"This feels like a bad idea." Lao really wasn't sure about this. Granted, he'd made progress since Jin had come to the Netherrealm, but going back to Special Forces seemed far too optimistic.
There were only a few ways Lao could see this going. First, he got there and was immediately shot down as a threat. Second, he was treated with extreme suspicion and thrown in a jail cell. Third, he got there and all the work to free his mind from the Netherrealm unraveled and the darkness overtook him again. He preyed that if it was any of those, it would be one of the first two. With what control he'd managed to regain, the thought of causing yet more harm to his friends was soul destroying.
"It will be fine," Jin assured him, "Just, remember what we've been working on."
"Easy for you to say. You aren't the one who's been brainwashed for two decades and now has to face the people you hurt." He didn't mean to sound so bitter, he knew Jin was helping him. It just didn't feel as easy as Jin wanted it to be.
"They accepted Major Briggs, Grandmaster Sub Zero and Grandmaster Hasashi back with open arms, I'm sure they'll do the same with you." Somehow that wasn't as reassuring as Jin seemed to think it was.
"They were completely purged of the Netherrealm's influence though," he argued, watching as Jin hopped over a rock and moving to follow him over it. "I'm just trying to suppress it."
"You are suppressing it," Jin corrected, reaching to grip Lao's shoulder and squeezing. "You don't have to worry so much, it'll be fine. I've got your back."
When did you get so grown up? The last time Lao had seen Jin, before his death, Jin was just a toddler, inquisitive and full of energy. He was surprised Jin still remembered him so vividly, clearly he'd had a lot more impact in his nephew’s life than he had initially believed.
"Alright, we're at the portal," Jin told him, and Lao looked at the swirling mass of energy. "Just follow my lead, and remember, if things go badly, I'll deal with it."
Lao just nodded, knowing anymore protests would fall on stubborn ears. He took a deep breath, and stepped forward after Jin and followed him into the portal.
Portal teleportation was unpleasant at best, and even as a revenant it still made his stomach do flips. But it was done with relatively quickly, and he found himself walking through into the grounds of Special Forces main base.
It took mere seconds for guns to be cocked and pointed in his direction.
"Whoa, whoa," Jin exclaimed, moving in front of Lao with his arms outstretched. Lao felt his heart clench at Jin using himself as a shield. "It's okay, he's with me."
"Shit on a cracker Jin, what the fuck are you doing?"
A young blonde woman gestured for the soldiers to stand down. Lao recognised her from the invasion, Cassie Cage, daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade. How that happened, Lao had no idea, and even as a revenant he had wanted to stop fighting to ask Sonya the hows and whys.
"Alright, I know this looks kinda bad, but trust me, this is fine," Jin tried to tell her but Lao could see from the look on her face she was not convinced.
"Our definitions of fine are clearly different," Cassie exclaimed, her eyes locked on to Kung Lao. Well, it's now or never.
"Commander Cage, I am Kung Lao," he introduced.
"Yeah, I know who you are." Cassie crossed her arms in front of her chest and Lao couldn't help but think how much like her mother she looked. "I'm more concerned with why you're here to be honest."
"I can explain," Jin told her, "just, give me chance."
Cassie looked conflicted, but eventually her face relaxed with defeat, and she nodded. She shouted a few orders, and the soldiers dispersed. Gesturing for them to follow, Lao did so quietly. He kept his head down, even as other soldiers stared and whispered amongst themselves. They were led into an interrogation room, sat across from Cassie and next to Jin.
Jin explained everything. How he went to the Netherrealm to find Lao, the work they'd done for Lao to push away from the Netherrealm's influence. Cassie listened, she had one of the best poker faces Lao had ever seen, must have gotten it from her mother. When Jin eventually told her that he thought it was time for Lao to come back to Earthrealm, Cassie finally voiced her thoughts.
"Where the hell have you even found the time to do this?" She questioned, speaking to Jin even as her gaze was on Lao. "I mean, between our training and looking after your sick Grandma, how have you managed to sneak going to the Netherrealm between that?"
