“What happened?” G.O. asked as Junhyung plodded around the room and inspected the bullet hole embedded in the wall.

“This came from a bloody fast gun,” he muttered, running a finger against the hole. “This guy must have been a professional.”

“I suspect Aboveground has something to do with this,” Yuri told G.O., watching Junhyung carefully. “The assailant and… his assistant have fled, but he might still be in the building.”

“Want us to go after them, mother?” Junhyung asked, straightening up. “I want that guy’s gun.”

Yuri smiled benignly. “That won’t be necessary.” Junhyung and G.O. exchanged glances. “But go on down to surveillance and tell them that there is an infiltrator, won’t you? Oh, and call BoA back. I expect her and Jaejoong to be briefed about this as soon as possible.”

“Alright,” G.O. nodded. “Anything else? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Yuri waved a hand at them. “Go on now, my darlings. The children’s conditioning is almost done.” She sat down at a desk as the two Hunters exited the room, rubbing her temples before pulling out a small mirror from her pocket. “Tch,” she tsked as her fingers traced the fine wrinkles that had appeared in the corner of her eyes. “Min being here was certainly a surprise.” She extracted a syringe from within her lab coat; rolling up her sleeve and pushing the needle under her skin, she watched the clear liquid disappear into her. Her eyes narrowed.

“What are you up to this time, Yunho?”

-

Sungkyu pulled himself up on to the concrete embankment of the sewer, laying Jonghyun down and then pulling Min up beside him. They lay on their backs without saying anything, both of them breathing hard.

“I’m sorry,” Min’s voice echoed around the dark cavern. “I know you told me to stay hidden, but I couldn’t stop myself…”

“It’s not your fault,” Sungkyu said quietly. “It was mine. I was an idiot; I shouldn’t have dropped down after that tranquilizer dart missed. But I saw Jonghyun and I couldn’t… I should have killed her,” he growled. “On the spot. I should have killed her.”

“You did a good thing,” Min replied. “He might have died if you had let him live. Or even worse,” she sat up and looked at him. “He might have turned into someone like me.”

Sungkyu looked away and said nothing.

“Look, there’s a ladder down there,” Min said after a while. “Best to go up and find out where we are, I guess. Maybe we can ask for directions.”

“I doubt anyone would want to answer you, the way you smell,” Sungky replied wryly, and was rewarded with a small, barely perceptible smile. He picked Jonghyun up and got to his feet. “Come on, let’s go home.”

-

The first thing CL saw as she neared the church was that the door had been broken through. Despair began to seep into her blood when she saw the remaining front window had been broken through as well. Sungkyu is going to kill us, was her first thought. Her second thought was I hope Jepp is okay. She could see two figures in front of the building, one standing and one down, but she was too far away to tell who was who.

As she watched, the figure that was down sprang to their feet, dashing towards the other and knocking them to the ground before straddling them, hands at their neck.

“No! JEPP!” CL yelled, her legs moving faster on their own accord. She leapt from roof to roof, praying in her heart that she would get there in time.

-

Jepp opened his eyes. Everything was pitch black. He could see nothing, feel nothing. He opened his mouth to try and speak, to cry out for someone to help him, but nothing came. He felt a weight on his stomach, felt the pressure grow second by second.

And then he felt the air being choked out of his lungs.

The person sitting on him had wild white hair, his irises rimmed red and his eyes widened and bloodthirsty. He was grinning in a way that unnerved Jepp. It was the look of a predator just before it killed its prey. It took another second for the rest of his features to sharpen. And that was when Jepp realized.

“I see why you never let me out anymore,” Yongguk smiled, his hands tight around Jepp’s neck. His voice was high and cruel, completely opposite to Jepp’s low, rough tone. “Being in control is fun as hell.” Jepp’s hands scrabbled at his, but he only laughed, the sound echoing around them.

“Come on master, you used to be stronger than this,” he smirked as Jepp struggled, feeling the air escaping his lungs with each long, torturous second. “You can do better than that.”

