Cast a Shadow [My Stand In]

that you'll forget me

Ming could have been doing anything on this green earth.

Literally. Anything.

Not that Joe should have been surprised. He'd known there was something sinister inside of Ming. That was all he knew of Ming now. A bright-eyed man with a dark soul just lurking beneath the surface, unable to contain himself in the same mortal shell that other normal people had learned to live in.

Because it wasn't enough to travel with a troupe of suits willing to die for him. No, Ming had to go out and search for other innocent people to destroy. He craved violence the way Joe would breathe and even though he lacked the physical strength to impose his violence alone, there was always Willy.

Standing over the body of an unconscious man, even present, Willy was. He looked from Joe to Ming, waiting for instructions. Almost like he expected Ming to do anything but order Joe's immediate removal from the scene.

Or worse.

But Ming said nothing. He just stood there, eyes glued to Joe as his laughter died on his lips and his eyes grew even wider.

Joe hesitated at the door, knowing that this was his chance. He could walk away. He hadn't agreed to anything yet.

"Fucking hell," he hissed as he entered the office, locking the door behind himself as he headed for the man on the floor.

His hands trembled as he pressed his fingers against the man's throat, finding the faintest flutter. There was a bleeding bruise on the left side of the man's temple.

"Joe-" Ming began as he slowly knelt opposite Joe on the other side of the man's body.

"Do you have a private doctor?" Joe asked, cutting in.

"I just-"

"Ming!" Joe said as Ming was startled, blinking at him in shock. "Do you have someone you can call?"

Gulping slowly, he nodded as his eyes rose to Willy.

By the time Joe looked at Willy, Willy was headed toward what looked like a cabinet in the corner. But as he got there, he opened up a door to a private elevator just as he took out his phone and began dialing.

Alone in the room with Ming and the unconscious man, Joe sat back on the floor, rubbing his forehead as a slight pain began to bloom.

"This isn't what you think," Ming said.

"Really?" Joe asked, closing his eyes as he flinched at the pain. "Because I'm sure I just walked in on you laughing after you bashed a man's skull in."

Biting his lips and looking away, Ming shook his head.

"I'm sure this is just another normal Tuesday for you and-" Joe hissed and stood. The pain in his head deepened. "I shouldn't have come"

"Please," Ming said, getting to his knees.

"What were you going to do to him if I wasn't here?"

"You don't understand."

"What the fuck is there to understand?"

"He's Tong's friend," Ming said.

As if that was enough. As if that warranted the horrible things that Ming was capable of. A mere friendship.

"You fucking coward," Joe said, heading for the door.

"No," Ming cried, rushing after Joe.

As his hand grabbed the handle, Ming threw his weight against the door, blocking Joe from leaving.

"Will you continue to hurt everyone that remotely reminds you of Tong simply because you cannot even look him in the eye?"

"That's not-"