"Tom...."

"Tom..."

Taemin cracked his eyes open and then instantly shut them again. He did not want to move. 

"Tom... You need to wake up..." Whose voice was that? "You lot as well! It's well past midday!" A few groans of complaint followed the order.

Midday!?

Taemin's eyes shot open, scanning the area around him. He found himself in the bed his friends always shared. Minho was curled up next to him, one arm draped over his middle, on his other side, behind him, Onew and Jonghyun were also still in bed, hairs messy and limbs spread out.

"God you guys..."

Taemin lifted his head off the pillow to see Key pacing around the small house. Slowly he dragged himself into a sitting position, wincing as his muscles screamed in protest... wow, he'd really strained himself last night. Minho's arm still circled his middle stubbornly not moving.

Taemin yawned and rubbed his eyes, all previous panic of Key stating the time having left his system. His body ached and he was dead tired. If Alec wanted to see him or was pissed off for him skipping breakfast he would have to deal with it.

"Oh good Tom you're up. What time do you need to leave sweetie?" Key asked, sitting on the end of the bed, he himself looked extremely tired. 

"Whenever..." Taemin yawned. 

"You wont be missed?"

Taemin shook his head. A lie but the world would just have to wait for him to wake up properly. "Okay then. You want breakfast?"

Taemin nodded sleepily and slumped in his sitting position. "Okay then" Key smiled before hitting the other occupants of the beds' feet. Three yelps of protest came from the three bodies but Key ignored them. "Food sleepy heads..."

This sentence seemed to be enough to force Jonghyun into a sitting position but it seemed Onew and Minho needed further persuasion. Gently Taemin shook Minho's shoulder.

"Come one Minho, if you don't get up Key-Umma may kill you."

"Let him..." Minho's groggy voice groaned, slightly muffled by the pillow he was burying his face into.

"And allow you to leave me all alone?" Taemin whined in a mock-hurt voice. Minho chuckled softly but commanded his tired body to sit up.

"No I wouldn't do that" Minho chuckled, wrapping his arms around Taemin and resting his cheek on Taemin's head, eyes stubbornly staying closed despite now sitting up. Taemin couldn't complain. Minho was warm and soft... he automatically wanted to lie down once more. He snuggled up to Minho's warmth, letting out another yawn. 

Onew still hadn't moved, having every intention of going back to sleep... fast asleep. Seeing this Key hit his feet again. Onew groaned and curled into a ball under the covers. "Go away Key..." he whined. 

"If you don't get up I'll tickle you" Onew groaned but moved so he was sitting up. He immediately leaned against Jonghyun who just patted the eldest on the head and ruffled his hair. 

"Good, now you're all awake I can give you breakfast" Key said with a tired smile. Jonghyun moved to get out of the bed but Key called back to him. "No, you can stay in bed". Jonghyun frowned in confusion but shrugged not questioning the fact that he was allowed to stay in the bed's warmth. 

The first two bowls were given to Taemin and Minho, who reluctantly let his arms fall from around Taemin. Taemin missed the warmth straight away but didn't say anything. 

"Um, Key... what is this..?" Minho called across the room confusion laced into his voice.

"Porridge" he replied simply.

"You know what I mean!" Minho sighed.

Taemin looked into his bowl. Yes it was porridge, steaming hot, on top several different fruits, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, were scattered on top. It smelt delicious. But even though Key was meant to know what Minho meant, Taemin was clueless as to what Minho meant.

"Yeah Key, where did you get this?" Jonghyun asked when his and Onew's bowls were handed to them. Even Onew seemed to be more awake now. Key grabbed his own bowl and sat cross legged at the end of the bed facing them.

"I went out this morning and brought a few bits a pieces..." he sighed.

"Weren't you tired?" Taemin asked with a frown.

"Sure I was, but I knew that you lot would be more so. You all worked hard last night so I thought I would treat you..." He said with a soft smile. "I mixed a bit of sugar into the porridge so even Jonghyun cant complain..."

"Key you didn't have to..." Onew said softly. 

"Oh shush and eat" Key chided but smiled at the four. Not really needing much more encouragement they began to eat. The food was fairly simple but it tasted delicious. Taemin usually took things like good food for granted. Because he was usually so well fed and had been all his life he had never known what it was like to struggle for food. If they hadn't stolen that money last night this simple meal probably wouldn't have been possible...

