Kang Seungyoon watched his boss and mentor from the corner of his eyes. Daesung has been hard at work ever since he revealed that little tidbit about hacking into General Yang’s files. He suspects that Daesung hasn’t had more than a couple of hours sleep at a time with the way he’s been going at it like a maniac.

Seungyoon has offered his help more than once but Daesung thanked him and asked him to help by making sure their daily operations are covered even with his boss’ preoccupation. As if he doesn’t do that already.

He’s not offended by Daesung’s rejection of his help. He knows there are some things that you have to do yourself and he takes it as a mark of Daesung’s, and in a more general sense Big Bang’s, trust in his ability to handle their team without supervision.

He knows Sandara has already been transported to the hospital where they’re going to open up her skull and -

He shivered at the thought. He hates - absolutely hates- blood and gore. This is another reason why he loves his job. He’s still part of the action minus all the disgusting stuff that is involved in Seunghoon, Jinwoo and to a lesser extent, Mino’s jobs.

He looked at his boss one more time. He could practically feel the anticipation and excitement rolling off him in waves.

He must be close to a breakthrough. Seungyoon knows that feeling well. That heady rush that tells you that after only a few more clicks, you’re about to hit the payload.

So he waited. And was rewarded by Daesung’s exclamation, “Oh, yeah. Take that you ers! I am Kang Daesung and I am the man!” He pumped his fists and turned to Seungyoon. “I am the man! Who is the man?”

“You are, hyung.” Seungyoon agreed, giving his mentor a slow clap as he approached him. “Anything good?”
“Oh, it’s gold, Seungyoon. Gold, I tell you.” Daesung sat back down and resumed his continuous typing. “You remember the files we liberated from the mission?”

“The whole boatload of nothing?”

“Yeah. That.” Daesung confirmed nodding. “Well, that boatload of nothing when combined with General Yang’s boatload of nothing actually is something!”

“What do you mean?” Seungyoon frowned as he approached the computer screens and took a look at the codes. “The encryptions.. When ran side by side.. They open a different application?”

“Ding ding ding! Give the boy a cookie! I don’t have one with me right now, but you can go to the cafeteria later and get a cookie on me.” Daesung confirmed Seungyoon’s theory even as he continued running through the reports. “Separately, the files each carried a ghost code, if you will, that when combined they direct us to a new pathway. It sort of opens a wormhole that needs both encryptions in order to run. Meaning without each other, they really are useless. A whole bunch of redacted files and coded messages but when these are ran together, it gives us the clues on accessing the secured cloud drive..”

“Amazing.” Seungyoon sat beside Daesung and watched his mentor work. “That’s an extra layer of security even we don’t have. Hyung, we could develop..”
Daesung paused and looked at Seungyoon a proud smile on his face. “Yes. Yes. You can start working on developing that encryption for us as soon as we find out everything we can about Sandara and that facility she was in.”

Seungyoon blushed in embarrassment. “Of course, hyung. Let me know how I can help.”

“Just make sure all our ops are running smoothly.” Daesung answered. “I’m downloading the files and running them against our system to identify new info. You can help me comb through the extracted reports later so we can present Jiyong hyung the consolidated report on the contents.”

Seungyoon nodded. Helping Sandara is their top priority right now but at the back of his mind, he’s already trying to figure out how they can develop this new tech. He went through his daily tasks, occasionally peeking at Daesung who was at different points in time either cackling gleefully, muttering curses or silent in his concentration.

“Mother ing hell!” Daesung exclaimed breaking Seungyoon out of his reverie.

“Hyung-”

“Seungyoon, call Jiyong hyung, Seungri, Bom noona or Hyesun noona right now.” Seungyoon knew that tone of voice- that meant obey right now or die. Without asking for more info, he used the BBSI system to call all four phones at the same time. “If they don’t answer, keep trying. Hack the hospital system to page them if needed. I need to speak with the first one who answers.” He gave his orders but his eyes never left his screens.

_____________________________

“I’ll see you in a bit, Sandara.” Heechul told her, watching intently as her eyes fluttered closed and her breathing evened out as the anesthesia worked it’s magic.

