Content Warning: mentions of blood (sectioned off by stars).

Officer Todd turned back to face them.

"There's no need to worry. Two officers are down in the foyer, and two officers are stationed outside the building. That's in addition to the night patrol that will pass by every hour." He reassures them.

"Um...Officer Todd, there's one more thing!" Wei Ying stepped forward, quickly. "I just remembered..."

"Sure. What is it?" Fatigue is all over his face and in his posture, but Officer Todd still waits for Wei Ying to say what's on his mind.

"Well...the thing is...it's fair to assume that JingYi isn't going back up there..." Wei Ying glances up towards the ceiling, meaning apartment 613.

"Yeah, he can't go back. It's been sealed off...so..." If it's possible, Officer Todd looks paler at the mention of returning two floors up.

"I meant...um, we're going to need the rest of his things." Wei Ying blurts out. "I can't imagine what he's thinking, but when he finds out about his mother...he's going to be so upset. I want...I want to make it easier for him." Tears spilled out from his eyes, even while Wei Ying tried to be strong.

How to tell a six year old that his mother wasn't coming back? It was the worst piece of news to have to tell anyone, let alone a kid.

The only way that it might make things better was to have comforting, familiar things surrounding the child, so he wouldn't feel abandoned. Wei Ying wasn't sure what the relationship was like between JingYi and his father, but he was already guessing that it wasn't the mother who used to beat him. And to lose both parents in one night ...

Officer Todd was thinking about it.

"I know I'm not supposed to let anyone up there...but if I went...well, the truth is, I don't know anything about kids, and honestly? I don't wanna go back up there..." he looks at the door, and when he turns around, there's a new determination in his eyes. "When you guys came back earlier, you had protective clothes, right?"

Wei Ying catches on really fast.

"Yes. If I wear those, would you mind taking me there?"

Before Officer Todd can answer, Lan Zhan whirls him around. Wei Ying sees so much fear and panic in his beautiful golden eyes, he has to hug him tightly.

"I'm gonna be fine, Sweetheart. I'll only be gone twenty minutes tops, and Officer Todd is going to be with me, every step of the way. Right?" He twists his head so Officer Todd can see him.

"Yep. In and out." Officer Todd confirms. He looks at his watch. "We better hurry before the next shift starts, though. I'll wait outside."

They hear the quiet click of the door, as it closes behind him.

"My love!" Wei Ying holds his face. "Please, we have to, for JingYi's sake. I'd take you with me but one of us has to stay here, in case the children wake up. What if no one's here, then?" He's willing Lan Zhan to please understand. "JingYi would want his own things...you know that, right?"

Lan Zhan hates how right he is.

He closes his eyes in anguish, and Wei Ying knows he's won; Lan Zhan can smell it in his blood. It's relief and ... trepidation. Wei Ying does not want to go up there, either. He's doing it for a little boy, who has no one left now, except them.

And if Wei Ying can be brave...then...then Lan Zhan is going to try his best as well.

When his brilliant golden eyes open, this time they're blazing with a fierce love.

"Twenty minutes." He bites out.

"Twenty minutes." Wei Ying promises.

"Thirty seconds more than that, and I'm coming to get you." Lan Zhan jerks him up so their mouths join in a hurried kiss, an outpouring of his feelings to keep Wei Ying safe, like a talisman against ill fortune.

Wei Ying nods once when they separate, and then he's hurrying into their bedroom to put the plastic protective overalls on. Two minutes later, he blows Lan Zhan a kiss by the door, and then he's gone.

*************

"Elevator is out of action." Officer Todd tells him when he leads the way to the dimly lit stairwell. "Forensics still has to process."

Wei Ying had once upon a time watched many crime dramas and he had a vague idea on what to expect.

They climbed up two flights of stairs and by the time they reached the sixth floor, Wei Ying had to take a brief rest, before he could join Officer Todd.

The policeman was standing outside the wooden door of apartment 613, and looking like he'd rather be anywhere else than here.

Garish yellow tape with 'Police Line Do Not Cross' written in huge black letters was securing the entrance.

"If you don't mind, I'm not going in with you. I'll wait here." He warned. "You have to be fast, though. Straight to the kid's room, grab what you need, and then out, ASAP. Yeah?"

Wei Ying nods, and his heart is thumping in his ears. His breathing is erratic and he really tries to bring it under control, and Officer Todd pushes open the unlocked door.

It is the only barrier between what's inside, and them.

Wei Ying is also aware of the time. At least five minutes have passed since he promised Lan Zhan to return quickly. That leaves him just over ten minutes in there.

He crosses over the yellow tape, simultaneously bending and stepping over it.

The smell hits him first.

Blood.

Lots of it.

