Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Watching Lee speak to his sister tied knots in Carter’s gut. Half of him was convinced that Lee would stay, remain with the LAPD and with him, but the other half was not nearly so confident. Images of Lee disappearing onto the plane at Kim’s side made nausea roll in Carter’s stomach. After all, with his sister back on the right side of the law, Lee had no reason to stay here and every reason to go back to Hong Kong.

To try and quiet his anxiety, Carter forcibly turned his thoughts from one Lee to the other beautiful Lee in front of him. Kim was nearly as lovely as her brother and just as scary. Something in the back of his mind shifted. Kim…

Captain Cole had said that Kim had come to the precinct to stop the Quantao from getting to Zho Tu. Kim had apparently said so herself.

Carter’s eyes narrowed. Kim was smiling and Lee was smiling back. He was too far away to hear what they were saying.

She couldn’t have. Lee said he’d seen her during the fight. If she’d been there to stop them, she’d have realized that Lee and Carter (and DiDi) had it handled. Instead, Zho Tu had been killed. But…

Carter thought back, still watching the siblings as they hugged and Kim turned to leave.

But none of the Quantao operatives had been out of sight for more than a couple of minutes and certainly none long enough to shank the Dragon’s son. Kim had been the only one who could have gotten access to that room.

The realization did not sit well with Carter. It didn’t fit the narrative Kim had created. But then again…now that he was seriously considering it, that narrative had so many holes, it rivaled a swiss cheese…

But Lee was turning back to him and Kim’s car was driving away, so Carter put that line of consideration on hold for now. “Staying in LA, then?” He asked, trying to sound nonchalant and missing by at least a couple miles.

Lee gave him that not-a-smirk. “Where else would I go?”

Carter arched a brow at him. “Seriously? Home to Hong Kong? Where your family’s gonna be at?”

Lee blinked and his normally difficult to read expression went blank. “Home to Hong Kong? Kim will soon be sent on another assignment. She will not be in Hong Kong for long. The MSS would not waste such an operative.”

Carter smiled, relief making him giddy. They turned together to head back to Carter’s car. “Well, I guess your American family is gonna have to be it then. Looks like you're stuck with us.”

Lee’s face relaxed and Carter wondered if, even after all this time, Lee still felt insecure about his place with them.

He side-eyed Lee. “And listen. Lee, man. If you don’t want to keep staying at DiDi’s on that tiny ol’ daybed, I’ve got an extra bedroom at my apartment. With a real bed in it. I made sure to get a two bedroom in case Gerald ever needed to crash, but he’s never used it. Which honestly shocks me. Because you know Gerald. If it’s free, he’d take it. But you are totally welcomed to move in. Mi casa, tu casa, as they say.”

Lee glanced at him, but turned his gaze quickly back to the car ahead. “I already take up too much of your time, Carter. I am with you at work and occasionally after work. I make use of your car. I have invaded your life. Now you would invite me to invade your home as well? Will you not tire of my company?”

Carter caught Lee’s arm and stopped them both. He turned his partner to look at him and made eye contact pointedly. “Lee…Jonathan.” Carter paused to consider his words, possibly for the first time in his life. Lee’s throat seemed to work on a swallow and Carter unconsciously traced the movement with his eyes before he realized what he was doing. Pulling himself together, he took a breath. “Look, you’re my friend. You’re my best friend. I’m not gonna get tired of you. I…” he cleared his throat awkwardly and tried to fight the blush that was creeping up his neck. “I care about you, man. I like spending time with you. Don’t ever tell anyone I said this or I’ll deny it, but you’re fun to be around. You can be funny as hell when the mood hits you. Jonathan, you’re the very last person in my life who I would call an imposition. Look at Gerald. Look at all the shit I’ve done for him. He’s definitely an imposition. You’re not even close.”

“But, Carter… James, Gerald is your family.” Lee was staring at him, a strange light in his eyes. Carter wanted to call it hope, but couldn’t quite convince himself. Couldn’t quite connect it to anything. What would Lee be hoping for here? A permanent home?

“Shit, Lee, you’re as good as. Like I said, I enjoy spending time with you. Move in. I’ll even put you on the lease. Besides, you’ll improve the scenery. It’s not like you’re hard on the eyes, man.” Carter winked exaggeratedly.

Lee blinked and Carter grinned at him. One of these days, Lee was going to call him out on the flirtatious comments and he was going to have to come up with a real good excuse, but today was not that day.

“You seriously want me to move in with you?”

“Yeah, man. Get you off that cramped ass thing at DiDi’s and into a real bed.” Carter wanted to slap himself as soon as he said it. Now there were imaged of Lee in his bed swirling around in his brain and that was not something he needed right now. “You’ll sleep better.”

Lee would look hot as hell spread out across his bed. He’d even buy new sheets just for the occasion. Maybe silk. Lee deserved silk…He pushed the thoughts away, hard. Popping a woody right now would ruin everything, he thought viciously to himself. Speaking of…inviting Lee to live with him was probably not the smartest thing in the universe. Hiding his reactions to Lee’s…well everything was going to more difficult if he was spending 24/7 with the guy.

He’d deal.

“So it’s settled then. You’re moving into the other bedroom at my place. Do you seriously not have any more stuff than that tiny ass suitcase?”

