Tekken 4 Lei Prologue

[Lei Wulong]

Genre: Drama, and Angst


Warnings: References to drug use, depictions of mental illnesses, and some sexual innuendos.


Rating: T



Summary: Lei's live-in girlfriend breaks up with him in favor of his assistant, Zhang Chou-Su.  Along with her, Pai took their daughter away with her to move in with Lei's assistant.  To add further insult to injury, Lei gets put on unpaid suspension after his rival co-workers report to the superintendent that Lei botched his operation by 'allowing personal affairs' to affect his job performance.

Lei, suspended, broke, and is hanging onto the last bit of his sanity.  The only thing keeping him alive right now is his resolve and determination to win custody of his daughter.  Cheyenne and Zakk team up with Lei in order to help him get custody of his daughter, as well as try and convince him to seek counseling.

This was originally a short-one shot where Lei ends up in his "down-cycle" and has Cheyenne and Zakk try to help him through it.  However, I saw this had potential for a good short fic, so I made it a fic instead of just a one-shot.  Also, this is kind of a writing exercise as well.  How to write mental illnesses and how to write them in a way that is not "romanticized".  As someone who suffers from some of the illness that is currently plaguing Lei, it kind of hits close to home.  Probably why I gave him all these issues to begin with, because I have those issues, too.  But I come from a privileged family and Lei saw a bunch of people die.

But enjoy and keep an eye out for updates!  I'll get back to the Lei origin later.

[Lei Wulong]

Chapter 1.  Triggered.

Lei got done with work at around 7AM the next morning.  He had been working undercover, and been hiding out in a shack, as well as assuming a fake identity as well.  Thankfully, Lei could finally return home to see the love of his life and his daughter.  He's going to be off today so he could spend time with his family.  Lei returned to his home to witness Pai packing her stuff. It was 9 AM in the morning. He didn’t know what was going on or understood why Pai was packing everything.

“Good morning, love.” He greeted as he approached Pai from behind, wrapping his arms around her hips. He kisses the side of her neck and nuzzles it.

Pai wriggled herself free from Lei’s grasp, as Lei released his hold on her, taking a step back. Lei figured Pai probably isn’t in the mood today.

“Wulong, we need to talk. I have been trying to get in touch with you for the past three days now.” She said, packing more things in the boxes.

“Alright I'm here now. What do you need?”

“We’re through.”

Lei raised an eyebrow. “With what, sweetheart?”

“Don’t play dumb with me! Clearly, we're not working out! Six years, I have had to put up with your shit! I thought you know, maybe he'll change? Six years, and what happened? Absolutely nothing!” She points her finger at Lei, raising her voice as she aggressively approaches him, forcing Lei to back himself into a corner.

Lei couldn’t believe it! This can’t be happening. “What are you talking about?” He flashed a nervous smile.

“You’re always at work. You never answer your phone, you miss every holiday, you were in Thailand for Li-Mei’s birthday, and YOU ALWAYS MISS OUR ANNIVERSARY! Every year!” 

“Pai, I told you this before. I am undercover. I can’t just drop in all the time and see you. That’s why you need to speak to my assistant. Otherwise, the Syndicate would find out that I am a cop and kill us all.  We don't want that.  I've seen it happen before.  Trust me.”  He waved his hands in defense.

“You should have thought about that before you accepted the case.”

“There was nothing to think about. I thought you were fine.”

Pai let out a heavy exhale before dropping her arms in frustration.  “Well, now I am not. I’m done. Goodbye, Wulong!” 

“Wait! What about Li-Mei?”

“She’s going with me.”

“How do you think she’ll feel about that?”

“I already discussed this with her.”

“Wait, Pai! Listen, whatever you need me to do, we can talk about it!” He grabbed her hand. “Please… don’t go! Okay? Look, I’m going to be off the rest of the day… so… if you want us to… um… we can… go see a movie… and uh… maybe… uh… let Cheyenne watch Li-Mei.”

Pai yanked her hand free from Lei’s hand. “Don’t you touch me!”

Lei stepped back in defense. “But… Pai… I love you! Don’t go, please…”

Pai then groaned. “Why don’t you go to sleep?”

“I can’t… no…”

Li-Mei then appeared from her bedroom, running to Lei, hugging him. Lei held her tightly, not wanting to let his daughter go. He didn’t want this to be the last time he saw her.

“Li-Me, let’s go. C’mon!”

Lei lets go of Li-Mei, as Pai grabbed the toddler’s hand.

“Wait, we should ask her who she would rather stay with.”

“What does she know? She’s just a child, Wulong!”

Li-Mei looked up at Lei, her eyes full of water as tears began forming in her eyes. “I wanna stay with you, Baba!”

“There! The girl said it, she wants to stay with me.”

“You never have time for her… No more dawdling around, Li-Mei, let’s go!”

Lei watched as his daughter and girlfriend were both gone before his very eyes. He checked to see that Li-Mei’s belongings were all gone, as if she never existed. Lei wasn’t sure what to do now. He decided to go to bed after working all night. He was tired and he really didn’t have time to sort through his feelings. He needed to sleep for a bit and forget that this even happened.

As hard as Lei tried, he couldn’t sleep. Lei kept thinking of Pai. He remembers the night they first met and the date that they went on right after. He remembers his daughter’s birth. He remembers when Pai first moved in. Lei was going to marry that woman. He already had picked out their new home, as well as her wedding ring. It was a nice private condo on the beach.  Pai has always wanted to live near water and the woman would go swimming as a hobby.  In fact, that was one of their dates.  Pai invited Lei to go out to the pool with her, and the two went swimming.  Li-Mei hasn't quite learned how to swim yet, but Lei predicts that she's going to be a very good swimmer.  After all, she has two athletically talented parents.

He laid there, staring at the white ceiling, wondering where he went wrong. He then wondered if he was ever going to see Li-Mei again.

-------------------------------------------------------
“Uncle Wulong! Are you okay?”

Lei’s niece came home from school later that day and knew that something was off, judging by how Lei behaved, and how he wasn’t his usual jovial self. He’s… brooding. Lei had been on the couch, watching a movie, wearing nothing but his boxers and his tank top. 

