Nie Huaisang was stepping out of his shower when Charlie called him with the ten minute warning before the ops** briefing.

"Perfect timing. I'll be ready." he had told her while standing buck naked and dripping on the mat.

He had left the hospital at four still needing to get clothes and his weapon. Yu Bin had dozed off but he had noticed the man was still pulling at his arm even in his sleep. The swelling was bad and Lan Xichen had frowned over it when he had examined Yu Bin earlier. There had to be some other way to immobilize the arm without tying the board to the bed. Maybe Lan Xichen had some suggestions.

Understandably, he was loathe to ask Yu Qing anything.

He shot a quick text off to Lan Xichen regarding the problem then continued getting ready.

Right on time, he was dressed and ready to go when Charlie called him back. His packed bag sat next to the door and his pistol was in a shoulder holster under his jacket. As soon as the meeting adjourned, he would be on his way. He didn't want to leave Yu Bin alone any longer than necessary and he didn't trust his sister to behave herself after the show she put on this morning.

He focused in on the present as Charlie began to speak.

"Good evening, everyone! As you know, Xin Di and Ouyang Zizhen will be posing as siblings on the street for a month after escaping an abusive home life. Xin Di you are Gao Yuxi and Zizhen you are Gao Muchen. Tell me about yourselves."

Zizhen spoke up first. "I am the oldest at seventeen. Our mother is a weak woman. She drinks too much. Takes drugs and is willing to hook up with any man who will give them to her. Yuxi is only sixteen but some of the men look at her. One finally tried to take what our mother gives away. Mother screamed and hit Yuxi for not giving it to him." He hung his head in despair and humiliation.

"I was afraid mother would try and barter her for what she wants. I couldn't let her do that to my sister so we ran." Gao Yuxi scooted closer and held her brother's hand.

"He tried to protect me and the bastard beat Muchen." it was a growl. "She's not our mother. She just gave birth to us. We have each other. We don't need her." Defensive anger stood sharp in Gao Yuxi's eyes.

"You two are brilliant." Charlie grinned. "Settled in on hobbies, inside jokes and habits?"

Xin Di smiled. "Sure thing, Sergeant. He chews his toenails. So gross but who knew he was that flexible?"

Ouyan Zizhen gaped at her then pouted. "You promised you wouldn't tell! Damn, gurl."

They both started laughing.

"Perfect! Xin Di, I want you to tell everyone what Grandmother Liu said."

Xin Di got serious fast. She told them of her encounter with the elderly street person. "She was afraid for me and she knows I'm a cop. That worries me. I've known her almost two years now and she's never acted that way about anything. There is something bad going on in the Koi Tower Shelters."

"We now have a direct warning so let's make sure we heed it, yes?" Charlie looked around the room. "We've gone over the logistics already. The video and audio feeds are set up with implants in your clothing. Don't shower. It could give someone the opportunity to go through your clothes and discover the taps."

Nods from Xin Di and Zizhen.

"Code words?" Charlie asked.

"BTS" said Xin Di. "I can talk about them all day and never mention the band name." She gave a smug grin.

"Hmmm... You sure?" Charlie asked skeptically.

"Yep, wanna try me out?" Xin Di was in earnest.

"Okay, as long as you're sure. I trust you. Zizhen, what's yours?"

"Bugs. It's easy to insert into a conversation and Gao Muchen is not a fan of bugs."

"Okay, BTS and bugs it is. Everyone get that?" There were nods around the room.

"Boss, you got anything you want to add?" Charlie asked.

"Just good luck. You are in good hands with Charlie. Xin Di and Zizhen? Keep your identities straight. Know when to run or call in reinforecments. Don't try to stick it out if it's getting dangerous. We want both of you back and in one piece. Zizhen? Think of what you want as your reward for spending all night working on the background checks." Nie Huaisang's voice said.

"What are Xin Di and Charlie getting?" he asked curiously.

"They want autographed pictures of Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan."

Ouyang Zizhen grinned. "I want in on that! Did you see their wire work in The Untamed?"

Nie Huaisang laughed. "Okay. Easy enough to add one more."

"Anything else?" Charlie asked Nie Huaisang.

"Nope. You know what you're doing, Charlie, and I trust you to get everyone in and out with the information we need. Hopefully, we'll catch these bastards."

"I'll do my best, Boss. We'll get them!" Charlie said with determination. "Okay, get your chocolate and let's head out. I'll keep you updated, Inspector."

"Thanks." and Nie Huaisang hung up the phone.

This was the first op he hadn't run personally since he had become an inspector. He had faith in Charlie and her abilities though. The woman was a power house and, gods forbid, something happened to Xin Di or Zizhen, she would tear that building apart with her bare hands getting them out.

He grinned as he grabbed his bag and locked the door. He would have to start thinking up a nickname for Charlie in the near future.

_____

Trigger Warning: consequences of trauma and abuse, self-blaming

It had been a tough afternoon for Wei Yuan.