Lee shrugged. “Most of my belongings are at my apartment in Hong Kong.”

Carter frowned. “And you don’t want them back? If you’re making LA a permanent thing…”

Lee looked vaguely thoughtful. “I suppose it would be time to go back and get them.”

Carter grinned and raised his hand. “I volunteer as tribute.”

Lee frowned. “What do the Hunger Games have to do with retrieving my belongings?”

“Hah!” Carter crowed, fighting the urge to do a little dance. “You got that reference! I meant, I’ll go with you and help you bring things back if you want.”

“Ah.” Lee nodded. “I would be honored to have your help. I would enjoy showing you my city.”

Carter grinned. “We can put in for leave in the morning. Cole likes you. I bet she lets us go. You can move in when we get back, yeah?”

Lee nodded.

++++++++++++++

“What exactly do you want two weeks leave for? What could you possibly need two weeks for?” Carter was bouncing on the balls of his feet, causing Lee to fight a smirk. The Captain watched skeptically. “Anything that’s making Carter this happy can’t be good…Wait. You two aren’t getting married or something, are you? Because you didn’t fill out any paperwork and I didn’t get an invitation.”

Carter froze and gapped at her. Lee sighed, long-sufferingly.

“Captain, we are not in a relationship and I am applying for an indefinite extension of my work visa, which i fully expect to be granted, so I cannot see a reason for us to marry.”

Captain Cole arched her eyebrow and looked back and forth between them. Carter was staring at Lee. “You’re on a visa. Damn. I never realized that before. You’re not going to get deported, right? I mean…If you needed to get married to stay in the country, I’d totally help a brother out, man…”

Lee shook his head, eyeing the ceiling and, the Captain thought, praying for strength. “My immigration status is fine, Carter. But I appreciate the sentiment, however misplaced.” He looked at his superior officer. “Captain, Carter has agreed to help me bring the rest of my belongings to America.”

Cole blinked and leaned forward. “You’ve been here for…what? Almost a year? And your stuff is still in China? Jesus. Go get it. Carter, fine. you can go help him. Where have you even been living?”

“DiDi has a guest room that—“

“You’ve been living on DiDi’s daybed? That sounds awful. You’re not going to stay on that thing permanently, are you?”

Carter grinned. “Nah. He’s moving in with me.”

Cole coughed. “You’re going to live with Carter. Carter and you are moving in together.”

Lee frowned at her, while Carter tried to fight a blush and thanked all the powers that be that his skin tone made it difficult to notice. “Yes, Captain. Was there significance to the change in your phrasing when you repeated that fact?”

Cole bit her lip and stared at him for a moment. She glanced at Carter, whose eyes widened. “Um…no? Anyway. Permission granted. Go…get out of my office. I don’t want to see you back here for another two weeks.” She made a shooing gesture and shot Carter a sympathetic look behind Lee’s back.

Lee and Carter went back out into the bullpen and wandered over to DiDi’s desk. “There was clearly some sort of second meaning to the Captain’s rephrasing. Why did she lie?”

Carter snorted. “To save herself the embarrassment.”

“What embarrassment? I do not understand.” Lee was beginning to sound frustrated.

Which is what finally caused DiDi to hop in on the conversation. “What did the Captain say, Lee?”

Carter looked down at his desk, knowing that if he opened his mouth and tried to stop Lee from repeating it, it would just look worse for him.

Lee told DiDi what the Captain had said. DiDi covered her mouth with her hand to try and stifle her laughter.

“What is funny? What does it mean?”

DiDi grinned. “Did you tell her she was right?”

Lee threw his hands up in the air. “Of course I did. I am moving into the second bedroom at Carter’s apartment.”

“Well, the phrase ‘moving in together’ doesn’t mean that you’re going to be roommates…or flatmates or whatever. It means that you’re…well…moving in together. Like as a couple. Like…she probably thought that you meant that you were going to be sleeping in Carter’s bed with him. Does the Captain even know that you live in a two bedroom, Carter?”

Carter shrugged, not looking at Lee, who looked flabbergasted. “I dunno. She’s never been around to my place, so probably not. This is partly my fault. I told her that Lee was moving in with me.”

Lee was shaking his head at both of them. “Why do people always think we are dating? What are we doing that implies that? I think even Miss Grandma thinks it.”

“To be fair, I prolly shouldn't have introduced you to her as a GQ model. I’m not 100% sure she realizes you're a cop.

“That’s what happens when you introduce each other as your partner and then flirt outrageously. The arguments you two have don’t help matters.”

They both turned to her. Carter looked ready to protest and Lee looked confused. “What arguments?”

DiDi blinked. “Are you kidding me? You guys bicker like an old married couple. You’re always arguing. Sometimes it’s about important stuff, but most of the time it’s not. Carter tells people that you’re a superhero and you follow him around like a lost puppy. But who cares what people think? The only thing that matters is what the two of you think.”

Carter laughed and it was one of the most relieved sounds Lee had ever heard. “Yeah. Good point. Now, we’ve got a plane to catch and I still gotta pack.”

“Pack?” DiDi glanced between the two.

“We’re going to Hong Kong, baby!”

Chapter Text

Carter hated planes. Carter never wanted to get into another plane in his life. He was going to pretend that the return flight didn’t exist for as long as he possibly could.

