What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger Chapter 2
(A/N: My first post of 2011! At least, I think so...Anyway, enjoy! I hope it doesn't fade into nonsense in some parts. Some of them were written well, around 1 in the morning while I listened to my friend read aloud an HP crackfic that she's writing...let's hope that didn't transfer over. Also, this entire chapter is pretty much action and fight sequences and I'm...somewhat pelased with it? Yeah, somewhat. Since it's the beginning of the story, the action sequences won't be as badass until later when we learn about everyone's powers.)
Title: What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
Pairing: HanChul, KyuChul, EunKiHae, KangTeuk, YeWook, other may appear in the future
Rating: R
Genre: AU, Action, Superhero (is that a genre?)
Summary: When Cho Kyuhyun was infected with the GAM Virus, he’d thought he was going to die. Everyone who got it did. If you contracted the virus, you were as good as gone. There was no treatment, no cure, and nothing to aid you toward a quick death. It was slow, painful, and most people committed suicide-or had loved one’s aid them in doing so-before the disease took them willingly.
Or that’s what he’d thought, anyway.
Chapter 1 < ----- > Side Story 1: Siwon's Story < ------ > Chapter 3
---
It was later that night-and several plates of scrambled eggs later-that Kibum came back into the apartment and found everyone sitting around the living room, watching a Korean variety show (Dream Team or something).
“Heechul hyung says that we have the plans finalized.” He murmured softly.
Leeteuk nodded, standing. “Come on then.”
Kyuhyun had gotten rather comfortable on the couch, squashed between Donghae and Eunhyuk and listening to them explain something about the show. Now, as everyone stood, he figured he was finally going to get some answers onto what was going on.
They headed out of the apartment, but none of them bothered to put on shoes or coats so Kyuhyun followed their lead and didn’t grab his own shoes from near the door.
Much to his surprise, all they did was walk across the hall toward room 1509. Kyuhyun followed behind Shindong and paused in the doorway-Eunhyuk ended up shoving him to the side to get in-at what he saw.
He felt like he’d just walked onto the set of a crime drama. It looked like several of the front rooms of the apartment had been knocked out completely to form one large room, complete with a table in the middle-large enough for all of them. There was a TV screen hanging on the wall to one side, and several whiteboards.
There was even one of those clear boards like they had in cop shows, the kind you drew on. Sungmin was currently doing so; humming along with whatever song he was listening to on his iPod. Heechul was sitting at the head of the table, talking over something with Kangin.
Ryeowook was looking over some files scattered on the table.
“We’re all here now.” Kibum said softly and Heechul looked up with a nod. Everyone began filling in the empty seats. Kyuhyun found himself between Sungmin and Shindong because Eunhyuk, Donghae, and Kibum had decided to sit at the far end of the table near a laptop that Kibum was fiddling with.
Kyuhyun drummed his fingers on the surface and stopped, almost shooting backwards in his chair as the space in front of him lit up. “What the…?”
“Don’t tap on it like that. The computers are sensitive.” Heechul warned. “It took forever to track them down.”
Kyuhyun remembered reading about these in a magazine once but…how had they gotten here? This entire place was a complete turn-around to the dump of an apartment they lived in next door. There was even a leather couch and a coffee table in the corner.
“So?” Yesung leaned against the table beside Ryeowook, careful that his elbows didn’t brush against the sensitive touch-screen implanted there. He leaned over Ryeowook’s shoulder to look at the files he’d been perusing. “What’s the plan?”
Kangin tapped the screen near him and everyone looked down. “These are the blueprints for the Daewoo Group building where the party is being held. The front entrance is heavily guarded, as is the back and the side entrances here.” He pointed, the areas highlighted in red. “The entire thing is invitation only.”
“How are we getting in then?”
Heechul held up several simple looking key cards. “Donghae and I managed to get these a few days ago. Kibum has already overridden the previous codes and edited them. They just need fingerprint confirmation.”
He put the three cards on the table. “Leeteuk, Ryeowook, and Eunhyuk will be going inside via invitation.”