There was a general air of contentment around them and the breakfast bowls were emptied rather quickly. Still reluctant to leave the warmth provided by the sheets of the bed, they allowed Key to remove their bowls so they could be washed up later.

Minho's arms found their way around Taemin once more, still sleepy and feeling the need to cuddle up to something. Again Taemin didn't mind but did blush slightly. 

"So what are we doing today?" Jonghyun asked through a yawn. 

"Relaxing" Minho muttered, head resting once more on Taemin's. "We'll sort out everything tomorrow night..." by this he meant that they would distribute the money tomorrow. 

"Great, a day off" Onew exclaimed before disappearing back under the covers. Chuckles were shared around the room at the elder's desire to sleep, but even Key decided to let him off for now. 

"Shouldn't you be getting back Tom?" Minho asked quietly?

"I guess" Taemin sighed. He wished he could just stay there in the happy atmosphere and go nowhere near his "home". He felt so comfortable here. Here had real friends who showed him true happy smiles. It almost didn't seem fair that he had to go back to his noble life... not to mention he had to climb that infernal rope once more...

~*~

"What the hell happened last night?"

Taemin just groaned in response. As soon as he had gotten back, muscles hurting even more now from climbing the rope into his bedroom, he had unlocked the door, hidden the keys and the rope and had fallen asleep in his clothing once he had collapsed onto his bed. Surprisingly no one came to bother him. Except Dee Dee of course. But even then his sister had only come through his door once the sky was stained pink with the approaching sunset. 

"Taemin!" His sister whined. 

Taemin groaned again but turned his head to look at his sister. "Alec has spent the day in an uproar!" she said in a quieter voice. "He's screaming at all the soldiers, but no one knows what's going on. We just know that Flame's gang did something last night..." She lent forward and whispered the next sentence. "... and I know you were there so spill!"

"Is the door locked?" Taemin replied quietly.

"No..."

"Then lock it..." Dee Dee huffed at her brother's tone but, eager to hear Taemin's story, she got up and did so. 

Once the door was locked, Dee Dee came back to the bed, practically jumping on it and making Taemin jump in return. "Okay, calm down" Taemin muttered moving to sit up, grabbing a pillow to hug to his chest in the process. 

"So what happened?" 

"We robbed the bank" Taemin yawned, he couldn't be asked to beat around the bush. 

"You what!"

Taemin sighed and removed his glasses, having forgotten to earlier when he had collapsed into bed. "We robbed the bank... and destroyed some records..." he murmured. 

"Really?" Dee Dee asked, making Taemin raise an eyebrow. 

"Yes..." Taemin said slowly whilst nodding his head. 

"That's why Alec has gone crazy?"

"I would think so... You know how much he loves money..." This made Dee Dee laugh. "Besides" Taemin said, his voice taking on a more somber note. "The records that we destroyed were lists of people who hadn't paid their taxes or were struggling to do so..." Dee Dee frowned slightly in confusion but waited for he brother to continue talking. "We found out  that Alec was going to use those lists to pick out people to publicly execute..."

"What!" Dee Dee yelled making Taemin wince. "When was he planning to do this?"

"Some time in the next week or so" Taemin shrugged. 

"God I hate him..." Dee Dee muttered. "Flame really does a lot for people..." she sighed happily. 

At this Taemin frowned but refrained from saying anything. Not only did it annoy him that his sister was infatuated with the one person he happened to like, whom she didn't even know, he, her brother, had also been apart of the scheme which had taken place at the bank, as had three others. As much as he liked Minho, others deserved credit as well... 

But he let his sister have her moment of idolizing Flame. Well... she always idolized Flame but sometimes it was more frustrating that others. 

"I hate him as well..." Taemin sighed, he really was exhausted. Taemin wasn't used to staying up late into the night so the ious night had taken its toll on him.

"Still... I can't believe you Tae... robbing a bank!" Dee Dee said in a quiet voice, well aware someone maybe trying to hear them outside the door. "How did you do it?"

"Do I really have to explain everything?" Taemin groaned.

 "Fine you don't have to, but what are you going to do with the money? Not keep it?"

"No. Flame never keeps the money. We'll distribute it tomorrow..." Taemin said with a soft smile. 

"Yeah I guessed... but I thought I'd ask..." The two siblings fell into a comfortable silence, which Taemin greatly appreciated. Before they had parted, Minho had asked Taemin to met them again the next night to start distributing the money so he had tonight to himself to just relax, if that was even possible in this castle. He was actually surprised that Alec had hadn't come to see him all day. Siwon, GD and Dongho seemed to be no where in sight as well... but then maybe Taemin had spent too long asleep to really know what was going on. In fact he felt rather hungry. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that morning.