“I’m fine.” Lei said.

“No, you’re not! Something isn’t right!” Cheyenne said.

She tried to piece together what had happened. She remembered the last time Lei was like this, his partner, Bryan Fury, had died.  Did someone die? However, the apartment was unusually… quiet.

“Where’s Pai and Li-Mei?”

“Gone. Just like the rest of them.”

Cheyenne gasped automatically assuming the worst.  She immediately dropped her bookbag. “Who did this? Was it the Sun Yee On? The 14K?”

“Oh no, they’re still alive.” Lei chuckled. “Pai just left me and took Li-Mei with her. Just my luck, isn’t it? Hahah! I was finally going to have a family. But as you know, I’m just not meant to be happy, aren’t I?”

Cheyenne didn't know exactly what to do about this.  The best she could do is figure out what happened. “Uncle Wulong! What the hell? She left you?! She didn’t say anything to me!”

“Of course she didn’t. Pai was never really fond of you.”

“Well, good riddance! Looks like the trash took itself out.”  Truth be told, Cheyenne didn't really like Pai too much.  

Lei huffed. “That’s one way to look at it.”

“Look, Uncle Wulong, you need to get out and do something fun.”

“I can’t. It will compromise my cover.”

“Oh yeah… Look, things are going to get better. Okay? Listen… Uncle Wulong! Trust me… just hang in there, alright!”

Cheyenne did worry about her uncle at times. But what could she do? He’s grown, he’s gonna do what he wants to do no matter what.

“Well, I guess I’ll just go to work, and see what I can do now.” Lei stood up. “That’s all I’ve got left.”

“But aren’t you off, today?”

“Don’t need to be.” Lei said. “Crime never sleeps.”

------------------------------------------

“I need to see Detective Lei in my office, ASAP!”

Lei made his way to the superintendent’s office, sitting down in his chair as he groaned. Lei had one bandage over his cheek, and another one over the bridge of his nose.  Lei had suffered a few minor injuries after failing to capture a Syndicate agent. Lei went in and tried to get him arrested. However, his cover was blown, and Lei had to be sent back to the precinct immediately. He found himself somewhat apathetic to the whole thing. He was pissed that he didn’t get to catch the criminal, but other than that, he felt nothing. He was emotionally numb to the whole thing. 

“Is everything okay at home?” Superintendent Tung asked Lei.

“Yes. It’s fine. Everything’s good.” Lei smiled.

“Are you sure? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Lei didn’t understand why his superior was asking about his personal life. There is nothing to talk about. Absolutely nothing.

“Well, I’ve heard that you’ve had some… ‘personal affairs’ that’s been affecting your mission. What exactly is it?”

“Personal affairs? Really? Who told you this?” Lei stood up from his chair.

“So, there really is something going on in your personal life outside of your investigation.”

Lei sighed. “Just answer me! Who told you about this?”

It had to be his assistant. He’s the only person in the whole precinct who knows about Pai as Lei never really connected with his coworkers that well. He did have a few that he bonded with, but he never mentions his life outside of work. It made him look kind of like a bad-ass in a way and the rookies often looked up to him. Looks like he’ll have to do some investigating of his own.

“That's not important. What’s important is that you should handle your business before jumping in and making reckless decisions. I’ve read your files, Lei. You’re a very emotionally-driven man.”

“Only because I’m passionate about this job!”

“Not according to your latest psych evaluation.”

Lei watched as his superior opened a file.

“It says here, ‘Although Detective Lei has shown exemplary performance in his investigation, he has been shown to be emotionally-driven. This both helps and hinders his performance. While he is able to separate his personal life with his professional life, he is very prone to jumping into dangerous situations without even thinking. He was diagnosed with severe form of PTSD at the age of 18 as a cadet due to the sudden loss of both of his parents at a young age. He is able to manage his symptoms very well without any known treatments, but occasionally, he may end up suffering from its effects and bury himself into police work as a way of relieving these symptoms.’ Look, I know people make mistakes and nobody’s perfect. But knowing that the incident at the docks could have been avoided had you gotten the proper treatment is something that concerns me. What if you end up with another PTSD episode and you end up doing something careless and getting more people hurt than you were trying to help? What if maybe the next time you do this, you’re the one who gets hurt?”

“Would you rather I dope myself up on Zoloft and Prozac?” Lei asked. “I refuse to let my mind get poisoned by drugs!  That makes me no different from the addicts that we put behind bars!”

“Lei, I’m not going to ask you this one more time. What’s going on with you in your personal life? Did something trigger an episode?”

“As I have told you, there is nothing to worry about. Look, I’ll make it up to you, okay? There’s another way to shut down the Syndicate. Alright? We got to think big! Resources, you know? Like we can rely on an informant. What about Stacy Wu? The owner of The Pearl Club? I hear that she has a secret VIP room, and usually different Triad bosses attend that room. What if maybe I convince her to give me intel on the men that go in the rooms with her?”

Superintendent Tung did not like Lei’s answer. He wondered if talking about the problem triggers his PTSD. Perhaps this is why Lei is avoiding the topic entirely.

“Lei, I think the best course of action is to put you on a one-month suspension. That should give you plenty of time to sort out your issues and think about your actions.”

“Excuse me! Were you even listening to me?” Lei raised his voice. “I said that we’ve still got resources and informants! The game isn’t over yet! We can still stop them!”

“At the cost of your sanity, no. It’s not worth it. As I said, this is a direct order. Effective immediately, you are to be put on a one-month unpaid suspension from active duty. So, I need your badge and your gun.”

Lei groaned. He couldn’t believe that this was happening. He did as told and reluctantly handed his superior his badge and gun. This was going to be a long month.

--------------------------------------

Lei returned home that evening at around 2AM, even more broken and depressed than he was earlier. Now that he’s not out doing police work, and his girlfriend and daughter are both gone, he literally had nothing left.

“Uncle Wulong what happened?”

Lei was startled by his niece’s high-pitched shrill. He didn’t realize that she was even awake at this hour. She has school in the morning. “It’s over.”

This concerned Cheyenne. She wasn’t sure what was wrong. “What’s over?”

