Paths of Joy and Woe

Part 1/2

Note: This diverges in a couple of significant ways from Flipped canon. If you've seen the show, they'll be obvious when you reach them. If you haven't seen the show, you won't care. Outside of the fusion aspects, it's essentially canon-compliant for S.C.I. Mystery.

Bai Yutong was generally good at handling surprises. He had quick reflexes and excellent control over his reactions. But could anyone blame him for fumbling a bit when he entered his office and found himself sitting in his chair? His double smirked as Yutong pointed his gun.

"Who the hell are you?" Yutong asked, holding the gun steady as he catalogued the differences between them. The other man's hair was a little longer, his suit a little looser, but his face was the same.

"I'm your twin brother, Qi Xun."

"Like hell. I don't have a twin brother." Yutong took a step closer.

"Turns out you do. Believe me, I was just as surprised."

"Get up slowly and come around the desk."

Qi Xun sighed. "You can't shoot me."

"You better believe I can."

And in an instant, Qi Xun was gone, leaving behind just a little red mist in the air. Then Qi Xun's voice came from behind him and Yutong whirled. "No, I mean you literally can't. You're fast, but definitely not at my level. What did they do to you?"

"What did who do?"

"The people who took you."

"What the actual fuck?"

"You may have noticed a resemblance between us." Qi Xun raised an eyebrow at him. "We're twins, but we were separated as young children. The people who took you and two other children with abilities have managed to hide you all this time."

"Two other—"

"Have you noticed that Zhan Yao is just a bit too good at reading people? It's almost as if he can read their minds."

"What? No."

"And Bai Chi's intelligence and memory don't come from the people who raised him, do they?"

Yutong tried not to think about his aunt and uncle, who definitely didn't seem like geniuses. "This is ridiculous."

"You can't deny that I can do something most people can't." Qi Xun appeared on the other side of the office. "We've been watching all of you for a while. That's how we figured out Zhan Yao and Bai Chi's powers."

"You've been watching us?" Yutong narrowed his eyes but he slowly put his gun away.

"For one thing, we had to be certain we had the right children. Well...you were obvious." He shrugged. "We didn't know a lot about the other two, so we had to check some things. We ended up asking Qi Tian, er, that's our sister, to check."

"Sister?" Yutong repeated.

"Qi Tian is our younger sister. You never knew her, because she was born after you were taken."

Yutong slammed his hand on the wall. "This is fucking insane. You can't come in here and tell me I was kidnapped as a kid and expect me to believe it!"

Qi Xun looked at him, face drawn and sad. "I can and I am. To begin with, do you have another explanation for us being identical?"

"Coincidence. A weird coincidence." Yutong crossed his arms, glaring.

Sighing, Qi Xun reached into his jacket pocket, ignoring Yutong's reflexive reach for his gun, and pulled out an envelope. "Fine. Qi Tian said you'd refuse to listen, so she wrote this down for you."

Yutong gingerly took the sealed envelope. "What in the world could she write that would possibly convince me?"

"Oh right, I forgot to mention that she can see into the future, didn't I?"

Yutong almost dropped the envelope. "What?"

"I don't know what's in there, but she said to give it to you when our conversation seemed stalled."

Staring, Yutong slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper. In a rather childish handwriting, it said, "Hi, brother! I can't wait to meet you! Oh, at some point after you read this, there's going to be a big mess in the open area outside your office. A woman in very short shorts is going to collide with a man carrying a cake and it's going to get all over everything. Sorry! Love, Qi Tian."

Yutong's lips twitched. Okay, it wasn't a bad guess of something that might happen with his team. And the thought of Ma Han with cake all over her was kind of hilarious. But really, there was no way to predict this kind of thing.

"So, if whatever Tiantian said really happens, will you take me seriously?"

Chuckling, Yutong waved a magnanimous hand. "Sure sure."

"Then I'll leave you my card." And Qi Xun dropped a business card on the desk and waggled his fingers. "Bye bye." Then he vanished in a puff of red smoke.

"Maybe I need more sleep," Yutong said. With a sigh, he pushed the card aside and opened a file folder to get some work done. There was no way he was going to try and explain to anyone that he'd seen himself teleporting in and out of his office. They'd have his badge and put him in a looney bin.

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

Stomping out of his office an hour later, Bai Yutong was yelling for Zhao Fu when he saw it: Wang Shao carrying a precariously balanced cream cake as he glanced behind him to speak to someone. Like an oncoming car crash, he watched Ma Han round the corner from the other side, paying more attention to her phone than anything else.

Their collision was epic. In most circumstances, it would have been hilarious. Yutong would have taken pictures for later blackmail purposes and also to show Zhan Yao, who had the misfortune to miss it.

But as he watched the two of them yell at each other while smeared in cream, all Yutong could think was 'Well shit, now I have to listen to him.'

Turning on his heel, he went back into his office and closed the door. The card was still sitting on his desk, an innocent piece of cardstock. Breathing in deep, he texted Bai Chi and Zhan Yao. Can we meet at Zhao Zhen's immediately? Just you the three of you.

That sounds ominous, Zhan Yao replied.

It was supposed to.

It took a few minutes, but Bai Chi replied. Yes? That's fine. We're here.

On my way, Yutong said.

He picked up the card and fiddled with it for a few moments before dialing the number scribbled on the back.

"Qi Xun? I'm ready to talk. I'll send you an address."