Spilling out of the airport with the flow of bodies, his first impression of Hong Kong was…loud. It reminded him of the one time he’d been to New York. There were people everywhere, color and noise and movement. He was having trouble focusing.

“Jesus, Lee.” He muttered as he followed dazedly in Lee’s wake.

Lee was leading him through the crowd to a taxi stand. He glanced back. “Are you alright, Carter? You look a little…”

“Overwhelmed? That’s cuz I am. This is crazy.”

“The population of Hong Kong is nearly double that of LA and the square mileage is about 4/5th of LA’s.”

Carter blinked. “Fuck.”

Lee cocked an eyebrow at him as he flagged down a taxi. “I have never heard you use that word before.”

“You’ve never been with me when I needed to. Right now? I need to. Because really? Fuck.”

“Indeed.” He opened the door and motioned Carter into the taxi. Climbing in behind him, Lee spoke to the cabbie and Carter tried to not focus on the sound of Lee speaking…whatever it was he was speaking. “We are closer in population density to New York City than we are to LA.”

Carter watched his mouth for a moment, before he blinked himself back to the present. “Sorry, I’m paying attention to your wikipedia moment. I swear. I just…I don’t think I ever heard you speak Chinese before. What kind was it?”

Lee blinked, looking surprised. “I speak Cantonese as my first language and I learned Mandarin in college. That was Cantonese.”

“So English is your third language? Daaamn, Lee.”

“My fifth language.”

“Excuse me?”

“English. It is my fifth language. I learned Japanese in grammar school and I studied Korean in college as well. I took English classes in grammar school, but I did not truly learn the language until I was an adult.”

“Damn, Lee. I’m impressed. You seriously are Batman.”

Lee frowned. “Batman was multilingual?”

Carter shrugged. “Yeah. Well, the Christian Bale one was…I think. It’s been a while since I seen those movies. How did you finally learn English?”

Lee looked uncomfortable and turned his gaze out the window. “I watched films.”

Carter frowned at him. “You learned English by watching movies? What movies?”

Lee shifted. “Jackie Chan films.”

Carter bit his lip, trying to fight his laughter. “I can totally picture it. College you binge watching Jackie Chan movies, thinking how alike you are. Or possibly thinking how much more badass your ninja game it.”

“Carter, Ninja is Japanese.”

Carter grinned. “Oh, I know. You’ve said. And now you’re trying to change the subject. I’m too busy picturing you nerding out over Jackie Chan. I will not be deterred.”

The cab rolled to a halt and Carter realized that he had not seen any of the city on the car ride. He’d been too distracted by the idea of Lee’s apparent obsession with shit old Kung Fu movies and talented tongue. Aaaand there was another image he didn’t need. Especially here…What were the laws about homosexuality in Hong Kong anyway?

“It is not illegal here. Though it is not quite as accepted as in America, being gay is unlikely to cause too many problems here. What does this have to do with Jackie Chan films? I had no desire to sleep with him. That was not why I watched them.” Lee stopped in the middle of the street to stare at him in confusion.

Carter stared at Lee for a moment. “I said that out loud?”

“Obviously.”

“Oops? I think the jet lag is getting to me.”

“Possibly.” Lee pulled out a ring of keys, not pressing the issue, and let them into a high-rise.

“Also, I might possibly be imagining you with an adorable crush on Jackie Chan now. Just so you know. I will be telling DiDi.”

Lee ignored him, as usual. “I am on the eighteenth floor. The last time I was here, the elevators were broken, but they appear to be working again.”

Carter sighed in relief. He would not have been pleased to have to trudge up eighteen flights of stairs. “Where does Kim live? Nearby?”

“In the apartment next door, actually. I was going to knock as we went by.”

Carter nodded and the elevator doors opened. He considered them, thinking that he did not remember crossing the lobby or either of them pressing the button. Jet lag really was getting to him.

He must have fallen asleep on the ride up, because the next thing he knew, Lee was poking him in the shoulder. He followed Lee down the hall and tried to wake up a little when they stopped at an apartment door. Kim’s.

Lee knocked and the door opened to a tall, heavy set man. Lee said something to him and he shook his head.

“I moved in here a year ago, almost. The landlord said the previous tenant moved to America.” The man’s English was not nearly as accented as Lee’s, though Carter didn’t have the energy or focus to contemplate that. Kim wasn’t here?

Lee just stood there staring at him, until he apologized and shut the door on them. Carter suddenly felt wide away, adrenaline pumping double time.

“…She could just be elsewhere. Maybe she had someone come get her stuff and move it? She could…”

Lee was shaking his head. “No. When would she have had the chance? Why would she?”

They stood in silence for a beat.

“Lee…What happens when someone kills the Dragon?”

“I do not know.” Lee was still staring at the closed door.

Carter finally nudged him along the hallway. “Well, I think it’s time we found out. Lee…Jonathan, I don’t want to…burst your bubble or anything, but something is seriously not right here.”

++++++++++++

The next morning found Lee packing things into shipping crates and Carter on the phone trying to find out if Kim ever got onto her plane.

Turned out that she did not. Though TSA was especially reluctant to divulge that information to off-duty LAPD in Hong Kong. Not that Carter blamed them.

