Expectations: Begin Again, Final
Series Expectations
Adventure Fifteen: Begin Again, Part 4 of 4
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: KyuWook, Yunjae, Various
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Romance, Science Fiction, Adventure
Length: Chaptered
Beta: tahoeturquoise
A/N: This story is inspired by Star Trek and the Kpop community.
Summary: The cycle of life continues as alliances are made, love moves forward, a beloved infant is born, and the journey of two souls inch closer and closer to the evitable end.
Prior Adventures
“Doctor Cho!” Junsu shouted as he rushed toward the married couple as they approached the cave.
Ryeowook, who had ran the entire way back with Kyuhyun, continued to hurry toward the cave, not stopping to greet Junsu but he did manage to scold the ensign as he passed by him. “Junsu, sit down! You are supposed to being taking it easy!”
“I know…but…but I think Jaejoong might kill them both,” Junsu explained as he followed Ryeowook to the cave’s opening, while waving his arms in the air. “I think he has super strength we didn’t know about.”
“He won’t kill…” Ryeowook paused before entering the cave as he heard screaming coming from inside the cave…very loud, vicious screaming. Ryeowook quickly grasped that the Prince of Joong was not happy to be experiencing contractions. “You two stay here…I’ll handle this.”
Kyuhyun and Junsu didn’t argue with the doctor as they watched him boldly enter the cave.
“My life has been one cursed event after the next…since I met you!” Jaejoong screeched at a hapless looking Yunho.
Jaejoong was lying on the floor of the cave, leaning back against his elbows, and glaring up at his mate.
Yunho, who had blood dripping down his face, struggled to remain civil with the seething Joong. “Might I remind you that you were tied up and getting beaten when first we met?”
“No, you may not remind me!” Jaejoong bellowed back at Yunho. “I am a prince of Joong! A royal Joong of Joong! Do you even know what that means? The importance…the great honor it is to be an actual Joong of Joong? Of course you don’t! You don’t know anything! And because of you I am on the floor of a cave…about to give birth! I don’t even have a pillow for my head and the only blanket I have…is a piece of skinned animal! My son, who is also of royal blood…even though his father is of an inferior species, is about to be delivered…delivered on fur! Fur from a dead animal! Look at how far I have fallen! You did this to me!”
Ryeowook took in the scene and quickly let his presence be known. “Jaejoong, you are always the prince of Joong…your royalty is a predetermined fact. It is not dependent on your location. Castles, hospitals, star ships, or caves have no affect on your royal pedigree.”
Jaejoong stopped glowering at Yunho to turn his focus on the newly arrived doctor.
Before Jaejoong could say a word, Ryeowook quickly moved to start assessing the Joong’s condition. “I shall admit that a cave is not a desired location to give birth in, but if anybody can do so with grace and dignity it is you.”
The snarl slipped off Jaejoong’s face as listened to the other man’s flattering words.
“You are the royal prince of Joong and every place you visit becomes better…just from you being there. This cave is no mere cave now. From now on it will be the sacred cave where Jaejoong the Royal Prince of Joong gave birth to the first hybrid child in history.”
The snarl remained off Jaejoong’s face as he pondered the truth of the doctor’s words, and found himself in full agreement.
“First off, we have to get these pants off,” Ryeowook calmly told the Joong as he began to remove Jaejoong’s pants. “It’s quite difficult to have a baby with pants on.”
Yoochun, who had been hiding behind Yunho unseen, stuck his head out from around Yunho for a quick peek. “Oh, that makes sense. I didn’t even think of it…but honestly, Jaejoong is the one person…man or woman...in the universe…the entire universe, that I have never ever had the slightest inclination to get his pants off.”
“Second,” Ryeowook blurted out quickly, before Jaejoong could respond to the engineer. “Yoochun, leave.”
Yoochun gave Yunho a hug from behind and declared, “Be safe, my brother.”
Yunho let out a small groan as Yoochun let go of him and ran for it.
“Third,” Ryeowook stated as he assessed Jaejoong. “Yunho, I need you to get behind Jaejoong so he can lean against you. You can be his pillow.”
“Absolutely, not!” Jaejoong protested, while grimacing as another contraction rocked his body. “His very existence is pissing me off right now.”
“Jaejoong,” Ryeowook scolded.
“No, he is so fucking happy…fucking ecstatic! I just want to rip his face off!”
Ryeowook glanced up at Yunho, whose nose had obviously been broken in several places and winced.
“Don’t feel sorry for him!” Jaejoong snapped. “Don’t you dare! I am suffering horribly and he is…he is just thrilled! The moment Changmin is born he will probably grab him and run off with him! He will never give me another thought!”
“You know that isn’t true,” Ryeowook told the Joong softly.
“The hell it isn’t!”
“Jaejoong, surely you are not picking this moment to be insecure,” Yunho accused as he tempered his emotions and ignored his own pain.
Jaejoong glared at his mate. “Don’t you use that captain’s voice on me…you let some imposter take over your ship. What kind of shitty captain are you?”
Ryeowook opened his mouth to admonish the Joong, but Yunho held up his hand, halting the doctor as he moved closer to the Joong.
“I did let my ship get taken over,” Yunho admitted as he bravely approached the Joong. “I followed the rules when I should never have relinquished control of the Expectations. I let everyone down…because I didn’t follow my instincts. I failed.”
Jaejoong said nothing as he eyed his mate suspiciously.
“If I had followed my instincts you would be in sickbay right now.”
“Yes, I would be…or maybe I would be in my big, comfortable bed…that is not covered with the fur of a dead animal!”
Yunho nodded his head as he carefully sat down behind the Joong, but remained a safe distance away, “Very true, but I would still be excited and you would still be scared.”
Jaejoong jerked his head to the side to glare back at Yunho. “I am not scared…I am hurting! In pain! Horrible pain!”
“You have always been insecure when it comes to Changmin, which is only natural. When first we met you only knew he meant the world to me. You did not know the reasons why…since you honored my wishes and did not read my mind. Only upon first meeting him did you realize he was actually our child…but due to reasons you could not understand you found that you lacked the important birth-parent bond with him that Joongs hold in such high reverence…while my bond with him was perfectly intact. I can only imagine how this made you feel,” Yunho said smoothly as he inched closer the Joong.
Jaejoong turned his head back to eye Ryeowook, but reluctantly admitted, “This is all true…and it made me feel terrible…but not as terrible as I am feeling right now. Do not come closer to me!”
Ryeowook watched as another contraction rocked Jaejoong’s body, causing the Joong to grimace in pain. “Jaejoong, you need to relax.”
“You need to shut the fuck up! How am I supposed to relax with this searing pain ripping through me?” Jaejoong bellowed as he leaned forward, squeezing his eyes shut.
“Haven’t you told me repeatedly that the bond rewards proximity?” Yunho asked softly, still inching closer. “Would it not benefit you if I did as the doctor asked? When your liver was badly damaged didn’t you tell me my touch diluted your pain?”
Jaejoong’s eyes flew open. “Yunho, I demand you hold me, now!”
Yunho sighed in relief and happily complied.
Ryeowook watched as Jaejoong’s whole body relaxed as Yunho situated himself behind him and slowly started to massage the Joong’s tense shoulders.
Jaejoong leaned against Yunho and declared, “I am an idiot…I am an idiot…I should have thought of this…I’m an idiot. Pain makes me an idiot; a stupid idiot.”
“No, you are not,” Yunho soothingly told him. “You were scared and hurting.”
“True,” Jaejoong conceded as the power of the bond washed his pain away. “Your enthusiasm was grating.”
“Next time, I promise to be solemn.”
“That will not be necessary,” Jaejoong told his lover with a grin. “Just be near…and duck next time.”
Yunho laughed and draped his arms around Jaejoong. “I can’t believe you sucker punched me.”
“Hey, I warned you ahead of time to wipe that stupid smile off your face…so therefore it was not a sucker punch…if I understand correctly what a sucker punch is.”
“My much abused ego is going to insist on calling it a sucker punch,” Yunho explained. “Please allow me this?”
“I will think about it,” Jaejoong conceded as he noticed a surprised look on Ryeowook’s face and questioned the doctor, “Ryeowook, the look upon your face…is unsettling, considering where you have recently had your hands. I must admit, even though I am in labor I am not comfortable with this new level of intimacy we are sharing, and I will most likely wipe it from your memory once my telepathic abilities have returned.”
“I am a doctor,” Ryeowook, who was crouched between Jaejoong’s legs, reminded the Joong in a deadpan voice.
“I do not require a doctor…although, that fact did elude me for awhile…when the pain made me…made me confused and slightly irritable.”
“Slightly irritable-Jaejoong, you need a doctor,” Yunho informed his mate. “You are about to have a baby.”
“He doesn’t need a doctor,” Ryeowook told Yunho as he quickly glanced at the soon-to-be parents and then back down. “He just needed you. Once you touched him he dilated to ten…then twenty…and then thirty. The baby is just going to…” Ryeowook paused as huge grin appeared on his face, “…slide on out. Human women would kill for this ability.”
“Just slide out?” A surprised Yunho asked to confirm.
“Yes, it’s amazing…” Ryeowook paused as the telepathic song of the Joong filled the minds of all as the infant emerged into the world with complete ease.
Every day and night with you
I take your hand
Every day every night everywhere
Now we feel connected and verified
Now, let the story begin
A beaming Ryeowook gazed down at the baby, who would someday become his dear friend; a friend that would stand beside him at the academy, making an unbearable time bearable. With loving and gentle hands he reached down for the babe that would become a man untainted by humanity’s darker and crueler emotions.
The infant cried out as soon as Ryeowook lifted him up, but stopped immediately as the doctor placed him in Jaejoong’s awaiting arms.
The doctor’s heart overflowed with happiness as he gazed at the new parents and the son they had so desperately missed. Then he quietly got to his feet and exited the cave, leaving the new parents alone with their newborn son.
The infant looked up at his birth-parent with wide, inquisitive blue eyes.