Eunhyuk swallowed, but nodded. Ryeowook’s gaze was oddly stony-Kyuhyun had imagined him to be the terrified looking one-and Leeteuk gave a strained smile as he nodded, picking up his card and sliding it over the desk before sticking it in his pocket.
Sungmin pulled the cap off of the white marker he’d been holding earlier and looked to Kibum. Kibum typed away on his laptop before an image of the floor plans of the Daewoo building appeared. “Because of the heavy security, the other team won’t be able to get inside through conventional means. Luckily the drainage system is large enough for a small animal to get inside.” He began drawing a path with his marker.
“Donghae will get inside and open up a path for Heechul hyung and I and we’ll go from there.”
“Yesung will be our long-distance cover. Siwon, you’ll be with him for secondary backup. Shindong and Hangeng will be the immediate backup, understood?” Kangin looked around the room with a level gaze. Everyone nodded slowly.
“I’ll be here with Kibum manning the security camera feeds.”
“Eunhyuk, Leeteuk, Ryeowook, you three need to familiarize yourselves with the layout of the building. Once we get the information to you, you’ll need to know how to get out, especially if something goes wrong.”
The three in question nodded, grabbing the files left on the table.
Kyuhyun cleared his throat as everyone stood to leave.
“What?” Heechul finally asked.
“What do I do?”
A derisive snort and a twitch of the lips, almost a sneer. “You can’t do much of anything yet, now can you?”
Leeteuk smiled, sending Heechul a reprimanding look before turning back to Kyuhyun. “What Heechul means is that you’ll be here with Kangin and Kibum, alright?”
Kyuhyun nodded slowly, feeling even more useless than before.
Kangin grinned at him, but it wasn’t a comforting smile like Leeteuk’s. “You can be the coffee boy.”
---
“Everyone has their invitations, right?” Leeteuk fussed, looking around worriedly. What if someone recognized them? He knew it was unlikely. The generals and security wouldn’t know who they were. They were all deemed dead and no one knew that they’d escaped. The only ones that the government would recognize were the ones that had left willingly from the training facility…not those so useless that they’d tried to kill them.
“Yes hyung.” Ryeowook reached up a hand to touch his well-hidden earpiece, before putting the hand down again. He’d been told not to fiddle with it. He simply looked out the tinted windows.
Eunhyuk didn’t answer, merely gave a nod. He didn’t trust himself to speak as his stomach did flips. It didn’t matter that he’d been on countless missions before this. Every new one felt like the first time and he was completely certain he was going to fuck things up. It always happened.
Leeteuk placed a hand on Eunhyuk’s shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. “You’ll be fine.” Eunhyuk nodded, but it didn’t stop the nervousness he was feeling, or the foreboding sense of impending doom.
It was only when Kibum’s soft voice echoed in his eardrums, telling him that he was there to guide him along, that Eunhyuk felt reassured. As long as Kibum was there to talk him through it, he was sure that he’d be ok.
“Geng, you and Siwon are backup. If we’re in trouble you move in and then get the fuck out.” Heechul announced over the headset. “Got it?”
“Got it.” Hangeng whispered, and he heard Siwon’s answer a few seconds later in his ear. Siwon would be with Yesung somewhere, waiting, and Hangeng had been ordered to stay in the car with Shindong. He didn’t like feeling so useless but he knew that if he were recognized, their entire operation would fail.
Besides, his power wouldn’t be of much help anyway.
“How does it look inside?” Leeteuk asked as they pulled up to the large building, “Cameras?”
----
“I’m almost into the system.” Kangin announced, typing furiously, “Aish the security is tight!”
Kyuhyun had been completely awed by the computer room, hidden off to the side of the meeting room that they’d been debriefed in. He’d spent the last fifteen minutes staring at the multitude of monitors, ignoring the odd looks Kibum sent him in between going over a security feed.
Kyuhyun was brought out of his musings by Leeteuk’s voice over the audio and Kangin’s annoyed reply. He glanced over at Kangin’s monitor. “Let me try.” Kyuhyun leaned over him and began typing away madly. “I’m in.”