“Listen, Jonathan, I—“

“You only call me by my given name when you are worried about how I will react.”

This pulled Carter up short. “I…Um…Do you not like it? Would you prefer I call you Lee all the time?”

“No.” He paused. “Actually…My mother used to call me Jon. You can call me that, if you like.”

Carter froze for a beat before slowly turning to look at Lee. He was standing near the sofa, looking lost and anxious. Carter just nodded.

“My mom always called me by my full first name. Said it was too short to cut up. Nobody else does. Most people call me Carter or occasionally Jay. You can, though. If you want to.”

Lee smiled at him. “I interrupted you.”

“Oh…Uh…” Carter stared at him, trying to remember what he’d been about to say. The morning sun was catching in Lee’s hair, which was wavy today and falling into his eyes. “Yeah, I…I don’t know how to tell you this. I don’t…”

“Say it. Whatever it is, it cannot be as bad as you think it is.”

“Lee…Jon. Your sister never got on that plane.”

“Or it could be as bad.” Lee swallowed and sat on the couch next to a packing crate. “Why would she lie about leaving LA?”

Carter shifted on his feet. “I…I suppose there could be a reasonable explanation for it. She changed her mind at the last minute? She forgot something and just hasn’t booked a new flight? She already got a new MSS assignment?”

“It is possible, but you do not think so.”

Carter chewed his lip and considered lying to spare Lee. But it would be worse in the long run. He didn’t want to be the one to bring it up, but he didn’t really have another choice.

“I think Kim is still with the Quantao.”

“Why?”

Carter came around the coffee table and sat in front of Lee. In his gentlest voice, he explained about the discrepancy in Kim’s story and his suspicions about Zho Tu. “Something is not adding up here, man. How did the MSS imbed her in with the Quantao? How did they know she was alive? Unless they knew about the theft at the hanger ahead of time and didn’t do anything about it? The only word we have on this is Yun’s and he was dirty. It just doesn’t…make sense.” Lee leaned forward and dropped his head into his hands. Carter laid on hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Jon. I didn’t want it to be this way.”

Pressing the balls of his hands into his eyes, Lee spoke to the floor. “I never wanted to believe that Kim had turned, but that was easier to believe than the MSS agent story. But I accepted it anyway. I wanted to believe that she was telling the truth so badly. That she was still my sister.”

“I know, man. I know.”

“I suspected that that story was a lie from the moment Cole told us. And when the Dragon admitted that he killed our parents, I thought, this. This is why she is doing this. Revenge. But then, if it was just about revenge, why not come back to Hong Kong?”

“You think she’s the new Dragon.”

Lee finally looked up. His face was pained and his eyes burned. “So do you.”

Carter nodded. “Yeah. I do. So, what do we do now?”

“We contact the MSS and try to get confirmation about Kim’s status. And after that, we will not think about Kim or the Quantao while we are here. There is nothing we can do from across an ocean.” Lee swallowed. “We will finish packing. I will show you around my city, like I promised. And when we get back to LA, we will find Kim and bring her to justice.”

Carter nodded. “Okay. I can do that.” Lee stood, but Carter grabbed his hand before he could move away. He looked down and met the other’s eyes. “Jon, I’m with you on this. Whatever happens and whatever needs doing. I’m with you. I got you. Okay?”

Lee smiled, small and grateful, and nodded. “Thank you, James.”

Carter smiled back, squeezing his hand. “What are partners for?”

Chapter Text

The MSS confirmed to Lee that no one by the name Kim Lee was currently an active agent. When he pressed them, to see if she’d ever been an agent, he was stonewalled. Though by the expression on the secretary’s face, she hadn’t been, but they didn’t want to admit it. Carter suspected that they were touchy about it because they were still scrapping egg off their faces over Yun.

After that, they did what Lee had said they would. They put the issue of Kim aside and enjoyed the city. The two spent a week exploring Hong Kong. Lee took Carter to all his favorite spots and said goodbye to them. Without family to visit, he had no reason to come back to China again. Watching Lee say goodbye to his homeland, Carter vowed he would get his partner back here before they were both too old for such travel.

Kim was never far from either of their thoughts, however. Lee would get a far away look on his face and spend his time staring out the window. Carter’s insides felt cold any time he considered Kim and what she was putting Lee through. When they caught up with her, he was going to…He hadn’t figured it out yet, but revenge for Lee would definitely be in order. He obviously wasn’t allowed to kill her, but shooting her somewhere non-fatal hadn’t been ruled out.

Near the end of the trip, Lee took Carter to his old precinct and introduced him to all his old team.

Carter noticed a lot of sidelong looks and even got the shovel speech from Lee’s former partner. Carter wasn’t sure if it was intended for their professional or personal relationship, but he just nodded and smiled in terror, praying that that the sort of Kung Fu that Lee got up to wasn’t standard training here.

Carter was sitting in Lee’s old office, which had been left vacant for his return, watching him interact with his old team. His back looked straighter, his posture and face more rigid than usual, blanker. More like he was when he first showed up at Precinct 7.

Tongtian, Lee’s Hong Kong equivalent of DiDi, came up while Lee was distracted and sat down next to Carter. “You know, Jonathan is very different now.”