Yunho, who hadn’t moved away from Jaejoong, peered over his mate’s shoulders as tears of joy glided down his cheeks. “He’s…so perfect.”
Jaejoong, who was now experiencing his own emotions, plus Yunho’s and his newborn son’s, sniffled and explained, “Yes...a little perfect Joong.”
“Half Joong,” Yunho corrected, brimming over with happiness. “He looks so smart already.”
“Of course,” Jaejoong confirmed proudly.
“He definitely knows you,” Yunho told his mate as he gazed down at their son, whose eyes were locked on his birth-parent. “He can’t take his eyes off of you.”
“Of course,” Jaejoong repeated. “He will be partial to me for awhile, but soon you will be able to hold him with ease.”
“What would happen if I tried to hold him now?”
“He would cry like he did when Ryeowook held him,” Jaejoong answered never taking his eyes off his son as he rejoiced in their shared bond. “Right now, everything is so new to him and although he is not telepathic he does have limited empathic abilities. My emotions are comforting and familiar to him, but the touch of others-even yours will distress him at this stage. His empathic abilities are trigged by touch.”
“I can wait to hold him,” Yunho assured Jaejoong. “Seeing you with him is enough…honestly, I am so happy I think I might burst.”
“I know, I can feel the overwhelming joy.”
“Your telepathic and empathic powers have returned?”
“My empathic powers are back, but my telepathic ones are patchy at best…and I am beginning to be pulled under.”
“Pulled under?”
“I have started to shift back into my prior form,” Jaejoong answered drowsily. “Just let me sleep and keep Changmin next to me until I awaken.”
Yunho smiled and vowed, “I will hold you until you awaken and I am warning you…I just might never let go of you.”
“I love you…both of you…forever, forever and always” Jaejoong whispered before slipping off to sleep.
**********************
“You seem to spend a considerable amount of time on the planet drinking. The late Dr. Cho didn’t happen to recruit an alcoholic, did he?”
Woohyun, who had been busy stocking supplies in sickbay, jumped and spun around to find Dr. Kim’s penetrating gaze focused solely on him. “Ummm…no.”
“No, you don’t have an alcohol addiction or Dr. Cho did not recruit you?”
“I am not an alcoholic,” Woohyun blurted out. “I have been drinking more than usual…but it is not the norm…not my norm.”
Heechul’s gaze did not relent. “Why have you been drinking more than your norm?”
“Umm…the same reason everyone has been…we have been mourning. Everybody is drinking more…or most people are, but not you. Not you, of course…not to say that I don’t think you are mourning…of course you are mourning.”
“Stop rambling, Dr. Nam,” Heechul snapped. “And tell me who exactly you have been mourning.”
“Of all them,” Woohyun immediately replied, but quickly added, “I, of course, was closer to Dr. Cho and Junsu than the others.”
“Yes, one would assume you would be closer to Dr. Cho…and you and Junsu did share an adventure, didn’t you?”
“They were my friends…”
Heechul’s eyes narrowed. “Do you believe for one instance you have the mental capabilities to fool me?”
“I am also depressed over…my relationship…my lack of a relationship with Ensi-Lieutenant Sunggyu,” Woohyun spluttered out quickly. “He was the reason I joined the ship…not because Dr. Cho recruited me. I wanted to be with him…and he doesn’t feel the same way.”
Heechul tilted his head to the side. “This I believe…to an extent.”
Woohyun resisted the urge to back away from the perceptive doctor. “Why are questioning me like this? What is it…that you think I have done?”
“You have been acting depressed when you aren’t. I can sniff a diagnosis from light years away, and I know you are not depressed,” Heechul informed the young doctor. “So why would you pretend to be depressed?”
“To drink more…” Woohyun replied quickly, trying not to appear as if he was grasping at straws. “It isn’t a bad…drinking habit. I mean, you …you know that from the state of my liver. If I had a bad drinking habit…it would have been detected and treated on my arrival on this ship.”
The older doctor walked closer to Woohyun, but did not touch him. He just grinned and said admirably, “You are a clever one aren’t you?”
“I try…”
“Not the usual riffraff from this sector-”
“Channnggggmminnnnn,” the loud piercing scream of Sulli interrupted Dr. Kim, much to Dr. Nam’s relief.
Dr. Kim didn’t give Woohyun a parting glance as he took off toward the girl’s room. The scream was followed by the sound of alarms going off in sickbay alerting them Sulli was being released from her stasis chamber.
Woohyun quickly followed after Dr. Kim.
They both entered Sulli’s room to find her sitting up in bed, shivering, and looking terrified.
Heechul slowly approached the bed and in a soothing tone, the opposite of the one he had used on Woohyun, he told the distraught girl, “Sulli, everything is okay…you were sleeping.”
“Don’t touch me!” Sulli screamed as she pulled her arms and legs tightly into her body. “Don’t touch me!”
“Sulli, do you recognize me?” Heechul asked as he stopped his approach to the bed.
Sulli frantically shook her head, while rambling. “You’re a man…a man…man…bad man…man…bad…man…hurt…hurt.”
“Princess Sulli,” Heechul said softly in his calmest voice. “I would never hurt you.”
“Man…bad…don’t touch me!” she cried hysterically as she reached up to pull at her own hair. “Leave me alone! Don’t touch!”
Woohyun asked, “Should we risk sedating her?”
“No, not at this point,” Heechul responded, studying the hysterical girl. “Call for Lieutenant Sooyoung. Her psyche is severely damaged…as it should have been from the start. Maybe the lieutenant will be able to calm her.”
****************
Ryeowook emerged from the cave with a grin that spread across his whole face. “It’s a boy!”
Junsu, who couldn’t stay still, jumped up. “Changmin!”
Yoochun, who was trying his best to act nonchalant regarding the birth of his favorite scientist, stated, “I guessed as much when the sappy ballad started playing in my head.”
Kyuhyun walked up to Ryeowook, took his husband’s hand and clasped it. “Didn’t we know it was going to be boy?”
“I am never sure of anything when it comes to Jaejoong,” Ryeowook admitted, still grinning. “I examined Jaejoong countless times while he was pregnant and every time there was a placenta and an umbilical cord, but when the baby was born there was neither. He just slipped out.”
Yoochun leaned against the cave and praised Ryeowook, “Doc, I got to give you props…you tamed that raging beast.”
“No, Yunho tamed him,” Ryeowook said correcting Yoochun. “One he got close enough to touch Jaejoong everything went smoothly.”
Yoochun shook his head, disagreeing. “No, Yunho couldn’t get near him until you arrived. Jaejoong might look like a sweet, fairy princess but when he punched Yunho in the face…I felt it.”
Junsu winced in agreement. “I heard it out here.”
“Most mothers to be get a little testy when the contractions hit…Jaejoong just more so than most,” Ryeowook explained. “His empathic and telepathic powers allow him to know what words can inflict the most harm.”
“Yeah, and his right punch rivals a rabid Klingon,” Yoochun added.
“He will heal Yunho,” Ryeowook told Yoochun. “Yunho has probably already forgotten about being hit…they both looked so happy and Changmin is an adorable baby. They make a beautiful family.”
“The song is beautiful, too,” Kyuhyun stated, admiring the telepathic song still playing in his head.
“It is,” Junsu agreed. “I just want to start singing along.”
“Don’t you dare,” Ryeowook ordered as he turned all his attention on the ensign. “You need to take it easy…and by easy I mean sitting or sleeping. Your throat has to recover. Don’t make me regret giving you permission to talk.”
Yoochun reached out, took Junsu’s hand and pulled him toward him. “Come sit with me and be quiet. Ryeowook might muzzle you.”
Junsu easily relented and sat down beside Yoochun.
“You don’t have to sing along,” the engineer told the ensign. “You are already singing in my head.”
“Along with you, Yunho, Changmin, and Jaejoong…I wonder why it is always us five,” Junsu stated curiously.
Ryeowook pondered Junsu’s words and responded, “I have no idea…because Kyuhyun and I can both sing and Kyuhyun’s voice is pure perfection.”
Kyuhyun blushed. “No, no it isn’t.”
“It is.”
“You are biased.”
Ryeowook nodded his head. “I am totally biased, but it is still the truth.”
Kyuhyun, who was eager to change the topic, asked his husband, “You didn’t by any chance confess to Yunho about what happened in the forest?”
Yoochun quipped, “Oh, everybody knows what you two were doing in the forest. Even sweet but dense Junsu knows what you two were doing.”
Junsu immediately blurted out, “Congratulations on being a properly married couple again.”
Kyuhyun shook his head. “Thank you…but that isn’t what we need to tell the captain…although it was amazing.”
“We saw your flying monkeys,” Ryeowook quickly divulged. “I mean the big birds you saw…they are actually flying monkeys.”
“I knew they were real,” Junsu proclaimed, trying to jump up again, but Yoochun grabbed him and prevented him from getting up.
Yoochun forced his gaze away form the pleased ensign and then looked up at the married couple, who were standing side by side. “What aren’t you saying?”
“They stole the phaser,” Kyuhyun stated.
“They what!” Yoochun exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. “How the fuck did they steal the phaser?”
Kyuhyun rubbed the back of his neck. “I think you know how.”
Yoochun resisted the urge to chastise the other commander, who looked like he knew exactly how grave an error he had committed. “Are they intelligent?”
“We didn’t have time to scan them with the tricorder before they were gone,” Ryeowook explained. “They appeared to be intelligent.”
“Smart enough to take the phaser…” Yoochun paled.
“Do you think they are smart enough to figure out how to work it?” Junsu asked in a voice full of dread.
“The safeties were all in place…correct?” Yoochun asked, hoping for confirmation.
“Of course,” Kyuhyun quickly answered.
“Then unless they get Star Fleet clearance, they won’t be able to work it,” Yoochun said, letting out a breath of relief.
Ryeowook turned his back on the others and looked out towards the forest. “Maybe they are like the vistalin birds on Baylor…maybe they just crave shiny objects.”