As if someone were reading his mind, Tom knocked softly on the door and once being let in gave Taemin and Dee Dee a soft smile. 

"Sir Alec asks you both downstairs for dinner" He said softly not really wanting to be the bearer of bad news. The two siblings sighed and stood, Taemin groaning as he finally made it off the bed. 

"Into the fray?" Dee Dee offered her hand to her brother and Taemin gave are a smile and nodded, taking it. He muttered a quick "see you later" to Tom and left the room with his sister.

~*~

Dinner was a tense affair. Alec was nowhere to be seen whilst they ate. It was simply Taemin, Dee Dee and Simon and Taemin was suddenly reminded why his sister had a bruise on her cheek. With no Alec about both Taemin and Simon were glaring at each other openly but so far hadn't said anything to one another. 

Dee Dee could only look back and forth between her brother and her cousin feeling the tension in the room grow and grow. She herself was still annoyed with Simon but she had no desire to fight.

Breaking the silence Simon cursed loudly as he managed to spill his drink on himself. Taemin scoffed from the opposite side of the table, taking amusement in his cousin's clumsiness. Simon stood and glared at his cousin while Taemin just smirked. 

"Do you have something hat you want to say cousin?" the last word was growled across the table towards Taemin who shrugged.

"Why would I have a comment about your idiocy?" 

"Idiocy!" Simon yelled, rage clear on his face.

"Yes, idiocy" Taemin stated plainly and went back to eating casually knowing that his attitude would further enrage his cousin. Simon was a creature that had the inability to think before it acted. He acted on pure instinct, not always the wisest moved as it made him incredibly predictable.

"How dare you!" the chubby boy yelled across the table. "Do you really think you can just say and do whatever you like with no consequences?! Both of you!" He added onto the end of his outburst. Dee Dee's eyes narrowed, dare Simon start yelling at her...

"There is a certain way things are run around here, and you two have no say in it, either of you!" Simon's eyes were wide... or at least as wide as the small eyes could go and he was shaking with rage. The sight somewhat satisfied Taemin as it seemed he'd pushed his cousin a little too hard... which was fine with him.

The servants lining the wall however were restless and were beginning to fidget as they watched the teens but none of them moved. 

Taemin continued to stare down his cousin, he had a million things he wanted to say, and do, to Simon, none of them pleasant, but he also knew Simon was looking to get a rise out out him and Dee Dee. Despite their lack of response, however, Simon continued to rant. 

"Defying my father! Defying me! I don't care who your father is! No one does! If father tells you to do something you do it, and if I tell you to do something you do it!" Simon was staring back and forth between the two siblings now, chest puffed out and clearly proud with himself. "You two are nothing here, yet you act so full of yourself" he chuffed. 

Dee Dee and Taemin were glaring at their cousin now, slightly riled up now. Taemin was weighing up the risks of putting the boy in his place... Could he stand the punishment afterwards? Would the risk be worth it?

Simon was smirking now for reasons unknown to the two siblings. "After all..." he paused "We may have to keep each other company for a prolonged period of time... Depending on the survival of your dear daddy..."

Taemin was now biting the inside of his cheek and he could tell Simon was loving it. 

"If your precious father dies horribly in this war you'll be stuck here, under me!" Simon ended triumphantly.

"Under you!" Dee Dee exclaimed, finally having broken. "Do not think so highly of yourself; you who is nothing more than the dirt under my shoe!" If looks could kill Simon would be nothing more than a smoldering pile of ash by now. Not once since arriving had they acted like Simon's personal playthings. If he thought that would change then he seriously needed his head checked. 

"Watch your tongue!"Simon hissed back. "A woman should know her place, and she should be well aware that it is below men!" Taemin's hands curled into fists and he struggled to keep his temper in check. 

"Even if you managed to grow male ia I would still only consider you a lowly ant... One I could easily exterminate" Dee Dee snarled back. Simon, who seemed taken back by the response, glared back unable to formulate a response. 

"I will make your lives here hell!" He managed to spit back once he had figure out how to use his mouth again. 

"The mere sight of you already makes it a living hell" Taemin hit back still struggling to hold back fully arms firmly crossed. 

Simon turned his beady eyes back on Taemin, pure hatred aimed at his cousin.