“My life.”

“Listen to me, Uncle Wulong, you’re not gonna’ let some tramp walk all over you and steal your child from you like that!” She places both hands on her hips, pointing at Lei. “You’re better than that! You’re the Super Cop for crying out loud!”

“This has nothing to do with Pai or Li-Mei. My career is ruined.”

“What? Did you get fired?”

“I got suspended for a month because of a bullshit reason!”

Cheyenne was glad now. Lei was fighting back now. “What’s bullshit?”

“Boss suspended me because I ‘let personal affairs affect my job performance’. That’s bullshit! Yes, I lost my daughter and the love of my life! So what? That’s never stopped me from doing my job! Besides, I need to find out who the hell snitched on me like that!”  Lei pops his knuckles as if he was getting ready for a fight.

“Ooh, someone told your boss about Pai?”

Lei nods. “Honestly, they had to. Either that, or someone who knows me personally who is really honestly worried about my current mental state. Look, I’m a psychologist. I know, psychologically, I’m fucked up. Alright? But I’m a functioning human being who’s damn good at his job, yes? Well, at least I was until… Chou-Su!” Lei held up his index finger as if he had an epiphany.

“What? Chou-Su?”

“Yes. My assistant. He’s been in charge of forwarding messages to me from Pai. Whenever I’m deep undercover and Pai wants to talk to me, I can’t answer her directly, so my assistant basically kind of act like… a messenger. So anyway, he wants to become a detective like me, eventually, and being my assistant is kind of like his stepping-stone. Do you follow?”

“You’re getting paranoid again.”

Lei smirked. “Oh you know exactly what I’m implying!”

“You think he set you up?”

“Oh no, not just that! I think he stole Pai from me!” He smiled. “If I can somehow find proof that Pai has been cheating on me while we were still together, I’ll get my daughter back!”

Of course, it seems like police work is the only thing that is literally keeping him alive at this point. Not just a few moments earlier, Cheyenne wondered if Lei had been contemplating suicide. Now, Lei’s super hyper and excited.  Lei mentioned that he was psychologically fucked up.  Is he bipolar? Cheyenne wondered. 

“I’m going to need your help and Wanrei’s help. Wanrei can help me confirm this rumor.” He smiled. “And you… um… what can you do to help me in this case?”

Cheyenne shrugged. “I guess… I could pretend to be a cop?”

Lei shook his head. “That’s illegal. Hmm… honestly, I don’t know how you can help me.” He places his hand under his chin, closing his eyes as he thought to himself. “You’re good with computers, yes? What if maybe you can possibly search her call history and see if there’s a way you can tell that she and Chou-Su were seeing each other.”

“That’s illegal, too!”

“Actually, no it isn’t. We’re conducting an infidelity investigation here. If we play our cards right, she can easily get charged for kidnapping.”

“But why?”

“She just left and took Li-Mei. She clearly didn’t want to go with her. Besides I did wonder where Pai was going, since she has no job. Unless she got a job and I didn’t know about it.”

“Pai’s still an unemployed thot.”

Lei tilted his head in confusion. “Thot?”

“Forget I said anything.”

“Alright now, so the first step of an investigation is of course… collect some evidence. So, the only evidence we have here is my witness report.” Lei muttered. “What I know is that Pai talks to Chou-Su. And that Chou-Su is the only person who knows about Pai. My theory is that he knew Pai left me. He knows because either Pai was trying to tell me this, three days ago, or he and Pai were secretly having an affair behind my back. He’s the one that told Superintendent Tung about this.”

“What did your boss say that made you think that?”

“He brought up my psych evaluation from a few months ago. He was pointing at the fact that I have PTSD and it manifests itself occasionally, so I distract myself with police work. However, he also pointed out that with this distraction, I tend to be pretty sloppy at my job.”

“And what does lose your girlfriend have to do with PTSD?” Cheyenne really wondered.  This is the first time her uncle admits having issues. 

“Chou-Su probably didn’t give him any details. Here’s how the scenario more than likely played out: I botch my undercover operation and blow my cover. Thankfully, nobody discovered my identity, so we’re all safe here. Anyway, after Chou-Su and Pai…” Lei couldn’t finish his thoughts as he felt betrayed and hurt just thinking about the two of them together. As much talk that Lei does, he’s still hurt and just a depressed old man who lost the love of his life to someone better.

“Did the do!” Cheyenne finished Lei’s thought.

That didn’t help much. Lei was still silent. “I loved her, damnit! Was my love not enough for her! For my Ancestor’s sake, we had a child together! Pai and I were going to get married and live on the beach together… I was going to ask her if we could have another child! Give Li-Mei a little brother or sister to play with! Was I not good enough!”

Perhaps putting Lei on suspension was a good idea. Superintendent Tung made the right call. If mentioning his ex-girlfriend having sex with someone else makes him break down, then yes… he needed to be brought off the case. But a whole month though, that’s a bit excessive. “Um… well…”

“Now, I’m stuck here, unemployed and broke…”

“About to lose your child if you don’t focus and concentrate on the investigation!”

“…Li-Mei loves me! She cried when Pai took her away! It broke my heart, just seeing her cry like that!”

“Whoah!” Cheyenne was dumbfounded.

“I don’t want that to be my last memory of her!”

The young student then reached out to hug Lei, rocking him as she let him mourn. That was pretty sad. Breaking up with the love of your life isn’t easy. Especially when kids are involved. To add salt in the wound, he sees his own daughter cry as she leaves. Things just got even more personal.

Eventually, Lei regained his composure after a few minutes. “I’m sorry. Where were we?”

“You were saying something along the lines of Chou-Su reporting to your boss.”

“Ahh, yes! What if Chou-Su sabotaged me? What if he did it just to spite me? Like… yes, he took my girl, and my daughter, and now he has to mess with my career? He’s literally spitting on my grave at this point! When will it end?”

Lei then paused, looking up at the sky. “Ancestors!  Hear my plea!  Grant me the strength to help me end my suffering!  Please...”  He pats at his chest.