Kyuhyun followed his husbands gaze. “I sincerely hope so.”
“That has to be it,” Junsu stated hopefully. “Why would they want it if they can’t work it?”
“They don’t know they can’t work it,” Yoochun reminded them as he turned to face the cave’s entrance, “We have to tell Yunho. This can’t wait.”
“Yes,” Kyuhyun agreed, still looking off toward the forest. “Because if they are intelligent they know we can work it and by taking it perhaps-” Kyuhyun never had a chance to finish his sentence as a bombardment of rocks started rolling down the side of the volcano straight for them.
************************
Kangin followed Sunggyu up to the third floor of the brothel and walked into one of the more spacious room. He had a great deal of reservations concerning the younger man and he was more than ready to share them, but he felt he owed it to both Yoochun and Yunho to see what the younger man had to say.
Sunggyu opened the door and walked in; reluctantly Kangin followed him along with the ensigns Dongwoo and Myungsoo.
Kangin was barely in the room before he was injected with a hypospray that rendered him instantly sober.
“What the hell…” Kangin paused as his mind cleared and he took in the room. The room was full of technology from the ship, plus Lieutenant Sooyoung, who had just injected him with the hypospray. “What the hell are you doing?”
Sunggyu, who stood in front of Kangin facing him, stated, “Some would call it mutiny, but they would be wrong.”
“Mutiny?”
“Captain Jung is not dead,” Sunggyu informed the older man matter-of-factly. “Leeteuk and Dr. Kim are imposters, who are somehow controlling the real Dr. Kim and Commander Leeteuk’s bodies.”
“How can you be sure?” Kangin whispered, not daring to hope as he looked around the room and then back at the acting lieutenant.
“There is plenty of proof,” Lieutenant Sooyoung stated. “Once you start looking.”
Sunggyu maintained a steady gaze with Kangin. “Dr. Kim, himself, tried desperately to warn us.”
Kangin gasped, “When?”
“When the anomaly hit the ship...when the boy Taemin and the young Joong appeared, Dr. Kim started having spasms and before he lost consciousness he told Dr. Nam ‘not me, another’…he was warning us. We just didn’t know it,” Lieutenant Sooyoung explained.
“Commander Ji-Hoon basically said the same thing before he had to be put back into stasis after the engineering incident,” Sunggyu added.
For weeks Kangin had felt as if the universe was tilted at an odd angle and he couldn’t right himself, but with their words he felt the universe shifting back into its rightful and proper place. “And what other proof do you have?”
“The most important proof is supplied by our own memories,” Lieutenant Sooyoung said, continuing. “If the captain and Jaejoong were dead then Changmin…would never have been born. How can we remember a person so vividly that never existed? It is more than obvious the Guardian whisked the captain and Jaejoong away before the sun exploded.”
“But the Guardian…couldn’t it have also done something to affect our memories?” Kangin asked. “Doesn’t the Guardian have the ability to bypass the normal rules regarding time and space?”
Sunggyu answered, “We are not sure what the Guardian is capable of, but there is still more proof.”
“Then there is Sulli,” Lieutenant Sooyoung quickly offered up. “She went into a deep sleep the moment Changmin disappeared…and she has not awakened, but she will. If Changmin were truly lost…Sulli would be dead.”
Kangin met the beautiful lieutenant’s gaze. “Because you believe them to be bonded, but that is just theory…a theory you want to be true.”
“I know they are bonded,” Sooyoung answered without reservation or hesitation. “Before Lieutenant Jung disappeared I saw him with her…and they are bonded. She could not accept it, but he knew it. He knew she would lose consciousness the moment he disappeared.”
“And there is this,” Sunggyu stated as a video appeared in the air showing Yunho, Yoochun and Kyuhyun in the brig talking to Dr. Cho and Jaejoong. “If you can’t believe us, listen to them. Believe them. Hear their words.”
Kangin watched and listened in amazement as Yunho and the others talked of rogue Joongs, imposters and the search for ancient artifacts. “How did you get this? You shouldn’t have been able to get this.”
“It wasn’t easy. It had been erased, but luckily the people that erased it lacked the skills to permanently delete it,” Sunggyu replied. “Lieutenant Sooyoung was able to recover it.”
“But still how did you get it without alerting anyone?”
“You forget that I had complete access to the entire ship…along with some very helpful friends.”
The older man did a complete double take. “Did you plan the breech? Was that…was that…did you do it to get access to the ship?”
“No,” Sunggyu immediately replied, shaking his head adamantly. “I didn’t but after it was contained…I did take full advantage of the situation. I won’t lie.”
Kangin folded his arms across his chest and said approvingly, “I am sorry I ever doubted you.”
“Believe me, it was a group effort,” Sunggyu informed the other man. “I have had an extraordinary amount of help.”
“How many people know?” Kangin asked as he turned around to look at the ensigns Dongwoo and Myungsoo, who had been so insistent about him not resigning. “Obviously these two are in on it, Dr. Nam and Ensign Henry must know if they were both left alone with you on the ship and somebody in the transporter department must be in on it, considering all the equipment you have in this room.”
Lieutenant Sooyoung answered, “You are not wrong, plus there are others…a trusted few from different departments on the ship.”
“All the men that were cadets with me,” Sunggyu added. “I trust them…like I trust you.”
“I am glad to be included,” Kangin replied sincerely. “How do we prove they are alive though? Most of the crew is going to need proof…and although the video is enough proof for me, it won’t be for everyone.”
“In truth we can’t be sure that Commander Yoochun, Commander Cho, Dr. Cho or Ensign Junsu are alive,” Lieutenant Sooyoung informed Kangin. “We can only be certain that the captain and Jaejoong are alive.”
Kangin’s smile vanished. “Because you can’t be certain the Guardian would save the others.”
“No,” Sunggyu confessed. “But there is a way of finding out for certain if they are still alive.”
“Then do it,” Kangin told them. “You have to do it.”
“We can’t do it without Ensign Eunhyuk,” Sunggyu explained, looking less confident.
Kangin immediately understood the problem. “And Ensign Eunhyuk is rarely out of Lieutenant Sungmin’s sight of late…and Lieutenant Sungmin can not get wind of this.”
“Exactly,” Lieutenant Sooyoung confirmed. “Since Junsu’s supposed death the chief of security has been sticking very close to Ensign Eunhyuk.”
“Under no circumstances can Lieutenant Sungmin suspect us,” Dongwoo warned from behind Kangin. “He is…extremely dedicated to Captain Leeteuk and he is already suspicious of everyone.”
“True,” Kangin agreed. “He is batshit crazy when it comes to Captain Leeteuk.”
“Not Captain Leeteuk,” Sunggyu corrected. “We must not think of that imposter as the captain. He is not the captain. Captain Jung is the true captain of the Expectations.”
Kangin grinned widely and nodded his head in agreement.
“Very true,” Lieutenant Sooyoung concurred. “But in order to return Captain Jung to his rightful position…we must deal with Lieutenant Sungmin.”
Kangin rubbed his hands together and confidently informed them, “Oh, I can think of one sure fire way of distracting him.”
Sunggyu’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Kangin pointed at Lieutenant Sooyoung. “I believe you and I are both on good terms with a certain prince…who is very skilled at distracting the security chief.”
“I can not go near Siwon without getting a dangerous amount of unwanted attention from Lieutenant Sungmin. Acting Lieutenant Sunggyu and I had to purposely manufacture false rumors of us being lovers to get him to stop paying unwelcome attention to me and my comings and goings.”
The older ensign turned to face the acting lieutenant and gave him a sympathetic look. “False rumors? That has to be a bummer, but hey, your reputation improved significantly because of them.”
Sunggyu just smiled and shrugged.
Lieutenant Sooyoung’s expression soured for a moment and she stated in a clipped tone, “Maybe saving the away team on Pixxel…not to mention the thousands of people on that planet, and saving the ship from a warp core breach are what improved his reputation.”
Kangin grinned at her and discarded her suggestion. “No, dating you is the real reputation booster.”
“Back to the topic,” Sunggyu ordered, noticing the lieutenant’s irritation. “Ensign Kangin, since Lieutenant Sooyoung can not talk to Siwon without raising the ire of Lieutenant Sungmin, can you do it?”
“I’d love to,” Kangin told them. “But how is bringing Eunhyuk into the fold going to prove the others are alive?”
“Well, luckily for us Lieutenant Jung left detailed notes on certain crystals he had studied in secret,” Sooyoung stated with a grin.
Kangin’s eyes lit up wide. “The soul switching stones?”
Sunggyu did not bother to suppress his grin as he happily elaborated, “And luckily they have recently come into our possession.”
“If we can get Eunhyuk to agree to assist us, his touching the stones should activate-” Sooyoung was interrupted when her combadge went off. She shared an uneasy look with Sunggyu before she tapped it.
The voice of Dr. Nam was immediately heard, “Lieutenant Sooyoung, you need to get up here. Sulli is awake.”
********************************
Yunho was in heaven.
He was holding Jaejoong as his beloved mate shifted back into his human form. Changmin slept easily in Jaejoong’s arms that had not relinquished their hold on the newborn, even in sleep.
Yunho had always tried to live his life as happily as possible. He had always known what he wanted and he had always gone after it. When times of sadness had darkened his usual optimism he had always done his best to defeat it like it was a deadly foe. His mother had once told him it did him no good to dwell on the miserable and that happiness suited him best, and he full heartedly agreed. Yunho could not remember a time when he had been happier than he was in this moment.
With the sounds of large boulders rolling down the side of the volcano and rocks being dropped outside the cave, Yunho’s heaven gave way to hell.
Yunho moved quickly as he gently laid Jaejoong down on the fur, while making sure Changmin did not fall from the sleeping Joong’s arms. He then quickly got to his feet and rushed toward the exit of the cave.
Before Yunho made it to the cave’s opening Junsu was pushed inside the cave against his will. The former captain quickly noted that the young ensign had new bruises and abrasions covering his face and hands.
