Fog of the Heart

Chapter Eighteen

Ash sighed in frustration as he slumped over the computer. "I've looked through everything and there aren't any more hidden files." he groaned as he looked over his shoulder at Max, who was sitting on the sofa reading through some of the books that Ash didn't get a chance to look at.. "How about you?" Max sighed. "I don't understand the test data, but it dates back to over a decade ago, and that includes Griff's case." Ash sighed again, then pouted as he rested his head on the desk. "A bunch of soldiers died back to back around that time, in the army, too." Max continued as he looked at the other books he had opened, cross-referencing it. "There are even dissection logs of them. This could mean a totally different thing." Max said, looking at Ash, who sat up again. "The possibility of military involvement?" Max nodded. "So you noticed, too?"

Ash slung his arm over the back of the chair, looking at Max. "Obviously. And thanks to Alexis' help, I'm now on equal footing with Dino." Max looked seriously at Ash. "No. You need to stay out of this mess. This could be a nationwide conspiracy." he said seriously. Ash smirked. "What could be better?" he asked, sounding  smug. Max stood up. "Wake up! This isn't about personal vengeance anymore." he said, as he walked over to Ash. Ash shrugged. "Got cold feet or something, old man?" Max sighed. "This isn't a joking matter. You know better, Ash."

Ash sighed and looked at the monitor again. "Yeah, I know this is way out of my league, but I have to put an end to this. For Skip, and for Griff." he said, now looking out the window. "And for me and Alexis, to become free..especially now. If I don't do this I'd never.." Max cut him off with a stern no, causing Ash to spin around in the chair to look at Max angrily. "What did you say?" he questioned him. Max stood his ground. "Why risk your life? You'll just die in vain. What would your sister do without you? But if you insist on continuing I'll have to hold you down." Ash stood up and glared at him. "Yeah? Try and stop me then." he hissed at Max. "You told me in prison that you'll kill me for abandoning Griffin. Go ahead, but I'm not going down without a fight." he sternly said, glaring back at Ash. The sound of Eiji announcing that Shorter was back, broke the tension between Max and Ash. Max looked away. "Don't tell the others about this," he said. Ash snorted. "As if I would." he mumbled, walking back to the computer just as Eiji came in. He looked from Max to Ash, feeling the tension in the room. "What's going on?" Eiji asked. Ash quickly shut the computer down. "It's nothing," he muttered.

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Shorter walked into his room and found Alexis sound asleep on the bed. He walked over to her and sat down on the edge of the bed and watched her. Her long blonde hair was matted to her face and when he softly brushed it away from her face, he noticed that she was sweating and mumbling incoherently in her sleep. He sighed. She was having another nightmare. Her shirt was pushed up slightly, her hand was resting on her stomach.  He could see the bump forming. Shorter placed his hand over hers, lacing his fingers with hers, then leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. He could feel her relaxing. Ash stood silently in the door as he watched his best friend, then cleared his throat.

Shorter looked up and saw Ash standing there. "Oh, hey." he said quietly to him. Ash put a finger to his mouth, he didn't want Alexis to wake up. She needed the rest. He walked to the balcony and Shorter carefully got up, covered Alexis with a blanket and followed Ash outside. He took a seat in the chair, as Ash leaned against the rail of the balcony. "So, how was it?" Ash asked. Shorter shrugged, looking down at the ground. What happened at the restaurant bothered him. "It was fine, though my friend couldn't find much on Yau-Si. There was nothing shady about him." Ash crossed his arms over his chest. "At least that's clear then. I guess I'm being too uptight." Shorter's mind drifted to the conversation he had with Hau-Lung, not paying attention to Ash.

Hua-Lung sat at the table across from Shorter, after Sonny was escorted out of the restaurant. "The situation has changed, Shorter Wong." Shorter looked up at Lee confused. "What do you mean? Your brother promised to support us." Hua-Lung crossed his arms across his chest and looked at Shorter. "These are his orders. You are to report on Ash Lynx and his sister, Alexis, and their buddies from now on." he said, calmly. Shorter stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "You want me to spy on them? Hell no!" he yelled. Lee sighed and shook his head. "Think about it. It's either them or your fellow people." Shorter glared, feeling the blood boiling. How could they make him choose? "Yut-Lung will give you orders from now on. He's one of the Lee clan. He will contact you shortly" Hua-Lung explained as Shorter slumped back into his chair.

Ash looked at Shorter, worried. "Shorter?" he called, breaking him out of his daze. Shorter looked up at Ash. "Hey, you seem distracted. Are you okay?" Shorter sighed. "Nah, I'm just tired." he said, as he leaned back in the chair and stretched his feet out, placing them on the table. Ash shoved his hands into his pockets and walked to the door. "Then have that old lady make you some Chinese dishes for you. It's way better than yours." Shorter smirked as he looked at Ash upside down. "Awe, come on man. I'm the next owner of Chang Dai." Ash sneered. "Poor Chang Dai. It better kiss its reputation good bye." he smirked, then waved as he left.

Shorter looked over his shoulder to see Alexis still curled up on the bed. He sighed and watched the clouds float by. "Shall I have Suk-Lieu make you something? Or.." Shorter quickly stood up and grabbed Yau. He cried out in surprise as Shorter shoved him against the wall. "Shut up." he muttered, then looked to see if Alexis was still sleeping. She stirred slightly. He then pulled the smaller boy so their faces were only inches apart. "Who are you? There is no way you're Dawson's son." Shorter yelled at him, through clenched teeth. Yau looked away and remained calm. "I'm not lying." he said.

Alexis opened her eyes, hearing crashing outside and sat up. She climbed out of bed and walked over to where she heard the sound coming from seeing Shorter roughly holding Yau and shoving him into the wall. "Sonny was threatened. He had to be lying. Who is Yut-Lung?" he demanded. "Spill it!" he shouted slamming the smaller boy into the wall again. "Shorter.." Alexis called out, running over to him, grabbing onto Shorter's arm. She then heard Shorter gasp and looked to see what he was looking at. There on Yau's neck was a dragon tattoo. "This tattoo, it's the Lee family seal. You..are you Yut-Lung?" Yau slid out of Shorter's grasp, maneuvering swiftly over to the railing, giggling evilly.

Alexis looked from Shorter, to Yau, confused. "What do you mean Shorter?" she asked him, still holding onto his arm. Shorter looked at her. "Just stay out of it." he snapped, then sighed as he watched her become surprised. He never snapped at her before. "Sorry." he quickly apologised. She looked at him, seeing the tension on his face. "What's wrong Shorter?" Shorter just shook his head, and Yau stepped forward. "We need to talk Shorter. Come to my room, alone." he said, looking at Alexis before leaving. Shorter sighed and looked at Alexis and gave her a small smile. "Sorry for snapping, and for waking you up." he said, hugging her tightly. "Are you alright?" Alexis nodded. "Shorter.." she started to say, but then stopped herself. This wasn't the right time, not right now anyways. She kissed him softly on the lips. "Never mind, we'll talk later, okay? You should go.." she said, sadly. Shorter nodded and kissed her back. "Keep this between us, alright?" Alexis nodded and Shorter kissed her one last time. "I love you. I will do everything to protect you." he said softly before leaving.