The Innocent (A 'Finder' Fanfiction)

Shadow of Pluto - 19 - Fei Long

Once the door was closed behind them, Mikhail seemed about to punch it. He had already squeezed his hand to a fist, had drawn his arm back, then Fei Long reach up to let his fingers caress his cheek.

Flinching, the taller man turned to look at him.

"Are you alight?", Fei Long asked. It made Mikhail laugh, but there was no joy in that. He swallowed hard next and then misery ran over his face like someone had put a mask onto it.

"Am I? ... Are you alright?"

Fei Long blinked up to him, his fingers still stroking the blonde man's cheek. Minutes ago, his head had hurt extremely, and his heartbeat had been about to tear open his chest. He could still feel where Asami had grabbed his hair and where his cheek had been smashed onto the table. There would be a bruise soon, surely. But none of that hurt anymore, and not even his pulse was left accelerated now.

"I am fine", he spoke softly.

"He ...", Mikhail began, broke off, tried it a few more times, then just hid his face behind his hands, pushing the Chinese's finger away doing so. It sometimes happened that he looked really young. Maybe because of his golden curls or his glowing, blue eyes, or because of those blonde, long lashes. Fei Long could not tell.

Right now, Mikhail looked younger than he had ever seen him before.

"Let us leave, please", he whispered, when he finally looked up again, but once his gaze met Fei Long's the expression of misery only grew.

"You can't want to stay ... after ... after this."

"Mikhail", Fei Long tried, but the man spun around and marched away. He stomped through the bedroom, up and down, left and right, either swinging his fists and shivering with anger, or clapping his hands in front of his face and shaking his head.

There were some Russian curses uttered beneath his breath, some almost inaudible pleas that Fei Long did not fully catch. He walked over to the other man at one point, grabbed his arm and stopped his marching by standing his ground and not allowing to be dragged on for only one step.

"You know Asami long and well enough to understand that that was not him", Fei Long said. He did so in Russian even if he was not certain whether all the words, he chose, were the best expressions to explain. Mikhail stood there, halted in motion, looking down on him, trembling still. He licked his lips, then shook his head yet again.

"Mikhail. You know him well enough. I cannot leave him like this. Not with Akihito still being trapped in that ... in his own mind."

"You can't be serious!", the Russian growled at him. He did not seem angry at all now, only devastated. Fei Long stepped closer, not letting go of the other man's arm.

"You said yourself that someone will be very happy about us fighting. He wanted that reaction from Asami, and he got it. It was not me; it was not you. I do not believe that Maxim would have done this ... so, if it is not one of the staff..."

"Alex", Mikhail said coolly. There was the anger again, a deep, dark, shimmer in his eyes. It chased a chill down Fei Long's spine. He moved closer in and pulled the blonde man's arm around his waist.

"Alex ... very likely. But why, what for? If he knows anything about this, he might also know what happened to Akihito. We need to find out, if Asami can't."

Mikhail tugged him closer, until Fei Long felt the fabric of his torn t-shirt against his own naked skin between the hems of his shirt.

"I can't leave them. Not now. Not like this", the Chinese whispered.