Carter frowned and watched Lee more closely. “How so?”

She smiled. “He is…much more relaxed. He smiles. He does not look so…hmm…stressed? Exhausted? Angry? There is some old hostility that is gone. I think that is because of you.”

“I mean…” Carter reached up and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He kept his gaze on Lee, who was going to notice his staring soon, but it felt safer than looking at Tongtian. “I didn’t really—“

“Yes, you did.” She leaned in. “I have never seen him so relaxed. Especially at work.”

Carter shrugged. “We’re good for each other, I guess. He keeps me grounded and I get him to loosen up. But only a little. He wouldn’t be Lee if he was too relaxed.” He chuckled.

She smiled, which he caught out of the corner of his eye. It looked mischievous. “Jonathan and I…we went out a few times. Slept together occasionally. I have never seen him so…in love either.”

Carter turned to gap at her. “You…Jon…Wait, what? In love? In love with who?”

She grinned at him. “In love with you, of course. I can see it in his eyes. In the way he is attuned to you, always knowing where you are. He glances over whenever someone mentions your name. I can see it in the way his body response to you. When you are near, he sways towards you, stands too close, shadows you. I imagine he also pulls stupid stunts with his acrobatics to impress you.”

Carter blinked, distracted. “Uh…I once saw him do a backflip cold, from a standstill. He also climbed up the side of a ten story building. And this one time, he got stabbed and just walked it off. Told me he’d stitch it himself. I told him he was a superhero. I probably shouldn’t have been giving him positive reinforcement for that.”

“See?” She nods to Lee and leans in a little closer. “He is jealous of our conversation right now. Do you like women, as well as men?” Carter nodded without thinking. “Good. He is afraid that you will fall for me. Or some other woman. Have you—“

“Aw hell. I just met you. I wouldn’t proposition you at work. And Lee knows that. And he’s seen me interact with women on the job before.”

“And he did not try to sabotage it before anything could even form?” She cocked a brow and Carter remembered Lee’s awkward comments to Nina after Carter insisted Lee be his wingman. Comments that from anyone else would have seemed pointed sabotage, but because it was Lee saying them, Carter brushed it off.

She nodded when Carter looks back at her. “He is clearly afraid of losing you. Have you not reassured him?”

“Um…Look, Tongtian, we’re not together.”

She shook her head. “But you are in love with one another. I will help you fix this.”

Carter’s eyes went wide and a nervous smile stretched his mouth. “Um…no. That’s okay. I don’t think—“

She leaned in even further to whisper in his ear. “We will make Jonathan jealous. You should put your hand on my thigh.”

“I—“

She arched an eyebrow and so strongly reminded him of DiDi that he complied without thinking the rest of the situation through. Which surprised no one.

“I don’t see—“

“Here he comes now.” She smiled at him again, shifted just a little, and transformed from friendly coworker to alluring pull. Carter was having trouble processing the situation.

“James, I see you’ve met Tongtian.” Carter’s attention snapped up to Lee, who stood over them with his arms crossed. Carter stared. He’d never seen Lee cross his arms before. He glanced back at Tongtian who was smirking broadly.

She turned that smirk on Lee, who glowered at her. “I was just telling Detective Carter here about how good in bed you are, Jonathan.”

Carter choked and Lee gaped, his arms dropping back to his sides.

Tongtian looked back to Carter, pointedly ignoring Lee. “Really though, Jamie, you know, he can go for hours without tiring. He’s an absolute tiger. And so flexible. It’s all the acrobatics. This one time, he—“

“Tongtian! I think that’s quite enough. I don’t think Carter has any interest in—“

“Actually,” Carter, responding to the encouragement in Tongtian’s eyes and the rising blush on Lee’s cheeks, grinned. “I have much interest. Except…maybe I’d prefer firsthand experience to secondhand description.”

Lee sighed. “Carter, your inappropriate sense of humor is—“

“Hey. Hey! I am not jokin’ here, man.”

Lee’s jaw worked and he looked away. “I do not appreciate being the butt of whatever prank you think you are pulling, Carter.”

Tongtian was watching the fruits of her labor with fascination. Carter frowned, hurt. “Look, Jon. I’m not joking and this isn’t a prank.”

Lee looked back, sharply. “What?”

“Yeah.” Carter swallowed and pushed out the next words through sheer force of will, terror beginning to well up in his gut. “I…I didn’t want to put our partnership at risk by…making a serious play, but I was never jokin’ when I complimented you or flirted with you.”

Lee narrowed his eyes. “If that is true, why say something now?”

Carter glanced at Tongtian. “She—“

“You want to fuck him as badly as he wants to fuck you.”

“Tongtian, Carter will pursue anything with legs.” Lee gritted out, before switching into Cantonese.

Carter blinked. That hurt. In the entire time he’d known Lee, he hadn’t actually slept with a single person. It didn’t stop him being vocally appreciative, but that didn’t make him whatever kind of slut Lee seemed to think he was. Carter curled his hand into a fist and pressed it to his thigh, hoping the pain of his nails digging into his palm would distract him from the one in his chest.

A throat cleared from the doorway. They all turned to find Lee’s former superior officer, watching them with narrowed eyes. “Gentlemen, this is hardly the place for such a discussion. Take it outside. Lee, there is some paperwork you have to finish to finalize your resignation.”