Cheyenne then lead Lei to his bedroom. “Okay, okay, Uncle, we’ll do this tomorrow, okay? Go get some sleep, alright! Sleep, now!”

[Lei Wulong]

Chapter 2. Hopelessness.

The very next day, after trying to convince Lei to go to sleep, Cheyenne decided to skip school. Well, she explained to her teachers that she needed to watch over her potentially suicidal uncle just to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. They were fine with her skipping school for now. Cheyenne woke up to the sound of sniveling coming from Lei’s room. She eventually heard what sounded like glass breaking.

“Uncle Wulong! I’m coming in!”

She opened the door to find Lei lying on his bed, face down on his forearm. He wore his black long-sleeve and his matching pants. He was crying. Then, Cheyenne took note of the broken picture on the floor, just next to the bed. She walks over, and sees that it was a picture of Lei holding Pai in the air. The glass was broken and shard of it was on the floor. It really hurt Cheyenne seeing her uncle like this.

Something had to be done. Cheyenne was going to help Lei get his daughter back. He needed this win. She closes the door behind her as Cheyenne waited.

Zakk, her cousin, arrived not too long after. He takes a seat at the dinning chair as Cheyenne joined him.

“How’s Pops doing?”

Cheyenne looked away for a moment.

“So the rumors are true!”

“Rumors?”

“At the precinct, I heard that Pai broke up with Pops in order to be with Officer Zhang. He was so depressed that he messed up and got suspended. Sad to see, the rumors are true.”

“Uncle Wulong was right!”

“Wait? He didn’t know this?” 

“Cousin Wanrei, you see, he thinks he was set up.”

“Set up?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know if that’s true, but I need your help.”

“With what?”

“Uncle Wulong is depressed. And it’s scaring me. We need to help him get Li-Mei back.”

“Hold on… Pai took Li-Mei? That’s surprising! Like I always thought she’d be the one to leave Li-Mei behind. Wow.”

“Yes, I know, but we need to help him! I don’t want him to kill himself over some thot! We need to find proof that Pai was cheating on him. Show it to the court, and Li-Mei is his.”

Zakk adopted a thinking posture. “Well, it’s kind of obvious that they've been seeing each other for awhile. I was hoping Pops would realize it himself and end the relationship. But he literally stopped paying attention to Pai. Personally, I don’t blame Pai for her actions. But she could have just broken up with him before instead of just dragging it out as long as she did.”

“Ahah! Do you think Chou-Su reported to the Superintendent?”

Zakk shrugged. “What could he gain?”

“He’s probably just being paranoid.”

“I’ll personally look into it. I suppose I could stop by the Kowloon branch and see if I can participate in some office gossip.”

“That works.”

The two turned their heads at the sound of a creaking door opening. Lei emerged, still dressed up in his black clothes from yesterday. He didn’t make eye contact with the two as he walked past. He was zoned out like a zombie. Just drifting by, not paying any attention.

“Pops!” Zakk shouted snapping Lei back into reality.

“Oh, Wanrei! Good morning. What brings you here to my humble abode today?” He smiled as he made his way to the kitchen to prepare himself some coffee. “Oh, and Cheyenne, shouldn’t you be in school?”

“Well, I wanted to check on you and see how you were holding up.” Zakk stated.

“I took a personal day.” Cheyenne replied.

“I see.” He crossed his arms. “I take it Cheyenne told you everything.”

“Actually, no… my coworkers were just talking about it.”

“W-what?” Lei threw his coffee mug on the floor as he spun around. “Central knows about this!” He hissed.

“Yeah…”

Lei placed his hand in his face, laughing quite loudly. He always had such a twisted sense of humor. “Wow. So the whole world knows what a joke I am! This is just like that time with Maya and I was on suspension for two months and everyone was just talking about it!”

“Maya?” Cheyenne has never heard of that name before until now.

Zakk was familiar with that name but never knew how this was relevant.

“Oh, just another woman that I planned to marry years ago… _{didn’t turn out to well.}” Lei whispered the last part.

Zakk rushed to the kitchen to lead Lei to the couch, trying to get him away from the sharp objects that he might use in the kitchen. “Listen, to me, you’re not well. You need help.”

“I just need to go back to work.”

Zakk shook his head. “No, you don’t. You’re suspended. Take this opportunity to heal. I know you really loved Pai. There’s other women out there. Alright? You moved on from Maya. You can recover from Pai.”

“I need to get Li-Mei back.”

“I honestly don’t see you as fit to take care of your daughter right now.”

“Oh yeah! I think Pai was cheating on me! I think I have a solid case here! As far as I know, I believe Chou-Su is responsible for putting me in this mess.” Lei was suddenly lucid right now.

“Yes, Pai is living with Chou-Su now. I’m going down to the station myself to see if there is any more gossip.”

“Yes. We need proof. Otherwise it’s a shot in the dark. In the meantime, I need to find another hobby.”

“What do you mean?”

“My mind. Keeps going back to that 'dark place'. I need to do something to keep me from going under!”

“Dark place?”

Cheyenne was intrigued.

“Alright story time, kids. When I was a cadet, I came across my first dead body. The victim shot himself in the head. And I was plagued by nightmares and immediately remembered something that I wanted to forget. I was diagnosed with a severe form of PTSD due to not being able to heal from my parents' sudden passing. Accompanied by it is depression, anxiety, and hypersensitivity. It comes and goes. So occasionally, it resurfaces. And in this case, it reared its ugly head. Pai breaking up with me triggered a PTSD episode.”

“What? Hold on? How did that trigger it?”

“My depression and anxiety resurfaced. It probably wasn’t PTSD. But the feeling of loss brought me back to when Maya died. That took me years to get over. Pai is still alive and so is Li-Mei. I just need to focus on finding out about Pai's infidelity.”

Cheyenne gasped a little as Zakk nods. “Well, I think that can be done. She did spend a lot of time with Chou-Su. Maybe I can talk to him about it. Unless Pai told him that I exist.”

“That can be a problem. Nobody really knows that we're related.”

“And then maybe I talk to Pai!”

“Yeah. You could try that, Cheyenne. I guess in the meantime, I will just go do some training. That keeps my mind focused.”

“Sounds good.”