Something in that statement stood out to Lao as he turned to Jin and questioned, "both your Grandmother's died before you were born."
Jin shot Lao a glare that screamed "shut up". Realisation hit Lao, oh that's the excuse he's been using to come see me, and it seemed to dawn on Cassie just as quickly.
"Dammit Jin," she hissed under her breath. "Well, if my Mom doesn't kill you, I fucking will."
"Look, I'm sorry I lied, but I doubted that you'd give me the go ahead if I told you what I was really up to." Jin shuffled forward on his chair, scraping it across the floor and leaning in towards Cassie. "Cass, please, all I'm asking is for the chance to prove that this worked."
"I... don't think I'm the one who can make that decision," Cassie admitted, holding one of her wrists and squeezing it. "Dad might be for this, but I can't imagine mom going along with it."
"Can we try? Please?" Lao asked, and Cassie looked surprised. He had to admit he was surprised by his own desperation. But the thought that at least Johnny might give him a chance was filling him with hope.
Cassie grimaced but said "Alright, I'll see what I can do, but I'm not gonna make any promises it'll end up good." She went to stand up and held a hand flat. "Just, stay here for now, if you go walking about I can't promise someones not going to shoot you."
"Noted." He watched as Cassie turned and left, closing the door behind her. Lao let out a breath and looked towards his nephew. "I think I'm cautiously optimistic about this."
"Told you this would be okay," Jin claimed with a large grin. "Hopefully Cassie is right about Mr. Cage."
Lao wasn't quite sure how long they were sat there for. It was long enough for him to start getting anxious about what was going on. The more time ticked by, the less optimistic of this having a happy ending he became. From the corner of his eye he could see Jin's leg bouncing.
When the door finally opened, he sucked in a deep breath. Cassie returned to the room, followed by far more people than Lao had anticipated. Sonya and Johnny were there, although Johnny looked far happier to see him than Sonya did. The other people Lao recognised from the invasion, but were not people he personally had much connection to, Kenshi and his son, Takeda and Jacqui Briggs. Why they all had to be in here, he wasn't sure, but he definitely wasn't going to let his guard down.
"Hello again," he greeted, trying to sound as casual as he could muster in the moment.
"Sup dude," Johnny replied, sounding like he was meeting with a friend he was in regular contact with, and not the remains of a dead ally from a decade ago. "No offense, but, uh, what the fuck are you doing here?"
"He's here with me," Jin interuppeted, and Lao winced at the way Sonya's eyes narrowed. "I've been working with him to fight against the control placed on him."
"How?" Jacqui questioned, crossing her arms in front of her chest and raising an eyebrow.
"We've been working on techniques to push it back and seperate it from my genuine thoughts," Lao explained. It was hard to articulate in words, but it was like trying to separate his brain in two, with everything from the Netherrealm trapped away in one half. But it was tricky, sometimes when he got angry it felt like that part of him was banging on a locked door, trying to seep through.
"We made enough progress I thought it was a good time to show you guys," Jin said. No one in the room looked all that convinced other than Johnny and maybe Cassie. It was very hard to tell when she looked so anxious, but there was some sort of hope shining in her eyes.
"Kung Jin, this is reckless even by your standards," Sonya finally announced, and Lao couldn't help flinch at how harsh it was. She had always been a hard woman, so it wasn't completely unexpected. "How can you be sure he's not just tricking you?"
"Because he isn't," Jin replied and Lao just about managed to stop himself from facepalming. It wasn't exactly the best defence he'd ever heard. "What's the difference between this and Jacqui's dad? Or the Grandmasters for the matter?"
"This is nowhere near similar to what happened to my dad," Jacqui hissed. Clearly this was a touchy subject. A button that was to never be pressed. And Jin seemed intent on pushing it.
"How is it not?" Jin was up on his feet before Lao knew what was happened. "What makes my uncle so different?"
"Because he's still a revenant," Jacqui argued back, waving her arms like it was the most obvious answer.
"And your dad would also still be one if someone didn't help him."
