L dropped her back on the roof of the church, right outside her room window. It was as if no time had passed since they were gone; but then again it always seemed to Min as if time had stood still in the Precinct.

“I never learned to teleport,” she told him, leaning on the sill of the window as he crouched in front of her. He looked less grim already; less like the man he had grown into and more like the child she had grown up with. “So you’re one up on me.”

He shot her a grimace. “Hunter’s privilege,” he said quietly. “It’s a perk I’d rather not have.” Min lowered her eyes to his hands, gaze tracing over the thin, almost invisible scars that graced them. She sighed.

“You’d better go now, who knows who might see you,” she told him. “I… I really was sorry, L.” He made no reply, instead detaching the katana from his hip and placing it on the sill.

“I think it would prefer to be wielded by its rightful owner,” he said softly. Min stared at the blade before her, seeing the marks in its shiny surface where she had embedded it into the floor. She put out a tentative hand and touched its handle, snatching it back when she felt it shiver slightly beneath her fingers. She looked up into L’s dark eyes. He nodded.

“You kept it…?” she whispered.

“I thought one day I might have the chance to give it back to you.” He pushed his jacket aside to reveal another sword, identical to hers except that its colours were inverted. “It’s yours. I always found a little too bloodthirsty for me.” He flashed her a lopsided, boyish grin and then turned to go. “Oh,” he paused. “And tell your friend that I’m sorry I did that to him. He was a commendable fighter, though a little less refined in fighting style.”

In a flash Min was out of the window, clutching the front of L’s jacket in her fists. “Sungkyu?” she breathed, wide-eyed. “What did you do to him? Where is he?”

L looked down at her, a little puzzled. “They took him,” he told her without blinking. “I thought he’d be back by now. Unless…” he looked away.

“Unless?” Min shook him. “Unless what?!”

“Unless he’s dead.”

-

Sungkyu sighed as he pushed open the doors to the church. “I’m home,” he whispered to the silent pews. There was no reply. Staring up into the face of the unknown woman, he sent her a silent prayer before climbing up the hidden stairs to the loft where they lived. He guessed the others were asleep – after all, it was 4 in the morning.

He was exhausted; the thought of having to do one more job for Aboveground weighed down on him. He heaved another sigh as he flopped down on the couch, closing his eyes and mussing his hair with one hand.

He froze when he felt the couch dip beside him, and a sudden weight on his shoulder. He straightened and looked down to find Min crouched beside him, her forehead pressed to his upper arm. Her dark hair floated around her shoulders and shone in the dim light.

“Min…?” he asked tentatively, tensing a little.

She shifted slightly but didn’t look up. “I’m glad you’re back,” she said, her voice muffled in the fabric of his jacket. He couldn’t tell if she sounded relieved or terrified or simply indifferent.

-

Sungkyu was up on the roof again. CL and Jepp had just returned from his hunt and he had been subjected to a long, long lecture about how he couldn’t just run off and leave them without so much as a warning and where had he been and where the hell had he gotten that stab wound in his hand from?

In the end Sungkyu simply turned away and closed the door in CL’s face.

He hadn’t meant to be rude to her; he didn’t even mean to intentionally hurt her. It was just that she cared too much about him, and that was something that he didn’t want. He knew the danger he was putting himself into when he let her into the church all those years ago, and then Jepp and Min. He didn’t want the attachment that came with having to care for other people, but somehow he knew that it was something he couldn’t escape from.

He just hoped that it wasn’t a part of his personality that would kill him in the end.

He dropped back into his room, picking up Kwon Yuri’s file and scanning through it. It had a picture of a pretty young woman clipped to it, the smile on her face cynical and her eyes all-knowing. Her details were printed on the side of the page, and under her photo, in violent red letters, was printed the word ‘exterminate’. Sungkyu checked her location again; just to be sure he was reading it right. ‘The Facility, Deepground’, it said in dark letters. He blinked. What’s a girl like this doing in a place like that?

There was a knock on the door and he jumped violently, stowing the whole file under his mattress. “Yeah?” he asked as Jepp poked his head round the door.

“Dinner’s ready,” the latter grinned, showcasing pointy canines. “Oh, and I’m glad you’re back.”

Sungkyu flitted his eyes to his mattress. I won’t be back for long. But all he said was, “Yeah.”

-

It was another week before Sungkyu decided he couldn’t wait anymore. The longer he hung around trying to siphon information about Deepground out of Key and Zico – both of whom were reluctant to divulge anything – the longer the task at hand hung around his neck like deadweight. If he was going to kidnap Kwon Yuri and earn his freedom he had better do it sooner than later.