It immediately reminds him of that first night, when he found Lan Zhan in that alley, lying in a pool of his own blood. It makes him feel sick, and he's not even particularly squeamish.

Wei Ying breathes through his mouth, and it's a disgusting thought, but it's all he can do not to gag.

The layout is similar to his own flat, except it's bigger and more on the luxurious side. He has to pass through the living room, where there's an overturned smashed lamp, and a broken coffee table.

Not so bad, he thinks.

But then, he has to walk past the kitchen.

It used to be white, that much is clear.

And it's the source of the smell, the stench emanating from this place like it was ground zero. All the walls, cabinets, floor, and even the ceiling are covered in splatter, and in some places, it's quite thick and gloopy. Almost fleshy.

Wei Ying wishes he hadn't stopped.

A quick glance in the next room shows a master bedroom, where everything is spic and span, not a thing out of place, so Wei Ying closes the door, and then is disgusted to find the door handle wearing smudges of blood.

He hurries past and finds JingYi's room right at the end of the corridor. He's scared as he opens it, hoping it too, is untouched.

Thankfully, there's no blood which should be a relief, but there's something wrong.

As Wei Ying finds a plastic bag to throw clothes in, he's trying to think what it could be. Something feels terribly off and it's bugging him, because it's like trying to remember the name of a song or an actor; right on the tip of his tongue.

The room itself is also very tidy, nothing out of place. Even the bed is made, which is unusual for a kid's room. Wei Ying fills another bag of what he has to assume is JingYi's favourite books and toys, and then he spots a toy stuffed giraffe on the pillow; that's taken, too.

He's just on his way out when his foot kicks something, and Wei Ying bends to pick it up, because it makes a noise. It's a bottle of pills.

And the label reads SUP11.

Wei Ying sticks it into his pocket and hightails it out of there.

*************

Officer Todd is more than relieved to see him exit, and after making sure the outside of apartment 613 looks the same as it did when they got there, he leaves Wei Ying outside his own apartment.

Lan Zhan wrenches the door open and pulls him in. It's a bear hug in the fullest sense of the word.

Wei Ying can feel waves of relief coming from him, and it's only because he feels icky wearing these clothes, that he pulls back from Lan Zhan.

"My love...I need a shower." And the longer he waits, the worse he feels.

Lan Zhan nods, and follows him to their bedroom. Wei Ying grabs a comfortable pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, stripping off and leaving a trail of clothes behind him. Lan Zhan hears the sound of running water and is soothed, even as he begins to pick up after Wei Ying. When he grabs the white plastic overalls, he hears another sound, and discovers the bottle of pills.

********

Wei Ying emerges from the bathroom in a cloud of steam. He's still towelling his hair dry, but at least he's feeling marginally better. The hot water helped him scrub off any residual feelings of being somehow contaminated by the apartment upstairs, and seeing...all that.

He stops, because Lan Zhan is sitting on their bed, and the bottle of pills is held between his finger and thumb.

Wei Ying immediately goes to him.

"I found that up there. I accidentally kicked it...in JingYi's room." He tells Lan Zhan.

"It's a different number to the one we found at the lab today." Lan Zhan says, quietly.

"What are you going to do about it?" Wei Ying threads their fingers together.

Like this, Lan Zhan feels as if his Wei Ying is back properly, because he smells the same as he normally does. Warm, soft and a delicate floral scent. It's lotus flowers and a hint of vanilla.

"Tomorrow, I will ask F4keSt0ries about these pills." He stretches over to Wei Ying's bedside cabinet and opens the bottom drawer. "Tomorrow."

Lan Zhan takes the towel from Wei Ying's hands and begins to dry his hair properly. When he's satisfied, he plugs in a hairdryer and begins to brush it dry, making sure he doesn't pull it too harshly when untangling.

"Lan Zhan...do you mind if we don't tell Wen Qing anything yet?" Wei Ying says, his eyes closed as he enjoys this therapeutic touch.

"Mn. I was going to suggest the same thing. Not even about F4keSt0ries. Not yet." Lan Zhan reiterates.

They're quiet for a while, the noise of the hairdryer preventing them from being able to hold a normal conversation, and Lan Zhan is just about to switch it off, when he gets a terrible pain.

It seems to be everywhere, all at once. In his stomach, in his head, all over his body. He's vaguely aware of dropping the hairdryer on the bed, but the pain, it's too much and he clutches his head.

Pins and needles attack him with ruthless urgency and Lan Zhan cannot think any more.

"Lan Zhan? LAN ZHAN?!"

He can hear Wei Ying panicking next to him, and all of a sudden, his pain makes blinding sense.

In fact, Wei Ying is looking mighty good right now...because Lan Zhan is finally hungry.