“Fuck.” Kibum blinked, “We need to get you a computer.” He then went back to his own computer screens, sipping on the coffee that Kyuhyun had gotten him-reluctantly and at the cost of several scoops of coffee grounds and a burn from the coffee pot-earlier.
Kangin glared before pushing Kyuhyun away. “Sit back, you don’t know what we’re looking for.”
Kyuhyun slumped back down into his own seat, sulking.
---
Donghae squirmed up the water pipe, ignoring the burning in his gills as the treated water pushed past him, against him, trying to shove him back out the way he’d come. He ignored the dizziness, and the part of his mind that was now fish, the part that wanted to swim away with the current, to get out of the burning water and a million other things that Donghae couldn’t do right now.
It was always hard to ignore that animal part of his brain, but he’d grown accustomed to shutting it out or at least pushing it to the back of his conscious so it wouldn’t be a distraction. It was easier with simple minded animals like the dog fish.
He managed to squirm his way through the system, following the directions that Kibum had ground into him the entire night before. Turn left, fifty feet, then up.
He found the opening in the pipe and propelled himself forward. He felt the air hit him a moment later, gills burning even more now as he landed on the ground. He flopped for a few minutes, the fish part of his brain panicking and momentarily overriding his senses.
He was dying. He couldn’t breathe. Water he needed water NOW-
Water.
Water.
And then the human part of him began reasoning with the rest and he found himself gasping on the floor for air, brush his wet bangs out of his face. It had only been a minute or so but it had felt like forever. He breathed in a few more lungfuls of air before he pulled himself to his feet.
He looked around the room and tried to get his bearings straight. Because he had to transform into a fish he couldn’t wear a communications device so he had to run off of the diagrams he’d memorized and hope that he had the timing right.
He took a deep breath and began changing again, feeling his bones shift and strech underneath his skin. The entire process was painful and uncomfortable. He fell onto all forms, seeing long claws forming from his fingernails, twisting and curving as black fur began to sprout from his skin. His jaw jutted forward, teeth grinding as they changed form.
The most uncomfortable part was his spine sprouting out into a tail. He clenched his eyes shut against the pain and when he opened them his sight had improved to the sharp vision of the panther. He knew he couldn’t waste anymore time so despite the aching in his newly formed joints, he sprinted out of the room and down the hallway.
---
Leeteuk smiled wanly at the woman talking to him, his gaze fixed just below her mauve covered lips. She laughed, fluttering her fan, diamond earrings dangling as she moved her head to the side, the gems catching the light and refracting it.
Leeteuk grabbed a flute of champagne as a water passed, rolling the glass stem between his gloved fingers before he took a small sip. “Eun Sook-ssi, if your daughter has half of your charm then I’m certain the men will be following her like lovestruck fools.” He winced, because the line sounded corny even to him.
Mrs. Kim Eun Sook simply laughed again, a chirpy kind of sound that struck an odd chord at its highest pitch that threw a possibly charming giggle into a cacophonous shriek. Leeteuk’s eyes flitted across the room quickly, careful not to let Mrs. Kim see that he wasn’t paying attention as she began describing her eldest daughter in detail.
She was just about his age, an artist whose work was displayed in the top art galleries all over Korea. Should Mrs. Kim introduce the two? She would be returning from France within the week and if he would be pleased she could arrange a dinner…
Leeteuk spotted Ryeowook in the far left corner of the large ballroom. He was talking with two of the generals, their wives flocking to him with the instinctive need to protect a darling looking child. Leeteuk chuckled softly to himself. No matter how old Ryeowook got, he doubted that his innocent looks would fade.
Beside Ryeowook was Eunhyuk, looking nervous and flighty. Leeteuk bit the inside of his cheek in worry. Eunhyuk was never good with this kind of thing. He panicked and overthought everything and his paranoia usually caused problems.
…but he was most definitely needed for this mission if everything was going to go without a hitch.
He saw Eunhyuk twitch, and then visibly relax. He suspected someone had spoken to him over the audio feed. It was most likely Kibum, because Donghae and Kibum were the only ones that seemed able to calm him down and get him to focus-and Donghae wasn’t the best at focusing either, so it was usually Kibum that ended up calming the two Lee boys down.