“Gotta get back to work,” he said offhandedly as he dropped his dirty dishes into the sink after dinner. He flexed the fingers of his hand, staring at the thin scar that now adorned it, courtesy of L. he had questioned Min about him when he came back (he wasn’t oblivious to the new scratch on her cheek, nor the way she winced when lifting things with her left arm) but she simply told him that L wouldn’t be bothering her anymore.

He left it at that, no other questions asked. As long as Min was out of danger, he didn’t see the point of picking a fight.

“What kind of work?” CL asked him, eyebrow raised.

“I only do one kind of work,” he retorted. “I’ll leave tomorrow afternoon. Shouldn’t take me a day to finish.” At least, he hoped so.

“I’ll come with you,” CL offered. “I need to restock the pantry anyway. You can drop me off at Valera, then we can go -.”

“No.”

Jepp and Min exchanged glances. CL’s eyes narrowed slightly as she scrutinized Sungkyu. “Why not?” she asked, a less-than-friendly grin emerging on her face.

“Just no.” Sungkyu left the kitchen.

“URGH HE’S SO ANNOYING!” CL screeched, driving her knife into the surface of the table. “Would it kill him to work with someone for once in his life?!”

“You know Gyu, he likes to do things alone,” Jepp said soothingly. “Just let it go, CL.”

“I don’t understand why he just pushes us away all the time,” she growled, eyebrows knitted. “Urgh, I need a sweet.” She pushed herself away from the table and clattered to the sideboard, where she pulled out a jar labelled “CL’S DO NOT TOUCH" in wonky, childish handwriting.

“Everyone has their reasons,” Jepp said easily, tilting his chair back on two legs and looking at Min. “Yeah Min?” She simply nodded, picking up her plate in her left hand and almost immediately switching to the other hand. No one noticed the small grimace that appeared on her face. “Anyway,” Jepp was saying, “just let him do what he wants.”

“No way,” CL glared at him. “I’m going with him whether he likes it or not.” She delved a hand into the jar and stuffed another gummy bear into . Jepp sighed and righted himself, carrying the remaining plates to the sink.

-

Sungkyu closed his eyes in agony and stopped in his tracks. “I know you’re there CL, so don’t even think that following me on rooftops will make me not spot you,” he said out loud, not even bothering to turn around. There was a hiss of dissatisfaction, and CL dropped silently by his side, her expression insolent. “Go home,” he told her. “I can do this alone.”

“Keep walking,” she replied. “I’ll just stay ten steps behind you so you won’t even know I'm here, okay?”

Sungkyu groaned, then shook his head and took another step forward. “Why do you have to keep nosing your way into my business anyway?” he demanded as they strode through the dirt-lined road.

“Somebody has to protect you,” CL grinned, her usual bubbly personality returning as she popped a new lollipop into .

“I don’t need protection,” he deadpanned. He turned around to find her smirking up into his face. “Look, just go home, okay? I don’t need you.”

“That’s what you think,” she stuck her tongue out at him and skipped on ahead. He had to try hard not to shoot her right there and then; he simply shook his head and walked after her. They moved in silence for a while, and then CL cast her head towards the sky. “Don’t you ever wonder what holds that up?” she pointed at the plate above their heads. “It’s like no one asks any questions around here.”

“I’m sure they do,” Sungkyu muttered distractedly. He needed a way to get rid of CL, and fast. Even though she was a capable fighter he didn’t want to get her entangled in Aboveground’s affairs by having her take the mission with him. “CL, can you just-.”

“Hey, it’s snowing!” CL held a hand out towards the grayish speck that flew down towards her palm. Her eyebrows furrowed as she inspected it. “I still don’t get how it manages to snow down here, we never see the sky.” Sungkyu froze in his tracks as he stared around him, heart rate speeding up dramatically. Not now… CL smiled as a larger fleck floated towards her, and held her hand out towards it. Before Sungkyu could knock it aside the ashen flake settled on to her fingertips. “CL-!” he started.

“OW WHAT THE ?!” CL yelled, shaking the flake away violently and staring wildly at her fingers, which had been singed slightly. “What the hell is this?!” A fleck flew past her face and she stared at it, seeing the glowing ember edges as it burned its way to the ground. “… Ash?!”

“This way!” Sungkyu grabbed her, yanking her down the road. “Go home!” he bellowed at some kids as they loitered in the street, staring up at the soft flakes. They ran without stopping as ash rained down above their heads, and CL thought she could smell the tips of her hair burning. They approached a long-abandoned construction site covered partly in tattered tarpaulin and Sungkyu pushed her beneath its shelter, gasping for air.

“What the hell was that?!” CL exploded. The lollipop had fallen from when the first piece of ash burned her, and she hastily produced another from one of the pouches hanging form belt. “I mean, I know it rained ash but we never went out in it before, I don’t…” She seized the front of Sungkyu’s jacket. “You knew all along, didn’t you?” she asked in a low voice.

