{Sorry for the angst in advance :P. I was told you all like extra sadness in your tea so I delivered 

-Love Soki}

Ash felt crippled as he clutched Eiji's envelope to his chest. And Shorter knelt down beside him, rubbing his back.

" Ash... you have to get up." He told him.

Ash felt his lip quivering and he had to remind himself to breathe. Eiji was gone?! He tried to listen to what Shorter was saying, but it almost felt like his ears were under water.

Kong and Bones watched and were consumed by guilt. Was this all their fault?

Ash pulled himself up from the floor after another minute, and Shorter had to help him.

" Leave me alone for a minute..." Ash said, retreating to his bedroom. His hands trembled as he opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of notebook paper. It was Eiji's handwriting and there was no doubt in his mind.

Ash,

I know that if you're reading this... my plan worked and you're safe. Thank goodness. I know that you're torn up... confused... and I don't blame you for any of that.

My time in America was the most wonderful time in my life, even with everything that's happened. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me, Ash. I wish I could show you Japan, and I wish you wouldn't have to carry a gun anymore. I wish I could've taken you back with me to meet my family and teach you the native language. You deserve to live a normal life.

I didn't want to see you hurt, Ash. Not again. I didn't want to have to say it like this, either. But now... I have to. Ash, I love you. I love you more than words can say, and I wish I could've told you that in person.

I surrendered to Dino... because to me, my life is worth trading for yours. I don't know what he'll do with me, but in exchange... he'll keep Arthur from killing you.

I'm sorry, Ash. I hope you find peace with this, and wherever I am, I will be praying for us.

Love always,

Eiji

Ash's eyes beaded and he wanted to just break down to his knees again. Eiji loved him? He'd told him? He didn't know how he'd let him slip through the cracks. He should've protected him better... it was all his fault.

Eiji had thought he was going to save him, but Dino was the wrong person to plea to. Now he'd be lucky if he survived the day in that mansion.

" Eiji... no..." He whimpered to himself, but that's when he realized, he couldn't just sit there. If Eiji had gone to Dino, there was still a chance he could get him back. Wallowing in self pity was not in the cards if he wanted Eiji to come home.

Ash grit his teeth and put Eiji's letter into his pocket as he went over to the closet. He lifted a box out of their walk in closet, which was filled with guns exactly for an occasion like this. He grabbed them all out, along with a few boxes of ammo, then angrily made his way to the living room. Dino had better watch out... cause no one fucked with Eiji. No one.

Ash put his armful of guns on the counter, and Shorter and the others watched him and waited for orders and explanation. Shorter was less patient than Kong and Bones, however.

" Where is he?" He asked.

Ash loaded one of his revolvers and looked over his shoulder.

" He went to Dino... to bargain for my life." The blonde said, his tone of voice being completely filled with determination.

" HE WHAT?!" Kong and Bones exclaimed in unison.

Shorter's stomach sank, and he realized that letter must've been Eiji's goodbye to Ash. He went over to the pile of guns and helped Ash load, taking a couple of them for himself, and Ash pulled out his phone and dialed Alex.

" Get all the guys together... we're storming Dino's mansion." Ash ordered.

" Why are we doing this? They'll all ask me." Alex replied. He wasn't questioning Ash, but he was sort of entitled to the information, being his second in command.

" He has Eiji."

Alex sputtered from the other side and rushed to do as Ash said, and after Ash had hung up, he took a moment to breathe. He knew what phone call he would have to make on his way there, and he definitely wasn't looking forward to it.

" Shorter, can you drive?" Ash asked him, tucking a gun into his waistband. He hid two more inside of a sweatshirt he pulled off of the couch, then wore.

" Yeah. We have to run to the alley behind the bar. It's parked there." Shorter said, and Ash didn't say another word before cutting past all of them and rushing to the door. Kong and Bones weren't far behind him, having swept up the remainder of the guns for themselves. And Shorter shut the door behind everyone as they all made a break for it.