“Junsu, what is going on?”
The shaking ensign attempted his best to control his fear and anguish as exclaimed, “Sir, it’s the birds…the birds I saw! They are not really birds! Some are pushing boulders down on us and others are dropping rocks on us!”
“Who has the phaser?” Yunho asked at a loss…surely the birds were no threat…not against a phaser.
“We don’t have it. They took it when-”
“YOOCHUN!” Ryeowook’s high pitched scream pierced through the sound of the falling rocks.
Junsu was forgotten as Yunho swiftly exited the cave in search of his long time friend. It was complete madness outside of the cave as the sounds of the cackling bird creatures could be heard. Yunho looked up to see the humanoid flying creatures as they circled above them tossing down rocks.
“Don’t be still,” Kyuhyun warned as he grabbed a hold of Yunho and jerked him toward the side of the volcano, providing some small shelter against the onslaught of rocks. “If you are still they will hit you with the rocks. Don’t give them anything to aim at. Keep moving.”
Yunho grabbed Kyuhyun and spun him around and demanded, “Where is the phaser?”
“They took it,” Kyuhyun explained as he pulled Yunho toward a large boulder the flying creatures had pushed down the side of the volcano at them.
“How did that happen? Did they attack you?”
“Sir…they have it now,” was all Kyuhyun could say.
Before Yunho could further demand answers his mouth went numb and his heart skipped a beat as he caught sight of a horrifying scene. On the other side of the huge boulder was Yoochun. Only half of Yoochun could be seen as the other half of him was crushed underneath a huge boulder that had to weigh over two tons.
Ryeowook, who was examining Yoochun, looked up at Yunho and the look on the doctor’s face let him know more than words could ever communicate.
“We have to get him out from under there,” Yunho ordered, knowing it was impossible. He had known it was futile the moment he had seen the look in the doctor’s eyes, but refused accept the truth.
“Sir, how?” Kyuhyun asked as he dodged the dropping rocks. “It’s too heavy to move.”
“We…a lever…or something…we have to move it enough to pull him free…there has to be a way,” Yunho shouted loudly so he could be heard over the cackling of the flying monkeys. “There has to be a way.”
Ryeowook, who has been hit by several rocks while examining the engineer, shakily climbed to his feet with blood pouring from the side of his head, and shouted, “Both his femoral arteries are severed…if we move him or remove the boulder he will be dead in seconds…I can’t do anything…there…we…we can’t move the boulder. The pressure from the weight of it is the only thing keeping him alive.”
A loud, almost deafening roar could be heard and the flying monkeys went silent, hovering in place. Kyuhyun, Yunho, and Ryeowook turned their heads toward the grassland and saw three large dinosaurs rushing toward them.
“They must have heard the noise or smelled…smelled the blood,” Kyuhyun whispered, knowing there was no hope for the engineer. “We have to get inside the cave.”
Ryeowook, who knew it was pointless, pushed his sorrow aside, and went against his every instinct. “Kyuhyun is right…there isn’t anything we can do for him.”
“No! We can’t leave him…there is a way. I just have to think of it! We have to think!” Yunho shouted back at the doctor as a large rock hit him and ripped a gash down the side of his arm and back. “We don’t leave people! We can’t leave him! Not like this!”
“We don’t have a choice!” Ryeowook screamed back at the captain as the flying monkeys commenced with their cackling and bombardment of rocks.
“Yunho,” Yoochun whispered and even though the crashing down of the rocks, cackling of the monkeys, and the roars of the dinosaurs Yunho could hear it. “You have to go.”
Yunho moved toward his friend, bent over him, and took his friends hand. “I can’t…don’t ask me to do that...you know I can’t.”
“You have to get in the cave…you all have to get in the cave…you can’t save me.”
“I have to try! I can’t leave you like this. No…No!”
“Listen to me!”
“No!”
Yoochun squeezed Yunho’s hand with the last of his strength. “You have been the best friend…the best friend a man like me could ever ask for, but now our time has come to an end. Get in that cave…your family…they need you…literally, dumbass! If you die, they die! Get in that cave!” Yoochun screamed and jerked his hand free of Yunho. “Save your family!”
Yunho stumbled back, away from Yoochun as the awful truth of his friend’s words registered with him. Small rocks pelted down on him, but he felt no physical pain. He only felt the pain of the impossible situation he had been placed in…the terrible cost.
“Junsu, get back in that cave this minute,” Ryeowook ordered as the young ensign slipped past him to kneel down at Yoochun’s side.
“No,” Junsu told the doctor as he placed both his hands on the sides of the engineer’s face and bent down and kissed Yoochun for what felt like the first time, but in truth was the last time.
“Kyuhyun,” Ryeowook pleaded, hating to be the voice of reason. “We have to get them inside…I know it’s hard, but we have to get them all inside.”
Kyuhyun glanced away from the approaching dinosaurs and headed for Junsu, along with Ryeowook. They both struggled, but finally they succeeded in prying Junsu away from the doomed engineer.
As Junsu was pulled free of him, Yoochun managed a sincere grin as he whispered to the earnest ensign, “Perhaps, in another life.”
A crying Junsu agreed, “In another life.”
With heavy hearts Kyuhyun and Ryeowook pushed and tugged an uncooperative Junsu back inside the cave.
Yunho had walked back to Yoochun.
Yoochun, who was deathly pale and struggling to remain conscious, begged his friend, “Please…please go back inside. I’m dead already.”
“I can…can’t…” Yunho paused, knowing what he had to do, but hating it. Hating it more than he had ever hated anything and knowing it would cost him more than he could ever pay. The giant reptilian beasts were almost upon them and by staying outside the cave he knew he was risking everyone…he knew what he had to do, but he knew he would never be the same after doing it.
“You must…go,” Yoochun beseeched with the last of his strength.
“I am so sorry,” Yunho told his friend with tears in his eyes. “You are my dearest friend…and I love you…and I am so sorry. You will never know how sorry I am.”
“Go…” Yoochun cried. “Go, live…go.”
Yunho didn’t know if was his weakness or his strength that made him turn his back on his friend and head back toward the cave…but it felt like weakness.
After having pushed a brokenhearted Junsu back inside the cave Ryeowook and Kyuhyun were on their way to drag their distraught captain back inside the safety of the cave when they noticed him heading for the cave.
“Hurry!” Ryeowook shouted from the cave’s entrance as the reptilian beasts rushed toward the captain; they were dangerously close. “Run!”
The Chos watched in horror when instead of running to the cave, Yunho stumbled and dropped to his knees.
“Captain!” Kyuhyun exclaimed, attempting to run for the captain, but Ryeowook grabbed him and held him back. “I have to try to save him!”
“No, you don’t,” Ryeowook stated, pointing toward the dinosaurs who had stopped their approach. The giant beasts were not two meters away from the captain but they had stopped in mid run.
They couple shared a perplexed look with each other before they started to comprehend what as going on.
“The rocks,” Kyuhyun muttered as he looked up and noticed they had stopped falling. The flying creatures had stopped their attack and the deafening cackling.
The couple stepped away from the entrance of the cave and cautiously moved toward Yunho. “Captain,” Kyuhyun whispered as he approached the captain. Yunho looked up at his second in command.
“It’s okay,” Yunho told them with relief easily seen on his face. “It’s all okay, now,” Yunho stated as he looked out toward the giant beasts, which were frozen in place as if they feared to move. “They won’t hurt us now.”
“Jaejoong…” Ryeowook whispered under his breath as he turned around in time to see the Joong emerge from the cave.
Jaejoong’s hermaphrodite form was gone and he appeared exactly as he had when Ryeowook had first laid eyes on him. He was beautiful with lustrous thick black hair and huge beautiful brown eyes. He cradled the baby against his chest with one arm.
Jaejoong walked past the couple paying them no attention and moved toward Yunho, who had not moved to get up. Jaejoong walked up behind his mate and laid his free hand on Yunho’s shoulder and gently squeezed it. “My love.”
Yunho exhaled a deep breath. “I could feel you awaken.”
“Your distress reached me.”
“Are you alright?”
“I am.”
“You have control of them?”
“Of course, they are easily controlled.”
“We need the phaser back…and we need to get the boulder off of Yoochun.”
Jaejoong sent out a silent order to the flying creatures and one immediately landed on the ground next to Kyuhyun and held out the phaser. Kyuhyun quickly snatched the phaser away from the creature.
“Yunho, I could easily have the giant beasts move the boulder, but Ryeowook’s mind is full of warnings. Moving the boulder will immediately result in the death of your friend…I can not save Yoochun.”
“There has to be a way to save him.”
“There is a way.”
“There is?”
“Yes, aren’t you the one who is always telling me there is always hope?”
“For a moment…I think I lost all hope.”
“No, you did not.”
Yunho slowly climbed to his feet, turned around, and gazed upon his beloved. “I am so sorry for putting you at risk.”
“You need not apologize. I can feel the aching in your heart and the strain from the great burden that was placed on it…the impossible choice. I know you were moving toward the cave when you felt me awaken,” Jaejoong mentally told his great love as he reached up with his free hand and wiped away the blood and tears from Yunho’s face with his healing touch. “I know how much you love me, Changmin, Yoochun and everyone. I know the great responsibility you feel.”
Yunho felt the power of the bond as it spread throughout his body, healing his wounds. He reached up and took Jaejoong’s hand in his and caressed it softly. “I still do not know how we will save him.”
Jaejoong smiled and said aloud, “It’s time to leave this place.”
Yunho’s eyes lit up with the hope he had thought he had lost; his mother had been right so long ago…misery did not suit him.
Jaejoong bowed his head and with words of great reverence, he stated aloud and telepathically, “Great Guardian of Time, it is I, Jaejoong of the Royal House of Joong. Once again I must meekly call upon you for your assistance. We humbly ask to leave this planet and be returned to our rightful place. If in your infinite wisdom you see fit to answer my plea, I shall forever be thankful.”
Before anyone had time to utter a word the Guardian pulled them all away.