Lee, still scowling, followed him out without ever looking at Carter. Carter watched him go, feeling hollowed out. He’d known that Lee didn’t return his affection (affection he was still trying to deny that he felt), but to have his opinion of Carter so brutally laid out…

Carter wondered why Lee even wanted to consider him a friend, never mind move into his apartment. Maybe he was settling? He didn’t seem to make friends very easily.

“Lee can be a bastard when he feels cornered.” He turned to Tongtian in question. She continued, “I see how much that hurt you. I don’t think he really thinks that about you. He was jealous and worried and afraid that we were playing with him.”

Carter frowned. “Why would I do that? He should know I would never do that. Not to him.”

Tongtian smiled. “Lee…has intimacy problems.”

“Um..What?” Carter shifted back. “Not relevant.”

She shook her head at him. “No, very relevant. He has trouble connecting with people. He doesn’t even make friends easily and he is always suspicious of why others would treat him well. I met him after he became a detective, so I don’t know if he’s always been this way or if it is because something happened to him. What I do know is that it is hard for him to trust others. Especially with parts of himself.”

Carter considered this, his eyes finding Lee, across the bullpen, in the Captain’s office. His partner was sitting at a table, hunched over his paperwork, and looking coiled, ready to spring. Tongtian’s comment about Lee being a tiger floated back to him. It was a pretty good description really. He moved with the grace of some kind of cat. He always landed on his feet. But, most importantly, he could act as harmless as he wanted, but those claws were always there, ready to come out. And you knew it, just by looking at him.

It was what attracted Carter to him in the first place. Yeah, he was gorgeous, but so were a lot of people. It was the whisper of danger that seemed to dog his every move that did it.

The fact that Lee was kind, generous, selfless, and dedicated to helping others were some of the qualities that turned that lust into…something else.

If Tongtian was right and Lee was feeling cornered, Carter had to do something to defuse the situation. They had a transpacific plane ride in the morning and Lee was moving into his place when they landed. They needed to get their shit together.

Leaving Tongtian behind, Carter wandered back out into the bullpen. He moved aimlessly through the desks, comparing this precinct to his own back home. When Lee came up behind him a few minutes later, he mused aloud, “Cops are cops no matter where you go, aren’t they? This place doesn’t feel all that different from back home. You’ve even got a DiDi…though Tongtian seems more like a weird mix of DiDi’s best qualities and Donovan’s worst.”

Lee snorted. “At least she is not seven feet tall.”

Carter turned to smile at him. “All set?”

Lee nodded and, after a last round of goodbyes and a hug from Tongtian, he led Carter out of the precinct. “I apologize. My words to Tongtian about you before were cruel and uncalled for.”

Carter shrugged, feeling slightly mollified. “Man, I know I sometimes come off…insensitive and slutty and whatever, but I…I don’t actually get around that often.”

Lee frowned. “Get around?”

Carter blinked, brought up short by the language barrier. Lee hardly ever asked for clarification for phrases he didn’t get. He usually just went with it. Carter suspected that he googled them later. Urban Dictionary for the win. “It means…to, um, sleep with a lot of people. And I don’t. I haven’t actually been with anybody since before I met you. So, I get why you’d’a thought that, but…It’s not true.”

Lee nodded. “I apologize.”

Carter inhaled. “And for the record, I wouldn’t sleep with Tongtian. She’s your ex. I don’t do that, man. If that’s what you were worried about.”

Lee nodded again, but said nothing as he flagged down a cab. There was silence between them, awkward for the first time in months. Carter wanted to bring up what Tongtian had said to Lee, but something felt…unsettled between them and he didn’t want to make things worse.

When they got back to Lee’s now empty apartment, Lee turned to Carter, eyes anywhere by on his partner. “Tongtian was telling the truth. I am attracted to you. I would very much like to have sex with you. But it has not and will not effect our relationship. You should forget that you ever heard it.”

Carter swallowed, thick and painful. His chest was tight. Of course, Lee would want to ignore this. Of course, he would. “Is that what you want?” Lee nodded, still refusing to meet Carter’s eyes. Carter exhaled sharply through his nose and tried to force some joviality into his tone. “A’ight then. That’s what we’ll do.”

“Thank you.”

Carter just nodded and looked around the apartment, trying to find something to distract himself with. Of course Lee would want to pretend that this never got out. Of course desire for Carter would be Lee’s dirty little secret. Carter wasn’t sure if it was the gay thing or just Carter in particular and he wasn’t sure which he’d prefer it to be.

He was jolted abruptly from his morose thoughts when he finally focused on the far wall. “Uh…Lee?” He said, and pointed.

Lee, who had been moving vaguely in the direction of the kitchen, turned and followed his finger.

On the far wall of Lee’s living room, the symbol of the Quantao had been carved into the wall. Paint and plaster chips littered the floor.

Lee’s eyes went wide. “We need to leave. Immediately. We need to go back to LA.”

Chapter Text

The tag on Lee’s wall burst their tiny bubble and dragged them reluctantly back to the real world. For Carter, no matter how much Lee shutting down any possibility of there being a ‘them’ hurt, this was worse. Even setting the danger aside, because now it was Lee in pain.

