Infinite Space
Disclaimer: Not mine, not true.
Writer's Note: Occurs a week after chapter 67.
054: police - SungKyu, SungYeol
Chapter List: Infinite Space
Chapter 68" In which the clans strike back, and things don’t go exactly as expected (but when do they ever?)
It shouldn’t have been that easy to get weapons through security. Armor, either, and yet the man at the gate merely waved them through. DongWoo flashed a grin at SungYeol’s confused look. “I don’t get it either,” he said. “I bet someone’s got an in with security.”
“I wouldn’t put it past Xander. Or SooHyun. Or WooHyun, for that matter. Or Kevin. Or L, even,” SungJong said. “They’ve been closeted together for days.”
DongWoo laughed. “Yes,” he said. “And Xander has something planned.”
“Xander always has something planned,” SungKyu said. He set his bag down in a dark corner of a small area. “SungYeol, SungJong, go and look around. Direct anyone you find to us. Get used to this place. Get to know it as much as you can.”
SungYeol brightened, dropped his bag by DongWoo’s and let the way out.
“You thought we were going to have to stay there,” SungJong said as they walked down the broad hallway together.
“I’m so glad we aren’t going to sit there the whole time,” SungYeol admitted, and SungJong laughed.
It surprised SungYeol, how easy he found it to tell the difference between the people who made their home on the station and members of the clan. SungJong pointed out the shop he and Hoya had gotten the lollipops from, and they stepped in for one each. Even then, they seemed to fit in okay, at least to the soldiers; they’d done some trials, and it seemed the soldiers only noticed clan members (and dogged their steps until they left) if they were dressed in the wild colors the clans were known for. Stupid: they didn’t even know which clan it was.
SungJong and SungYeol traded scouting trips with SungKyu and DongWoo over the next couple of days, gathering information, reporting on the residents of the station as much as the soldiers.
“Tomorrow,” DongWoo told them over a bland dinner that reminded SungYeol (and SungJong, considering the expression on his face) too much of their life before coming here. “Xander says he’s got a bomb expert.”
SungKyu frowned. “It’s the only reason Eli isn’t on the ship,” he said, a wealth of unspoken words in his tone.
SungYeol shrugged. He understood not wanting to be left behind - and wanting some of his own back, too.
“Ooh, that sounds like fun,” SungJong said, perking up, and DongWoo laughed.
“Maybe when this is over,” he said, and SungJong beamed.
SungYeol lay awake that night, staring up into the darkness, listening to his younger brother’s breathing. Too many years of sleeping near him made SungYeol familiar with every sound - he’d be able to find SungJong in the dark in the middle of thousands of sleeping people. Usually, those familiar sounds helped him fall asleep, but not tonight.
“You should sleep,” SungKyu said softly.
“Yes,” SungYeol agreed.
“What’s on your mind?”
To be honest, he’d rather have this conversation with L, but he wasn’t here (for a good reason, in fact). And... SungYeol didn’t actually know if L would understand. “SungJong.”
“What about him?”
SungYeol laughed softly. “I don’t know. He’s so... different.”
“From?”
At least SungKyu wasn’t laughing at him. “From me. From you. From... everyone I know.”
“He’s more violent,” SungKyu said.
“It’s more than that, though.” SungYeol couldn’t figure out how to explain himself.
“Yes,” SungKyu said. “I know.”
The relief that he didn’t have to put it into words, that someone else had seen and understood, chased away the tension and the thoughts, and SungYeol sighed, eyelids suddenly weighing a ton. “I can sleep now,” he said, his words slurring. “Thanks, hyung.”
“Any time, Yeollie.”
SungKyu woke them all up early. In spite of laying awake so long, SungYeol felt well rested and awake. They ate quickly, got dressed in armor, and armed themselves. Then DongWoo led the group out of their area and to one of the entrances of the barracks, and they settled in to wait.
The bomb rocked the station, and within a short time, half-dressed chaebol soldiers began to stagger out. SungJong jumped forward, but SungKyu grabbed his collar. “Stay here,” he said. SungJong glared at him, but did as SungKyu ordered, fidgeting. That skirmish didn’t last long, the soldiers retreating fairly quickly back to the safety of their barracks.
“And now they know that they have no weapons,” DongWoo said. “At least, no guns. That makes it a bit more even.”
