Chapter Text
Zhao Yunlan waited patiently for the phone to connect, his feet up on his desk. Well. Semi-patiently.
"Hello?" Shen Wei sounded almost offensively normal. As if he hadn't just been off-grid for two days. Leaving Zhao Yunlan to worry himself sick.
"Hey, it's me," Zhao Yunlan said. Office hours. Shen Wei had resurfaced for his office hours.
There was a heavy sound — the receiver being slammed down hastily — and the call disconnected.
Zhao Yunlan felt it was a testament to his great reserves of patience that he didn't do anything rash along the lines of immediately phoning back, or getting Haixing Inspectorate to storm the university for mind-altering influences. He sat and stared at his blank phone instead, in intense frustration.
There's something I need to take care of this morning, Shen Wei had said, and then had neatly removed himself from Zhao Yunlan's apartment and whatever this relationship was that they had been building together, without saying any more about where or why. Zhao Yunlan had let him, obviously, because he knew that Shen Wei still had obligations and duties. And the tone Shen Wei had used made him expect that whatever he had to do would be the task of a couple of hours. A couple of days had had Zhao Yunlan seriously starting to worry.
But. Shen Wei hadn't left any sort of message that he was back. Zhao Yunlan had only phoned up the university because Shen Wei had his lectures and office hours clearly marked on the wall calendar at home and Zhao Yunlan had wanted to know exactly how much he should be worrying. He hadn't, deep down, actually expected the office phone to be answered.
He definitely hadn't expected Shen Wei to hang up on him.
Da Qing knocked on the door and stuck his head round it barely a second later. "New crime scene," he said.
"Seriously?" Zhao Yunlan snapped.
Da Qing shrugged. "Looks like the same person." He looked Zhao Yunlan up and down. "You heard from Professor Shen yet?"
Zhao Yunlan pushed himself abruptly to his feet. "Where's the crime scene?"
Da Qing raised his eyebrows at the non-answer. "Downtown. Lao Chu's meeting us there."
"Ok," Zhao Yunlan said. "Let's go." He shoved his phone aggressively into his pocket.
The dead body turned out to be very similar to the two dead bodies he'd previously seen in the last couple of days, which didn't improve matters, as it meant that at any minute there was likely to be an annoyed phone call from Guo Ying or Zhao Xinci demanding to know why the SID was letting a spree killer from Dixing operate unopposed. And also he now had three people (two men and one women, apparently unconnected, different locations) who had died from having their insides liquidised.
They had almost finished processing the scene when a witness emerged to claim that there had been multiple people having an argument around the corpse. Even better. Now it was a Dixing gang.
It wasn't a great day.
He got home late, to a dark apartment. No sign that Shen Wei had been there at all. Two days' worth of take-out containers were piled on the counter. He'd already eaten yet another similar dinner while still at the SID, pretending not to be obsessively checking his phone. He finally had broken down and called Shen Wei back, but the phone in his office just rang and rang. The department receptionist told him that Professor Shen was taking tutorials and couldn't be disturbed.
He'd half-noticed something unusual on the way in, and overlooked it at the time. Zhao Yunlan went back to his apartment door and opened it.
Across the hallway there was a strip of light from underneath Shen Wei's door.
Zhao Yunlan swallowed hard, and tried very much not to feel hurt. He crossed the corridor and knocked. "Shen Wei?"
No answer, but Zhao Yunlan was certain he'd heard movement from inside.
"Shen Wei," he called. "I don't understand what's going on, but can you at least come and talk to me about it? Not just lock me out?"
Again, no answer. And Zhao Yunlan was feeling hurt. As well as angry, and worried. Even when trying to hide secrets, Shen Wei didn't… do this. Something was wrong here.
He fetched his bunch of keys, and found the one for Shen Wei's door. Hesitated. Knocked again. Unlocked it.
He wasn't sure what he expected to find — or rather, he could come up with far too many options, all of them bad. But when he opened the door, the apartment was empty. He could see that at a glance — like his own, it wasn't big — but still he wandered inanely through the rooms as if he might happen on Shen Wei folding laundry inside a closet, oblivious to his presence. Or Shen Wei bleeding out on the carpet, which had been his immediate fear… "Shen Wei?" he called, pointlessly.
There was steam rising from a cup of tea next to the stove. Zhao Yunlan touched the ceramic just to confirm its freshly-brewed heat. And the chopping board held some greens, half-cut. Shen Wei had been inside his apartment when Zhao Yunlan knocked, without question. And then he had… what? Teleported away when Zhao Yunlan — when his boyfriend — opened the door? Put like that, it seemed ridiculous. And yet, apparently it had happened.
