"Fuck!" Lien panted as he raced down the street under the blanket of the night. Behind him two of the estate guards were chasing him with their guns in hand. The goal was to capture and return Lien for investigation, and yet his running seemed to be an admission of guilt. It wasn't until he rushed out into a busy freeway did he understand the weight of what was happening. Cars zipped past him as he stumbled through the maze. The men had stopped at the edge of the sidewalk and yelled back.

"You're making this a hell of lot worse, kid!" One angrily yelled out and the other had aimed his gun towards the running Lien. "He'll get hit and he won't be our problem anymore," said the guy who had yelled. Indeed, Lien running through the car maze was formidable. He reached his hand out as if to guide himself to the other side of the road, a car side view mirror shattered against it and a splatter of blood followed. "AGH!" Lien's bloodcurdling scream sounded from the median on the freeway. He was halfway across and he stood there, shaking and holding his hand with the other.

The men started laughing and walking away, "He's heading straight towards Sanlitun. He's jailbait out there. Let's tell the boss he's good as dead." The two men chided with one another as they headed back. Lien sucked through his teeth and watched the cars passing by and honking, he was trying to build up the courage to get across. "I can't let you die in vain, Gao. I have to make it." Lien muttered to himself. He had an angry expression on his face and he looked back towards the men that were no longer chasing him. He turned back and with a leap of faith he dashed through the other side of the freeway.

When he had made it to the other side he touched his body to make sure he was all there. He had only suffered his hand being likely fractured. There was no time to waste. He ran straight towards the Sanlitun district of Beijing. He didn't stop running as he snagged a cap off a market stall and put it on his head to conceal his identity as much as possible. The woman at the market stall rose her fist and started to yell, but Lien couldn't stop now. He turned into an alleyway and leaned forward. The pain in his hand could be felt now after the initial shock. "Damnit." He would say, leaning against the brick wall and seeing a door. He reached out and grabbed the handle and entered.

Inside, it was a haven for criminals and lowlifes drinking their lives away. When he had stepped in, eyes moved over to look at him. He froze momentarily and in a fashion true to his personality, he walked through like he owned the place. He went towards the bar, looking up at the television that had the news on it. It was about his brother, his body was found floating in the river with a single gunshot wound to the head. He couldn't bear to look at it any longer and made his way to the payphone near the back of the bar, picking the phone up and putting in Vitya's number. He had no choice. He had lost the protection of the Triad that was now trying to kill him for being a traitor. His family gone in an instant over a paranoid old man.

"Yes?" A voice sounded from the other end of the line, it was Sasha. Lien felt a lump form in his throat and cleared it before speaking. "I need to speak to Vitya, it's urgent." Lien said and Sasha immediately recognized the voice. The voice on the other end started laughing. "Guess you're the whore now. Can't stay away from my Vitya?" said Sasha and Lien groaned. He gritted his teeth and yelled into the phone, "They killed my brother! I can help take down the Triad! You idiot! Isn't that what you want?!" He smashed his hand against the wall, wincing from the pain caused by his fit of rage. Tears started to roll from his eyes and it seemed Sasha had gone silent, as if the phone had been taken from him.

Vitya's voice came through the other side, "Where are you, kotenok?" He had said bleakly, that cold tone still present despite Lien's shaky pleas. "Sanlitun!" Lien exasperatedly responded and Vitya sighed. "Get to Chaoyong Park. I will be there in an hour." Vitya said and the call ended. Lien's eyes widened and he started to hysterically cry. The men in the bar were starting to be drawn to the image of a young man weeping at the phone line. One had stood up, he had a big stature and large belly. His face scarred with
welts and blisters. The man's name was Feng, a notorious trafficker with connections to Butterfly Garden, of course Lien did not know this. Considering the state he was in, he glared at the man.

"What do you want." Lien spat at his feet and the man grabbed his chin, the man's fingers were sweaty and smelled of beer. He chuckled, "Pretty face, you'd catch a really good price. How old are you?" Feng pulled Lien in closer, that was until Lien lifted his knee up right into the man's groin, causing him to keel over and with a loud thunk he fell to the ground. This was incredibly inconvenient for Lien who had escaped his Grandfather's men and now he had to get away from Feng's traffickers. He jumped over Feng's body to get to the alleyway, Feng screamed out.

"Catch that fucking brat!" The man barked orders and Lien was pursued all the way to Chaoyong Park. Despite his best efforts he was cornered in the center, four men surrounded him and Feng approached the scene. He looked like a stomping ogre as two of the four men grabbed Lien's arms and forced him onto his knees. "Is he hurt?" Feng asked and one of the men lifted up Lien's bloody hand. "It'll have to do. So let me ask again, kid. How old are you?"Feng asked the question like it was a command. He hovered over him, licking his lips.

Lien furrowed his brows and looked at the man. "Fuck...you." He lifted his foot and kicked the man in the stomach this time. Feng grunted, "Damnit! Grab his legs, you idiots!" He spit out brown-colored phlegm from using tobacco dip. He started to struggle and Feng kept his distance this time, "Tell me and we can get a move on. You ran my men for awhile, I'm sure even you are exhausted." Feng crossed his arms and Lien was laid against the ground, one of the men holding his head down in the dirt. "Get the fuck off of me you psychos. Do you know who my grandfather is?" Lien used a last ditch effort to save his skin, not sure if it'd work. Feng was wildly amused by what Lien had uttered, "So scary! What's an old man going to do to me? Hm?" He asked, obviously toying with Lien now.

"Check for identification on this spoiled brat." Feng ordered the men and they started searching his pockets. Lien grunted, "My grandfather is Master Cheung!" He screamed out, the dirt on the ground dusting up from his forced breath. The men searching him fell silent, as if they were going to let him go from not wanting to be involved in Triad affairs. Feng didn't seem to care, "Keep checking for identification. The brat is trying to scare us off." He ordered and the men continued to search Lien's pockets, they couldn't find anything on him except for a pack of Double Happiness. "Nothing, sir. He's lying." One of the men said and they seemed relieved, as if their power over Lien was stronger than before.

Feng used a pager to contact their transport, and he spoke into it. "We have fresh meat. Pure, and cute looking. A little fiesty but I'll fix that. Mhm. Broken left hand." He said, he was having a conversation with someone on the other end. "He's young, won't tell us his age. Uh-huh. Just tell them whatever age sells the highest." Feng ended his call and turned his attention back to Lien and the four men. His hand going down to his belt buckle, but they were all stunned to hear a loud whooshing sound from above. It was a helicopter and gunfire sounded off from above. The four men holding Lien down immediately let him go. "Fuck he is in the Triad!" One of them said and they scattered like dogs. Feng left too. Cursing under his breath as a shot landed in his leg and he hobbled away. A rope ladder was let down to Lien who looked up and saw Vitya at the bottom of it, holding out his hand.

Every fiber in Lien wanted to run from him, too. However, in his naïveté he believed Vitya cared for him. The trees around them swayed and Lien reached out to grab Vitya's hand, he was pulled into the embrace of the man that stained his every thought, every waking memory.

"Vitya." Lien trembled against Vitya's chest.

"You're safe now, kotenok." Vitya replied, a hint of kindness in his voice.