Hongbin was running.

No, he was fleeing. Something- someone was chasing him. 

All around him, it was dark. Not like night, but as if the area around him was an endless void, except for the concrete beneath his feet. He recognized this road. It was the main street of Gangsan.

He looked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of his pursuer, but all he could see was the shine of polished black shoes and the white of the shirt underneath a black suit. It was only for a second that he saw him before facing forward again, but he knew that the suit was catching up. Hongbin urged his legs to move faster. 

Suddenly the scenery around him changed. Instead of running down the main street of Gangsan, he was now racing down the concrete parking ramp of the hospital. Then, it clicked.

Kyuhyun is chasing me! Hongbin thought, and he ran even faster.

"It's no use, Binnie!" Kyuhyun called merrily from behind, and Hongbin could hear the smile on his face. "You know you can't escape me!"

The exit of the parking ramp was right in front of him, and a bright light was shining through the large opening. He knew that if he could just get out there, into the light, he would be safe.

Hongbin was almost there. He was going to make it.

However, with only a few yards left to go, a black figure stepped into Hongbin's path. He charged forward as fast as he could, raising his fist to knock the person aside. But when the figure's face came into view, Hongbin skidded to a halt just feet away. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open in complete surprise.

"Hyuk?" Hongbin asked, confused.

Right in front of him, Hyuk stood wearing a black suit with black polished shoes. His expression looked sad and hurt. Tears were glistening in his eyes, and he reached out to Hongbin as he stepped forward.

"Hongbin..." Hyuk spoke his name softly with sorrow, and it cut like a knife into Hongbin's chest. 

Hongbin leaned into Hyuk's hand, allowing the younger to caress his skin from his lower jaw and down the side of his neck. 

Suddenly, the gentle gesture turned into a harsh grip around his throat, cutting off his airflow. Hongbin choked and gasped. He tried to push Hyuk's hand off, but the hand was like a vice. Even with the strength of a cyborg, Hongbin couldn't make it budge.

He looked at Hyuk in confusion and betrayal, and tears formed as he silently pleaded for him to let go. However, his tear-filled eyes met Hyuk's empty, despairing gaze.

"Why didn't you save me?" Hyuk asked, and his eyes glowed a luminescent blue.

No. Hongbin thought in disbelief. Not Hyukkie. Please, not Hyukkie.

"It hurt so much." Hyuk continued, tightening his grip around Hongbin's throat.

The skin on Hyuk's face started chipping, and falling away. Hongbin could see the metallic shine underneath.

"Now, the voices won't stop talking in my head." Hyuk's voice became electronic, almost autotuned, and it was the coldes Hongbin has ever heard him. "'They' won't stop until you, and everyone else, are dead."

"Hyukkie..." Hongbin choked out so quietly, it was hardly a whisper.

Kyuhyun suddenly appeared by Hyuk's side, smiling happily.

"See, Binnie?" Kyuhyun said, looking at Hyuk with pride, then turning back to Hongbin. "I told you we'd take good care of him." 

With a smirk, Kyuhyun withdrew his gun, put it up to Hyuk's head, and pulled the trigger.

~  ~  ~

"NO!" Hongbin screamed, jolting into an upright sitting position. 

"Whoa!" Wonsik yelped in surprise, nearly falling from his chair next to the cyborg.

Hongbin's eyes darted to his surroundings, barely registering Wonsik's presence. He was on the concrete roof of a large building, and he was sitting on a beach chair with a large umbrella overhead that was shielding his face from the sun.

"Jesus, you scared me!" Wonsik exclaimed with a hand over his racing heart, then he looked at Hongbin with concern, "Are you okay? You were out for a while."

Hongbin ignored him, and hastily stood up from the lounge chair. He felt a small tug on his left arm, and he looked down to see that there was an IV attached to a bag of clear fluid hanging from a stand on the opposite side of the chair. With a jerk of his arm, he yanked the needle out and caused the stand to simultaneously fall over. Spotting an open door with a stairwell leading down, Hongbin started marching with shaky legs to the exit.