Ash swore that he'd never run so fast in his entire life. He had tunnel vision, only focusing on not plowing anyone over in the street. But his mind was somewhere else entirely. He didn't know what he would say to Eiji when he found him, but he knew that he would hold him forever. He should've told him how he felt. He should've. Now he might've never gotten t- stop thinking that way. Though the worst possible scenario kept playing over in his head, he tried to shove it away.

The guys were already in their cars behind the bar when Ash sprinted in.

" Listen up!" He yelled, making them roll down their windows, some of them opening the doors and stepping out. Alex had done well to get everyone together so quick. " Dino has Eiji! We're going to make that asshole pay!"

Cheering broke out among the guys, and with that, they all revved their engines. Ash got into the passenger seat and looked over to Shorter, nodding to him. They were at the head of the line of cars.

" Let's fucking do this." Shorter took off out of the alley, and Kong and Bones were tossed around in the backseat from how quickly they'd accelerated. Ash wasn't phased, pulling out his phone.

" I wonder what this pig has to say..." Ash said, dialing the number for Dino's personal telephone in the mansion. He'd come to know the number, since before this war broke out, they were on business professional terms. It only rang a couple times before it picked up.

" Ash, hello." Dino answered. " I'm assuming you've killed Arthur, then?"

" You bet your perverted ass I did. Now tell me where the hell Eiji is." Ash growled. He had fire in his eyes as he spoke, scaring everyone else who was in the car with him.

" What would be the fun in that?" Dino replied.

" If you don't tell me I'll find him myself... he doesn't deserve to be one of your slaves! No one does! He was just trying to defend me!" Ash exclaimed.

" He's not going to be MY slave, Ash..."

" What is that supposed to mean?" Ash spat.

Dino was thinking about how Ash was most likely on his way to destroy his mansion for a second time, and he knew that he couldn't afford to have that happen again. The mafia dons weren't as generous with money now that he'd lost some of it and it would've taken a lot of convincing and time to gain trust back. And so he wasn't going to keep Eiji at his home at all.

" Mr. Lee has more of a use for him than I do..." Dino chuckled. " Cute Japanese boys go for big bucks in China..."

Ash's stomach dropped and he felt like someone had just punched him in the gut. China? As in, Dino was flying him out to the international market?

" You wouldn't fucking dare." Ash growled.

" I already did... his flight for LA should be leaving any minute now..."

Ash knew that Dino wasn't kidding around to scare him after that. He knew that there were two ways Eiji would be taken to China. One, by escort on a commercial flight, or two, taken by Mr. Lee's private air fleet.

" You'll never get away with this. And once I have Eiji back, I'm going to kill you..." Ash threatened, his voice being deep and gravelly, almost demonic.

" Looking forward to it, my sweet..." Dino told him before hanging up.

" Shorter." Ash turned to him. " Detour to the Lee airfield!"

Shorter choked on air.

" Why?!" He asked while taking a rough left turn. And Ash's men drove after his car, knowing that either way, they had to keep up with him. Plans often changed when it came to gang shenanigans, and they'd learned to roll with the punches.

" Dino gave Eiji to him to sell in China." Ash said. " We need to hurry before they can take off!"

Shorter felt guilt weighing down his chest. The Chinese elders were posing a threat to Eiji? Ever being associated with them in the first place made him want to puke. How had he ever obeyed them?

He didn't have time to beat himself up right then, though. They quickly hit the main freeway toward the airfield, speeding the whole time. Ash was thankful that no cops were on their trail for going so fast, knowing that it must've been some cosmic sign. He and Eiji were meant to be together, and he was meant to save him that day. He couldn't help but be thankful that he knew where the airfield was, and he prayed that Eiji wasn't flying commercial, or they'd be completely screwed. But something in his gut told him... they were going the right way.

The sun was in the sky by the time they were close to the airfield. Just thinking about the possibility of losing Eiji like this... Ash felt hollow. He knew that what he had with Eiji was something that he'd never felt before, and he wouldn't give it up. He couldn't. Never before had he been allowed to love someone, to be with someone, to enjoy life. After tasting that sort of feeling with Eiji... he would be damned if he lost him.