“Alright, guys. She’s out.” He told his team. “Let’s begin. Scalpel.” Heechul reached for the scalpel and made an incision on Sandara’s scalp. Seconds later, he activated the craniotome, the special saw used for opening the skull during craniotomies. Early on, he decided not to re-open her skull at the same place they previously did. Although, he could only detect one area where an incision could have been made, so he was assuming that her captors opened her up at the same place where she was the people who originally put the chip in her did. He wanted to see if there was a way of getting to the chip without causing damage to her nerves. He has just cut through the bone and handed the saw to the assisting surgeon . He asked for a scalpel to cut through the tissue and to expose the chip when Jiyong’s voice rang through the OR.

He froze. His muscles tensed at the aborted action and the interruption. He glared at the viewing gallery fully intending on lecturing Kwon Jiyong. He paused when his tone turned begging.

He handed off the scalpel and removed his face mask. Confusion and anger warring inside him. “Kwon Jiyong.. I told you inside the OR, I am the boss. I don’t answer to you and I will do what’s best for my patient.”

“Hyung..” Jiyong spoke again making Heechul pause in his tirade. “I need you to.. Look.. This is important.. Can you please just step out of the OR for a minute.”

“Jiyong, I can’t leave her with her skull open!” Heechul pointed towards Sandara. “What the hell -”

“The chip.” Jiyong interrupted him. “It’s a kill chip. It could kill her if we trigger it.. Hyung.. Just.. step back a moment.. Please.”

Kill chip? Heechul thought. “What does that mean.” He felt the whole OR freeze at Jiyong’s words. “Do I need to evacuate my team?”

“I.. Hyung..”

“Jiyong!” Heechul snapped. “Are these people in danger?”

“We’re not sure.. Hold on.” Jiyong was speaking to someone over the phone.

Heechul made a snap decision. He is responsible for everyone inside this operating room. “Everyone, get out. Nurse Lee, please take everyone over to conference room 4.” It was the nearest conference room to this OR and was used when doctors needed to consult. “Seungri will meet you there.” He told her, knowing that Seungri would hear and know what to do.

“But Doctor Kim.. What about you?” Nurse Lee asked in worry. “If the chip explodes..”

“I don’t think we have to worry about that at the moment.” Heechul assured her. “We haven’t exposed the chip yet, so it should be safe and secure right now. You know I can’t leave my patient and I really don’t want to leave my friend.”

“In that case, I can stay.” Nurse Lee told him. “We can just fix her up and get out of here at the same time.”

“Nurse Lee..”

The formidable Nurse Lee turned towards the rest of the team in the OR. “That poor girl is lying there with her skull open and God knows what in her head. The least I can do is help you give her a fighting chance. If anyone would like to follow Doctor Kim’s earlier orders, please go on ahead to conference room 4. Nobody will hold it against you. Doctor Kim and I can manage.”

No one moved. The all liked and respected Doctor Kim. They all liked and respected Nurse Lee. They were bound by secrecy, yes. But they were also bound by their oaths as healers. Maybe some of them would have wanted to leave the OR, but no one dared to be the first person to step out of the room. Whether it was bravery or the fear of their peers’ censure, the whole OR team decided to stay.

Heechul momentarily closed his eyes when none of his team moved. He was grateful but also so worried.

“Hyung.” Jiyong called his attention. “It looks like as long as the chip remains untouched, it won’t be activated.”

“Thank you everyone.” Heechul turned back to his team. “We will never forget this.” Getting back to business, he assessed Sandara and started barking out orders.

_____________________________

At the viewing gallery, everyone was keeping a close eye on the proceedings below. They were all tensed and poised to react at the slightest sign of anything irregular.

“A kill chip?” Hyesun whispered softly, disbelief clear in her tone.

“That’s what Daesung said.” Jiyong confirmed.

“Bastards!” Bom cursed as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.

Jiyong agreed. This added a whole new dimension of evil. Without knowing the details, he can only speculate on the parameters of the chip.

Obviously it was put in place to prevent people from extracting the chip but how would that help if nobody knew that they weren't supposed to touch it?

Sandara told them that they tase her sometimes and she does get those blinding headaches, he’s wondering whether or not it was connected.

He watched Heechul’s precise movements, trying to focus on anything else other than the fact that they could have killed Sandara; they could have killed the girl they were trying to save.

His whole body tensed when he had a thought: could they, the people who held her captive or the people who put the chip in her brain; whoever they are, trigger the chip even from a distance?