Adventure Fifteen: Begin Again, Part 4 of 4
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: KyuWook, Yunjae, Various
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Romance, Science Fiction, Adventure
Length: Chaptered
Beta: tahoeturquoise
A/N: This story is inspired by Star Trek and the Kpop community.
Summary: The cycle of life continues as alliances are made, love moves forward, a beloved infant is born, and the journey of two souls inch closer and closer to the evitable end.
Prior Adventures
“Doctor Cho!” Junsu shouted as he rushed toward the married couple as they approached the cave.
Ryeowook, who had ran the entire way back with Kyuhyun, continued to hurry toward the cave, not stopping to greet Junsu but he did manage to scold the ensign as he passed by him. “Junsu, sit down! You are supposed to being taking it easy!”
“I know…but…but I think Jaejoong might kill them both,” Junsu explained as he followed Ryeowook to the cave’s opening, while waving his arms in the air. “I think he has super strength we didn’t know about.”
“He won’t kill…” Ryeowook paused before entering the cave as he heard screaming coming from inside the cave…very loud, vicious screaming. Ryeowook quickly grasped that the Prince of Joong was not happy to be experiencing contractions. “You two stay here…I’ll handle this.”
Kyuhyun and Junsu didn’t argue with the doctor as they watched him boldly enter the cave.
“My life has been one cursed event after the next…since I met you!” Jaejoong screeched at a hapless looking Yunho.
Jaejoong was lying on the floor of the cave, leaning back against his elbows, and glaring up at his mate.
Yunho, who had blood dripping down his face, struggled to remain civil with the seething Joong. “Might I remind you that you were tied up and getting beaten when first we met?”
“No, you may not remind me!” Jaejoong bellowed back at Yunho. “I am a prince of Joong! A royal Joong of Joong! Do you even know what that means? The importance…the great honor it is to be an actual Joong of Joong? Of course you don’t! You don’t know anything! And because of you I am on the floor of a cave…about to give birth! I don’t even have a pillow for my head and the only blanket I have…is a piece of skinned animal! My son, who is also of royal blood…even though his father is of an inferior species, is about to be delivered…delivered on fur! Fur from a dead animal! Look at how far I have fallen! You did this to me!”
Ryeowook took in the scene and quickly let his presence be known. “Jaejoong, you are always the prince of Joong…your royalty is a predetermined fact. It is not dependent on your location. Castles, hospitals, star ships, or caves have no affect on your royal pedigree.”
Jaejoong stopped glowering at Yunho to turn his focus on the newly arrived doctor.
Before Jaejoong could say a word, Ryeowook quickly moved to start assessing the Joong’s condition. “I shall admit that a cave is not a desired location to give birth in, but if anybody can do so with grace and dignity it is you.”
The snarl slipped off Jaejoong’s face as listened to the other man’s flattering words.
“You are the royal prince of Joong and every place you visit becomes better…just from you being there. This cave is no mere cave now. From now on it will be the sacred cave where Jaejoong the Royal Prince of Joong gave birth to the first hybrid child in history.”
The snarl remained off Jaejoong’s face as he pondered the truth of the doctor’s words, and found himself in full agreement.
“First off, we have to get these pants off,” Ryeowook calmly told the Joong as he began to remove Jaejoong’s pants. “It’s quite difficult to have a baby with pants on.”
Yoochun, who had been hiding behind Yunho unseen, stuck his head out from around Yunho for a quick peek. “Oh, that makes sense. I didn’t even think of it…but honestly, Jaejoong is the one person…man or woman...in the universe…the entire universe, that I have never ever had the slightest inclination to get his pants off.”
“Second,” Ryeowook blurted out quickly, before Jaejoong could respond to the engineer. “Yoochun, leave.”
Yoochun gave Yunho a hug from behind and declared, “Be safe, my brother.”
Yunho let out a small groan as Yoochun let go of him and ran for it.
“Third,” Ryeowook stated as he assessed Jaejoong. “Yunho, I need you to get behind Jaejoong so he can lean against you. You can be his pillow.”
“Absolutely, not!” Jaejoong protested, while grimacing as another contraction rocked his body. “His very existence is pissing me off right now.”
“Jaejoong,” Ryeowook scolded.
“No, he is so fucking happy…fucking ecstatic! I just want to rip his face off!”
Ryeowook glanced up at Yunho, whose nose had obviously been broken in several places and winced.
“Don’t feel sorry for him!” Jaejoong snapped. “Don’t you dare! I am suffering horribly and he is…he is just thrilled! The moment Changmin is born he will probably grab him and run off with him! He will never give me another thought!”
“You know that isn’t true,” Ryeowook told the Joong softly.
“The hell it isn’t!”
“Jaejoong, surely you are not picking this moment to be insecure,” Yunho accused as he tempered his emotions and ignored his own pain.
Jaejoong glared at his mate. “Don’t you use that captain’s voice on me…you let some imposter take over your ship. What kind of shitty captain are you?”
Ryeowook opened his mouth to admonish the Joong, but Yunho held up his hand, halting the doctor as he moved closer to the Joong.
“I did let my ship get taken over,” Yunho admitted as he bravely approached the Joong. “I followed the rules when I should never have relinquished control of the Expectations. I let everyone down…because I didn’t follow my instincts. I failed.”
Jaejoong said nothing as he eyed his mate suspiciously.
“If I had followed my instincts you would be in sickbay right now.”
“Yes, I would be…or maybe I would be in my big, comfortable bed…that is not covered with the fur of a dead animal!”
Yunho nodded his head as he carefully sat down behind the Joong, but remained a safe distance away, “Very true, but I would still be excited and you would still be scared.”
Jaejoong jerked his head to the side to glare back at Yunho. “I am not scared…I am hurting! In pain! Horrible pain!”
“You have always been insecure when it comes to Changmin, which is only natural. When first we met you only knew he meant the world to me. You did not know the reasons why…since you honored my wishes and did not read my mind. Only upon first meeting him did you realize he was actually our child…but due to reasons you could not understand you found that you lacked the important birth-parent bond with him that Joongs hold in such high reverence…while my bond with him was perfectly intact. I can only imagine how this made you feel,” Yunho said smoothly as he inched closer the Joong.
Jaejoong turned his head back to eye Ryeowook, but reluctantly admitted, “This is all true…and it made me feel terrible…but not as terrible as I am feeling right now. Do not come closer to me!”
Ryeowook watched as another contraction rocked Jaejoong’s body, causing the Joong to grimace in pain. “Jaejoong, you need to relax.”
“You need to shut the fuck up! How am I supposed to relax with this searing pain ripping through me?” Jaejoong bellowed as he leaned forward, squeezing his eyes shut.
“Haven’t you told me repeatedly that the bond rewards proximity?” Yunho asked softly, still inching closer. “Would it not benefit you if I did as the doctor asked? When your liver was badly damaged didn’t you tell me my touch diluted your pain?”
Jaejoong’s eyes flew open. “Yunho, I demand you hold me, now!”
Yunho sighed in relief and happily complied.
Ryeowook watched as Jaejoong’s whole body relaxed as Yunho situated himself behind him and slowly started to massage the Joong’s tense shoulders.
Jaejoong leaned against Yunho and declared, “I am an idiot…I am an idiot…I should have thought of this…I’m an idiot. Pain makes me an idiot; a stupid idiot.”
“No, you are not,” Yunho soothingly told him. “You were scared and hurting.”
“True,” Jaejoong conceded as the power of the bond washed his pain away. “Your enthusiasm was grating.”
“Next time, I promise to be solemn.”
“That will not be necessary,” Jaejoong told his lover with a grin. “Just be near…and duck next time.”
Yunho laughed and draped his arms around Jaejoong. “I can’t believe you sucker punched me.”
“Hey, I warned you ahead of time to wipe that stupid smile off your face…so therefore it was not a sucker punch…if I understand correctly what a sucker punch is.”
“My much abused ego is going to insist on calling it a sucker punch,” Yunho explained. “Please allow me this?”
“I will think about it,” Jaejoong conceded as he noticed a surprised look on Ryeowook’s face and questioned the doctor, “Ryeowook, the look upon your face…is unsettling, considering where you have recently had your hands. I must admit, even though I am in labor I am not comfortable with this new level of intimacy we are sharing, and I will most likely wipe it from your memory once my telepathic abilities have returned.”
“I am a doctor,” Ryeowook, who was crouched between Jaejoong’s legs, reminded the Joong in a deadpan voice.
“I do not require a doctor…although, that fact did elude me for awhile…when the pain made me…made me confused and slightly irritable.”
“Slightly irritable-Jaejoong, you need a doctor,” Yunho informed his mate. “You are about to have a baby.”
“He doesn’t need a doctor,” Ryeowook told Yunho as he quickly glanced at the soon-to-be parents and then back down. “He just needed you. Once you touched him he dilated to ten…then twenty…and then thirty. The baby is just going to…” Ryeowook paused as huge grin appeared on his face, “…slide on out. Human women would kill for this ability.”
“Just slide out?” A surprised Yunho asked to confirm.
“Yes, it’s amazing…” Ryeowook paused as the telepathic song of the Joong filled the minds of all as the infant emerged into the world with complete ease.
Every day and night with you
I take your hand
Every day every night everywhere
Now we feel connected and verified
Now, let the story begin
A beaming Ryeowook gazed down at the baby, who would someday become his dear friend; a friend that would stand beside him at the academy, making an unbearable time bearable. With loving and gentle hands he reached down for the babe that would become a man untainted by humanity’s darker and crueler emotions.
The infant cried out as soon as Ryeowook lifted him up, but stopped immediately as the doctor placed him in Jaejoong’s awaiting arms.
The doctor’s heart overflowed with happiness as he gazed at the new parents and the son they had so desperately missed. Then he quietly got to his feet and exited the cave, leaving the new parents alone with their newborn son.
The infant looked up at his birth-parent with wide, inquisitive blue eyes.