He had woken from his nap yelling for his mother. He had watched her die again in his nightmare. He had sobbed his grief in Wei Ying's arms before finally crawling into Lan Wangji's lap.

He had looked at the detective with teary, swollen eyes.

"You hurt Wen Chao. How did you do that?" his voice was a bit wobbly but he was serious.

"I study tai chi. It is a martial art." he answered equally serious.

"Can you teach me?"

"Why, Little Lion?"

"I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't stop Wen Chao and my mom died. If I was stronger, I could have stopped him." The tears were running down his cheeks again. "I need to protect everyone too." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't want to lose anyone else."

Lan Wangji held the boy closer. "I will teach you but you must know one thing first. You did not fail your mother, Little Lion. Wen Chao is a monster. It is his fault she died. Not yours. Never yours."

"But... But..." was choked out between hiccups and coughs from all the tears.

Gently, Lan Wangji cupped the boy's face and wiped his tears just as he did to Wei Ying. Tilting A'Yuan's head up, he looked into eyes laden with grief and misery, loss and pain. "I promise it was not your fault, Wei Yuan. I do not lie. This was not your fault. It was Wen Chao's alone and he will pay for it."

Wei Ying watched and wiped his own tears. It was heartbreaking to hear A'Yuan's words. The blame he took on himself. But if there was someone who could reach through that, it was Lan Wangji. There was a purity to the man. A sincerity not often seen much less felt.  Just thinking about it made his heart warm, grateful.

Wei Yuan had nodded and Lan Wangji had held the boy close humming a tune both haunting and soothing**.

Wei Ying didn't think he would ever forget it.

_____
Trigger Warning: violence

Wu Haoyu paced his office occasionally pausing to look at his computer as if it were possessed. If Homicide didn't get down here soon, he was going to freak out.

Over the years, he had seen a lot of things but nothing like this. It was barbaric. There was no remorse in the perp's face. He had a creamy look of satisfaction mixed with an arrogance and pride. As if somehow, he was amazing because he could beat a man handcuffed to the wall. Despicable. Cowardly.

Suddenly, he sat down. "Fuck, Homicide."

He clenched his jaw as he typed away. Digging in the databases for someone who had been beaten to death.

When it pinged, he jumped. There was a match. Four to be exact in the last month. One was a woman mislabeled as a male. One was an older homeless man. The third was a young man named Mo Xuanyu.

It was him. The video wasn't the best but he was sure of it. The name matched what was written on the thumb drive as well. The other name was Zixun. Was that the perp's name? It wasn't a common name and that might help.

He entered it into the database and waited. Close to a hundred men were named Zixun. He started eliminating sections with filters. Only males between seventeen and thirty-five. It knocked out over half of the group. Only males arrested for violent crimes. A third disappeared. Thirty-two men were left.

Carefully, screening the video frame by frame, Wu Haoyu got the best pictures of the attacker's and victim's faces he could. He ran them through several programs to clean it up and ended up with fairly decent pictures if he did say so himself.

He started by comparing the victim's face to the mug shots attached to Mo Xuanyu's file. It took less than a minute for the computer to declare them a match.

He said a brief prayer for Mo Xuanyu's soul and promised him he would light a candle for him the next time he could attend mass.

Next he ran a comparison  of the pictures in his database group to the attacker in the video. The computer would compare key points and measurements on each face.

'Hopefully...'  He crossed his fingers.

Thirty minutes later, the program was still running and there was still no one from Homicide despite several hours having passed.

'Maybe they all died.' he thought sarcastically. 'Thank God there wasn't a murder currently going on. I'd be long dead.' He humphed to himself.

A ping jarred him out of his thoughts on Homicide's punctuality.

The match was a young man named Jin Zixun. He was twenty when he had been arrested for assault. The notes said it had been knocked down to a drunk and disorderly during the trial. A plea bargain.

'My God, if they had known what he would do later, would they still have been willing to let him plea bargain?' Wu Haoyu thought with horror.

He couldn't help but read the rest of Jin Zixun's file. He had almost killed a man at a bar. Witnesses said he seemed to enjoy it.

'No shit he enjoyed it. Sadistic fuck.'  crossed his mind as he continued to read. That's when he saw it. Whose son Jin Zixun was which explained the plea bargain perfectly.

Wu Haoyu froze, eyes wide.

"Holy shit."
-----

To Zhou Jun's great relief, Wen Chao spent a quiet day mildly sedated.

He wet himself twice.

~♡~♡~♡~

The title is a reference to what everyone is looking for in the chapter (with the exception of Wen Chao). Strength to go in and discover what is going on at the shelters. Strength to protect his loved ones. Strength to face there are monsters and do something about it.

Ops is short for operations. It is a term commonly used by military and police.

And a nod to Lan Zhan's song for Wei Ying, Wangxian.

I get to go to the Stray Kids concert tonight so I thought I'd post early. 😁❤️😁 Happy Friday, Everyone!! 🎆🍫❤️

Smile and share the gift of you!

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