A fair trade | Tangerine x GN! Reader
AO3: Otaku_girl | Fics only account: @otaku-girl-ao3-fics | ATJ character masterlist | June of Doom 2026 masterlist
Fandom: Bullet Train
Rating: T
Summary: There’s nobody in the world more important to Tangerine than Lemon is. Not even you.
Somewhere between Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus, you realise someone is following you. When the opportunity presents itself, you make your decision without hesitation.
If only one of you gets to walk away safe, you already know who Tangerine would choose.
Prompt: June of Doom, day 16: Take me instead + kidnapping
“Would you mind getting me a cuppa? I’m just gonna nip over the road to see if they’ve got that tea Tan liked last time.” You’re careful to keep your voice light as you speak, pointing at the Whittard’s that’s no more than a dozen paces away.
Lemon smiles – small, and warm, and just a little bit pleased. It’s the first time you’ve asked him for something. You’re normally so careful not to impose, or to risk offending him. Not that you think Lemon is easily offended – if anything, from what you have seen, he’s quite the opposite. But you know that there’s nobody in the world who matters more to Tangerine than Lemon. It’s always been just the two of them; the last thing you want is to become a burden, or to outstay your welcome.
“No problem. I remember how you like it. I’m gonna get one of those brownies they had last time. You want one?” he offers, pointing over his shoulder at the care as he turns back towards you. You’ve only been here once before with both of them; you’re surprised he even remembers what you got last time. Something warm flicks in your chest.
“That’d be great,” you say softly. As he resumes walking towards the little coffee shop, you add, “Hey, Lem? Thanks for being so welcoming. You didn’t have to be so nice.”
His expression softens, hands pushing deep into his pockets. “You’re important to Tan. That makes you important to me, too. Even if you have terrible taste in footie teams.”
“I don’t even like football.”
“Exactly,” Lemon says, pointing at you as if that proves his point. You can’t help but laugh.
It’s hard not to linger. As the bell tinkles, the shop door opening and closing, you know that you haven’t got long. Not if you want what’s best for everyone.
You wait at the curb for a lull in the traffic, darting out between a black cab and a bus waiting for the traffic lights to turn green. Whittard’s is only a few feet away, the window store visible – but the inside not quite – from where Lemon is queuing for your drinks. A pang of regret goes through you.
You wish things could go differently.
Fingers curl around the strap of your bag as you keep your pace steady and even. Out of the corner of your eye, you see movement. Not the normal stream of London commuters, filling the streets during their lunch breaks. Nor the endless, slow-walking, gawking tourists that seem to find their way into every crack and crevice of the city.
You haven’t quite managed to catch sight of them yet – not fully – but you know they’ve been following you since you got off at Covent Garden. It was easy at first to dismiss it as your imagination, instead trying to focus on Lemon as he shared little stories from his and Tangerine’s time growing up in the city: Lemon’s favourite places to nick sweets when they were still kids, the stalls Tangerine liked to visit to add to his collection of rings and bracelets and medallions when he had money to spare, and the kinds of tourists they both liked to keep an eye on when practising their pickpocketing skills.
It had been harder to believe that it was just a coincidence as the two of you made the meandering walk to Piccadilly Circus – a half-formed plan to catch a show with Tangerine if you could find one with half-decent seats at a good price – the shadows out of the corner of your eye still following in your wake.
You caught glimpses of them as the two of you went; a flash of sharp eyes reflected back in a window, a glint of gunmetal grey, a familiar, indistinguishable metallic scent as someone brushed too closely to the two of you while you were waiting at a crossing and Lemon had to grab the back of your jacket to keep you from spilling into the road.
Passing Whittard’s, you continue on past three more shopfronts before you’re near the edge of an alleyway.
Please, please don’t let me have miscalculated.
You’ve only been dating Tangerine for eighteen months. Have only earned the privilege of getting to meet Lemon in the last six.
From what you understand it’s always been just the two of them against the world for as long as either man can remember. It doesn’t ever have to be spoken out loud for you to know how this works: Lemon is Tangerine’s world. And you… you’re on your way to being something more than a passing amusement, sure, you know that much. But you can’t ever compete with the kind of bond they have. And that’s okay; really, you aren’t even sure you would want to.
It's what makes this choice all that much easier.
You might just be a part of Tangerine’s world, but he’s well on his way to becoming your world. And if you can do this one small thing for him… it seems only fair.
A rough hand grabs you from behind, something cold and hard pressing against the small of your back. You let out a shuddering breath. They took the bait. At least Lemon should be safe now.
In your pocket, your phone starts to vibrate. You must make some move towards it, as a hand wraps around you, plucking it from your pocket before it gets past a third ring. You watch as it’s tossed towards the road, screen glinting in the early afternoon sun as it skitters before landing in the path of a passing double decker.
You swallow back a whimper as the barrel digs more firmly against your skin.
“We’re going to take a little walk. You’re going to tell me where I can find both of the Twins. And maybe, if you’re good, I’ll let you go when all of this is over.”
There’s no need for words. There’s no way that you are getting out of this. Not without fucking Tangerine over – not even with fucking him over, you would bet. And that’s just not something you’re willing to do.
At least you made sure that Lemon was safe first. His life for yours? That seems like a pretty fair trade to you.
AO3: Otaku_girl | Fics only account: @otaku-girl-ao3-fics | ATJ character masterlist | June of Doom 2026 masterlist
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