“Tomorrow begins the start of election campaigning right minister?”
“Yes, yes, I hope that I can do well in my endeavors. I recently spoke of my stances on military funding, did you hear of it?”
“Of course, minister. I’m very interested in this new project you hope to begin if elected…”
Ryeowook tuned the two out and smoothed his jacket.
“Get a picture near Teuk’s position. There’s some guy there that I don’t recognize. The one with the red tie.”
At Kangin’s order, Ryeowook lifted a hand to adjust his necktie, pressing a small button on the underside of it.
“Right. Thanks. Got it. Any news yet?”
“How would he know anything? And yeah, we just got in.” Heechul’s voice crackled in Ryeowook’s ear before the younger man could respond. “We’re past the second checkpoint. How is the security looking in the next hall down?”
Ryeowook turned back to the general and Minister, smiling softly as the conversation picked up again. He continued fiddling with his cuff links as he listened to the soft crackle of interference and information.
“We’re almost to the third checkpoint. Donghae is scouting ahead. Sungmin has put in the sound precautions. Any sight on the four gifted?” Heechul asked.
Ryeowook heard the soft, almost indiscernibly tapping of computer keys. “The security system is off down there.” Kangin grunted.
“I’ll try and manually bring it up, but I can’t make any promises.” Kibum spoke next. “Also, one of the gifted may have a power that runs electronic interference. If so, we won’t be able to do anything.”
Ryeowook heard Heechul curse, but his attention was quickly pulled toward the woman tapping his shoulder. He plastered a bright smile on his face, “Yes?”
---
Siwon stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned forward on the railing. He tried to suppress a shiver, his breath coming out in a puff of white mist as he exhaled slowly. He knew he should have brought his gloves, why had he left them in the car?
Beside him he heard a soft ting and looked to the side to see that Yesung had dropped the coin he’d been flipping. It hit the roofing and bounced before finally stilling a few feet away. Yesung bent down to grab it, before he reached up and blew into his own cupped hands.
“It’s cold.”
“Yeah.”
“Kind of reminds me of them, you know? The cold, I mean.” Yesung murmured a few seconds later, scanning the building a few blocks away.
“Heechul hyung would know if any of them were here.” Siwon answered back, “they won’t be part of the four.”
Yesung nodded, grabbing his binoculars before leaning against the railing beside Siwon. “Right.” He squinted his eyes a bit. They lapsed into silence again as Yesung looked into the windows at the party within the building and Siwon fiddled with his earpiece and huddled against Yesung away from the cold.
“You think it’ll be fine with just those three?”
“Donghae has been with Heechul the longest, and Sungmin’s power is the best for this kind of situation.” Siwon murmured, “Those three are enough.” And if they need help, I’ll be there.
---
“I wonder how long this is gonna last…”
“Ha, yeah, the sooner it ends the better. I hear that the bar is free.” Hong Dong Ju wondered if he was going to be there for more than a few more hours. He’d planned the rest of his night and it consisted of getting piss-ass drunk and stumbling home to maybe watch some porn. His girlfriend had dumped him earlier that week and he needed a distraction.
It didn’t help that his fellow security guard seemed to ramble when he was nervous. He apparently had never had to do anything this high profile before and kept double checking his gun and his ear piece and mumbling things to himself between bouts of nervous laughter and nonsensical questions.
Why did they always put him with the newbies?
He was going to have a talk with his boss later. If this was such a big job, why did they give him someone who would more likely shoot his own foot when trying to draw out his gun than their attacker? He supposed it had something to do with those new guys that had been brought in, the ones that weren’t from the normal security team.
There was something off about them. Not only that, they acted so fucking superior just because they were part of the actual transaction…it pissed him off.
The two security guards shared a few more mutual complaints before Hong Dong Ju gave a sigh, rolling his shoulders. He heard the soft pop of his shoulder blades and gave a grunt of satisfaction. “I guess I’ll start patrolling again.”
“Yeah.” The other man grabbed a cigarette from his pocket and began to light it.
Hong Dong Ju had rounded the corner but turned in time to see his partner light up. He frowned, “This is a no smoking sec-” A hand was placed over his mouth, another arm snaking around his waist and pulling him back out of sight.