"Hey, hey, hey," Wonsik appeared at his side, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You shouldn't move around much. How about you sit back-"

Hongbin swatted his hand away, and continued to walk with his eyes locked on the door as he asked, "Where's Hyuk?"

"H-he's downstairs." Wonsik answered, surprised by Hongbin's behavior.

He followed closely behind the cyborg, and they both began their descent down the stairwell. Hongbin stumbled, and would have fallen down the stairs if Wonsik hadn't grabbed his arm in time. 

"You should really be resting," Wonsik stated, shaking his head in disapproval. "You were out for three days."

His words didn't register in Hongbin's mind, and he continued to descend with wobbly knees.

"Aish." Wonsik hissed in frustration, and stayed close behind the younger knowing he won't be able to convince him otherwise.

When they reached their floor, Wonsik pointed it out to Hongbin since the cyborg was unfamiliar with the complex. Wonsik then guided him down the hall towards his apartment. Walking from the opposite end of the hall, Wonsik spotted Hakyeon carrying two plastic bags of groceries. The vet's eyes widened when he saw them, and he immediately dropped the bags by Wonsik's door.

"Hey, you're awake!" Hakyeon exclaimed, running up to the cyborg. "You shouldn't be walking yet, though."

"Where's Hyuk?" Hongbin asked again, pushing past the vet to make his way to the apartment with the bags.

Hakyeon followed behind, pulling out the spare key given to him by Wonsik. When they reached the door, Hakyeon unlocked it and the second he pulled the key free Hongbin plowed into the apartment.

He strode quickly down the small hall and into the living room, spotting Jaehwan standing in the kitchen holding a butter knife coated with mayonnaise.

"Hongbin?" Jaehwan said in surprise as he watched the cyborg glance over the living room, and then the kitchen. 

"Where's Hyuk?" Hongbin asked, locking eyes with Jaehwan.

Jaehwan blinked a couple times, dazed by the steely determination in Hongbin's eyes. He silently pointed to the bedroom door with the butter knife, and Hongbin immediately turned and marched to the room.

The winged man shot a questioning glance at Hakyeon and Wonsik, but the other two only shook their head with a shrug, not knowing what got into the cyborg either.

Hongbin flung the bedroom door open, and found Hyuk who jumped slightly on the bed, startled by the sudden intrusion. The younger was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, petting Leo's wolf tail. Leo was sitting at the foot of the bed facing Hyuk, and playing cards littered the covers between the two.

"Hongbin!" Hyuk cried out happily, his face immediatly lighting up.

The cyborg hurried over to the younger, and cupped his face in his hands to look him over. He was relieved to see that Hyuk looked nothing like he did in his nightmare; no glowing eyes, no chipped skin.

Releasing Hyuk's face, Hongbin asked, "Are you okay? How's your back?" Hongbin quickly turned Hyuk by the shoulders so he could get a clear view of his back, and he lifted up his shirt to reveal the clean bandage.

"H-Hongbin!" Hyuk shouted in surprise, trying to pull his shirt back down. "I'm fine, I'm fine! I should be the one asking you if you're okay." 

Leo swatted Hongbin's hands away, and the wolf man tugged the shirt back down into place. Hongbin sighed in relief, and his body suddenly felt heavy so he sat down on the edge of the bed. He rubbed his hands over his face, remembering the last moments before he passed out in the truck.

"How long was I asleep?" Hongbin asked, having no memory of Wonsik telling him on the roof.

"Three days." Hyuk answered, concern in his eyes. "We were all worried. Not even Dr. Sin knew when you were going to wake up."

"Dr. Sin?" Hongbin looked up at Hyuk, eyebrows furrowed.

Hyuk nodded, "When you didn't wake up for the first few hours, Hakyeon called him over. He examined you, and said all your vitals were normal. You just needed to sleep. While you slept, he took care of you; keeping you hydrated, and feeding you through an IV."