Carter could see it in his face, in the lines of his body, in the sharpness of his movements.

That tag had been a warning, but it wasn't clear whether it had come from Kim or from the local Dragon. Carter also wasn’t sure whether it was supposed to be warning them away or warning them that they were marked. Living on borrowed time, as it were. Carter didn’t particularly care, because what was clear was that they were getting warmer.

And that meant that Kim was still in the Quantao. And Lee lost his sister all over again.

Carter wanted to wrap Lee up in his arms and keep everything else away, but that was never going to happen. So instead, he stood by him and followed his lead. When the plane touched down in LA, Carter turned to him. “This is your home now. You’ve got family and friends here and people to back you up. I know you can do this, see it all the way to the end. But you’re not doing it alone. I’ll be there with you until the end. Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it, Jon. I’m right here with you.”

Lee offered him a twitch of a smile, but his eyes were empty. Carter made as if to reach out to him, but realized what he was doing and jerked back. He shook himself and muttered an apology.

Lee frowned at him. “Carter, I did not mean that you shouldn’t…No. It’s not important. We have work to do.”

He stood, his face shuttered, and disappeared down the aisle. Carter slumped forward for a moment, head in his hands. The world was shifting beneath him and he didn’t appreciate the feeling. Even when they were snipping at each other way in the beginning, even when they didn’t trust one another, Carter had never felt unsteady. Interacting with Lee was also so easy, so natural. Now…
He felt a touch on his shoulder and jerked up, thinking it was Lee. An elderly woman was smiling down at him. “Don’t look so despondent. Whatever problems the two of you are having, I’m sure the two of you will work it out. You love each other, I can tell. He seems like a good one, your young man.”

Carter blinked up at her, opening his mouth to tell her the truth. But she looked so kind and she seemed so anxious to reassure him that he couldn’t bring himself to do it. “Thanks, ma’am. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

She nodded, patted his shoulder, and continued down the aisle. Finally, Carter stood, grabbed his carry bag, and exited the plane. Lee was waiting at the gate, with his hands in his pockets and his eyebrow cocked. “Did you lose something on the plane?”

Carter laughed and even he could tell how hollow it sounded. “Nope, just chatting with…” He trailed off when he noticed the elderly woman giving him the thumbs up before linking arms with another woman and walking away. He laughed again, more genuine this time. “A really nice old lady.”

Lee followed his gaze to the couple walking arm in arm away from the gate. Confusion wiped some of the emptiness from his face. But he didn’t ask for clarification. Just followed Carter toward baggage claim.

“Where do we start now that we’re home again?” Carter glanced sidelong at Lee.

Lee shrugged. “Am I still welcome at your apartment?” His tone was flat, but Carter could hear a faint bitterness in the question.

“Our apartment. I put you on the lease, man, I told you.”

Lee frowned. “Already?”

Carter nodded. “Look, you said nothing changed, right? So nothing changed. You’re still moving into the apartment and we’re still partners.” Carter tried a grin. It felt almost normal. “We’re still bests, right?”

Lee rolled his eyes, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and some of the tension released from his shoulders. “Besties. I cannot believe I allowed DiDi to introduce that word into my vocabulary.”

Carter laughed. “I’m going to say bests. I like it better.”

Lee shrugged, nonchalant, but his smile grew. Carter nodded, satisfied. They’d be okay. That old lady was right. They’d be just fine.

++++++++++++++

DiDi was still awake when they swung by her place. Her smile when she greeted them on the porch was sly. “Sooo. How was Hong Kong?” Carter gave her a look and she sobered quickly. “What happened?”

“Kim is still with the Quantao. She never left LA.”

She gasped, hand flying to her mouth. “No. Lee…”

Lee nodded grimly. “And they know we are coming for them. They broke into my apartment and left a tag carved into the wall.”

“Are you both okay, though? You weren’t there when they broke in, right?”

Lee shook his head. “If we had been there…”

Carter snorted. “Somebody would be dead. Your call whether it would be us or them. I wasn’t allowed to bring my gun on the plane so…”

DiDi looked suspiciously up and down the street. “God, this whole situation is making me paranoid. Come in. Lee, are you crashing here tonight?”

Lee shook his head. “I do not have that much here. I would like to get everything into Carter’s as soon as possible so we can focus on Kim and the Quantao. I would not endanger you and your son.”

Carter bumped his shoulder as he passed. “Not just mine anymore. You’re on the lease. Which means you get to help with the rent. How fun for you.”

Lee nodded and disappeared into the guest room. DiDi came up and stood next to Carter, who sighed as he watched Lee go. DiDi nudged him. “What’s wrong?”

Carter thought about that for a moment. DiDi waited with growing concern. Finally Carter spoke. “90% of the trip was great. Hong Kong is awesome. But then Lee took me to his old precinct.”

“And?” DiDi prompted after a beat.

“His DiDi told me…well, we had…I don’t know if I could even call it a fight. It wasn’t. Lee said something kind of awful about me, but I can’t even really fault him for it. I…don’t…I…”

“Carter.” He stopped his stammering explanation. DiDi laid a hand on his arm and met his eyes. “What’s really wrong here?”

“I’m in love with him.” The words fell into the room, like weights. He couldn’t take them back. They were out there and now he couldn’t deny it to himself anymore. Because he’d admitted it. He tried to control his breathing.