"You! You really think you're something special" Simon snarled. "Your high and mighty attitude will land you in the gutter or in the dungeons!"

"As long as I am far away from you I will consider it an improvement"

"Mark my words-"

"No. Mark mine!" Taemin cut off the boy, standing now also, hands on the table top as he stared out his cousin. "Learn, and learn quickly that your threats fall on deaf ears. The impressive size of your ego and your equally large waistband do nothing more than make me snicker. Your precious Daddy may be a power hungry dictator but dear old Daddy can't protect you from everything, and he certainly cannot protect you from me." Simon made to say something but Taemin cut across him and continued. "I suggest you start to watch your back. You want to know why I act so high and mighty as you put it? Because I know I stand that much higher than your sorry excuse for an existence. You are lower than an ant, and you know it; hiding behind your wealth and power because you're secretly just a weak, pathetic, attention who can't do anything by himself and needs Daddy to hold his hand!" Simon was just staring at Taemin now like a deer caught in headlights. Taemin let out a small chuckle at the sight. "My father may be staring death in the face in this war but at least my father is noble and strong enough to do so as opposed to a coward!" Taemin ended in a snarl and dropped himself into his seat, arms folded across his chest and still glaring at Simon. Simon was glaring back but remained speechless.

"Dare you attack my sister again" Taemin hissed across the table in a low voice, eyes tearing into Simon "Physically or verbally, I will make your life a living hell and there is nothing daddy dearest will be able to do about it. Understand?"

To both Taemin and Dee Dee's surprise Simon didn't say a word and just sat himself back down, anger and hatred radiating off him. 

Taemin had long since lost interest in his food and had completely forgotten about it until a nervous maid removed the plates which the starters had been on. Unfortunately dinner was far from over it seemed because as the main course was carried into the room a furious Alec come with it. 

~*~

earlier that day...

"My arms still ache..." Jonghyun complained as they walked down the street. 

"Quit whining" Minho chuckled as he took the stroll at a leisurely pace. They had decided to take a walk, just the two of them for now, seeing as it was a fairly nice day and they had nothing to do, something that was increasingly rare. 

Onew, of course, was still stubbornly in bed but no one had really complained... not even Key. Their sleeping patterns for the next few days would be out of sync anyway considering they would mainly be awake and working at night. 

"I wonder if Tom aches as much as I do..."

Minho chuckled again "I'm sure he's fine. Beside why boast about how much you can carry if you're just going to complain about it afterwards?"

Jonghyun chuckled back "Well I can carry more than all of you" He teased lightly. Minho just smiled and patted the elder on the head. Jonghyun pouted at the subtle reminder of their height difference but it didn't last long. "Seriously though... Do you think Tom is alright?"

Minho nodded and repeated "I'm sure he's fine" Minho was well aware that Tom was stronger than he looked. Sure he would be aching like all of them but Minho was certain he was safe and sound. 

"But it doesn't... feel right..." Jonghyun said slowly. 

"How'd you mean?" Minho frowned. 

"Well... Even if Tom is new to the group, the group has never been separated... we're always together... even if we're not on the job" Jonghyun said in a quiet voice so they weren't overheard. 

Minho could understand what Jonghyun meant and the realization sank in slowly. Even when they weren't "on the job" they always knew where the other's were... knew they were safe and not caught somehow. Maybe they had become too lax and forgotten that what they were doing was actually dangerous. 

Tom was mysterious. They didn't know much about him, they didn't even know who he was and they had no way to contact him. It would always be a waiting game as to whether or not he would turn up. If he didn't turn up... they could only assume the worst in the knowledge that the new edition to the group could have been caught days before they would have had a chance to help him... and they would have been none the wiser. 

They were a tight group and they intended to keep it that way. The group being partly separated like this was a little unsettling. 

"What if something happens to him and we don't know about it?" Minho stayed quiet and thought about Jonghyun question... to be fair Minho didn't have an answer for him. 

"He's said that he'll tell us who he is soon enough..." Minho said after another moment of silence. 

"But what if it isn't soon enough?" Jonghyun strained and Minho sighed. 

"Can we not become stressed about this? Besides we'll see him tomorrow" Minho huffed unsure as to whether or not he was talking to himself or Jonghyun. 

"Either way. It's still strange..." There was a long pause and silence seemed to blanket them momentarily. "We really know nothing about him, are you sure we can trust him?"

Minho just glared at Jonghyun, that answer should be both rhetorical and unnecessary.