“Yeah, and now you do too,” Sungkyu released himself from her grip and checked out their surroundings. He had only ever been in this part of the Precinct once, and was unfamiliar with its landmarks. The C-shaped building that encircled them was several storeys tall and was probably intended to be the tallest in the area, until the construction of Aboveground above it halted that intention. He brushed aside the tarpaulin and gazed out. “Look CL, I want you to go back to the church and stay there. Can you do that?”

“Don’t be stupid, I’m not leaving you,” she narrowed her eyes at him. “Falling ash…” she muttered. “I feel like I’ve heard of that before…”

Sungkyu was about to tell her how impossible that was when a bullet whizzed past his head and embedded itself into her neck, blood spattering on to her face and staining her hair crimson. It was so fast that she didn’t have time to react except emit a gasp before she fell to the ground, her hands at . Sungkyu whipped out Nero, cocking and locking it as his head swivelled back and forth in a vain attempt to find the assailant. CL was whimpering and wheezing on the ground, and he crouched beside her while keeping a wary eye out. He had never seen her in this position before, and it would be a lie if he didn’t say he was a little worried.

“Hey, are you okay?” he nudged her with his knee, still surveying their surroundings. Her blood was spreading out beneath her, and it always amazed him to see how much blood the body could really contain. “Get up, I don’t exactly have eyes on the back of my head, you know.” CL groaned, then drew in a deep breath and pushed herself into sitting position.

“You’d think you’d show some concern for your poor fallen comrade,” she muttered, rolling her eyes. She coughed and hacked violently, and the silver bullet fell from into the dirt. She pulled a face as the skin began stretching over the hole in her neck, and in a few seconds there was only a faint sign that she had been shot. She spotted her lollipop lying in her blood and sighed, pinching it between thumb and forefinger and inspecting it. “I’m never doing that again, that was disgusting.” She discarded the sweet and pulled another one out. “I’m pissed now, I’m running low on lollies.” She got heavily to her feet, rubbing her neck.

“Shut up and help me,” Sungkyu muttered. “Do you see anyone?”

“No, I-,” she started, when her eyes narrowed and she reached for one the knives in her belt.

"Well, you healed up pretty quickly back there didn't you?" said a voice, and Sungkyu's heart stopped beating. There’s no way, no way at all... He whipped around and caught a full view of the young woman who emerged from within the abandoned building, a mocking smile playing on her lips and a Beretta 92 stowed in a holster at her hip. “Hello Gyu. Long time no see, huh?” This isn’t happening.

She looked different from the last time he had seen her, though he supposed that was to be sure since the last time he had seen her she was lying in a pool of her own blood. Where her hair used to be long, blonde and dip-dyed red it was now indigo black and cut boy-short, her fringe longer on the right and falling jaggedly over her eye. Her eyes looked different too - colder and wilder, yet with a deadened sheen to them. She was like a different person altogether. He almost didn’t recognise, but then again how could he recognise her when she was –

“Do you know her?” CL whispered, backing into him. Before he could reply the two women noticed each other, eyebrows rising.

“Your girlfriend?” they asked simultaneously, pointing at each other and staring at him.

“NO,” Sungkyu snapped. The newcomer smiled at him.

“Nice to know you didn’t move on that fast,” she laughed. “She’s cute though.”

“What?!” CL him, head swivelling back to the woman. “Who the hell are you and what do you want?” she demanded. Sungkyu stepped forward, a hand on her shoulder.

“Leave CL,” he muttered, his eyes trained determinedly on their assailant. “I don’t know how you did it, Jiyoon,” he said in a low voice. “But I killed you once and I’ll kill you again. What the are you doing here?”

CL stared wide-eyed at him but said nothing. The girl – Jiyoon – laughed again, a spine-chilling sound that was cold and metallic to Sungkyu’s ears, and cocked her head at him.

“I was really looking for your girlfriend over there,” she nodded in CL’s direction. Her eyes flitted back and Sungkyu caught the flash of red in her irises. She’s not human… “But then I found you as well, surprise surprise! So the I figured, since you were here, I might as well take you out as well. You know,” she grinned. “As revenge.”

“You can hardly win when it’s two against one,” CL smirked. “But you’re on anyway.”

“Oh, I’ve trained long and hard to beat you, Number 40,” Jiyoon’s tongue traced her teeth, revealing pointed canines. CL tensed, the smile falling from her face as she narrowed her eyes at her. “So tell me Gyu,” Jiyoon placed a hand on her hip and pulled her fringe back with the other. “How does it feel to know you're about to die by the hands of the person you murdered three years ago?”