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone like this. What if you kill yourself?”

“While I border on hopelessness and suicidal idealization, my will is much stronger than this.” Lei jumps up. “Get going you two! Do this for Li-Mei!”

-------------------------------

Zakk arrived at the Kowloon station. He was dressed in his uniform and wandered around the precinct. He was hoping to get some gossip and find information on Pai. Luckily for him, Chou-Su was on lunch break with a few co-workers. Zakk takes a seat at the table, secretly recording what they’re saying.

“I looked up to the guy. I did, so I tried to restrain myself. But Pai is a fine young woman. And she was in an unhappy relationship. I simply helped her out.”

“He’s suspended now. He probably won’t be the Super Cop anymore.” One detective said.

“He’s always getting all the high profile cases and being seen on TV! Hell, he became a spokesperson for Sony! He even appeared as an extra in Police Story: Lockdown!”

Zakk's blood boiled.

“And you, you’re new here. Who are you?” The detective who complained about Lei getting attention took notice of Zakk.

“I’m Detective Dauterive. I'm from Central Hong-Kong. I heard rumors that Lei got suspended. I wasn’t sure if the rumors were true. I had to come down here and see for myself.” He kept his head down, with his cap obscuring his eyes, hoping those men didn't recognize him.

“You look familiar.” Chou-Su said to Zakk.

“I have been here a couple of times.” He said, smiling.

“Hm? Is that so?”

Two detectives squinted their eyes but one of them stared intensely at Zakk. He wondered if that detective recognizes him.

“You’re from Victoria, huh?”

“Yes. I am. Had a Chinese mom, and a French father.”

“I see, Detective Dauterive. But yes, Det. Lei got too emotional. So, me, seeing Hong-Kong's best interests, figured that I tell the Superintendent about this. Plus the guy needs to take a back seat and let us get a chance to shine. Do you sometimes feel inadequate compared to Lei?”

Honestly, yes. Zakk does, but it’s no excuse to go in and ruin Lei's career over this. “Well, the guy’s a bit of a legend.”

“Must be upsetting to you.”

“It is…”

“You know, a few years ago, Lei trained this half-breed kid from Central. And I think he became a cop, too under Lei's guidance. Know anything about him?”

“Yeah. That guy is actually his son.”

“Really now?”

Zakk’s nods as he stands up. He then walks over to close the break room door. He couldn’t believe that Lei was right. Zakk thought he was overly paranoid. But no, they did intentionally get his dad suspended. A personal attack on Lei is a personal attack on him.

“Det. Dauterive, what the hell are you doing?”

“It’s Det. Lei to you! Sorry for deceiving you, earlier.” He pops his knuckles. “I’m Detective Zachary Lei Wanrei. Son of Detective Lei Wulong. I came here of my own accord. Pops didn’t send me here… but my oh my! An attack on my family is an attack on me!”

He beckons for one detective to attack.

“Alright! Let’s see what Super Cop Junior can do!”

One detective, the one responsible for everything charged at Zakk to do an attack. Zakk catches the man's arm, kneeing him in the gut before sending him to the ground.

Another detective tried to do a jumping kick, but Zakk simply ducked and weaved out of the way and the detective collided with the ringleader.

The two men got up, both attacking Zakk as he blocked their punches and kicks. He then does a roundhouse followed by a sweep kick. Zakk’s turned around and finds himself in Snake Stance and inflicts a powerful strike to his opponent.

Zakk regained his composure and pointed at Chou-Su.

“You’re not innocent! You’re just as guilty for associating with these clowns! Pops trusted you, but you betrayed him! And you betrayed me! And the whole family! Li-Mei is gone because of you!”

“He shouldn’t have played games with that woman.”

“Doesn’t matter! I'll kick your ass!”

Zakk’s ran over and knocked over the table. Just as he was about to hit Chou-Su, the precinct came in, holding Zakk back. It took three men to hold him down.

“You won’t get away with this!”

-------------------------------------------

Zakk returned to Lei's apartment to find Lei in his cooking apron and a pair of scissors, trimming away at a tiny tree. Lei appeared to have picked up a new hobby that occupies his mind. He was working on making a Penjing tree.

“So, any luck.” Lei asked, not making eye contact with his son.

“Well, it turns out that Chou-Su was working with two other detectives who hated you. And they staged the entire thing.”

“Good! So, does this mean that I get my job back?”

“About that… I uh got suspended for a month, too.”

Lei groaned. “Damnit, you, too?”

“Well, I kinda got into a fight with Detective Lau and Detective Yi.”

“Those were the masterminds behind this?”

Zakk nods.

Lei put the clippers down as he sighed. He pinches the bridge of his injured nose.

“Detective Lau and I used to be partners. We were friends. But then, his sister got killed and I wasn’t able to save her. He has a grudge on me for failing to save his sister. Had I answered her phone call and gotten to her sooner, she still would be alive…”

Zakk shook his head. “Look it wasn’t your fault? Okay?”

“As for Detective Yi, he’s a greedy man. I suspect that he's a corrupt cop. However, just when I was about to link the evidence of his misdeeds, Yi went into my case files and stole all the evidence. He's been obsessed with getting promoted and sees me as an obstacle. So it makes sense that those two would damage my career like this. I never considered that possibility.” Lei just stared at the tree, refusing to make eye contact with his son.

“What of Chou-Su? Did he have a personal vendetta you?”

“Not to my knowledge. He was always helpful and a great ally. I suppose Pai corrupted him and made him see me in a bad light. I suppose that Lau and Yi both sought him out and maybe coaxed him into stealing Pai. Or maybe he just told them about Pai. But either way, my life is totally ruined. Lau and Yi both succeeded in their revenge.”

“Look, Pops, this suspension is only temporary! When you get back, you'll be stronger than ever!”

“Doubtful. With a mark like this on my record, expect me to get demoted when I return. You jumping in there and kicking asses and taking names didn’t help either!” Lei soon pointed his finger at his son, making eye-contact and lecturing him. “You have brought dishonor to the ancestors! What the hell were you thinking? And now Father is rolling around in his grave, ashamed of his descendants!”