Yunho, who hadn’t moved away from Jaejoong, peered over his mate’s shoulders as tears of joy glided down his cheeks. “He’s…so perfect.”
Jaejoong, who was now experiencing his own emotions, plus Yunho’s and his newborn son’s, sniffled and explained, “Yes...a little perfect Joong.”
“Half Joong,” Yunho corrected, brimming over with happiness. “He looks so smart already.”
“Of course,” Jaejoong confirmed proudly.
“He definitely knows you,” Yunho told his mate as he gazed down at their son, whose eyes were locked on his birth-parent. “He can’t take his eyes off of you.”
“Of course,” Jaejoong repeated. “He will be partial to me for awhile, but soon you will be able to hold him with ease.”
“What would happen if I tried to hold him now?”
“He would cry like he did when Ryeowook held him,” Jaejoong answered never taking his eyes off his son as he rejoiced in their shared bond. “Right now, everything is so new to him and although he is not telepathic he does have limited empathic abilities. My emotions are comforting and familiar to him, but the touch of others-even yours will distress him at this stage. His empathic abilities are trigged by touch.”
“I can wait to hold him,” Yunho assured Jaejoong. “Seeing you with him is enough…honestly, I am so happy I think I might burst.”
“I know, I can feel the overwhelming joy.”
“Your telepathic and empathic powers have returned?”
“My empathic powers are back, but my telepathic ones are patchy at best…and I am beginning to be pulled under.”
“Pulled under?”
“I have started to shift back into my prior form,” Jaejoong answered drowsily. “Just let me sleep and keep Changmin next to me until I awaken.”
Yunho smiled and vowed, “I will hold you until you awaken and I am warning you…I just might never let go of you.”
“I love you…both of you…forever, forever and always” Jaejoong whispered before slipping off to sleep.
**********************
“You seem to spend a considerable amount of time on the planet drinking. The late Dr. Cho didn’t happen to recruit an alcoholic, did he?”
Woohyun, who had been busy stocking supplies in sickbay, jumped and spun around to find Dr. Kim’s penetrating gaze focused solely on him. “Ummm…no.”
“No, you don’t have an alcohol addiction or Dr. Cho did not recruit you?”
“I am not an alcoholic,” Woohyun blurted out. “I have been drinking more than usual…but it is not the norm…not my norm.”
Heechul’s gaze did not relent. “Why have you been drinking more than your norm?”
“Umm…the same reason everyone has been…we have been mourning. Everybody is drinking more…or most people are, but not you. Not you, of course…not to say that I don’t think you are mourning…of course you are mourning.”
“Stop rambling, Dr. Nam,” Heechul snapped. “And tell me who exactly you have been mourning.”
“Of all them,” Woohyun immediately replied, but quickly added, “I, of course, was closer to Dr. Cho and Junsu than the others.”
“Yes, one would assume you would be closer to Dr. Cho…and you and Junsu did share an adventure, didn’t you?”
“They were my friends…”
Heechul’s eyes narrowed. “Do you believe for one instance you have the mental capabilities to fool me?”
“I am also depressed over…my relationship…my lack of a relationship with Ensi-Lieutenant Sunggyu,” Woohyun spluttered out quickly. “He was the reason I joined the ship…not because Dr. Cho recruited me. I wanted to be with him…and he doesn’t feel the same way.”
Heechul tilted his head to the side. “This I believe…to an extent.”
Woohyun resisted the urge to back away from the perceptive doctor. “Why are questioning me like this? What is it…that you think I have done?”
“You have been acting depressed when you aren’t. I can sniff a diagnosis from light years away, and I know you are not depressed,” Heechul informed the young doctor. “So why would you pretend to be depressed?”
“To drink more…” Woohyun replied quickly, trying not to appear as if he was grasping at straws. “It isn’t a bad…drinking habit. I mean, you …you know that from the state of my liver. If I had a bad drinking habit…it would have been detected and treated on my arrival on this ship.”
The older doctor walked closer to Woohyun, but did not touch him. He just grinned and said admirably, “You are a clever one aren’t you?”
“I try…”
“Not the usual riffraff from this sector-”
“Channnggggmminnnnn,” the loud piercing scream of Sulli interrupted Dr. Kim, much to Dr. Nam’s relief.
Dr. Kim didn’t give Woohyun a parting glance as he took off toward the girl’s room. The scream was followed by the sound of alarms going off in sickbay alerting them Sulli was being released from her stasis chamber.
Woohyun quickly followed after Dr. Kim.
They both entered Sulli’s room to find her sitting up in bed, shivering, and looking terrified.
Heechul slowly approached the bed and in a soothing tone, the opposite of the one he had used on Woohyun, he told the distraught girl, “Sulli, everything is okay…you were sleeping.”
“Don’t touch me!” Sulli screamed as she pulled her arms and legs tightly into her body. “Don’t touch me!”
“Sulli, do you recognize me?” Heechul asked as he stopped his approach to the bed.
Sulli frantically shook her head, while rambling. “You’re a man…a man…man…bad man…man…bad…man…hurt…hurt.”
“Princess Sulli,” Heechul said softly in his calmest voice. “I would never hurt you.”
“Man…bad…don’t touch me!” she cried hysterically as she reached up to pull at her own hair. “Leave me alone! Don’t touch!”
Woohyun asked, “Should we risk sedating her?”
“No, not at this point,” Heechul responded, studying the hysterical girl. “Call for Lieutenant Sooyoung. Her psyche is severely damaged…as it should have been from the start. Maybe the lieutenant will be able to calm her.”
****************
Ryeowook emerged from the cave with a grin that spread across his whole face. “It’s a boy!”
Junsu, who couldn’t stay still, jumped up. “Changmin!”
Yoochun, who was trying his best to act nonchalant regarding the birth of his favorite scientist, stated, “I guessed as much when the sappy ballad started playing in my head.”
Kyuhyun walked up to Ryeowook, took his husband’s hand and clasped it. “Didn’t we know it was going to be boy?”
“I am never sure of anything when it comes to Jaejoong,” Ryeowook admitted, still grinning. “I examined Jaejoong countless times while he was pregnant and every time there was a placenta and an umbilical cord, but when the baby was born there was neither. He just slipped out.”
Yoochun leaned against the cave and praised Ryeowook, “Doc, I got to give you props…you tamed that raging beast.”
“No, Yunho tamed him,” Ryeowook said correcting Yoochun. “One he got close enough to touch Jaejoong everything went smoothly.”
Yoochun shook his head, disagreeing. “No, Yunho couldn’t get near him until you arrived. Jaejoong might look like a sweet, fairy princess but when he punched Yunho in the face…I felt it.”
Junsu winced in agreement. “I heard it out here.”
“Most mothers to be get a little testy when the contractions hit…Jaejoong just more so than most,” Ryeowook explained. “His empathic and telepathic powers allow him to know what words can inflict the most harm.”
“Yeah, and his right punch rivals a rabid Klingon,” Yoochun added.
“He will heal Yunho,” Ryeowook told Yoochun. “Yunho has probably already forgotten about being hit…they both looked so happy and Changmin is an adorable baby. They make a beautiful family.”
“The song is beautiful, too,” Kyuhyun stated, admiring the telepathic song still playing in his head.
“It is,” Junsu agreed. “I just want to start singing along.”
“Don’t you dare,” Ryeowook ordered as he turned all his attention on the ensign. “You need to take it easy…and by easy I mean sitting or sleeping. Your throat has to recover. Don’t make me regret giving you permission to talk.”
Yoochun reached out, took Junsu’s hand and pulled him toward him. “Come sit with me and be quiet. Ryeowook might muzzle you.”
Junsu easily relented and sat down beside Yoochun.
“You don’t have to sing along,” the engineer told the ensign. “You are already singing in my head.”
“Along with you, Yunho, Changmin, and Jaejoong…I wonder why it is always us five,” Junsu stated curiously.
Ryeowook pondered Junsu’s words and responded, “I have no idea…because Kyuhyun and I can both sing and Kyuhyun’s voice is pure perfection.”
Kyuhyun blushed. “No, no it isn’t.”
“It is.”
“You are biased.”
Ryeowook nodded his head. “I am totally biased, but it is still the truth.”
Kyuhyun, who was eager to change the topic, asked his husband, “You didn’t by any chance confess to Yunho about what happened in the forest?”
Yoochun quipped, “Oh, everybody knows what you two were doing in the forest. Even sweet but dense Junsu knows what you two were doing.”
Junsu immediately blurted out, “Congratulations on being a properly married couple again.”
Kyuhyun shook his head. “Thank you…but that isn’t what we need to tell the captain…although it was amazing.”
“We saw your flying monkeys,” Ryeowook quickly divulged. “I mean the big birds you saw…they are actually flying monkeys.”
“I knew they were real,” Junsu proclaimed, trying to jump up again, but Yoochun grabbed him and prevented him from getting up.
Yoochun forced his gaze away form the pleased ensign and then looked up at the married couple, who were standing side by side. “What aren’t you saying?”
“They stole the phaser,” Kyuhyun stated.
“They what!” Yoochun exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. “How the fuck did they steal the phaser?”
Kyuhyun rubbed the back of his neck. “I think you know how.”
Yoochun resisted the urge to chastise the other commander, who looked like he knew exactly how grave an error he had committed. “Are they intelligent?”
“We didn’t have time to scan them with the tricorder before they were gone,” Ryeowook explained. “They appeared to be intelligent.”
“Smart enough to take the phaser…” Yoochun paled.
“Do you think they are smart enough to figure out how to work it?” Junsu asked in a voice full of dread.
“The safeties were all in place…correct?” Yoochun asked, hoping for confirmation.
“Of course,” Kyuhyun quickly answered.
“Then unless they get Star Fleet clearance, they won’t be able to work it,” Yoochun said, letting out a breath of relief.
Ryeowook turned his back on the others and looked out towards the forest. “Maybe they are like the vistalin birds on Baylor…maybe they just crave shiny objects.”