“I…” Jepp managed to wheeze, panic beginning to set in, “won’t… let… you…”

“What?” Yongguk cocked his head to the side. “You won’t let me what? Take you over once and for all? Live your life as you have all this time? You won’t let me watch Sungkyu mend his bloody bike, won’t let me make hot chocolate with CL?”  He leaned in, a maniacal glint in his eyes. “You won’t let me watch Min become a normal person?”

Jepp gritted his teeth, his nails digging into Yongguk’s skin. “I… left you… behind…” he panted, feeling as if someone had plunged a white hot poker through his chest. “I left… Yongguk… behind…”
 

Yongguk threw back his head and laughed, sending chills down Jepp’s spine. “You thought you could leave me behind,” he leered. “But you can’t. Look at me. Don’t I look familiar? I am you and I will always be you. You and I, Jepp, we’re the same person. You can try to run, you can try to hide, but I’ll always be here.” He leaned back in, “And when I defeat you, it will be me walking among your friends. It will be me they call Jepp. Not you.”

Jepp’s vision was blinding white, red spots appearing sporadically in the startling light. He felt newfound strength surging within him, felt the desperation seize him and push him upwards. He would not, could not let Yongguk take everything away from him. He lifted a hand and wrapped it around Yongguk’s neck, seeing the shocked expression on his face.

“No,” he breathed, adding his other hand as his thumb crushed Yongguk’s windpipe. He felt the pressure on his own neck beginning to lessen as Yongguk gagged and let him go to grab at his hands. “I am not you. I will never be you. You were made to answer to me. You are nothing but my servant.” He flipped them over so the positions were switched, Yongguk squirming and struggling beneath him. “YOU ANSWER TO ME!” he roared, as Yongguk’s hands fell limply to his side. His body ceased moving and his head fell to the side. Jepp let out a long breath and sat back, raking his fingers through his hair. “You answer to me,” he whispered, breathing hard.

“You are strong, master,” said a familiar voice behind him, and he whipped around to find Yongguk grinning at him, arms folded. He looked back at the body beneath him to find that it had vanished. “You’ve finally defeated me. From now on I will only obey your orders.” He shrugged. “I can rest easier now knowing that I won’t be serving a weakling.” He winked; baring sharp teeth then gave Jepp a two salute and vanished.

Jepp blinked. He was back in the Precinct, lying on the street outside the church. BoA was a little way away, using a naginata to prop herself up as she got unsteadily to her feet. Blood ran down the side of her head and between her eyes, but the look on her face was one of a person who was not going to give up. A face appeared above him, long blonde hair tickling his own and blue eye worried. She was saying things, her hands on his shoulders as she shook him, but he could hear nothing.

CL?

Everything came rushing back.

“Jepp!” CL was screaming. “Jepp, I know you’re in there, I know you are. Take control! Snap out of it!” He had never seen her in such a frenzy before, had never heard her voice so high, so panicky. It was unnerving to see the usually calm CL be so desperate, and he wondered if she was suffering from sugar withdrawal again.

“CL,” he said hoarsely, taking a hold of her hand.

Her face slumped in relief as her eyes searched his. “Jepp…?” she asked tentatively.

“What happened?” he groaned, sitting up slowly. He looked down at the assorted weapons that lay broken at his feet, then at his hands. His nails were long and sharp, and he bent his head to look at his hair, which was unnaturally white. Everything seemed sharper. He could see every detail; could see the blood running beneath his skin, could smell the blood in the air. He had never experienced anything like this before; every cell in his body was suddenly hypersensitive to the sudden change of wind direction in the air. What…?

“This is what being in control is like,” said Yongguk. “You now see everything through my eyes, feel everything I feel. We are synced. Your moves are my moves; your thoughts are my thoughts. This body is your to control. This is how you use me. This is how you were supposed to use me from the start.”

“Damn…” Jepp muttered. “If I had known this before I would have tamed you earlier.” Yongguk laughed.

“She’s a of an enemy,” he warned. “But not undefeatable.”

“Jepp, are you okay?” CL grasped his hands as he got to his feet a little unsteadily. “What… you’re not taken over anymore?”

“I tamed him,” Jepp said a little shakily. He cleared his throat. “I nearly died doing it, but I tamed him. He’s mine to control now.” He removed CL’s hands from his and smiled her. “You don’t have to worry anymore, CL. I have him under control. I… he…” He looked away. “I won’t hurt you anymore.”