“Pops, like I said, we can fix this.”

“This ain’t no Etch-a-Sketch. This is one doodle that can’t be undid, home skillet.”

And Lei is quoting movies again to make his point.  This is good.  That means that Lei's focus is not on himself.

“You’re Hong-Kong’s no. 1 Detective. You can fix this somehow!”

“And what about Li-Mei? If I can at least get custody of her, my life won’t be completely ruined.”

“There you go. Focus on that.”

“Did you at least get proof that Pai cheated on me?”

Zakk nods. “I did.”

“Good, at least we have that case set.” Lei then got back to trimming the tree. “Anything to keep me from contemplating suicide.” He gave Zakk a smile as if this was a joke.

Zakk tilted his head in confusion. He was a bit worried. No matter, he honestly still needed to see a counselor or a therapist. The last thing Zakk needs is to find his own father's corpse. And what will he tell Li-Mei? Her Baba’s never coming back because he took his own life?  That girl would really be worse off than her father is. 

Zakk knows his grandparents both tragically died when Lei was only four. He has asked Lei about it, but he always avoids the topic entirely. The only information he could get out of him is, “they died a long time ago.”  And he admitted that his PTSD is rooted from his parents' deaths. Maybe Lei saw his parents die. Either way, this was a personal investigation that Zakk will have to figure out. Knowing this might help Lei regain his sanity. They were both suspended for a month together. That’s plenty of time to figure this out. His only lead is Lei's estranged brother, Cheyenne's douche-bag grandpa. Apparently he’s rich. He can probably get some info from him.

“Where’s Cheyenne?” Zakk finally asked surprised that she would leave Lei alone.

“After literally convincing her that I am not going to kill myself, I sent her back to school.”

“It’s an honest concern.”

“Well, I am a little concerned that you might explode one day due to the anger and resentment you had against your peers stored up inside you for all these years. You don’t see me babysitting you. How is this any different?”

“Well, for starters, I actually do go see a counselor. I do go to anger management. And I forgave you for being such a shitty father. That actually helps me a lot. You, on the other hand, don’t do shit! You pretend like everything is okay! But you know deep down, it’s not!”

Lei didn’t respond to Zakk. He continued to trim the tree. “Would you look at that! Now it’s starting to take shape! Take a look, Wanrei!”

And of course, Lei is dodging the question.

“Fine. You don’t want to talk. Sure. Be that way. I’m out of here. Don’t kill yourself when I get back! I mean it!”

Once Zakk left, Lei sighed as he looked at the tree. He puts the scissors down and sits down at the table, placing his hands in his face.

“Ugh, what am I supposed to do with this?” Lei groaned. “Why does everyone want to talk about it? Can’t people just leave me alone and let me get on with my life? Why are people just so damn intrusive. Why should I talk about something that makes me ill? Why can’t we just sweep it under the rug. I'm not weak! I’m strong!”

Lei then continued to trim the tree.  "This was always your favorite hobby, wasn't it, Mother?  It kept you busy, didn't it?  I'm sorry it couldn't save you from yourself.  Maybe it could save me from myself."  He smiled.

[Lei Wulong]

Chapter 3. Breakthrough

Zakk later found himself at the psychiatrist at the police station who does periodic psychological analysis on the detectives often after a stressful event. He wondered if he could get access to Lei’s file.

“Good evening Detective Lei Wanrei. How can I assist you?” the young lady says as she straightens her glasses.

“I need to see my Father’s files.”

“Okay. Well, you don’t have proper clearance for that.”

“Of course!” Zakk shouted. “He really wanted to keep this a secret!”

“Is something the matter?” The psychiatrist asks in concern. “Is Detective Lei Wulong okay?”

Zakk’s shook his head. “Pai broke it off, and now… he's been… agitated? I can’t really tell exactly what the correct term is. He's like… clearly agitated.”

The woman nods. “I see. So that’s why you want his files.”

“Yes! Now will you give them to me?”

“No. I swore an oath of patient confidentiality. However, I can tell you, as his emergency contact that he suffers from an untreated severe form of PTSD. Judging by your urgency it seems that it might have gotten worse.”

“Okay… I already know that much.”

“I feel like if you can somehow convince him to seek treatment, he should be better.”

“Do you think he’s a danger to himself?”

“He’s extremely perceptive and self-aware. I honestly don’t think he’s going to harm himself. He’s fully aware that it’s just the depression talking, and he honestly doesn’t feel that way. He’s a lot smarter than one gives him credit for. It’s possibly due to his strong background in psychology. He understands why he is the way he is. He’s a product of both his environment and possibly inheriting his mental illness from both his mother and father.”

“Mental illness from his parents? Do you know anything about his parents?”

“What do you know?”

“They both died back when Pops was only four. I think the Triads murdered them both?”

“That’s it? Wow…”

“You’re surprised? Why?”

“It’s common knowledge here. Detective Lei Zhaolong was killed by an agent of the Triads. He was about to put Big Chin Mao behind bars, but he was killed off-duty at a movie theater. You probably know that much. However, his wife committed suicide the very next day. She couldn’t bear to be without her husband.”

Zakk didn’t know this. It was a shock. It all makes sense now.

“Detective Lei Wulong eventually apprehended Big Chin Mao and shut down that Triad faction sixteen years later. Unfortunately, it resulted in the death of Big Chin Mao. It must have been rough to be face-to-face with your father’s own killer. Especially killing him with your own hands.”

“Can I get police reports on those, please? I think this would help me understand him.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll fax them to your house.”

“Thanks Dr. Lin.”

“You’re welcome. I wish you luck in your endeavor.”
------------------------

“Wulong! Go away! Stop it!”

“But Pai… I’ll take you back… I’ll give you anything!”

Pai was at Chou-Su’s apartment, dealing with her drunken ex. Lei had somehow managed to find Chou-Su’s address, and now he decided to show up at the apartment, drunk. And in front of Li-Mei. His cheeks were red as his eyes were bloodshot.

“You’re drunk, go home!”

“But I wanna be with you…” He staggered, swaying as his movements were not well-choreographed.

“Wulong, I told you, we’re finished! Why don’t you go away before I call the cops!”