Kyuhyun followed his husbands gaze. “I sincerely hope so.”
“That has to be it,” Junsu stated hopefully. “Why would they want it if they can’t work it?”
“They don’t know they can’t work it,” Yoochun reminded them as he turned to face the cave’s entrance, “We have to tell Yunho. This can’t wait.”
“Yes,” Kyuhyun agreed, still looking off toward the forest. “Because if they are intelligent they know we can work it and by taking it perhaps-” Kyuhyun never had a chance to finish his sentence as a bombardment of rocks started rolling down the side of the volcano straight for them.
************************
Kangin followed Sunggyu up to the third floor of the brothel and walked into one of the more spacious room. He had a great deal of reservations concerning the younger man and he was more than ready to share them, but he felt he owed it to both Yoochun and Yunho to see what the younger man had to say.
Sunggyu opened the door and walked in; reluctantly Kangin followed him along with the ensigns Dongwoo and Myungsoo.
Kangin was barely in the room before he was injected with a hypospray that rendered him instantly sober.
“What the hell…” Kangin paused as his mind cleared and he took in the room. The room was full of technology from the ship, plus Lieutenant Sooyoung, who had just injected him with the hypospray. “What the hell are you doing?”
Sunggyu, who stood in front of Kangin facing him, stated, “Some would call it mutiny, but they would be wrong.”
“Mutiny?”
“Captain Jung is not dead,” Sunggyu informed the older man matter-of-factly. “Leeteuk and Dr. Kim are imposters, who are somehow controlling the real Dr. Kim and Commander Leeteuk’s bodies.”
“How can you be sure?” Kangin whispered, not daring to hope as he looked around the room and then back at the acting lieutenant.
“There is plenty of proof,” Lieutenant Sooyoung stated. “Once you start looking.”
Sunggyu maintained a steady gaze with Kangin. “Dr. Kim, himself, tried desperately to warn us.”
Kangin gasped, “When?”
“When the anomaly hit the ship...when the boy Taemin and the young Joong appeared, Dr. Kim started having spasms and before he lost consciousness he told Dr. Nam ‘not me, another’…he was warning us. We just didn’t know it,” Lieutenant Sooyoung explained.
“Commander Ji-Hoon basically said the same thing before he had to be put back into stasis after the engineering incident,” Sunggyu added.
For weeks Kangin had felt as if the universe was tilted at an odd angle and he couldn’t right himself, but with their words he felt the universe shifting back into its rightful and proper place. “And what other proof do you have?”
“The most important proof is supplied by our own memories,” Lieutenant Sooyoung said, continuing. “If the captain and Jaejoong were dead then Changmin…would never have been born. How can we remember a person so vividly that never existed? It is more than obvious the Guardian whisked the captain and Jaejoong away before the sun exploded.”
“But the Guardian…couldn’t it have also done something to affect our memories?” Kangin asked. “Doesn’t the Guardian have the ability to bypass the normal rules regarding time and space?”
Sunggyu answered, “We are not sure what the Guardian is capable of, but there is still more proof.”
“Then there is Sulli,” Lieutenant Sooyoung quickly offered up. “She went into a deep sleep the moment Changmin disappeared…and she has not awakened, but she will. If Changmin were truly lost…Sulli would be dead.”
Kangin met the beautiful lieutenant’s gaze. “Because you believe them to be bonded, but that is just theory…a theory you want to be true.”
“I know they are bonded,” Sooyoung answered without reservation or hesitation. “Before Lieutenant Jung disappeared I saw him with her…and they are bonded. She could not accept it, but he knew it. He knew she would lose consciousness the moment he disappeared.”
“And there is this,” Sunggyu stated as a video appeared in the air showing Yunho, Yoochun and Kyuhyun in the brig talking to Dr. Cho and Jaejoong. “If you can’t believe us, listen to them. Believe them. Hear their words.”
Kangin watched and listened in amazement as Yunho and the others talked of rogue Joongs, imposters and the search for ancient artifacts. “How did you get this? You shouldn’t have been able to get this.”
“It wasn’t easy. It had been erased, but luckily the people that erased it lacked the skills to permanently delete it,” Sunggyu replied. “Lieutenant Sooyoung was able to recover it.”
“But still how did you get it without alerting anyone?”
“You forget that I had complete access to the entire ship…along with some very helpful friends.”
The older man did a complete double take. “Did you plan the breech? Was that…was that…did you do it to get access to the ship?”
“No,” Sunggyu immediately replied, shaking his head adamantly. “I didn’t but after it was contained…I did take full advantage of the situation. I won’t lie.”
Kangin folded his arms across his chest and said approvingly, “I am sorry I ever doubted you.”
“Believe me, it was a group effort,” Sunggyu informed the other man. “I have had an extraordinary amount of help.”
“How many people know?” Kangin asked as he turned around to look at the ensigns Dongwoo and Myungsoo, who had been so insistent about him not resigning. “Obviously these two are in on it, Dr. Nam and Ensign Henry must know if they were both left alone with you on the ship and somebody in the transporter department must be in on it, considering all the equipment you have in this room.”
Lieutenant Sooyoung answered, “You are not wrong, plus there are others…a trusted few from different departments on the ship.”
“All the men that were cadets with me,” Sunggyu added. “I trust them…like I trust you.”
“I am glad to be included,” Kangin replied sincerely. “How do we prove they are alive though? Most of the crew is going to need proof…and although the video is enough proof for me, it won’t be for everyone.”
“In truth we can’t be sure that Commander Yoochun, Commander Cho, Dr. Cho or Ensign Junsu are alive,” Lieutenant Sooyoung informed Kangin. “We can only be certain that the captain and Jaejoong are alive.”
Kangin’s smile vanished. “Because you can’t be certain the Guardian would save the others.”
“No,” Sunggyu confessed. “But there is a way of finding out for certain if they are still alive.”
“Then do it,” Kangin told them. “You have to do it.”
“We can’t do it without Ensign Eunhyuk,” Sunggyu explained, looking less confident.
Kangin immediately understood the problem. “And Ensign Eunhyuk is rarely out of Lieutenant Sungmin’s sight of late…and Lieutenant Sungmin can not get wind of this.”
“Exactly,” Lieutenant Sooyoung confirmed. “Since Junsu’s supposed death the chief of security has been sticking very close to Ensign Eunhyuk.”
“Under no circumstances can Lieutenant Sungmin suspect us,” Dongwoo warned from behind Kangin. “He is…extremely dedicated to Captain Leeteuk and he is already suspicious of everyone.”
“True,” Kangin agreed. “He is batshit crazy when it comes to Captain Leeteuk.”
“Not Captain Leeteuk,” Sunggyu corrected. “We must not think of that imposter as the captain. He is not the captain. Captain Jung is the true captain of the Expectations.”
Kangin grinned widely and nodded his head in agreement.
“Very true,” Lieutenant Sooyoung concurred. “But in order to return Captain Jung to his rightful position…we must deal with Lieutenant Sungmin.”
Kangin rubbed his hands together and confidently informed them, “Oh, I can think of one sure fire way of distracting him.”
Sunggyu’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Kangin pointed at Lieutenant Sooyoung. “I believe you and I are both on good terms with a certain prince…who is very skilled at distracting the security chief.”
“I can not go near Siwon without getting a dangerous amount of unwanted attention from Lieutenant Sungmin. Acting Lieutenant Sunggyu and I had to purposely manufacture false rumors of us being lovers to get him to stop paying unwelcome attention to me and my comings and goings.”
The older ensign turned to face the acting lieutenant and gave him a sympathetic look. “False rumors? That has to be a bummer, but hey, your reputation improved significantly because of them.”
Sunggyu just smiled and shrugged.
Lieutenant Sooyoung’s expression soured for a moment and she stated in a clipped tone, “Maybe saving the away team on Pixxel…not to mention the thousands of people on that planet, and saving the ship from a warp core breach are what improved his reputation.”
Kangin grinned at her and discarded her suggestion. “No, dating you is the real reputation booster.”
“Back to the topic,” Sunggyu ordered, noticing the lieutenant’s irritation. “Ensign Kangin, since Lieutenant Sooyoung can not talk to Siwon without raising the ire of Lieutenant Sungmin, can you do it?”
“I’d love to,” Kangin told them. “But how is bringing Eunhyuk into the fold going to prove the others are alive?”
“Well, luckily for us Lieutenant Jung left detailed notes on certain crystals he had studied in secret,” Sooyoung stated with a grin.
Kangin’s eyes lit up wide. “The soul switching stones?”
Sunggyu did not bother to suppress his grin as he happily elaborated, “And luckily they have recently come into our possession.”
“If we can get Eunhyuk to agree to assist us, his touching the stones should activate-” Sooyoung was interrupted when her combadge went off. She shared an uneasy look with Sunggyu before she tapped it.
The voice of Dr. Nam was immediately heard, “Lieutenant Sooyoung, you need to get up here. Sulli is awake.”
********************************
Yunho was in heaven.
He was holding Jaejoong as his beloved mate shifted back into his human form. Changmin slept easily in Jaejoong’s arms that had not relinquished their hold on the newborn, even in sleep.
Yunho had always tried to live his life as happily as possible. He had always known what he wanted and he had always gone after it. When times of sadness had darkened his usual optimism he had always done his best to defeat it like it was a deadly foe. His mother had once told him it did him no good to dwell on the miserable and that happiness suited him best, and he full heartedly agreed. Yunho could not remember a time when he had been happier than he was in this moment.
With the sounds of large boulders rolling down the side of the volcano and rocks being dropped outside the cave, Yunho’s heaven gave way to hell.
Yunho moved quickly as he gently laid Jaejoong down on the fur, while making sure Changmin did not fall from the sleeping Joong’s arms. He then quickly got to his feet and rushed toward the exit of the cave.
Before Yunho made it to the cave’s opening Junsu was pushed inside the cave against his will. The former captain quickly noted that the young ensign had new bruises and abrasions covering his face and hands.