"Okay calm down fearless leader!" Jonghyun said holding has hands up in defense. "I trust the kid as well but I just wanted to see if there was any doubt"

"Well there isn't" Minho said quickly. So far the newest edition to their outlaw gang had given them no reason not to trust him and whilst they didn't know much about "Tom" he came across so genuine, he had also had gone against Alec and by doing so, putting himself into direct danger. No, they could trust "Tom" and Tom trusted them in return, or at least enough for now. 

The two fell into silence once more. The roads seemed clear today and there didn't seem to be much going on, in fact they barely passed anyone. 

"I guess he's the one in the most danger, considering his position" Jonghyun said out of the blue. 

"What?" Minho frowned in confusion. 

"Tom" Jonghyun clarified. "Out of all of us he's the one most at risk of getting caught... considering he's so close to Alec..." 

Minho stopped walking and continued to frown at Jonghyun. "How do you know that he's close to Alec?" So far Minho hadn't mentioned anything Tom had told him about his life in the castle to the others. 

"Because I know who he is" Jonghyun grinned. 

"Really?" Minho scoffed. 

"Sure I do" Jonghyun shrugged and began walking again. "It's fairly easy to narrow down who he is. In fact from what we know about him there's only one person he can be..."

Minho didn't really want to admit it but he had been thinking along the same lines, but again, he wanted "Tom" to tell him directly who he was.

Jonghyun could tell easily enough that Minho was thinking along the same lines as him. 

"Lets face it. We know he's a noble and we know that the only nobles in the castle are Alec, his son and the Lee siblings" He gave Minho a pointed look. "And we monitor the nobles who come into the town..." he said in a quieter voice. 

"We also know that he's somewhat close to Lady Devaro and that he is easily in situations where he is close enough to Alec for him to tell Tom things or for Tom to overhear them..." Jonghyun was obviously waiting for Minho to cave and the younger boy just sighed. 

"Why are you pointing all this out?"

"Because I want another opinion" Jonghyun shrugged again. 

Minho huffed "If you knew, as you pointed out, that Tom is in a more dangerous position than all of us, why bother to ask if we can trust him?" Minho questioned. 

"As I said, I just wanted to see if there was any doubt in your mind" Minho remembered once again that Jonghyun's mind always seemed to work differently to everyone else's. He scrutinized everything and picked out the details other's have easily missed or dismissed. Still, Minho wasn't about to start taking the goofball seriously. 

"Again, there isn't" Minho said firmly before chuckling. "You're always too curious for your own good. We'll learn everything in time"

Jonghyun pouted. "But I wanna know now" Minho chuckled again and patted the Dino on the head once more. Jonghyun continued to pout but suddenly reached up and grabbed Minho's wrist. 

Startled by the aggressive movement and the now stern look on Jonghyun's face Minho frowned. Jonghyun would never take a joke that seriously... But as he watched the Dino he noticed the boy was looking past him and Minho followed his eye line. 

The more Minho expanded his eye line the more soldiers he saw. They had just entered the center of town and the were guards everywhere. They were dragging people out of houses and banging down doors. 

The two boys quickly ran forward, weaving in and out of the people that seemed to accumulate from nowhere and stopped in front of a house where a woman was being dragged out of the house and forced into irons. A crowd had gathered and talking amongst themselves. 

"Kevin!" Jonghyun called when he recognized a familiar face amongst the people.

The boy turned when he heard his name his name called and made his way over to Jonghyun. 

"Kevin, what's going on?"

"A sudden tax collection" the boy said quickly, the two could easily see the fear in his eyes.

"But it's days until the next collection!" Minho exclaimed. 

"The guards say there will be one tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that until Alec is satisfied"

If Minho could growl he would. "They's swept the south and now here obviously but they haven't done the rest of the town yet"

"So they haven't got your house yet?" Jonghyun asked quickly.

"No. We have enough for today, but no more after that" Kevin looked close to tears. "They're arresting people who can't pay and loading them into carts!"

Minho cursed. Alec was getting back at them and making the people suffer in the process. "What are they doing with the people?" Jonghyun asked calmly. 

"The guards said the castle dungeons..." Kevin looked even worse now "And I don't think they'll last a week... if you catch my drift..." 

Jonghyun and Minho swallowed painfully. This wasn't right... 

"You should run home and tell Key before they get there" Kevin said quietly aware that there were guards everywhere. 