“Less even,” SungKyu said. “They don’t have that much experience in hand to hand, even if they have greater numbers.” He sounded satisfied.
“Where did everyone go?” SungYeol asked awhile later, as they took up positions in another corridor.
“Hopefully staying inside and out of the way,” SungKyu said. “We don’t want them getting in between us.”
“Here they come,” DongWoo said before SungYeol could answer that, and moments later, soldiers came out of another hallway and charged them.
SungKyu had given both SungYeol and SungJong definite instructions: the three of them were to make sure DongWoo stayed alive and as uninjured as possible - orders he’d given them when DongWoo was no where around. SungJong had nodded his agreement like SungYeol. So it made no sense when SungYeol turned to say something to his younger brother and didn’t find him at his side - or anywhere near. He showed up seconds later, a wild look in his eye. Another wave of soldiers broke against them before SungYeol could ask where SungJong had gone.
He didn’t get another chance, either. Partially because SungJong stuck close the rest of the time, and partially because they didn’t have a break, pressing the soldiers back as fast as they could.
SungYeol could see other people working with them, occasionally a civilian would step out of a break in the bulkhead that he didn’t even know was there to take out one of the soldiers. By the time he was almost too tired to put one foot in front of the other, everyone else in the same condition, he became aware of people in uniforms, but not the soldiers and obviously on their side. “Police,” SungKyu murmured when SungYeol looked at him.
Ahead of them, DongWoo stopped, raising a hand to stop those behind him.
“We’ll take it from here,” a man said, who seemed to be in charge. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” DongWoo said.
More of the police moved passed them, taking up their positions and continuing to press the soldiers back.
Once they’d left, all of them sort of collapsed to the ground, and SungYeol grabbed his water bottle, taking a long drink before passing it on to someone else. Someone else handed theirs to him, and he took a lesser drink and handed it back. “You guys did good,” DongWoo said. “I’m impressed.”
It took them some time to get back up and get moving, but by the time they had, more than one civilian had come out and offered food, drink, things that would help them get their energy back. DongWoo got them moving, heading for their shuttles and out, and by the time the shuttle left the station, SungYeol had completely lost consciousness. He wasn’t the only one, just the first.
Writer's Note: Occurs a week after chapter 67.
054: police - SungKyu, SungYeol
Chapter List: Infinite Space
Chapter 68" In which the clans strike back, and things don’t go exactly as expected (but when do they ever?)
It shouldn’t have been that easy to get weapons through security. Armor, either, and yet the man at the gate merely waved them through. DongWoo flashed a grin at SungYeol’s confused look. “I don’t get it either,” he said. “I bet someone’s got an in with security.”
“I wouldn’t put it past Xander. Or SooHyun. Or WooHyun, for that matter. Or Kevin. Or L, even,” SungJong said. “They’ve been closeted together for days.”
DongWoo laughed. “Yes,” he said. “And Xander has something planned.”
“Xander always has something planned,” SungKyu said. He set his bag down in a dark corner of a small area. “SungYeol, SungJong, go and look around. Direct anyone you find to us. Get used to this place. Get to know it as much as you can.”
SungYeol brightened, dropped his bag by DongWoo’s and let the way out.
“You thought we were going to have to stay there,” SungJong said as they walked down the broad hallway together.
“I’m so glad we aren’t going to sit there the whole time,” SungYeol admitted, and SungJong laughed.
It surprised SungYeol, how easy he found it to tell the difference between the people who made their home on the station and members of the clan. SungJong pointed out the shop he and Hoya had gotten the lollipops from, and they stepped in for one each. Even then, they seemed to fit in okay, at least to the soldiers; they’d done some trials, and it seemed the soldiers only noticed clan members (and dogged their steps until they left) if they were dressed in the wild colors the clans were known for. Stupid: they didn’t even know which clan it was.
SungJong and SungYeol traded scouting trips with SungKyu and DongWoo over the next couple of days, gathering information, reporting on the residents of the station as much as the soldiers.
“Tomorrow,” DongWoo told them over a bland dinner that reminded SungYeol (and SungJong, considering the expression on his face) too much of their life before coming here. “Xander says he’s got a bomb expert.”
SungKyu frowned. “It’s the only reason Eli isn’t on the ship,” he said, a wealth of unspoken words in his tone.
