"The Little Things"

I'm here

"Zhao Yunlan!" an angry female voice greeted him the moment he walked into SID headquarters. "How dare you not contact me in person!" Zhu Hong walked briskly towards him, hands on her hips. Zhao's smile broadened.

"Zhu Hong, don't be like that. Things got really hectic, but look, I'm here now to give you a proper..." he sneezed suddenly.

"Proper amount of germs?" She asked angrily, taking out a tissue and handing it to him. Zhao cleaned his nose loudly.

"I meant, welcome."

"Who says that I'm back? Maybe I'm here on official Yashou business?"

"Ah then, please," Zhao bowed politely, a wide grin never fading. "Let me invite you to my office, Great Leader of the Yashou Tribes." He sneezed again.

"Don't be ridiculous. Have you seen that amount of unfinished paperwork on the desks? I'll be busy for weeks!" She finally smiled back at him affectionately. "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back," he laughed and dropped onto the sofa, unceremoniously, putting one leg on the table. Da Qing changed into his cat form and curled on the other side of the furniture. Zhu Hong only shook her head.

The whole day passed without any case dumped on them, and each of the crew busied themselves with their own work. Zhao was getting progressively worse with sneezing and coughing, and Zhu Hong finally forced him to drive home.

"You should really go to the hospital for some medication." She advised, worried.

"Nah, I'll sleep it off. If it gets worse by tomorrow, then I will go," the detective promised.

Shen Wei returned from the university and was just reaching for his keys when he saw that the door to Zhao Yunlan's apartment wasn't properly closed. He frowned and decided to investigate. He moved slowly, pushed opened the door and walked in. The light wasn't on, even though it was getting dark. He moved his hand, dark energy scanning for any threats, but found none. Surprised, he turned on the light and looked around. His eyes fell immediately on the bed and the unconscious man half lying there. One boot was taken off while the other one remained untouched, and Zhao looked as if he fell backwards while he was sitting on the bed. Shen Wei dropped his case and a bag of groceries and ran to the bed.

"Zhao Yunlan? Zhao Yunlan!" he looked at the flushed, coated in sweat face, and his eyes grew wide in fear. His hand reached out and touched Zhao's forehead, and a soft moan escaped Yunlan's throat as he reacted to the cool hand. Shen Wei didn't waste any more time, he lifted his hand, and his dark energy floated into Zhao's body, trying to heal him. After a while, it retreated, and the professor pursed his lips with anger. He was able to heal wounds and repair most of the energy damage. Yet, with human diseases, he was simply helpless. He looked at the prone body on the bed. Zhao was sweating profusely, his shirt soaked, clinging to his body. Without thinking Shen Wei pulled him gently up and took off his leather jacket and then the white shirt, struggling mildly when the wet fabric didn't want to move.

He put the shirt away and froze in horror. There were long dark bruises on Zhao Yunlan's arms and torso. Wei's shaking finger traced one of the largest on Zhao's chest, his mind racing. When had this happened? How had he not noticed? Zhao had been adamant that the roots were harmless, helpful even. What he was seeing here was an outcome of something very different. He felt his anger rising, and he forced it down. Right now, his priority was to make Yunlan as comfortable as possible. He bent down and took off the remaining shoe, then lifted Zhao's legs and shifted them onto the bed, making Yunlan slide to the right. His hands came sticky with sweat, and he frowned. Then he knelt with one knee on the bed and started unbuckling Zhao's belt.

"Sorry," he whispered. "You'll feel much more comfortable without those." He fumbled with the jeans leaving Zhao only in his underwear. His frown deepened when he saw more bruises on the naked legs. Eventually, he covered the unconscious man with the comforter after making sure that both hands were tucked in tightly.

He went to the bathroom and returned with a bowl of cold water and a towel. Sitting on the bed, he put the bowl on the bedside table and wetted the towel, squeezed it out and put it on Yunlan's forehead. He sighed, eyes searching for any signs of discomfort from Zhao.

Later at night, he saw the sleeping man tense, his head moved nervously, brows knitted.

"Yunlan? Zhao Yunlan?" Shen Wei leaned, holding Zhao by the shoulders, and shook. A moan came from Yunlan's mouth, and some unintelligible words followed. "You are safe. I'm here."

"Shen Wei..."

Worried, he gently touched the other man's cheek. The moment he did, Zhao relaxed, his features getting gentle. "I'm here," repeated Shen Wei. "And I will always be."