"What about your mum?"

"Eli ran back to warn everyone there already, I'm gonna go back and begin telling everyone as well but Eli asked me to stay and see if they do anything to his dad" He said biting his lip. 

Minho nodded and motioned for him and Jonghyun to leave. "Thanks Kevin" Minho said putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Everything will be fine" He promised. Kevin gave him a weak smile and nodded. 

The two boys began to worm their way out of the crowd and broke into a sprint. 

~*~

"Onew you go north, if the news hasn't reached here, there's no way it's gotten that far up. Jonghyun do anyone we missed out here and then go east. By now some of them will have already started telling everyone so you wont have to worry too much. I'm going west, they probably haven't heard anything either. Key  are we okay?"

"Yeah I still have the purse from Tom..."

"Right just pay, nothing sassy"

"Of course. I don't want to be carted off to be hanged" The boy said softly. 

"Right" Minho sighed softly. "We meet back here afterwards and tonight we go to the crypt... We can't wait until tomorrow." 

Despite the fact that they were all exhausted, that money needed to be delivered tonight. People lives literally depended on it and it was them who had gotten the town into this mess and the would do their utmost to get them out of it. None of them complained and just nodded back to Minho.

"Right, let's go" the three boys left the house and left Key indoors to fish out the leather purse and wait for the guards to show. 

Jonghyun and Minho had reached the house, very much out of breath and practically kicked Onew out of bed before giving Key and Onew a rushed explanation. The town was big and news traveled slowly sometimes, especially those places further from the town center. They were now on a mission to spread the news before the soldiers turned up, and while that wouldn't help if the households didn't have the money to pay the tax at least they would be prepared. 

By taxing the people repetitively and carting off people to be hanged Alec was simultaneously squeezing the stolen money out of the people and hurriedly rebuilding his destroyed lists, and adding to them.

As he ran Minho swore that he didn't regret robbing the bank but he wouldn't allow these people to continue to suffer because of it. the first lots of money had to be delivered tonight and they would probably have to do it the night after as well... and the night after that...

~*~

"What!"

"Young man sit down!"

"No! Absolutely not! This is outrageous!"

"Boy. Learn your place. This is my town and I will do what I like with it" Alec said now standing up to face Taemin. "Those peasants stole money from me and I will have it back"

Taemin glared at the man. "It was Flame that stole that money not your citizens"

"Those peasants protect that outlaw. If they expose their so called saint then I will stop this but until such a time I will continue to run this region in anyway I see fit!" Alec yelled before regaining his composure and sitting down once more. "I do not understand why you of all people are concerned by this. It is not like you or your sister will be effected..." 

There was no way get through to this man, if you could call him a man. He was a monster, evil to the core and unforgiving. Dee Dee was also fuming but she was letting her brother handle the shouting match.

After Alec had joined them for dinner he had quickly told them what he had on the agenda for his beloved town. Taemin could help but burst. After the confrontation with Simon and being exhausted from the night before he had not been in the best mood to receive such news, and he definitely was not in the mood to argue with his of an uncle. He pushed away from the table and stormed towards door having barely touched his food. 

"Taemin come back here this instant. Where do you think you're going" Alec called after him. 

"Away from the large levels of stupidity filling the room. Don't expect to see me any time soon!" He yelled back and ran past the guards and through the building so he could get to his room with enough time to lock it behind him. 

Taemin's mind was on Minho, Key, Onew and Jonghyun. Were they okay? Did they manage to pay? What happened to them..? He wasn't waiting until tomorrow. He was leaving tonight! And he had no desire to return, or at least not until this mess was sorted out. 

Taemin knew Minho would not wait until tomorrow night to start distributing the money. The town couldn't afford that. No, Minho would make the first move tonight and Taemin had every intention of helping him. The only problem now would be finding them. 
It had been sunset when he woke. If the gang had gone to the crypt that would have been when they had done so. He could have missed them completely. 

He wouldn't give up though.  

Once he reached his room he closed the door and locked it, letting out a breath. His eyes scanned the room for a moment before pushing away from door and going to his wardrobe. There was a satchel in the bottom which he grabbed and set down on his bed, opening it. 
He began filling it with a few bits and pieces, no clothing though, he had no plans to be a noble for the next few days. 

He did throw in all of the keys he had stolen from Alec, the rope hidden under the bed, some money and anything else he thought important. 
Once done he threw off his glasses and took down his hair. There was no point to either things at the moment.