Zhao Yunlan kicked the front door shut with slightly excessive force. "I hope you plan on coming back soon, because I'm not leaving until you do," he said to the empty air. He was definitely angry now. Angry and worried, but angry was easier. He threw himself down onto the sofa, putting his feet up on the polished table. Petty, definitely. He felt like he was trying to summon Shen Wei to appear and give him a disappointed look.
Right now, he'd take it.
The morning light through the blinds woke him. He had a crick in his neck from sleeping folded up on Shen Wei's sofa. And there was still no trace of Shen Wei in the apartment.
It was definitely worry he was feeling now, in full force.
He went back to his own apartment. And then stopped, abruptly furious, because someone had prepared him breakfast — chicken congee, made from scratch and all laid out for him at the table. The washing up and general detritus of the last couple of days was gone.
Zhao Yunlan stared. "You have got to be fucking kidding me," he said.
He got changed, got in the car, and left.
There was a place near the stairwell for Zhao Yunlan to slouch and wait, with a good view of the door to the lecture room. It turned out to be about ten minutes until the class bell rang, enough time to crunch through three lollipops, biting them so hard that one of the shards of boiled sugar sliced his gum.
When the door finally opened Zhao Yunlan stayed where he was. First out were the expected handful of students in a rush, bolting out while still pushing pens and notebooks into their bags. Then came more at a leisurely pace, and then a pause, and at last there was Shen Wei, surrounded by a small knot of grads, talking with them seriously. Despite everything, Zhao Yunlan found himself smiling. He'd been missing Shen Wei, more than he'd allowed himself to realise, and worrying about him. Seeing him looking just as usual, intent on his teaching duties — it was a relief.
Then Shen Wei looked up and met his eyes. He froze, between one step and the next, so that he fumbled for his balance for a moment before coming to a dead stop, and the blood drained from his face.
"Professor Shen!" Zhao Yunlan called, even though everyone in the hallway, especially Shen Wei, was now well aware of his presence.
Shen Wei dropped his eyes to the floor and stayed frozen.
Zhao Yunlan advanced on him. Grateful for the hallway full of witnesses so that Shen Wei couldn't decide to just teleport out. Although the witnesses were melting away quickly, eager to escape the extreme awkwardness area-of-effect. "Shen Wei!" he said, keeping his tone light and breezy. "Hello, good to see you, how was your trip?"
Shen Wei stared very hard at the floor.
Zhao Yunlan reached him. "What's going on with you?" he demanded. He put a hand on Shen Wei's arm, and — Shen Wei flinched.
Zhao Yunlan jerked back as if he'd been burned. "Shen Wei," he said. He'd lost the light tone already. "Seriously. I am starting to freak out here. Can you please say something?"
Shen Wei's eyes flicked towards him. For a heartbeat only. They were wide; anguished. Then he was back to very much looking anywhere else.
"Shen Wei," Zhao Yunlan said. He was amazed at how calm he was being. He dared to take Shen Wei's arm again. Gently. "Xiao Wei. If you're angry with me — If there's something I've done — please tell me. I can't take you acting like this."
"No," Shen Wei said, so fervent and low it was almost a keen. It seemed wrung out of him against his will, and his eyes rose to Zhao Yunlan's again, appalled and desperate. His hand went to his throat.
"Ok, so what —" Zhao Yunlan began, and was cut off as Shen Wei wheezed, a long agonised sound with no air in it as he clawed for a breath. "Shen Wei!"
But it had already stopped, and Shen Wei held his throat for a second and then let his hands fall. Zhao Yunlan stared, because for a moment he thought he saw fresh bruises purpling there before they were almost instantly wiped away. And Shen Wei went back to looking at the floor.
Zhao Yunlan rocked back. "What the fuck!" he said, breathing heavily as if he was the one who had momentarily asphyxiated for no apparent reason. "That's it, you're coming back to the SID with me. Don't you dare argue." He bunched his hand in Shen Wei's jacket and pulled, not giving him a choice in the matter.
On the way out of the university, Shen Wei shook himself free to duck into an office and explain, in perfectly clear speech, that he wasn't feeling well and expected to be out for the next day or so.
Zhao Yunlan worked very hard not to scream.
It was a miserable drive. Shen Wei wouldn't look at him, wouldn't speak to him, wouldn't show that he even knew Zhao Yunlan was there except for how his face was drawing tighter and tighter. Eventually Zhao Yunlan gave up and just drove, gripping the steering wheel so tightly it was a miracle it didn't come off in his hands.
