His door unlocked with a chirp, and Joonmyeon woke instantly, vaulting out of bed to wedge himself into a corner. It’s night, they never come at night, Han never comes at night. Every heartbeat hammered against his ribcage, forcing the breath from his lungs as he trembled, eyes straining against the darkness, the sliver of light growing wider and wider.

Baekhyun winked into view, stray motes of light reflecting in his eyes, round with apology. “Hyung! It’s me.”

Relief brought Joonmyeon to his knees. “Bloody hell,” he wheezed as he clutched his chest, trying to ease the throbbing there, trying to to breathe normally again.

Baekhyun leaned over him, holding out a bottle. “Hydrate, hyung. We’ve only got fifteen minutes.”

Joonmyeon grunted in confusion as he drained the bottle, every gulp sending a tingling rush through his veins.

Baekhyun took a breath. “Phoenix wiped out the quarantine teams the old man sent so the militia emptied this whole place to send their own teams. The gunhuggers are gone and there’s an intake tonight right now. The van just entered the tunnel.”

Joonmyeon burped, processing the torrent. “It takes fifteen minutes to drive through the mountain-”

“-just enough time for you to get there and take that car,” Baekhyun continued, hauling Joonmyeon to his feet, “if we go right now. Get the card.”

Joonmyeon dived on the bed and ripped the pillow apart, the blue striped keycard tumbling from the shredded fabric. The gatekey firmly tucked in his waistband, he stepped outside of his room - his cell- for the first time in months, no drugs fogging his mind, no straps holding him down. The air was just the right amount of humid, the tiles smooth against his bare feet, the anklet chilly against his leg. No alarms screamed, no white-coated psychopaths came running. The only thing between him and freedom was four floors and a ticking watch.

“Go!” Baekhyun vanished in a blink of an eye, and Joonmyeon went, following the slight shimmer in the air. He sprinted full tilt down the corridor, skidding to a stop in front of a unmarked door when Baekhyun’s disembodied voice hissed, “Here!”

Joonmyeon danced with anxiety as Baekhyun worked, breathing easier when the deadbolt clicked open. He tugged the heavy door open and stepped inside the dark, frigid room, opening his eyes wide to let them adjust to the paltry light filtering in from the corridor. The first thing he spotted was feet, bare like his own, scrabbling against the floor, and he realized the occupant was trying to crawl away from him. His upper body was covered with ugly scorch marks, a few glistening with burn gel, most fresh and untreated. His arms were bound to his sides, and a hood was pulled over his head. Joonmyeon dropped into a crouch and gingerly pinched the top of the hood, tugging it free to reveal a towheaded young man, his terrified eyes gleaming whitely in the darkness.

“Minseok?” When the young man tensed even further, Joonmyeon held up his hands, letting the hood fall to the ground. He knew what it was like to be this afraid, this alone, so he said the words he’d wished he’d heard himself so long ago. “I’m here to get you out. You need to trust me, and we need to move fast.”

Minseok broke down in sobs instantly, scooting closer to Joonmyeon, who immediately set to to work undoing the restraints. Baekhyun stayed invisible, but whispered “Hurry!” into his ear as Joonmyeon gripped Minseok under the armpits, lifting him to his feet. The shorter man wavered dangerously once he was standing, so Joonmyeon kept one arm around his waist, his fingers cringing away when ever he felt them brush against a ragged burn.

“As fast as you can,” he told him, and started moving, trusting that Minseok was desperate enough to keep up, despite his injuries. He kept up the brisk pace, following Baekhyun’s shimmer as he guided them up a stairwell. Minseok limped doggedly, his face twisted into a mask of pain and concentration as he fought to stay upright. His exhaustion was evident, though, as he sagged against Joonmyeon at each landing, and each time it took longer and longer for him to move again. Most unnerving was that, instead of becoming warmer with exertion, Minseok was actually growing colder under Joonmyeon’s touch. They reached the top of the stairwell, a hidden door popping out from the wall. A light push in the small of his back prodded Joonmyeon toward an elevator, and he glanced down at his charge as they ascended, making sure he hadn’t become a corpse. A chillingly familiar voice announced that they had reached Level 1, and the doors slid open to reveal the site of countless nightmares. The reek of fresh disinfectant stung his throat, as his eyes took in the gurney, outfitted with a new layer of plastic, and the tools, shiny and chrome, laid out for their next subject. Joonmyeon practically dragged Minseok across the intake room in his haste to escape, almost to the door when Baekhyun appeared out of thin air in front of them. Joonmyeon’s heart grabbed hold of his larynx, and he barely managed to clap a hand over Minseok’s mouth to smother his scream of shock.

“Sorry!” Baekhyun whispered loudly, hopping from one foot to the other with excitement. “This is the last door! Past that is the parking lo-”

A polo-shirted guard walked in, two people trailing him— a tall man in a tailored suit, a shorter boy in thin white sweats. Everyone froze and locked eyes, and howling eternity passed in a split second. The guard reacted first, raising his hand to his earpiece, inhaling air to shout the alarm. Joonmyeon was faster. He opened his hands and pulled, desiccating the air before the guard’s taser cleared the holster, the moisture condensing into a tight ball in his palm. Minseok crumpled to the ground as Joonmyeon threw, and the ball blasted the guard across the face, slamming his head against the door frame. The guard staggered, clutching his throat as the water forced its way up his nose. His face purpled as he spluttered, water staining his shirt with each foamy cough. With a gutteral noise, his eyes rolled back in his head and he sprawled on the ground, little rivulets leaking from his face as Joonmyeon called the water back. The ball of moisture spun slowly, re-condensing, as he turned to face the two others.