There was a giant chain link fence that greeted them as they pulled up to the airfield. Signs that read NO TRESPASSING were all over, and Ash only saw them as an invitation as he hopped out of the car. He approached the fence and tapped it to make sure that it wasn't electrified, which it wasn't, and after that, he was totally reckless. The barbed wire at the top didn't slow him down much as he climbed up, only ripping one of his pant legs before getting to the other side.

" ASH!" Shorter yelled. " SLOW DOWN!"

God damn it. He was going to get himself killed acting like that. There was no telling how many henchmen there were in there.

The guys took longer to get over the fence than Ash did, but it didn't stop them. Shorter was one of the first ones to make it over and go running after him. And Ash wasn't slowing down for anyone, keeping his gun drawn as he saw planes stretched out on the open blacktop before them. There was a fair amount of them, and it was almost like a high stakes guessing game to figure out which one might've had people in it.

Ash saw a building in the distance, as well as a tarmac for planes to land, and he wondered if anyone might've been manning a control panel. He stopped, surrounded by planes that were spaced out in the wide open area.

" Shorter." He said after the other had caught up to him. " I'm going to start searching through the planes. You see if there's anyone at the control panel in that building over there. Smash their comm systems..." Ash clearly was all work and no play when he told him that, and Shorter only nodded before running off in that direction. He knew that he wouldn't be able to talk Ash out of doing anything crazy, and trying to would've only wasted time.

Ash figured that if a plane was set to be used, the steps would've been pulled down. That was just common sense. But it appeared to him that they were all down, and as he approached one slowly with his gun drawn, he smelled lemon and soap. Did they have a cleaning lady?

Creeping inside of one of the planes, Ash looked around and found that everything was spic and span. It was high class with mahogany furniture and leather seats, along with mini coolers filled with wine. There was even an expensive bed in the back of the plane.

Ash clicked his tongue, finding that the cockpit was empty. That was just wasting his time. He didn't know which plane might've had Eiji on it... and that meant he would have to check all of them.

This wasn't going to do him any favors when it came to time.

...

Eiji looked up at the ceiling of the tiny room that he'd been shut off into. There was a bed, and a tiny window that looked out onto the blacktop. The bathroom was small, right off the corner of the room. But it wasn't like he could do anything anyways. He was locked in.

Eiji didn't have on clothes that he was used to. It was actually cultural appropriation at its finest, which he didn't appreciate. They'd dressed him up in a red kimono, one made from silk and with a blossom pattern on it. Clearly... they were making him look nice for something. But it wasn't like Dino had told him where he was going. He'd only been handed over to the Lee's, and that was all he knew.

Did he even get to complain about any of this, though? Ash was alive... Dino had told him that before he'd left. Maybe that was the one decent thing that the old man had done in his wretched life, telling him the truth about him. If this had all been for Ash to die, Eiji would've never found any solace in it.

But he'd made a trade. He had to believe that Ash had found his letter, knew how he felt, and that was enough for him to sit there peacefully. He would resist if he was in danger... but that was about it.

He loved Ash with all of his heart... and as much as he was going to miss his family, probably never see them again, he had to believe that he'd done some good. Maybe if there was a god, or something like that... they'd seen his willingness to sacrifice and given Ash strength through the ordeal. Or maybe it was all just a stupid thought.

There were bodyguards that stood outside of the locked back room in the plane, making sure that Eiji couldn't make a break for it. Even the window was too tiny to crawl out of, so the only way to leave was through that door.

" To think that we would get such a sweet perk out of this deal..." Mr. Lee said, toasting champagne to one of his brothers, then another. They had decided to head to China anyways to witness the auction, as well as take care of business.

" I still wish we could've sold off Yut-Lung, too..." One of them remarked.

" Maybe in the future that will be an option..." Mr. Lee chuckled, drinking. It was the morning, so he'd at least mixed orange juice into his drink.

" I should probably write him out of my will before that, huh?" The other brother cackled.

" Oh shit, me too."

They were monsters of a different breed.

" Are we taking off soon?" Mr. Lee asked, turning around to the pilots, who had the door open.

Before they could answer, shots were heard in the distance. Mission control had been invaded.

{*hides in plain sight because I'm sick of fleeing the country*}