pleasantly.
Feeling like he was totally missing some weird Chinese custom, Leon leaned forward without disturbing the child too much and grabbed one of the cups of tea, swallowing the now only mildly warm liquid in one gulp. After setting the empty cup aside, he cast his eyes downwards to his lap. "Gotta go," he said, then checked his watch over the boy's head. He had just enough time to get out of here and get rid of Chang before Chris's arrival. Leon still had no idea where he was going to take the kid, and he wished for not the first time that he could just stow the boy somewhere.
He did not think that this responsibility should have been passed to him, and regardless of the fact that this was 'his brother', as everyone was so fond of pointing out to him, Chris was still some strange kid that he did not know.
Ti-lung climbed off his lap. He looked up at Leon, his habitual, and cute scowl lifting for just a moment. "Oh, okay," he said, sounding put upon.
Chang's eyes flickered from the boy to Leon, and back. He reached up and unpinned the jewel from his collar. It was a small piece but the gems on it were large and if they were real, it was quite a pricey bit of adornment. He held it out. "I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Please, take this, from me to you, just something to... play with."
Ti-lung looked up doubtfully, and then his hand reached out and snatched the gempiece, and he grinned to himself. Bobbing a brief bow at Count D, he turned and ran off into the back of the shop.
"That was very generous of you," D said, his smile cool, but with a hint of approval. "We will see you tomorrow." Then he turned to Leon. "You'd better hurry."
Standing, Leon looked at D for a minute, trying to decide if he knew or not (neither of which would have surprised him too much), then looked away as he moved towards the door. "I'll see you later," he said, avoiding the issue altogether, and would not turn to meet the Count's eyes.
"I certainly hope so..." the voice behind him seemed to carry a bevy of meanings.
Leon did not pause at the words, though a slight smile tugged one corner of his mouth upwards. He did, however, hold up at the door, still not about to leave Chang alone with D for any length of time.
Chang was right behind him, allowing himself to sneak a quick look at both Count D and Leon before sweeping through the door with a low, "Beauty before age..."
The detective stood blinking after Chang for a minute, and then the meaning of the boy's words hit him. With the same indignant frown he normally reserved for D's nonsense, or, more to the point, anything he didn't have an answer for, Leon followed the boy out the door and to the car.
Once they were both inside the vehicle, he studied the gear shift for a moment before starting the engine. "Back again tomorrow, huh?"
Chang all but threw himself in the passenger seat. He reached up and unfastened the top closure of his shirt. "Looks like it, police man." Out of the shop, the boy allowed some of his emotions to play across his face. Frustration, fear, anger, caution, and a little shock.
"What," Leon began, heading the car for the station, "do you want with that boy? Is he a relative of yours or something?" His voice remained even, but still managed to betray the fact that he had more than one reason for asking the question.
Chang looked over at Leon with a look of mild amazement. "You really don't know? Never mind. If you can play dumb that good, it's worth answering the question. But he seems to know you pretty well. You could have told me the earth dragon would appear in the form of a boy. I might have been better prepared for the meeting."
Leon's foot momentarily eased off of the accelerator. Earth... dragon... boy... He continued to swirl the thoughts in his head, trying to get them to mix together, oil and water. "The boy... is your dragon? The one you need to save your country from economic ruin? Are you serious? I can't believe... no, I can believe. There are probably only two people in the United States who would believe what you just told me, and they were both just sitting in that shop a minute ago. You're all crazy, do you know that?"
Chang listened to the outburst, watching Leon. After a minute, he said, "I did some research on that shop, Mister Detective. There was a story about some couple who bought a rabbit and acted like it was their dead daughter... some other one about a guy with a fish he thought was some singer. The boy is called Ti-lung. That's not a name - that's Chinese for Earth Dragon."
Leon blinked, then turned his head away from the moving road in front of him to stare at Chang. He tried to say something a few times, found he really couldn't think of any statement he could finish, then turned back to the front, just in time to slam on his breaks at a red light. "I worked on those cases," he started, finally. "Okay, so there are crazy people running around in any country. But I saw them both... it really was only a fish. And they were only... rabbits." As he said the last, his stomach turned a little as he remembered the particulars of both cases, and he wondered again how the Count got *anyone* to purchase these things.
"Maybe when *you* saw them," Chang said and turned back to stare out the window.
"Me and everyone else," Leon said, almost under his breath, and took off from the light. They were in front of the station now, and Leon parked, shifting into reverse with a whipping movement of his arm. He had a lot of questions for D now, that was certain.
Leon remained in his seat and waited for the boy to get out. He had less than thirty minutes to make it to the airport.
Chang opened his door the moment the car slid next to the curb. "This was fun, let's do it again tomorrow," he quipped. Then he closed the door and stopped, looking across the street. Leon noticed a small group of young, tough looking Asians over there. Chang reversed directions and went the other way down the sidewalk, but as Leon pulled back out into traffic, his eye was caught by the young man crossing the street behind him and turning back up the road towards the small group instead of away from it.
The detective continued to watch the boy's suspicious behavior in his mirror as long as possible, several ideas beginning to nibble at him. He made a mental list of people he needed to talk to, and felt frustrated that he couldn't head into the police station and begin digging into Chang's past immediately. He doubted he would find much, but the things you didn't find almost told you as much as the things you did.
Speeding the vehicle in the direction of the airport, Leon set the thoughts aside in favor of others. And he still had no idea what to do with the person he was going to pick up.
TBC