Serum

Epilogue

Warning: this will get 18+, proceed with caution!

"Welcome home," Zhao Yunlan smiled, opening the door into his appartment for Shen Wei. On the way, they hadn't talked much. After a whole year of seeing each other only during court hearings, having his Shen Wei so close felt almost surreal.

When he heard the verdict of the Supreme Court, he jumped up from his seat, yelling excitedly, so he got an official castigation and was almost thrown out of the court room. Embarrassing. But he did notice a hint of smile on Shen Wei's tired face and that was worth it.

Shen Wei smiled genuinely, thinking of the same moment. He entered the appartment finally again after so many months. Unconsciously, he ran his fingers over the free wrists where there were no longer any anti-Enhanced bracelets. It felt empty and he wasn't used to the feeling of freedom but he was sure damn ready to try and accomodate to it.

At that moment, he felt the detective's arms sneak around his waist as Zhao Yunlan hugged him tightly from behind, burrowing his face in Shen Wei's hair.

Shen Wei finally felt himself relax, leaning in to the embrace, stroking Yunlan's arm. "I'm home," he whispered softly, earning an even tigher hold.

"You did it, Shen Wei..." Yunlan mumbled, breathing in his lover's scent deeply. "You did it so... you don't have to fight anymore..." His voice choked up a little at the end, sounding slightly desperate. No way is he ever letting Shen Wei fight anything again. If he had the money for that, he would buy them a private island, so they could live there, only the two of them, away from the judging eyes of society, away from people hating on the Enhanced, away from all the laws restraining and threatening his beloved. All he was able to buy was a house for the two of them to move in after Shen Wei accomodates himself back into an everyday life. He already showed him the photos of the house on their way here and the original plan was to drive straight there but the house's interior wasn't complete and Shen Wei asked to just relax together tonight.

The pressure today was immense. The case of the Enhanced orphans had become a huge thing and about 20 people had come forth as Enhanced-turned-against-their-will or as children during illegal experiments. The first two were Lin Meiling and Yong Qiu, supporting their beloved Professor. The verdict had opened many cases of the internated Enhaced to reinvestigate their origins and the rightfulness of their isolation.

The bravery of the Black Cloak Envoy was inspiring and had changed the view on the Enhanced of many people, not all however. That will surely take time. The rest should be someone else's fight. Zhao Yunlan just wants to make sure, Shen Wei retires all his fighting-for-justice spirit and settles down into the safety of his policeman's arms. Even though, at the same time, he is sure, Shen Wei will definitely do none of that but just for a while he needs to get his share and refill of Shen Wei. During the last few months, he felt like everyone got a chance to interrogate Shen Wei, make an interview with him, listen to his story while writting a book about him, only he wasn't allowed to come close, only a call once a week and silent glimpses during the hearings.

Slowly and gently, Shen Wei turned to face Zhao Yunlan, looking into the worried and sort of unhappy puppy eyes of his lover. He smiled, seeing his Ah-Lan pout, probably thinking of something unneccessary. "I'm here now, aren't I?" he whispered softly.

Yunlan nodded, squeezing Shen Wei tightly in his arms.

"I'm sorry..." Shen Wei muttered quietly and leaned in, kissing Yunlan's lips.

The kiss was soft, feathery, almost foreign as they'd already forgotten the comfort of one another. It was like kissing for the first time, trying out the waters carefully, a bit of uncertainty of "how much can I dare?", but there was also a hint of familiarity, a relief of being allowed to kiss this person again after such a long time.