"Ah, I see. I should thank him later." Hongbin whispered to himself in understanding, and he groggily leaned his head down on his hand.

"You should go lie down." Hyuk said worriedly, rubbing soothing circles on Hongbin's back. "Dr. Sin said you might be a little weak from sleeping for so long, so you shouldn't move around too much after waking up."

"I'm staying right here." Hongbin stated, laying himself down next to Hyuk on the bed. The bedframe creaked from the heavy weight, and Leo stood up to ease its burden.

Hyuk scooched over to give the cyborg more room, and he looked down at the man with a small grin, "You worry too much, you know."

Hongbin shrugged and chuckled, "It's part of my charm. Besides, it's what friends do, right?"

Hyuk laughed, and watched Leo pick up the playing cards as he replied, "Yeah, I guess so. Oh, Leo-hyung, you missed one down there." Hyuk pointed down at the floor where a stray card fell, and Leo glared at him a little while he leaned over to pick it up. "Thanks for playing with me, hyung."

Leo nodded silently in response, and took the deck of cards with him as he left the room. The wolf man had to push his way past the vet, the musician, and the bird man on his way out. The three of them had been watching from the doorway to make sure everything was alright, and when Leo left Hakyeon stepped in.

"Hongbin, how are you feeling?" Hakyeon asked, standing by the bedside with his arms crossed over his chest. "Are you all charged?"

Hongbin took a moment to scan himself internally, and he checked his power by looking in the lower left corner of his vision. 85%.

"I have 85% power, and I'm feeling pretty good. Just a little sleepy." Hongbin answered, closing his eyes as he snuggled into the mattress, and maybe a little closer to Hyuk.

"Good." Hakyeon said in relief, then he gave a light smack to Hongbin's arm. "Aigoo, don't scare us like that again! I swear, if you ever let your power get that low again, I'm going to leave you out in the sun without the umbrella. You'll be as red as a tomato for a week!"

Hongbin laughed, putting his hands up in surrender, "Araso, araso! I'll be careful, I promise."

"As long as you understand." Hakyeon huffed, and turned to leave the room but Hongbin stopped him by grabbing his wrist. The elder looked down at him with a softer expression, and questioned in a polite and concerned tone, "What is it? Do you need something?"

"I need to talk to you about something." Hongbin said, becoming more serious.

Hakyeon patted Hongbin's hand, and smiled kindly as he replied, "Okay. But, how about we talk after you've rested for a bit?"

Hongbin seemed hesitant about the suggestion, but exhaled through his nose as he nodded in agreement. Hakyeon removed his hand from his wrist, and set it down on the mattress.

"Jaehwan is making sandwiches. Hyuk, you've already had four, so you're not getting any more. Hongbin, do you want any?" Hakyeon asked.

Hongbin shook his head, "I'm not very hungry yet. I probably will later, though."

"Araso. Rest up, then, you two." Hakyeon said, directing it at Hyuk as well, and left the room to take care of the groceries, closing the door behind him.

After the elder left, Hongbin looked up at Hyuk, "So, what did I miss while I was napping?"

Hyuk shrugged, "Not much. We haven't seen any sign of the suits for a couple days, so Hakyeon finally let Leo leave his place to come over to Wonsik's and hang out with me. Which is good, because I was getting pretty bored laying here all day with nothing to do, except listen to music and read comics. Also, I heard Leo was starting to get pretty antsy as well, being locked up at his place all day. Oh, and Key is staying with Jonghyun and Woohyun at their apartment."

"Who?" Hongbin asked, not quite reconizing their names.

"Oh yeah," Hyuk smiled sheepishly. "You haven't been properly introduced to them yet, have you? Do you remember the guys that helped us out at the hospital?" Hongbin nodded, and Hyuk continued, "Well, the dude with the shotgun was Woohyun, and the guy with the really light hair was Jonghyun. The blonde, speedy guy was-"

"Key." Hongbin finished for him.

Hyuk nodded.

"I've actually seen him a couple of times in the lab." Hongbin