Lei chuckled. “I am a cop. Heheh, what’s the problem, madame?”

“This is why Li-Mei can’t hang out with you! You’re such a bad influence on our daughter!”

Lei then reached his hand into his pocket, getting down on one knee, holding up a silver banded ring that had a large diamond on it surrounded by three smaller diamonds on each side.

“Tang Pai, the one true love of my life, will you marry me? Don’t you see, I promise, I’ll live my life for you! I’ll quit my job! I’ll have sex with you every day!”

Pai shook her head. “No! No! I told you! We’re finished! You should have asked to marry me a long time ago! I thought after carrying your child, you’d get the picture. No!” She takes the ring and throws it on the ground. “I am not going to marry you!”

Lei picks up the ring, falling on his knees as he bowed. “But I loved you!”

“Well, I love someone else! At least Chou-Su was there for me. He went to Li-Mei’s birthday party while you were out working. Remember that vacation I went on without you and Li-Mei? The one I wanted us to go on together? I went with Chou-Su. He’s been my rock. He’s been there for me more, and he’s nicer… you should take notes from him. He’s the man that I plan to marry. You were too busy working to even notice! Chou-Su and I have been seeing each other for almost a year now, and I can’t believe you didn’t even notice!” She sighed. “If it helps you get closure… just know, I loved you before. I did. But… you suddenly changed into a man that I could no longer love.”

Lei briefly looked up at Pai, tears forming in his eyes. “I wanted us to start our lives together! A new family… but… I… it…”

“Lei Wulong, I don’t love you anymore! That’s it!”

“...I love you? That counts?”

“No, it doesn’t. Please if you really love me, can you at least give me the courtesy to let me be happy with my new lover? Listen, just let that love inside you, channel it to let me go. Let me be happy. Okay?”

Even in his drunken bewildered state, Lei understood what had to be done. He stands up to his full height, turning around.

“Look, I’m sure you’ll find someone. Okay? You’ll find another girl who doesn’t mind you going missing for a few days and working all the time. This relationship just wasn’t for me. It was my fault. I wasted your time, too. I should have dumped you, but I didn’t because… I was financially dependent on you. I think you should date a woman who doesn’t depend on you financially. That way, you know she wants to be with you for you. Not so she has a place to stay.”

Lei simply staggered away. He could only manage a simple, “thank you” to Pai.

Li-Mei eventually arrived once more. “Why don’t you love Baba?”

“Sometimes, people fall out of love. It happens.” She held the little girl tightly.

“Will you and Baba ever stop loving me?”

“No, my child. A parent’s love is permanent.”
--------------------

Cheyenne was crying at the table at the apartment as Zakk arrived. He immediately runs to hug her. He hoped he wasn’t too late.

“Where is he?” Zakk asked Cheyenne hesitantly. He really didn’t want to see his father’s corpse.

“I don’t know! He left a note saying he went to go take care of some stuff!”

Zakk sighed with relief.

“I tried calling him, but he won’t answer his phone!”

“I don’t think he killed himself, Cousin Cheyenne.” Zakk then points at the discarded bottle of scotch on the floor. “He’s probably too drunk to think about hurting himself. I think maybe he went to go see Pai.”

“What? But how would he know where Pai is?”

“Pops is very good at finding information. He probably looked up Chou-Su’s address. I honestly don’t know where he is, but… we should_”

Cheyenne’s phone rang as she quickly answered it. “Hello? This is she? Oh… is he okay? Okay… we’ll be there… my Cousin and I… bye thanks.”

“What was that?”

“It was Chou-Su. He found Uncle Wulong passed out, drunk in an alleyway near his home.”

“Of course…” Zakk muttered.

“We better go get him!”

The two arrived as Chou-Su was next to the unconscious Lei. He was lying face-down on the concrete pavement. Zakk flipped him over, checking his vitals and examining for any injuries. He’s still breathing, just passed out and drunk.

Cheyenne paced back and forth frantically, worried about what had happened.

“Look, I was on my way home, when I saw him, passed out in the streets. What if he wasn’t suspended? You see here? He’s not focused on the job!”

“Shut up!” Zakk barked. “Now is not the time for this! This is a medical emergency, and you’re just trying to justify your actions, trying to be ‘holier’ than thou? Guess what, your blood is on your hands, too! If you weren’t messing around with Pai, and if you didn’t report him, Pops wouldn’t have had to drink himself into a stupor! You’re an asshole!”

“Wanrei, he’s innocent. It has nothing to do with him.”

Zakk turned his head to see that Lei was fully conscious. “Pops?”

“Hahah… I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this happy before.” He was slurred and drunk. “Xianlong was right. Pai’s just a thot. All she wanted me was for my money. She never loved me.”

“What?” Zakk asked.

“Well, she didn’t have a job and needed to take care of Li-Mei. I helped her out.” Chou-Su said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

Lei chuckled. “You know, I never realized that Pai was the problem! Not me! In fact, I’m getting my daughter back! And there’s nothing anyone can do about it!”

He let out a long belch before closing his eyes. “So tired right now… can I go home now? Wanrei?” Lei smiled. “You remind me of your mother. I remember, she would always let me rest in her lap whenever I was sleepy. She was so warm…”

Zakk didn’t know what to say about that.

“Like Pai, I kinda fell out of love with her. She changed. But at least I didn’t screw my wife’s co-worker behind her back.”

Chou-Su had left the scene as Zakk and Cheyenne helped Lei to his feet, leading him to Zakk’s car.

Lei was back at his apartment, passed out and asleep on the couch. Zakk and Cheyenne were now discussing Zakk’s findings with Lei's parents. The two read through the files as Zakk took the pictures away as his cousin didn’t want to see the graphic nature of the photos.

“So, Great Grandma killed herself.”

Zakk nods. “Depression is hereditary. It’s very likely that Grandma struggled with depression all her life and after losing her husband, she couldn’t take it anymore.”

“That’s so sad.”

“Grandpa survived the Rape of Nanking during World War II. I think he may have had PTSD, too.”

“Looks like it.”

“It’s just sad. Pops had such a sad life. It’s no wonder he's always so bright and optimistic.”