Sungmin pulled him back into the shadows and snapped his neck like a twig. The soft crack was eaten up by the silence.
Heechul pressed himself further against the wall and Donghae slipped past him, a soft growl erupting from behind his bared teeth as he lunged down the hallway. Heechul and Sungmin followed, Sungmin dropping the security guard without a second thought.
The other security guard spotted Donghae before he pounced, and he let out a scream, grappling for his gun. His scream turned into a gurgled groan as Donghae landed on him, canines sinking into his neck.
Sungmin winced as he watched Donghae rip out the man’s windpipe. Donghae turned, white teeth stained red, panting softly.
Heechul knelt next to the body and gave a sigh, “Donghae, even though no one can hear the man screaming thanks to Sungmin they can still feel it when you slam him against the wall so be careful.” He stood, turning to Sungmin, “Let’s get this body out of the way-”
It sounded like a gunshot, as a thick metal chord shot out of the door behind him and wrapped around his throat.
Heechul let out a gasp, barely managing to get his hands up to his neck as the chord tightened painfully, constricted, and jerked him backwards. He choked as he felt himself being pulled, his heels skimming the ground before pain exploded in his back, the splintering of wood echoing in his ears as he was pulled through the door.
His earpiece tumbled out at the rough motion, hitting the ground before Heechul lost sight of it as his back slammed into the floor.
He struggled to keep the chord from tightening further around his throat as he was dragged across the ground, kicking. Dammit, why hadn’t he taken his gloves off? He couldn’t now, not if he wanted to keep his windpipe from being crushed.
His shoulder smacked into the leg of a table, sending it crashing to the side as the leg bent with the groan of metal. His shoulder throbbed from the impact, and he could feel the splinters in his back digging in further as he was dragged along.
He needed air!
There was a roaring sound above his head and then shouting and a scream.
The chord went lax and he found himself gasping for breath, pulling his head out of the loosened binds. He tried to collect himself quickly, running his hands over the raw, bruised skin as he stumbled to his feet, ripping off his gloves.
In front of him was a large gaping hole where a wall had once stood. To one side were two gifted. One of them was unconscious, blood trickling out of his ears, and Heechul assumed that he was the one with the metal chords that Sungmin had just taken out.
Two other men that Heechul assumed were the other gifted stood to the right, shielding three men in suits. One of those men was clutching a briefcase to his chest fearfully as he stared at the place where he’d been standing moments earlier.
Heechul gave a grin-it came out more of a pained grimace-“Let’s have some fun now, shall we?”
Kangin’s voice crackled to life over Sungmin’s earpiece, “What’s going on?”
Sungmin gave a small, cold smile. “We’re playing. We’ll call when we’re done.”
Donghae gave a low growl, leaping forward at the man holding the unconscious gifted-unconscious or dead, Donghae didn’t know and he didn’t care. They had hurt his Heechul hyung, they had hurt his hyung and that was unacceptable! He would kill them all.
Another earth shattering roar as he charged forward, ear perking up at a soft whistling sound to his left. He barely managed to dodge as a table was thrown at him. He leapt backwards, claws skidding against the concrete floor, trying to find some kind of traction.
His ears plastered themselves against his skull and he let out a low growl. Whoever the person that had thrown the table at him was, he’d just picked up a table that had been bolted to the ground and thrown it at him. This…wasn’t good.
He could feel reason breaking through the cloudy haze of his predator mentality, telling him to calm down and pay attention. Four of the men-three now, Sungmin had killed the chord shooting one-were gifted with powers just like himself. They could be dangerous, were dangerous, and one of them possessed super strength. He didn’t know about the other two. He couldn’t just rush in like that again. He didn’t think he’d get a second chance to dodge.
Sungmin was beside him a second later, hand pressed between his shoulder blades. Donghae twitched under his fingers, tail flicking back and forth. Heechul came up on his other side but he didn’t touch him. That was understandable, because his gloves were off.
“The big fat one has super strength.” Heechul grunted, eyes never leaving the men. “The other two haven’t attacked us straight off so that means their powers are close-range.”