He parked in front of the SID. For a moment he thought Shen Wei was about to mutiny and refuse to leave the car; but then Shen Wei sighed, the frown-crease between his eyes deepening so far that it almost looked painful, and opened the door.
Taking no chances, Zhao Yunlan steered Shen Wei inside with a hand between his shoulder blades. At least Shen Wei didn't flinch this time. He gave no resistance.
Until they were inside, that was — Shen Wei came to a dead stop after a few paces. "Can't you just —" Zhao Yunlan began, and then stopped. Because no, there was no just. Not today, apparently.
"Hey, Boss," Da Qing called. He'd been sitting on the staircase playing on his phone.
Zhao Yunlan jerked a thumb towards Shen Wei. "Talk to him."
"Talk to — What?"
Zhao Yunlan shrugged irritably. He started heading towards the sofa without turning his head.
"Um, hello Professor Shen?" Da Qing said, questioningly. Then — "Wait, what's going on?"
Zhao Yunlan dropped heavily onto the sofa before allowing himself to look at Shen Wei. Who was still standing perfectly still, eyes cast down.
"Shen Wei?" Da Qing said. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" Then, as Shen Wei gave no acknowledgement, he advanced on Zhao Yunlan instead. "What's wrong with him?" he demanded.
Zhao Yunlan tipped his head back against the sofa rest as he exhaled deeply. What's wrong with him. It was… a relief, an entirely selfish relief. There was something wrong with Shen Wei; Da Qing could see it immediately; it wasn't that Zhao Yunlan had either gone completely crazy or had offended Shen Wei so much without realising it that they were no longer on speaking terms.
It shouldn't be a relief, because obviously this was worse, but…
"Boss, are you ok?" Da Qing asked, extremely cautiously.
"Yes," Zhao Yunlan snapped, and cleared his throat. "Something's wrong with Shen Wei."
"Yes," agreed Da Qing, still cautiously.
"So, we need to find out what it is."
Shen Wei's eyes flicked up towards him. His lips were slightly parted, and his expression was full of — anguish? Hope?
It pulled Zhao Yunlan back to his side. "Shen Wei," he said, while Da Qing went to round up whoever else was about. "We need to — Well, honestly I don't know what's going on. But I really need to know — And I know you can hear and understand me." He paused, trying to find the right words. "Please. To try and solve this. Do I have your permission? Because if you need me to — If you really, really need me not to do this, I won't." He put a hand against Shen Wei's shoulder, pressing his hand tightly against the suit jacket but not, right then, daring to be more intimate. "I trust you," he said, and could see that Shen Wei was looking back at him from under his eyelashes. "Do I have permission?"
Shen Wei nodded sharply. And folded over, hands going to his throat as again he choked on nothing, gasping for air.
"Shen Wei!" Zhao Yunlan held him up by his arms, taking his weight as Shen Wei slumped against him. "Shen Wei, breathe —" But Shen Wei was already breathing again, almost immediately slowing from heavy to normal.
Zhao Yunlan didn't immediately let him go. It felt so good to be holding Shen Wei like this, feeling him solid and there. And Shen Wei was still leaning on him, head against Zhao Yunlan's shoulder, seemingly just as reluctant to move. But then came footsteps, and Shen Wei straighted instantly, taking a step back as Da Qing arrived back with everyone else he could find.
Zhao Yunlan let him go. He went over to the table and sat on it, drawing his team's eyes towards him and hopefully giving Shen Wei a moment to himself to recover. "We've got a new case," he said.
"We've got a case already," Lao Chu said. "The Dixing gang. Three murders so far. Remember?"
Shen Wei looked at him sharply.
"Of course I remember," Zhao Yunlan said. "You're in charge of that case now. Take Xiao Guo and Zhu Hong. In a minute, though."
Shen Wei crossed his arms, a frustrated expression on his face. And yes, Zhao Yunlan felt guilty for dropping down from the active murder case to work out what had happened with Shen Wei. But this was important too. He was absolutely not going to have an argument about it, especially a stunningly one-sided one.
They ran tests. Of course they ran tests.
"What does your dark energy detector show?" Zhao Yunlan asked.
"Dark energy," Lin Jing said, somewhat impatiently. "We knew it was going to show that."
"Yes, fine," Zhao Yunlan said, holding onto the shreds of his patience. "Does it show anything useful?"
"No," Lin Jing said.
"Oh, for —" Zhao Yunlan groaned. "Cat? Anything?"
"He's been in Dixing," Da Qing said. "I can smell that."