Lao could sense a fight was about to break out, and if that happened, he was sure they'd loose any chance to convince anyone they meant no harm. Jacqui made to move forward. He grabbed hold of Jin's arm just as he was about to launch at her too, pulling him back before he could. To his relief, it seemed Takeda was doing the same with her, whispering something that looked a lot like "relax" to her.
"Jin, calm," he instructed, resisting the urge to laugh at the turn of events. The last few months had been filled with "Lao, Calm". If the situation wasn't so delicate it'd be funny that he was finally getting to be the voice of reason. Jin seemed to notice the irony too, if the apologetic look he gave to Lao was anything to go by.
"Jin may be on to something, actually," Kenshi suddenly piped up, having been silent the entire he was in the room. His one hand was at his temple, and Lao wondered what he was doing. "The Netherrealm's influence is still there, but it's actually fairly well contained." Oh, he read my mind. A couple of seconds later a voice that wasn't his echoed in his mind, "yes, sorry about that," as Kenshi shrugged. "While obviously the ideal situation would be to remove it completely, for now, it seems to work."
"Thank you," Jin breathed out, placing his hand on Lao's shoulder. "I know the way I went about this was underhanded, but please, please give us chance to prove to you it worked."
Sonya made a frustrated sound, but Johnny was quick to chime in with, "I think we should give this a shot." Sonya gave him the filthiest look, but Johnny quickly held his hands up to placate her. "Look, if this has worked with Lao, then whats to say we can't do it with the others?" It seemed this was a concept no one else had really considered, if the contemplative looks were anything to go by. "With Quan Chi in the morgue, this may be the next best plan we've got."
"And if it goes terribly wrong?"
"Then you can put all the blame on me," Johnny offered, before glancing across at Jin. "And Kung Jin, but mostly me."
Sonya stared at him for a solid minute, before turning her gaze to Jin and Lao. Lao felt Jin's grasp on his shoulder tighten ever so slightly.
"Okay, but this had better not be a trick," Sonya finally conceeded. Lao's sigh of relief was only rivalled by Jin's. "But he may not go around on his own and is to be accompanied at all times, he is not permitted to any sensitive areas or information, and if there is even so much as a hint this isn't working we're shipping him back off to the Netherrealm, do you understand?"
"Yes Ma'am," Jin said, laughing under his breath.
Sonya didn't say any more, just turned tail and left.
Cassie sheepishly stated "I'll go see if I can get something set up."
After that, everyone aside from Johnny filed out of the room. Jacqui still had a scowl on her face, although it was more than likely about Jin's comments than Lao staying. I'll convince him to apologise to her later. Takeda merely nodded at them, and Kenshi gave a small salute before he left. The Actor turned to the two of them with his hands on his hips and a smirk on his face.
"Well, I really hope you two appreciate that, because I am definitely sleeping on the couch for the next decade."
"We do, thank you Johnny." Kung Lao saw the chance to finally sate his curiosity on that issue that had bugged him so. "So, out of curiosity, how exactly did Cassie happen?"
"Well, you see, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much-"
"Forget I asked," Lao groaned as Johnny laughed at Lao's sudden embarrassment. He should have known Johnny Cage would never give him a straight or serious answer. "Good to know you havn't changed a bit."
Johnny stopped laughing, looking a little more serious as he told Lao, "it's good to have you back man."
"Good to be back," Lao genuinely returned.
Johnny finally went to leave, as Lao turned back to his nephew. He couldn't help but feel so proud of Jin, despite everything his nephew had been through, he'd turned out to be a remarkable young man.
"Thank you, Jin," he whispered, as he pulled the younger man into an embrace. "You have done more for me than I could have ever asked. I am so proud of you."
"Aw, don't start, I don't want to cry today," Jin whined, but it was halfhearted, and the hug was quickly returned.
He knew eventually he'd have to face Raiden, and that would be the true test of if Jin's efforts had been successful. For now, he could attempt to regain his old allies trust again. One small step at a time.
≛ Mature Rated Oneshots ≛ Next Fic ⊱
⏎Return To Mature Rated Oneshots Masterlist⏎