“Either that or they can disrupt our senses or create illusions. It wouldn’t be the first time.” Sungmin piped in, voice tight, but he was grinning. Both of them were, and Donghae wondered how the baby-faced member of their group and the pretty man could look so cold and villainous. But really, those two were the most dangerous, it really wasn’t a surprise. And they hadn't done anything like this for a long time, they'd probably been waiting for this moment for awhile now.
“There’s always that.” Heechul assented, “I’ll get the fat one.”
“We’ll hold off the other two.”
“Since we don’t know their powers, be careful.” Heechul advised, even though that was a given. He began moving forward, faster than most would think possible for so skinny and weak looking a man. As he moved the three enemy gifted seemed to burst into action as well.
One of them remained to guard the three businessmen. The second headed toward Heechul.
Heechul ducked, the man’s arm flying over his head, whistling past him. He saw a few strands of black hair fall to the ground as he rolled out of harm’s way. He glanced up to see the man’s arm morph back from a steel blade into soft flesh, and barely had time to register that the fat one was behind him.
“Fuck.” He grumbled, before reaching out and grabbing the fat man’s leg with his ungloved hand.
Sungmin heard the fat one scream but he was more focused on the other man that had gone after Heechul, the one with the ability to morph his arm. Shape shifters were common Gifted, but he wasn’t certain as to the extent of this man’s power. Could he only transform his arm into a blade or-he leapt to the side just as a tirade of bullets hit the ground where he’d just been-or a submachine gun. Wonderful.
Sungmin merely snapped his fingers, and a crack shot through the silence.
Donghae leapt past the first spike, jumping onto the second to launch himself over the diamond-bladed minefield standing between him and his target. His paws skidded across the hard surface, scratching but not leaving a mark, and he almost slipped as he landed on a third spike that had shot out of the wall.
The man didn’t have time to put up a defense as Donghae slipped under his legs, fangs digging into his hamstring, tearing. The man fell with a shout and Donghae’s claws met his throat before he could recover.
A gunshot, pain, but Donghae barely registered the small burning in his leg as he turned with a low growl to the three men standing in the corner. One was holding a gun, looking terrified. If he could have, Donghae would have grinned. Instead, he curled his lips and bared his fangs wickedly. The pain was small, almost unnoticeable to him as the thrill of the hunt coursed through his veins. Prey, they were his prey. It wouldn’t be long before he made his final kill for the night.
A shrill piercing sound filled his ears and he let out an angry yowl, shaking his head to fight off the sound. The men had heard it too, hands going to their ears. Blood trickled out from cupped hands. They fell.
The sound ended as abruptly as it began and Donghae had to shake off the pained daze he was in. His brain felt like it had been scrambled, but his human side was slowly surfacing with clarity through the animal instinct that had taken over at the smell of blood.
The room was silent, oddly so, as Donghae looked around to see Heechul standing casually off to one side with only a pile of ashes next to him.
Sungmin was suddenly beside him, reaching over one of the bodies.
“Here!” Sungmin grabbed the briefcase and threw it at Donghae, “Go!” Donghae grabbed it in his mouth, bounding to the side. He didn’t look back as he headed out of the room. Sungmin pressed a hand to his ear piece. “Donghae has the documents. He’s heading to the dropoff point.”
Sungmin turned just as a gunshot cut through the small moment of silence. He hissed, clutching his shoulder as he stumbled back against the wall away from the man that had just shot him-he was standing shakily, blood trickling down his neck from his ears. He should have expected the guy to have some kind of weapon to defend himself. He hadn’t put in enough force to kill the man, and that had been a mistake it seemed. He reached into his own pocket and held up his pistol, firing two shots into the man’s skull.
Heechul knelt next to him, his dark eyes somber. He reached out as if he wanted to help Sungmin staunch the bleeding but pulled back a second later, remembering that he wasn’t wearing his gloves. “Can you stand?”
Sungmin nodded. “Yeah.” He winced, because Heechul’s voice sounded amplified and every little noise began ringing in his ears. “It just grazed my arm.”
Heechul snorted, “I expected you to pay more attention.”