They had probably known that too, but it was good to have it confirmed, at least. Zhao Yunlan gave Da Qing a reluctant nod.
There was nothing physically wrong with Shen Wei. He submitted to all the lab tests Lin Jing could think of without complaint.
Absolutely without complaint. He wouldn't speak to any of them. Chu Shuzhi, especially, tried every manner of question he could think of, addressed to Shen Wei and Hei Pao Shi in turn.
Zhao Yunlan had described the choking. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to watch Shen Wei try to give an answer again.
But eventually, of course, that was where they were at.
"You don't have to do this," Zhao Yunlan said. "If it's too much… we'll find another way. I don't know how, but we will."
Shen Wei met his eyes resolutely.
Talking was clearly out, and the second attack had been brought on just by Shen Wei nodding. Wang Zheng put a pen and notepad into Shen Wei's hands, and the second character stroke had him doubled over, unable to breathe again. Almost immediately afterwards Zhao Yunlan realised that of course Shen Wei must have known that would happen, because surely if he had been able to he would have written notes already. He felt a flash of irritation that Shen Wei had gone along with the trial instead of warning them — but that was the problem, wasn't it?
Gestures brought on the same reaction. Even completely arbitrary ones.
"If we're on the right track, stand there and say nothing," Da Qing had suggested at one point. And then Shen Wei completely stopped breathing, fingers clawing desperately into Zhao Yunlan's shirt as he arched his head back, face reddening and lips beginning to go blue while Zhao Yunlan half-screamed over and over It doesn't count! It doesn't mean anything! Nothing you're doing means anything, please just stop! And he did stop, crumpling to the floor as he finally managed to breathe again while Zhao Yunlan slid down with him and held him tightly, tightly, even as Shen Wei drew himself back to passive unresponsiveness.
Zhao Yunlan had to go outside after that, somewhere where no one could see him, aiming for a few minutes of air. But he came rushing back after barely thirty seconds, because he also couldn't bring himself to be gone in case something like that happened again.
Shen Wei, of course, didn't react when he returned. He was sifting through the details of the most recent cases, in fact, a frown etched into his face. Zhao Yunlan almost interrupted him, since it wasn't like Shen Wei would be able to tell him if he made a breakthrough, but then he sighed and left him to it. At least he could keep watching Shen Wei while he did that, could keep reassuring himself that he was ok.
"It's communication," Lin Jing said at one point. "Any communication."
Zhao Yunlan just nodded tiredly.
They even tried hooking Shen Wei up to a homemade polygraph test cobbled together from the medical equipment, without telling him what it was. "Don't ask him questions," Zhao Yunlan whispered, and got an eye-roll from Lin Jing, who had clearly figured that one out already.
Well, fine. "I know you can't communicate with us," Zhao Yunlan said. He kept half an eye on the screen displaying Shen Wei's heart-rate, but he was also watching Shen Wei. Who was sitting on the edge of the test bed in suit trousers and undershirt, sensors attached to his torso, looking slumped in a way that Zhao Yunlan had rarely seen. The bruises which wrote themselves onto his throat with each failed attempt were taking longer each time to heal, and shadows of the last ones still remained.
"Something happened to you in Dixing," Zhao Yunlan continued. He stared at the response pattern as if he expected to find words written there, instead of just spikes in a line. "Someone did this to you."
A similar response each time. So that would be a yes?
"You're not physically being prevented from communicating," Zhao Yunlan guessed. It was a choice. Everything Shen Wei was doing was making choices, weighing up the consequences. "You're just… punished… when you do." And yes, the same again — except that this time the spikes kept climbing and Shen Wei started wheezing and pulling at the electrodes. "Turn it off!" he barked at Lin Jing and almost knocked the whole setup over in his haste to be next to and assisting Shen Wei — get them off, get them off —
Shen Wei, free, stumbled to his feet and across to the nearest wall. He folded his arms against it and pressed his head on them.
"Shit," Zhao Yunlan whispered. He felt like he could barely breathe himself. He exchanged an appalled look with Lin Jing and cautiously approached Shen Wei.
"Hey," he said, very quietly. "You don't need to do anything. It doesn't matter. I'm here, it's ok."
He put a careful hand on the back of Shen Wei's head, letting his fingers slide into Shen Wei's hair. Shen Wei shuddered, and his head came back just a little to lean into Zhao Yunlan's hand.
"That's enough. We're done," Zhao Yunlan announced, to the world at large. He felt sick, and shaky, and he just could not bear watching Shen Wei go through any more. "We're going home."