“How touching,” said a cool voice behind them, and they turned to find BoA sneering at them, her hair wild and tangled around her face.

“BoA,” said CL warily, eyebrows furrowing as she drew two daggers and stepped in front of Jepp, crouching into fighting stance. “Long time no see.”

BoA looked at CL without any change of expression. “You really intend to take me on your own?” she asked coldly. “I remember you. You were the one who vowed to beat me.” CL held her gaze Jepp noticed her clench at her weapons tighter. “Pathetic,” BoA spat. “To think you’ve fallen from potential Head Hunter to associating yourself with these… animals.”

“They’re not animals,” CL growled. “We’re not animals. We stopped being animals the moment we stepped out of that hell hole.” She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Jepp’s slitted pupils. He nodded slightly at her and pulled her beside him.

“Cut the crap,” he breathed, staring at BoA. “You’ve lost this round. Look at you. You’ve lost.” BoA didn’t move, only stared wordlessly at him. “I told myself I’d never kill again,” Jepp said quietly. “But if you’re going to harm my family, I can’t let this rest.”

BoA smiled. “I don’t know what family means. And I don’t give up.” She whirled around and threw several shurikens at CL, who swiftly blocked the attack. Jepp raised his hand and pointed his palm at BoA.

“I feel sorry for you,” he said quietly. CL looked up into his face and saw his jaw set. She had never seen him look so serious before. It reminded her of the way Sungkyu looked when he first found out Jepp had been injured, the way Sungkyu looked when he pulled her into that hole and told her to run. It was the look of a protector.

Hey. You’ve grown up Jepp.

A hole appeared in Jepp’s hand, ringed with metal and beginning to glow orange. “To die without knowing what love is.” CL could hear a high pitched whine beginning to flow through the air, but it was still a normal arm on the end of Jepp’s shoulder where there should have been a cannon. “Jepp,” she started, staring at him, but he was looking right at BoA. As she watched, small grey flecks began appearing in his hair, and it took her another second to realized what they were.

“Jepp!” she yelled as he let out a roar. The ashes were flying around them now, and she could feel them burning into her skin even as it healed back up. “Stop!” As BoA stared at them, frozen in her place, CL knew that if she didn’t stop him now she would have a few burning houses to contend with after this. She looked into his face and saw that it was contorted with pain. He’s hurting himself.

A red glow began to emit from Jepp’s upper arm and as CL threw herself at him and knocked him into the ground, she was aware of a dark shape appearing beside BoA in a cyclone of ashes, before grabbing her and disappearing. Jaejoong. She landed on top of Jepp, pressing his palm into the dirt beneath them as she wrapped her other arm around his neck. “It’s fine Jepp,” she whispered. “It’s okay.”

She closed her eyes and waited for the impact, but nothing happened. After a few minutes she raised her head, looking down at Jepp’s arm. The glow had faded and she turned to look back at him to find him grinning slightly at her, breathing hard. His eyes and hair had turned back to normal. “Having fun there?”

CL scrabbled back up, feeling herself blush slightly. “You’re an idiot,” she groaned instead, reaching into the pouch at her hip and popping a new sweet into . She sighed and threw herself on the ground, shoulder to shoulder with him. “That was new.”

“Yeah, I really shouldn’t have tried that,” Jepp laughed, the sound familiar to CL’s ears. “I didn’t even know that I could do that, but I felt so… alive. You know? Like at that moment I could do anything. I feel like there’s new strength running through my veins, it’s really…” He raised a hand and looked at it. “…strange. Being some sort of ally to the other guy in here,” he patted his chest. “It’s weird that he isn’t taunting me or threatening to break all hell loose. You know?”

“I know what you mean,” CL sighed. “Man, do we have a story to tell Sungkyu and Min when they get back.” She turned her head to the side to look at Jepp and he did the same. Their eyes met and they both laughed at the same time. Jepp’s laugh died away after a few seconds, his eyes suddenly wary once again.

“It wouldn’t be so funny when Sungkyu sees what I’ve done to the church,” he bit his lip.

CL groaned.