“I got sloppy.” Sungmin agreed grudgingly, “We haven’t done this in a while.”
Heechul looked down at the bodies littering the floor. “At least they’re all dead.” He headed over to where he’d dropped his gloves. He grabbed them, beginning to slip them on. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll meet up with Donghae at the exit.”
Sungmin pushed himself off of the wall with a small grimace and a curt nod. He stepped gingerly over a corpse, careful not to slip in the blood and brain matter that now covered the floor. He paused, “Don’t put your gloves on yet.”
Heechul paused, one glove already snuggly in place. “What?”
“There are more than four!” Sungmin yelled, just as the wall to his left exploded.
---
“What the fuck is going on down there?” Kangin growled into his headset. He heard someone shout through the static, and a gunshot. Then Sungmin’s shout, “There are more than four!” And then the line cut off.
He stared at the screen in shock, then at the speaker in front of him as if willing it to work. He reacted a second later, “Siwon, get the hell down there. Hankyung get to the designated exit. Shindong, stay with the car.”
“Right.”
“Got it.”
“Damn car.” Shindong grumbled.
“I’m going to make sure we have everything we need in the medical room.” Kibum murmured softly, standing, looking away from the screen as if he were afraid of what he might see.
Kyuhyun watched him go before turning back to Kangin. “Hyung…what’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Kangin muttered, leaning back in his chair. “It’s nothing. This happens sometimes. They’ll be fine. They always are.”
Kyuhyun could tell that Kangin didn’t look convinced, but nodded anyway. He didn’t feel as worried about their safety and he wondered if that made him a bad person. He didn’t know any of them well enough to worry incessantly. He was most worried about Sungmin at the moment, but even that was a dull twinge.
Had he become so numb after the knowledge of his family’s death that none of this phased him anymore? Kangin and Kibum, even when they were worried, even in this kind of life or death situation, they seemed calm.
Would he become so callous to it all that in the end he wouldn’t care if they all died?
He swallowed, turning back to the computer screen he was supposed to be monitoring. He didn’t have to worry. Heechul was there, right? Heechul was an ass but he was a resourceful motherfucker and he probably had some kind of amazing power that would save them all. Yeah, they’d be fine. Heechul was there.
Kyuhyun wondered when that had become a source of comfort for him.
---
Hangeng was already out of the car by the time Shindong turned on the engine. Shindong grumbled to himself as he saw Hangeng leap over a car, his hood pulled over his face to keep it hidden in the well-lit parking lot.
The moment Hangeng had realized that Heechul could be in danger he’d bolted. It wasn’t surprising to Shindong at all, even as he turned on the lights and pulled out of his parking spot. Ever since Hangeng had come to live with them, after Heechul had dropped him off at the rundown apartment where Shindong and Leeteuk had been hiding, all he’d ever talked about-in his broken Korean mixed with Chinese-was Heechul.
Shindong didn’t know what had happened at the Training Center or what Heechul had been to Hangeng while there, but afterwards, he’d never stopped asking about him. When was he coming back, was he coming back? Why didn’t he live with them if he helped them? It had been confusing, and Shindong had never known how to answer the question anyway.
They hadn’t known if Heechul would ever see them again-or how he always knew where they were.
Shindong found it very amusing, however, that it was Hangeng that had fangirled over Heechul and not the other way around.
Hangeng was the famous one, after all. Or had been, before GAM.
Shindong pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the front of the building to pick up the others. He parked and waited, not turning the car off. The engine hummed and the steering wheel vibrated under his fingertips.
He hoped they’d all be alright. They had to be ok. Hangeng would be there and Siwon would be there and hell, Sungmin and Heechul were already there. There was nothing to worry about unless an entire army of Gifted had been waiting for them.
Shit, if that happened…no, it wouldn’t. And Yesung, Yesung was there too. Yesung wouldn’t miss.
Shindong let out a slow breath. Yes…everything would be fine.
---
There was a soft earthquake, just a tremble, but Leeteuk felt it.
He saw Ryeowook pause from sipping his wine and knew that he’d felt it as well. They both looked around at the generals, all of whom seemed to have noticed that something was wrong.