DiDi nodded, unsurprised. He wanted to be bitter about that, but he couldn't muster up the energy. “Okay. So what’s the problem?”

Carter laughed, hollow like it had been at the airport. “He thinks I’m a dirty slut.”

DiDi gaped. “I’m sorry, what?”

Carter shrugged and Lee emerged from the guest room, rolly bag packed. “I am ready.”

DiDi turned to him, mouth open in preparation and clearly about to demand an explanation. Carter waved her off. “DiDi, just don’t. We’ve still got a week or so of leave. We’ll call you if we get anywhere with Kim.”

There was concern in her eyes when she hugged him. “Be safe, both of you.”

She hugged Lee as well, though it seemed almost reluctant to Carter. He was going to have to talk to her about it. But later, when Lee wasn’t around.

Lee was watching them with growing suspicion. When they made it back to the car, he got in and sat silently until they started moving. “You told DiDi about…” He waved his hand vaguely at himself.

Carter snorted. “Not really. I told her we got into a little fight. It’s fine. Everything will be fine. I’ll talk to her about whatever that was. I promise.”

Lee nodded stiffly and settled back into his seat, silent for the remainder of the ride.

The trek up to Carter’s apartment was awkward as hell and Carter hated it. He hated this…thing that had settled between them. He wanted to hate Tongtian for it, but he couldn’t seem to make himself. He knew all three of them were at fault this clusterfuck. Himself especially, for falling in love with Lee in the first place. But even that seemed inevitable.

How could he not? Lee was beautiful: kind, passionate about his job, dedicated to helping people, generous almost to a fault. He was a rock, always there to fall back on, always willing to offer support. He made Carter a better cop and a better man. And he wasn’t too hard on the eyes either…damn, was he fine.

Carter shook himself out of his thoughts and tried to act as normally as possible. Most of the boxes wouldn’t arrive from Hong Kong for at least another couple weeks, but he helped Lee heft the two suitcases they’d brought on the plane up two his new bedroom.

When Carter opened the door for Lee, he held back, letting Lee explore. “You can change whatever you want. Buy new furniture or whatever. I can always give this stuff to Gramma. She’s always looking for new stuff.”

Lee nodded, doing a slow circuit of the room. His eyes scanned every surface, critically. Carter wasn’t quite sure what he was looking for. evidence of whether or not a fuck someone in here no doubt, he thought bitterly. Then squelched it. That wasn’t fair to Lee.

“I’ll just leave you to it then.” He turned to leave.

“James…” Carter froze, back still to Lee. It was the first time since Tongtian had spoke to him that he’d called Carter by his first name. “Thank you. For doing this for me. For being willing to…accommodate my interest in you.”

Carter turned very slowly, frown wrinkling his brow. “Jon, what are you talking about, accommodating?”

Lee’s eyebrows twitched in for a second in a confused frown before he settled his face into something more difficult to read. “It cannot be easy for you to share a living space with me, knowing that I…want you. I know that Tongtian told you that I…that I am in love with you. I was watching you while you spoke with her and I saw your face. So thank you, for allowing me this.”

Carter blinked rapidly a few times before staring, wide-eyed. “Jon…are you saying that she was telling the truth? That you actually are in love with me?”

“Ah.” Lee swallowed, visibly. “You did not believe her. That’s why you accepted this situation so easily. Lust is more easily ignored than love. If you no longer wish for me—“

“Lee, shut up a second. Jesus.” Carter’s breath was speeding up. He took a few unsteady steps toward Lee. “And you told her I was a dirty slut, why exactly?”

Lee frowned at him. “I did no such thing. I told you that I was cruel and I apologized. I did not mean anything by it. I…I was jealous of your attention, as I usually am. I realize that your desire for women is in no way inappropriate or disproportional.”

Carter narrowed his eyes. “And my desire for men? is that appropriate and proportional too?”

“Your what?” Lee’s voice came out strained and he took an aborted step forward.

Carter was trying to fight the grin that wanted to spread across his face. “Jon, God. I’ve been in love with you for months. I don’t know how you didn’t notice. I’ve been low-key flirting with you for almost our entire partnership. I don’t know how this could have escaped your noticed, but at this moment, I don’t give a shit.”

Lee blinked. Took another step forward. They were almost chest to chest, breathing each other’s air. Their eyes were locked. “James, please tell me you are not…teasing or…”

“Jon, just fucking kiss me, will you? I’ve been dreaming about your mouth forever.”

That same mouth twitched before spreading into a wide toothy smile. Carter had never seen Lee smile like that before. His dimples were deep and adorable. Carter wanted to bite them. Instead he reached up and grabbed Lee’s face to drag him down into a kiss. They were both grinning and trying to kiss, which wasn’t working very well, but Carter didn’t care. He slipped one hand around to the base of Lee’s skull to curl his fingers in his hair. The other dropped to Lee’s shoulder and then he slung an arm around Lee’s neck to pull him closer.

Lee’s hands wrapped around Carter’s hips and his fingers dug bruises into Carter’s flesh. An imprint of memory, something he could poke at later and feel the ghost of Lee on his skin.

They stayed like that until the grins faded and they began to kiss in earnest.