“Junsu, what is going on?”
The shaking ensign attempted his best to control his fear and anguish as exclaimed, “Sir, it’s the birds…the birds I saw! They are not really birds! Some are pushing boulders down on us and others are dropping rocks on us!”
“Who has the phaser?” Yunho asked at a loss…surely the birds were no threat…not against a phaser.
“We don’t have it. They took it when-”
“YOOCHUN!” Ryeowook’s high pitched scream pierced through the sound of the falling rocks.
Junsu was forgotten as Yunho swiftly exited the cave in search of his long time friend. It was complete madness outside of the cave as the sounds of the cackling bird creatures could be heard. Yunho looked up to see the humanoid flying creatures as they circled above them tossing down rocks.
“Don’t be still,” Kyuhyun warned as he grabbed a hold of Yunho and jerked him toward the side of the volcano, providing some small shelter against the onslaught of rocks. “If you are still they will hit you with the rocks. Don’t give them anything to aim at. Keep moving.”
Yunho grabbed Kyuhyun and spun him around and demanded, “Where is the phaser?”
“They took it,” Kyuhyun explained as he pulled Yunho toward a large boulder the flying creatures had pushed down the side of the volcano at them.
“How did that happen? Did they attack you?”
“Sir…they have it now,” was all Kyuhyun could say.
Before Yunho could further demand answers his mouth went numb and his heart skipped a beat as he caught sight of a horrifying scene. On the other side of the huge boulder was Yoochun. Only half of Yoochun could be seen as the other half of him was crushed underneath a huge boulder that had to weigh over two tons.
Ryeowook, who was examining Yoochun, looked up at Yunho and the look on the doctor’s face let him know more than words could ever communicate.
“We have to get him out from under there,” Yunho ordered, knowing it was impossible. He had known it was futile the moment he had seen the look in the doctor’s eyes, but refused accept the truth.
“Sir, how?” Kyuhyun asked as he dodged the dropping rocks. “It’s too heavy to move.”
“We…a lever…or something…we have to move it enough to pull him free…there has to be a way,” Yunho shouted loudly so he could be heard over the cackling of the flying monkeys. “There has to be a way.”
Ryeowook, who has been hit by several rocks while examining the engineer, shakily climbed to his feet with blood pouring from the side of his head, and shouted, “Both his femoral arteries are severed…if we move him or remove the boulder he will be dead in seconds…I can’t do anything…there…we…we can’t move the boulder. The pressure from the weight of it is the only thing keeping him alive.”
A loud, almost deafening roar could be heard and the flying monkeys went silent, hovering in place. Kyuhyun, Yunho, and Ryeowook turned their heads toward the grassland and saw three large dinosaurs rushing toward them.
“They must have heard the noise or smelled…smelled the blood,” Kyuhyun whispered, knowing there was no hope for the engineer. “We have to get inside the cave.”
Ryeowook, who knew it was pointless, pushed his sorrow aside, and went against his every instinct. “Kyuhyun is right…there isn’t anything we can do for him.”
“No! We can’t leave him…there is a way. I just have to think of it! We have to think!” Yunho shouted back at the doctor as a large rock hit him and ripped a gash down the side of his arm and back. “We don’t leave people! We can’t leave him! Not like this!”
“We don’t have a choice!” Ryeowook screamed back at the captain as the flying monkeys commenced with their cackling and bombardment of rocks.
“Yunho,” Yoochun whispered and even though the crashing down of the rocks, cackling of the monkeys, and the roars of the dinosaurs Yunho could hear it. “You have to go.”
Yunho moved toward his friend, bent over him, and took his friends hand. “I can’t…don’t ask me to do that...you know I can’t.”
“You have to get in the cave…you all have to get in the cave…you can’t save me.”
“I have to try! I can’t leave you like this. No…No!”
“Listen to me!”
“No!”
Yoochun squeezed Yunho’s hand with the last of his strength. “You have been the best friend…the best friend a man like me could ever ask for, but now our time has come to an end. Get in that cave…your family…they need you…literally, dumbass! If you die, they die! Get in that cave!” Yoochun screamed and jerked his hand free of Yunho. “Save your family!”
Yunho stumbled back, away from Yoochun as the awful truth of his friend’s words registered with him. Small rocks pelted down on him, but he felt no physical pain. He only felt the pain of the impossible situation he had been placed in…the terrible cost.
“Junsu, get back in that cave this minute,” Ryeowook ordered as the young ensign slipped past him to kneel down at Yoochun’s side.
“No,” Junsu told the doctor as he placed both his hands on the sides of the engineer’s face and bent down and kissed Yoochun for what felt like the first time, but in truth was the last time.
“Kyuhyun,” Ryeowook pleaded, hating to be the voice of reason. “We have to get them inside…I know it’s hard, but we have to get them all inside.”
Kyuhyun glanced away from the approaching dinosaurs and headed for Junsu, along with Ryeowook. They both struggled, but finally they succeeded in prying Junsu away from the doomed engineer.
As Junsu was pulled free of him, Yoochun managed a sincere grin as he whispered to the earnest ensign, “Perhaps, in another life.”
A crying Junsu agreed, “In another life.”
With heavy hearts Kyuhyun and Ryeowook pushed and tugged an uncooperative Junsu back inside the cave.
Yunho had walked back to Yoochun.
Yoochun, who was deathly pale and struggling to remain conscious, begged his friend, “Please…please go back inside. I’m dead already.”
“I can…can’t…” Yunho paused, knowing what he had to do, but hating it. Hating it more than he had ever hated anything and knowing it would cost him more than he could ever pay. The giant reptilian beasts were almost upon them and by staying outside the cave he knew he was risking everyone…he knew what he had to do, but he knew he would never be the same after doing it.
“You must…go,” Yoochun beseeched with the last of his strength.
“I am so sorry,” Yunho told his friend with tears in his eyes. “You are my dearest friend…and I love you…and I am so sorry. You will never know how sorry I am.”
“Go…” Yoochun cried. “Go, live…go.”
Yunho didn’t know if was his weakness or his strength that made him turn his back on his friend and head back toward the cave…but it felt like weakness.
After having pushed a brokenhearted Junsu back inside the cave Ryeowook and Kyuhyun were on their way to drag their distraught captain back inside the safety of the cave when they noticed him heading for the cave.
“Hurry!” Ryeowook shouted from the cave’s entrance as the reptilian beasts rushed toward the captain; they were dangerously close. “Run!”
The Chos watched in horror when instead of running to the cave, Yunho stumbled and dropped to his knees.
“Captain!” Kyuhyun exclaimed, attempting to run for the captain, but Ryeowook grabbed him and held him back. “I have to try to save him!”
“No, you don’t,” Ryeowook stated, pointing toward the dinosaurs who had stopped their approach. The giant beasts were not two meters away from the captain but they had stopped in mid run.
They couple shared a perplexed look with each other before they started to comprehend what as going on.
“The rocks,” Kyuhyun muttered as he looked up and noticed they had stopped falling. The flying creatures had stopped their attack and the deafening cackling.
The couple stepped away from the entrance of the cave and cautiously moved toward Yunho. “Captain,” Kyuhyun whispered as he approached the captain. Yunho looked up at his second in command.
“It’s okay,” Yunho told them with relief easily seen on his face. “It’s all okay, now,” Yunho stated as he looked out toward the giant beasts, which were frozen in place as if they feared to move. “They won’t hurt us now.”
“Jaejoong…” Ryeowook whispered under his breath as he turned around in time to see the Joong emerge from the cave.
Jaejoong’s hermaphrodite form was gone and he appeared exactly as he had when Ryeowook had first laid eyes on him. He was beautiful with lustrous thick black hair and huge beautiful brown eyes. He cradled the baby against his chest with one arm.
Jaejoong walked past the couple paying them no attention and moved toward Yunho, who had not moved to get up. Jaejoong walked up behind his mate and laid his free hand on Yunho’s shoulder and gently squeezed it. “My love.”
Yunho exhaled a deep breath. “I could feel you awaken.”
“Your distress reached me.”
“Are you alright?”
“I am.”
“You have control of them?”
“Of course, they are easily controlled.”
“We need the phaser back…and we need to get the boulder off of Yoochun.”
Jaejoong sent out a silent order to the flying creatures and one immediately landed on the ground next to Kyuhyun and held out the phaser. Kyuhyun quickly snatched the phaser away from the creature.
“Yunho, I could easily have the giant beasts move the boulder, but Ryeowook’s mind is full of warnings. Moving the boulder will immediately result in the death of your friend…I can not save Yoochun.”
“There has to be a way to save him.”
“There is a way.”
“There is?”
“Yes, aren’t you the one who is always telling me there is always hope?”
“For a moment…I think I lost all hope.”
“No, you did not.”
Yunho slowly climbed to his feet, turned around, and gazed upon his beloved. “I am so sorry for putting you at risk.”
“You need not apologize. I can feel the aching in your heart and the strain from the great burden that was placed on it…the impossible choice. I know you were moving toward the cave when you felt me awaken,” Jaejoong mentally told his great love as he reached up with his free hand and wiped away the blood and tears from Yunho’s face with his healing touch. “I know how much you love me, Changmin, Yoochun and everyone. I know the great responsibility you feel.”
Yunho felt the power of the bond as it spread throughout his body, healing his wounds. He reached up and took Jaejoong’s hand in his and caressed it softly. “I still do not know how we will save him.”
Jaejoong smiled and said aloud, “It’s time to leave this place.”
Yunho’s eyes lit up with the hope he had thought he had lost; his mother had been right so long ago…misery did not suit him.
Jaejoong bowed his head and with words of great reverence, he stated aloud and telepathically, “Great Guardian of Time, it is I, Jaejoong of the Royal House of Joong. Once again I must meekly call upon you for your assistance. We humbly ask to leave this planet and be returned to our rightful place. If in your infinite wisdom you see fit to answer my plea, I shall forever be thankful.”
Before anyone had time to utter a word the Guardian pulled them all away.