The one talking to Ryeowook shook it off with a grin and continued talking.
Leeteuk watched the other two. They talked before one left, heading out of the ballroom. Leeteuk leaned down to tie his shoe, “One of the generals is heading downstairs.”
“I’ve got him.” Yesung murmured.
Leeteuk heard the crackling over the intercom, interference, and swallowed, “Kangin, what’s going on?”
“We were misinformed, there are more than four gifted. We’re sending Siwon in.”
Leeteuk paled. This wasn’t good. Shit.
“They have the files.”
Leeteuk nodded, looking over at Eunhyuk. Eunhyuk caught his eye and almost jumped. Sometimes Leeteuk worried about his nerves. Eunhyuk gave a weak excuse to go to the bathroom, heading down the hallway.
“What if the General sees me? What if they suspect me? What if they think I’m following him?” Eunhyuk asked fearfully into his ear piece as soon as he was in the hallway and out of the main ballroom. He expected to hear Kibum’s reassuring voice a second later, scoffing at him for thinking something so ridiculous.
But Kibum didn’t answer. Instead, it was Kyuhyun, sounding hesitant.
“Um, you’ll be fine?”
Why did Kyuhyun have Kibum’s microphone? Had something happened? Eunhyuk swallowed, trying to remember his way to the bathroom. Was it the first hallway on the right or the left? Darn it…
“Why are you talking to me?” Eunhyuk practically whined. “Where’s Kibummie?”
He heard a snort, before Kyuhyun answered, “He went to the medical room, in case anyone was hurt. Do you need anything?”
“Um…” Eunhyuk swallowed. “Where’s the bathroom?”
Some typing. “Second hallway on the left.”
Eunhyuk turned just in time. He found himself staring awkwardly around the pristine stalls and sinks. There was a statue in one corner, and there was soft music playing from a speaker on the ceiling.
Scuffling to his right, and Eunhyuk looked up at the air conditioning vent on the other wall and saw a small pink nose poking out of it. He hurried forward, “Hae?”
The rat squeaked, and then a manila envelope was shoved through one of the vent slits. Eunhyuk grabbed it as it dropped, flailing a bit as he tried to keep all the papers secure.
The moment he grabbed the papers, Donghae scurried back through the vent. Eunhyuk knew he wanted to go and help Heechul and Sungmin as quickly as possible. Eunhyuk simply took a deep breath and focused, staring down at the envelope in his hands.
Or rather, the lack of them.
He reached up with one hand to his microphone, “I have the files. I’m heading out.”
---
Donghae slipped out of the vent in a room near where Heechul and Sungmin were fighting. He could feel the soft vibrations of the earth as explosions shook the foundation, but he didn’t hear any noise. He sat on the floor for a moment, trying to ignore the throbbing in his joints as he became fully human again.
He swallowed, bit the inside of his cheek for a moment, before focusing again. His leg was still aching. After transforming into a human he’d gotten the bullet out of his leg, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d been shot and it had hurt like a bitch. Luckily the wound was proportional to the animal and it had been small when he’d been a rat. Then again, that had meant he had less blood in his body to begin with. Kibum told him that he had to always remember that animal bodies were different than his own and that the severity of injuries changed with each animal.
He landed on all fours, a panther once more, and headed down the hallway, ignoring the continued throbbing in his leg.
He ran down a second hallway, claws clicking on the cement and sliding with the lack of traction.
When he got back home, Kibum would have some painkillers waiting for him. Along with disinfectant…which would be painful. He wasn’t looking forward to the disinfectant, or Kibum’s lecture about being more careful.
Donghae got to the room and paused. Sungmin and Heechul stood back to back. Heechul’s gloves were off and surrounding the two were three bodies. Donghae knew the pile of ashes in the corner was enough for one more, and there was another pile in the doorway a few meters away.
Heechul turned at the sight of Donghae and gave a tired grin, “I knew that the first four were too weak for them to be the only ones here.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled his gloves out, slipping them on. “How the hell are we going to fit you into the back of the van?”
Donghae wished he could laugh. He settled for a purr instead.
---