SungYeol shrugged. He understood not wanting to be left behind - and wanting some of his own back, too.
“Ooh, that sounds like fun,” SungJong said, perking up, and DongWoo laughed.
“Maybe when this is over,” he said, and SungJong beamed.
SungYeol lay awake that night, staring up into the darkness, listening to his younger brother’s breathing. Too many years of sleeping near him made SungYeol familiar with every sound - he’d be able to find SungJong in the dark in the middle of thousands of sleeping people. Usually, those familiar sounds helped him fall asleep, but not tonight.
“You should sleep,” SungKyu said softly.
“Yes,” SungYeol agreed.
“What’s on your mind?”
To be honest, he’d rather have this conversation with L, but he wasn’t here (for a good reason, in fact). And... SungYeol didn’t actually know if L would understand. “SungJong.”
“What about him?”
SungYeol laughed softly. “I don’t know. He’s so... different.”
“From?”
At least SungKyu wasn’t laughing at him. “From me. From you. From... everyone I know.”
“He’s more violent,” SungKyu said.
“It’s more than that, though.” SungYeol couldn’t figure out how to explain himself.
“Yes,” SungKyu said. “I know.”
The relief that he didn’t have to put it into words, that someone else had seen and understood, chased away the tension and the thoughts, and SungYeol sighed, eyelids suddenly weighing a ton. “I can sleep now,” he said, his words slurring. “Thanks, hyung.”
“Any time, Yeollie.”
SungKyu woke them all up early. In spite of laying awake so long, SungYeol felt well rested and awake. They ate quickly, got dressed in armor, and armed themselves. Then DongWoo led the group out of their area and to one of the entrances of the barracks, and they settled in to wait.
The bomb rocked the station, and within a short time, half-dressed chaebol soldiers began to stagger out. SungJong jumped forward, but SungKyu grabbed his collar. “Stay here,” he said. SungJong glared at him, but did as SungKyu ordered, fidgeting. That skirmish didn’t last long, the soldiers retreating fairly quickly back to the safety of their barracks.
“And now they know that they have no weapons,” DongWoo said. “At least, no guns. That makes it a bit more even.”
“Less even,” SungKyu said. “They don’t have that much experience in hand to hand, even if they have greater numbers.” He sounded satisfied.
“Where did everyone go?” SungYeol asked awhile later, as they took up positions in another corridor.
“Hopefully staying inside and out of the way,” SungKyu said. “We don’t want them getting in between us.”
“Here they come,” DongWoo said before SungYeol could answer that, and moments later, soldiers came out of another hallway and charged them.
SungKyu had given both SungYeol and SungJong definite instructions: the three of them were to make sure DongWoo stayed alive and as uninjured as possible - orders he’d given them when DongWoo was no where around. SungJong had nodded his agreement like SungYeol. So it made no sense when SungYeol turned to say something to his younger brother and didn’t find him at his side - or anywhere near. He showed up seconds later, a wild look in his eye. Another wave of soldiers broke against them before SungYeol could ask where SungJong had gone.
He didn’t get another chance, either. Partially because SungJong stuck close the rest of the time, and partially because they didn’t have a break, pressing the soldiers back as fast as they could.
SungYeol could see other people working with them, occasionally a civilian would step out of a break in the bulkhead that he didn’t even know was there to take out one of the soldiers. By the time he was almost too tired to put one foot in front of the other, everyone else in the same condition, he became aware of people in uniforms, but not the soldiers and obviously on their side. “Police,” SungKyu murmured when SungYeol looked at him.
Ahead of them, DongWoo stopped, raising a hand to stop those behind him.
“We’ll take it from here,” a man said, who seemed to be in charge. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” DongWoo said.
More of the police moved passed them, taking up their positions and continuing to press the soldiers back.
Once they’d left, all of them sort of collapsed to the ground, and SungYeol grabbed his water bottle, taking a long drink before passing it on to someone else. Someone else handed theirs to him, and he took a lesser drink and handed it back. “You guys did good,” DongWoo said. “I’m impressed.”
It took them some time to get back up and get moving, but by the time they had, more than one civilian had come out and offered food, drink, things that would help them get their energy back. DongWoo got them moving, heading for their shuttles and out, and by the time the shuttle left the station, SungYeol had completely lost consciousness. He wasn’t the only one, just the first.