Red Rabbits

Joan Grey

***

Leo paused as he came back to his desk. A hint of red peeked out from under the bland manila folders piled in front of his computer.

Another note. He glanced around the office, but everyone was focused on their own work. Who is leaving these?

He slid the paper, folded into another rabbit, into his palm, shoving his hand into his pocket fast, so no one could see it. Then he sat down, counting down the time to lunch in the back of his head.

At lunch, he took his tray to the table in the far corner of the lunchroom and eased the rabbit from his pocket. Keeping his back to the room, he carefully unfolded it, trying to remember how it worked, so he could return it to its bunny form.

You were so cool on your last mission!! I was super impressed with the way you took down the guy with the sword – it looked like you were flying! Anyway, I can’t wait to see you again. <3

“Hey, Leo!” The table shifted as a tall man dropped into the seat across from Leo. He shot a grin into the angry face Leo knew he was making. “I didn’t know this was when you had lunch. I thought you were with the other group.” He put a plate piled with noodles and some weird green sauce onto the table and pulled a pair of chopsticks from behind his ear, wiping them on a paper napkin.

“I was just leaving,” Leo said, closing his hand around his note. He mourned the new creases he’d be putting into the paper. “You aren’t supposed to be eating in this cafeteria, Tuzi.”

“Aww, but we’re working together on this infiltration.” He beamed up at Leo, pale green eyes bright against his tan skin. “And why don’t you call me Wenjun?”

Leo stiffened. It was inappropriate to refer to someone from a different agency by anything other than their codename. “You should call me Kral.”

Tuzi’s nose wrinkled. “I mean, sure, you’re definitely king material, but we’re friends, right?” His eyes closed into happy little crescents as he smiled.

Leo snatched up his tray and stormed out of the cafeteria, ignoring the way his chest jolted at the other man’s smile. Back in his apartment, he carefully pressed the note flat and tried to re-fold it. He couldn’t figure out the last bit, and felt anger swirl through him at the way the rabbit’s ears wouldn’t stand up. He made me ruin it. He tucked it into the small box hidden in the secret space behind his bed. Carefully, he stroked a finger through the pile of folded notes, all red. This was the eighth rabbit. I wish I knew who was sending these.

That was the last quiet moment he had for two months.

The job went badly, both agencies scrambling to catch up with the information – and three boatfuls of missing children they’d hoped to save from misery. Leo didn’t have time to notice the way he kept getting paired with Tuzi, or how well they worked together.

Until Tuzi went missing.

Until Leo found himself following a nearly-dead trail of evidence to a dark warehouse where he jolted at the sight of Tuzi – Wenjun – tied to a chair spotlit by the only light in the room.

“No!” Tuzi’s voice was strained and Leo hurried forward. “Kral, please, no, you have to go.”

“I didn’t think the bait would work.” The unfamiliar voice was harsh and Leo turned to see a short man holding a gun on both of them. His hands stilled on the ropes around Wenjun’s ankles. “I know all about Wenjun here, but I didn’t know you returned his feelings.”

“Oh, he doesn’t,” Tuzi said. “He’s just a good person, unlike you, Panovich.”

“Feelings?” Leo whispered.

Panovich started laughing. “How can you not know? He’s not subtle.” He strode forward and shoved the gun under Leo’s chin, gesturing to someone in the still-dark edges of the room with his other hand. “Come on. We have unfinished business at the docks.”

Three large men efficiently frisked Leo, removing his gun and knives before binding his wrists tightly behind his back. Disgustingly filthy rags were shoved in their mouths before they were folded into the too-small trunk of a car.

As the vehicle slowed and came to a stop, Wenjun lifted his head and reached around to pull the gag from his mouth. Leo’s eyes widened. How did he get free?

“It will be okay, Leo,” he whispered. He shoved a knife into Leo’s hands, then, as the hatch opened, threw himself into the group of men standing behind the car. Leo frantically sawed at his own ropes but couldn’t finish before rough hands dragged him onto the gravel shore of the river.

The sound of a gun being cocked echoed off the cement bridge footing and Leo felt the muzzle press against the back of his skull.

“Hey, Tuzi!” Panovich shoved Leo forward. The sounds of fists meeting hard bodies stopped and Wenjun froze, eyes fixed on the gun. Panovich leaned forward and said, in a false whisper, “Should I tell you how I knew how he feels about you?”

Leo stiffened.

“Ask him what his name means.”

Leo’s gaze caught on the tension and fear on Tuzi’s face.

“If you tell him,” Panovich said, his voice oily, “I’ll give you the coordinates to the ports for those boats you’re so desperate to find.”

Tuzi’s jaw tightened. “It means ‘rabbit’.”

Leo blinked. Rabbit? Before his thoughts could go further, a huge explosion rocked the bridge they were under, and the rest of Tuzi’s team boiled out from where they’d been hiding in the shadows.

Six hours later, Leo limped into Tuzi’s small, private hospital room.

“Rabbit?” he asked, leaning gently on the edge of the bed.

Wenjun’s blush was beautiful. “I couldn’t think of any other way to get your attention.”

“It’s all yours.”