“He literally has no choice but to be optimistic.”

“I suppose that’s how he managed to survive all these years.”

Zakk and Cheyenne both looked over at Lei, watching him sleep. Lei then rolled over scratching his butt before going back to sleep.

“Sometimes it’s really hard to believe that this man is my father.”

“Are you sure your mother didn’t cheat on him with another man?”

“I don’t know. Would explain why I’m unable to learn Zui Quan like you can.” Zakk smiled.

Soon Lei began quivering and sweating and shaking in his sleep. Zakk and Cheyenne immediately ran over to the couch. Zakk shook Lei as Cheyenne kept shouting, “Uncle Wulong!”

Eventually, Lei's eyes sprang open as he jumped up, taking in several deep breaths. Lei then coughed and threw up. As he sat up. Lei held his stomach as he laid back down while Zakk ran to go clean up the mess.

“Oh… Cheyenne… thank the ancestors.” Lei said with a sigh of relief.

“You were having a nightmare.” Cheyenne said out loud.

“Yeah. I know. But it was just a dream. Alright? No need to worry.” He smiled, sounding very sober.

“But what was the nightmare about?” Zakk asked, cleaning up the mess on the floor. He wore a surgical mask, along with an apron and some rubber gloves as Zakk really did not want to touch someone else’s puke. Thankfully, this was a hardwood floor. Otherwise cleaning up a carpet would require professionals.

“Nothing to worry about. It was just a bad dream.”

“Uncle Wulong! What happened in the dream?”

Lei rubbed his forehead. “Gosh… I don’t remember… My head hurts just thinking about it.”

“BULLSHIT! Answer the goddamn question! WHAT WAS THAT NIGHTMARE ABOUT?” Zakk shouted, catching Lei in the middle of his lie.

“Cousin Wanrei, stop! Uncle Wulong clearly isn’t in the mood to talk.”

“It’s fine. I'll tell you two kids. Basically, Li-Mei got taken away from me. And I find out that she and Pai both die in a plane crash together, set up by Big Chin Mao just to spite me.”

“Wow…”

“And… needless to say, I woke up before I could get a look at their bodies.”

“….” The pair couldn’t think of anything to say.

“I need to get Li-Mei back. I honestly don’t care about Pai anymore. The woman broke my heart. There’s literally nothing that can be done. Just get my daughter back is all I care about.”

“Well, you need to get some counseling before doing that. I doubt the court will be in your favor when you’re all shell-shocked like this.”

“…You’re right… It’s always hard to admit that we're not okay.” Lei finally said.

Zakk and Cheyenne were both surprised.

“I always encourage troubled people to seek counseling. But I never think to send myself that way… It’s kinda ironic, isn’t it? Me, the psychologist, needs to go see a shrink? Kinda funny when you think about it. But yes, I should go see someone. All this self-loathing really puts a strain on your well-being and how can I look after my daughter if I'm sick? I've always wanted what’s best for Li-Mei. And what’s best for her: I go get some therapy.”

“You finally realize this! About damn time!” Zakk finally cleaned up all the puke.

“Truth be told, I was lying to myself when I say I’m okay. I was trying to be strong. The world doesn’t have time for me to stop and grieve. I was too busy to mourn. You know? My parents, whom I never got to properly mourn because I was suddenly placed in a home with other orphans and I was separated from my brother. I had to deal with that. Then I reunite with my brother. The joy is short-lived when I find out that my brother was hiding my true destiny. And then I move to Hong-Kong. Completely isolated from family and friends. It forced me to be alone with my thoughts. The darkness festered into my soul… until I met your Mother…” Lei paused. “I realize now, I never really did love Catherine. I was just confused… like… I wanted to get closer to the person who saved me from darkness. Then, I go off and kill the man who killed my father. All I felt was nothing but emptiness… and pain. I could never get used to that cold, dark feeling of taking a life. Even if it were in the name of justice.”

Zakk and Cheyenne didn’t know what else to say to his monologue. He continued about how he was prepared to start his new life with his fiancée, only to reveal that she was kidnapped, tortured, and killed just three days before their wedding. He also went in and mentioned the tragic loss of his best friend and comrade, Bryan Fury. He mentioned that he started the shootout and tried to talk his friend down and tried to get him to explain himself, only to be the one to turn around and deliver the fatal blow that kills him. He gets resurrected and is now an unstoppable killing machine, all because he killed his best friend.

“But whatever happens… is a journey. It’s a challenge… a struggle. Li-Mei is the only thing I have left in this world!” He crushes his right hand into a tight fist. “This is why I will continue to fight until the very end! I have nowhere to go but up! Wanrei, Cheyenne!” Lei stood up. “We’re going to get my daughter back! We’re going to shut down the Syndicate! And most of all, we’re going to bring back my honor! I’ve done enough crying! It’s time for me to actually do something about it! The world may skull-fuck you in every possible position, but you can always bite down!”

Cheyenne and Zakk did not appreciate the mental image that Lei had just described.

“But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

Lei got too excited and accidentally elbowed the floor lamp, as he tried to catch it, but fell over and landed on the ground, shouting, “AEEAAAAAAAAAHHHH!” After hitting the ground as the glass from the lamp breaks.

“Ah! Diu!”

Lei was back to his old usual clumsy, happy-go-lucky self now. And he managed to just pull himself together after all of that. Zakk finally understood what was keeping him alive. No matter how low he gets, his strong will and drive will pick him back up.

“Wanrei! Cheyenne! I need a band-aid. Please.”

Things went back to normal from here on out. Lei won the custody battle. He got intel from his informant that the Syndicate hired an assassin for the next King of Iron Fist Tournament. Lei figured that if he could capture the assassin and get information from the boxer about the Syndicate and establish a plausible connection… Lei could make up for his botched operation. With his daughter back and this newfound information, Lei's issues fixed itself and he never went to counseling as promised. Lei figured that since everything sorted itself out, there was no need for counseling. He stopped the Syndicate and regained his honor. Life got better for him. He even managed to land himself a wonderful and amazing girlfriend six months after his break-up. Things were finally looking up for Lei.