The young one in white was on his knees, reaching toward the fallen guard, but Baekhyun caught his hand before he could touch. The tall one in the suit stared at the glossy orb expanding between Joonmyeon’s fingers, and he slowly raised his hands above his head.

“I’m not paid enough,” he said simply.

Joonmyeon floated the orb towards the suited man, letting it spin menacingly next to his head. “You drove?” he asked.The man leaned away as his hairstyle began to dissolve and pointed back the way they had come, his hands still high above his head.

“Lead on,” Joonmyeon ordered. The suited man reached down slowly, blindly trying to capture the shirt hem of his companion while keeping an eye on the floating orb as it followed his every move. When he couldn’t find him, he looked down, then snatched his hand away, stumbling backward hastily.

Joonmyeon followed his gaze, finding Baekhyun kneeling, facing the white-clad young man, one hand on his cheek.

“Baek?” Joonmyeon called out, his heart dropping.

Baekhyun turned towards him, a tiny smile quirking his lips, that strange witchlight glowing in his eyes. “Healer,” Baekhyun said softly. Then the light in his eyes died, and he folded bonelessly.

“No!” The sphere of water went splashy, dripping itself onto the floor as Joonmyeon lunged toward his friend, tripping over Minseok’s body. Familiar panic bubbled up in his gut as he shook Baekhyun’s shoulder, calling his name, trying to wake him even though he knew it was futile. The suit grabbed hold of the healer’s shirt and dragged him out, despite his struggle to stay. Joonmyeon looked over at Minseok, lying in a heap, the blackened, bloody wounds crisscrossing his body even worse in the bright lights of the intake room. The furious scuffle outside grew fainter, his only chance to escape this place getting further away with each second.

He couldn’t carry them both.

Joonmyeon ran a hand across Baekhyun’s face, gently brushing his hair out of his eyes. His weird little savior, who wore pajamas meant for little girls, had never tasted peanut butter, and loved insulting nicknames. A tear dripped against Baekhyun’s eyelid, beading at the wing of his eyeliner, Joonmyeon let out a laugh that was mostly a sob as he wiped it away with his thumb, careful not to smudge. Above his head, the orb firmed up, reabsorbing its lost size. Keeping his concentration on his creation, Joonmyeon turned to Minseok and scooped him into his arms. Staggering a little, he stood and left his friend behind.

Joonmyeon caught up with the suit at the door to the underground parking lot, the tall man vainly trying to peel his companion’s fingers from the door. When he spotted the orb of water approaching, he relinquished the struggle with a disgusted sigh and raised his hands in surrender. The young healer’s face lit up at orb’s approach, and he tried to catch it, chasing it in circles as Joonmyeon herded them out. Approaching voices echoed into the air, their conversation amplified by the curve in the corridor, and Joonmyeon hurried them on, trying not to keep the sudden tension from his face.

The suit gestured toward a large silver SUV sitting near the entrance, not even properly parked but blocking two other cars, the engine popping and crackling from use. “There it is,” he said helpfully, dropping the car keys on the ground before taking a giant step away from the orb. His companion, who had been inches away from touching the orb, tottered backwards with a low cry of disappointment, pulled by the suit’s tight grip on his shirt.

“You’re driving,” Joonmyeon told him, jerking his head toward the car, the orb mirroring his motion. He risked a glance backward as the suit picked up the keys, muttering under his breath in Cantonese. The healer opened the car’s rear door, clambering inside to help Joonmyeon arrange Minseok’s cool, limp body gently on the back seat.

The door to the parking lot slammed open, and Joonmyeon’s head banged against the car ceiling as he leaped out to face the danger. Sarai charged into the lot, fire in her eyes and a Glock raised in one hand. She pointed it right at Joonmyeon, finger tight on the trigger. His mouth went dry, the barrel of the gun up his vision. She was too far away and holding that gun far too comfortably. Before his orb could reach her she would cripple him, or worse. A second quarantine agent burst through the parking lot door, his weapon raised, running to Sarai’s aid. She swung the gun to point at the suit, trusting her partner to keep Joonmyeon in his sights.

He drop-kicked her from behind.

The woman hit the cement face first, limbs askew as her body skidded into a post.

There was a distant splash in the background as Joonmyeon’s orb spun itself out of existence, his concentration shot.

The second agent jogged up to him, breathing heavily, and slapped something to his chest, pushing him backwards towards the car.

“The rest are right behind me,” the agent said, as Joonmyeon let himself be stuffed into the passenger seat, the suit swearing a blue streak as he hastily took the wheel.

“Hey, you,” the agent caught the suit’s attention, and held up his Glock. “These were for you,” he jabbed his chin towards Joonmyeon, “not him. He’s valuable. You’re not. So drive fast.”

The engine revved in response, tires screeching as they peeled away. Joonmyeon fished the gatekey from his waistband and held it beside the rearview mirror as they neared the barred entrance to the tunnel. As the gate began rolling open with a mechanized groan, Joonmyeon turned to look back, but the agent was gone. The car’s headlights flashed on as they roared into the mountain tunnel without slowing down, the suit expertly handling the winding curves, even in the dark. Joonmyeon kept looking back, kept checking for headlights in the rearview, kept expecting a y trap, kept waiting for something to go wrong. His adrenaline was still firing on all cylinders as they shot free of the tunnel, swerving onto the main highway and out into the desert night.

For the first time in seven months, Joonmyeon saw the sky. He fell back against his seat, wind from the open window battering the tears from his eyes as he took in the size of the world, so vast and quiet. He looked down at his hands, clutched tightly around the small object the agent had pressed into his chest. A phone.