_____________________________

Daesung breathed a huge sigh of relief after he heard that he got to them in time. “Okay. She’s okay. She’ll be okay.” He dropped down on his seat and kept clenching and unclenching his fists as he tried to relax. “She’s okay, Seungyoon. She’ll be okay.”

Seungyoon nodded, unable to think of anything to say. He’s seen some pretty far out things during his time with BBSI, but this.. This is beyond him. Putting what is an equivalent to ticking bomb in somebody’s brain, it escapes him how some people could just bypass moral and ethical lines for their own agendas.

He knows fights come in all shapes and sizes; fists, guns, knives, hacking, putting up firewalls.. Whatever. But this.. This is the equivalent of holding a gun next to a person’s head constantly and continuously. The threat is there every ing day. The only thing is, the person being threatened in this case is Sandara and with her memories gone.. He can’t say that the threat is rendered ineffective because honestly? He thinks her not knowing, and in turn them not knowing, just doubled the danger for Sandara.

He shook his head and turned to his mentor, “What do we do now?”

Daesung straightened at his question. “We need to find out everything we can about that chip; what else it does, how to disable it, how to trigger it-”

“What?”

“We have to know how it gets triggered to that we can make sure we don’t accidentally kill Sandara. We also need to make sure nobody gets the honor of doing it for us.” Daesung informed him. “I’m giving you access to the decrypted files. We can cover more ground if you review them against the info we have as I decrypt the rest.”

“You got it, hyung.” Seungyoon agreed. He sat down in front of his station and tried to put everything but the task at hand out of his mind.

________________________________

After speaking with his team, Heechul left them in Bom and Hyesun’s care. They would take care of all the formalities and he knows Hyesun would offer her services to anyone who needs it after what happened, or rather what thankfully didn’t happen in his OR. He rushed to the conference room where he knows Jiyong and Seungri are waiting for him.

“Hyung, we need to move her back to-”

“We can’t.” He interrupted Jiyong’s tirade. Putting up a hand to stop further arguments, he sat down wearily. “We can’t move her for at least twenty-four hours, Jiyong. Whether or not we completed what we set out to do, Sandara just had brain surgery. Ideally she needs a few weeks to heal but I know you won’t stand for that so I’m only holding her here for twenty-four hours.”

“She’ll be more comfortable back home.” Jiyong pushed. Nobody commented on him referring to his home as Sandara’s home.

“I know.” Heechul agreed. “But what if she gets a bleeding in her brain or if she seizes? What if she falls into a coma? Do you have the facilities to help her with that? Let’s just make sure she gets through the night, that she wakes up on her own.”

Heechul could see that Jiyong didn’t want to agree but this was one thing he wouldn’t be budging from. Finally, Jiyong nodded but the tick in his jaw told Heechul that he will have more to say on the subject soon.

“So, the chip?” Heechul prompted. At a subtle nod from Jiyong, Seungri launched into what happened in the viewing gallery. After Seungri’s story, Heechul asked, “How does he know it would kill her?”

“I believe the words will neutralize subject were in the report.” Seungri told him. “Daesung hyung is still trying to work on the specs of the chip so we can disable it before we attempt to remove it again.”

“There will be no further attempts.” Jiyong told them firmly.

“Hyung.”

“That’s up to Sandara, isn’t it?”

But Jiyong didn’t appear to hear any of their protests. “Daesung will call as soon as he finds out more.”

______________________________________

Later, Jiyong watched silently as Bom and Hyesun said their goodbyes to Sandara. They were returning to BBSI and promising so many things to the still unconscious girl: ice cream, shopping, girl talk.

Before they left, each girl hugged him tight. He would have scoffed at the insinuation that he needed a hug but he actually appreciated the silent show of support.

Now, he was standing inside Sandara’s room looking out the window listening as Seungri made arrangements for security and kept Seunghyun and Youngbae updated. For all his faults and mischievousness, he knew he could depend on their maknae when it counted.

Hearing Seungri step out of the room as he continued arguing with whoever it was he was speaking on the phone with, he turned slightly to face the girl lying so still on the bed. Even with all the wires attached to her and the bandage on her head, she looked like a vision. She looked fragile and soft and beautiful. He wondered if he will ever witness a moment where she was anything less. He highly doubts it.

“Hyung, we lost contact with Jaejoong hyung.” Seungri told him with a worried frown. Something he mirrored. During Jaejoong’s last update, he reported that he was chasing a lead on Park Sanghyun’s death and will probably b