He wouldn't be leaving out the window today, he didn't want Alec learning that he left his room and how he did so. 
Instead, once he was packed he walked straight out of his door and left it wide open. He wanted Alec to know he was gone this time just to infuriate him all the more. Taemin just hoped Dee Dee and Tom forgave his disappearance. 

He avoided every one on his way to the east wing, which meant having to severely over complicate his route, but he soldiered on. 
After doubling back various times, ducking into stairwells, hiding behind suits of armor and taking longer routes around corners Taemin finally reached his destination. 

By this point he was thoroughly worn out and considering how little he had eaten, was fairly hungry. 
But ignoring his troubles Taemin ran to the door in front of him and entered the old bedroom. As soon as the door was closed he relaxed and slumped against the door. He jumped however when he saw someone standing in the middle of the room. 

"Minho..?"
The older boy was dressed as Flame and had a bag next to him. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, what are you doing here?"

Minho smiled and moved over to him. "I came to find you but I didn't think it would be this easy... You okay, you look like you were chased the entire way here?" 

Taemin couldn't help but smile at the concern on Minho's face.  "I'm fine. It was just a little bit struggle to get through the castle unseen. Alec's on high alert..." 

Minho nodded at the sentence, he could imagine how furious Alec was considering how he was treating everyone. 

"Do you know what's going on?" Minho asked carefully, if "Tom" wasn't already aware of the situation in town, telling him would surely upset him. 

Taemin lowered his eyes and sighed. "Yeah I know..." he said softly trying to hide how much the situation had infuriated him. "I was going to come and find you but I was worried I was too late..." Taemin said looking up again and smiling softly. Looking at Minho he couldn't explain how relieved and happy he felt. "I was worried you couldn't pay, or that I would have missed you at the crypt..."

Minho continued to smile at Taemin. "You really think that we would have taken on something this big without you?"

Taemin beamed back at him. He honestly hadn't expected someone to come and find him... they didn't even know who he was but it filled him with happiness that he hadn't been forgotten... He really had found better friends in Flames gang than he had in all his life. 

"So what's the plan then?" Taemin asked happily. 

"We hand out the money tonight, and tomorrow night, and the night after and as many nights as we need to..." Minho sighed for a moment. "I should have expected a move like this from Alec..." He trailed off. 

"It's okay, I didn't think that you would have waited until tomorrow night to start handing the money out... But if Alec continues this and he gets back all the money we took from the bank... was the robbery for nothing?" Taemin asked quietly. 

"No" said Minho firmly. "We showed Alec some of what we're capable of. He's only lashing out because we've not only angered him but we've also scared him" Taemin smiled at this, the very concept making him feel better. "Besides, if Alec does get back all the money we stole, we'll just have to find another way to get back at him right?" Minho grinned. 

Taemin nodded back. 

"I understand if you cant be with us all the time or if you need to come back here. It's a lot to ask I kno-"

"No it's fine" Taemin cut across him. "I was planning to stay with you guys until this mess was all sorted out. If that's okay?"

"Of course it's okay" Minho chuckled. "But won't you be missed here?"

"Probably" Taemin sighed. "But Alec will just have to deal with that now wont he?" Taemin ended with a grin.

Minho couldn't help but smile back. Sometimes Taemin really did just look too cute. 

"Okay then" Minho said with a nod. "Let's get to work shall we?" he held up the bag he had with him with a smile that screamed that they would be up to no good. 

"What are we doing?" Taemin asked eagerly. 

"First, you are changing" Minho pulled dark clothing out of the bag and held them out to Taemin, who accepted them with a nod. "Then we head to the servant quarters with these" In his hand was a small bag, Taemin recognized what it was easily enough and the distinct clink of coins left no doubt that the small bag was filled with money.

"Are they being taxed too?" Taemin asked with a frown. He hadn't heard anything from Tom... but then  he hadn't actually spoken to him today...

"No more than usual" Minho replied thinking back to the conversation Jinki had relayed to him which he had with Jessica "However, this is to remind them that we haven't forgotten about them"

Taemin smiled at this, immediately thinking about Tom. He was sure the boy and his mum would benefit from the "donation". 

Taemin nodded once more and proceeded to get dressed. 

~*~

Okay, as some of you know, I had major writers block with this chapter... Even while typing this I have no clue what to call this chapter....

In all honesty I was going to make this chapter longer but at 6500 words I decided to stop for a bit. 

On a side note, do you guys like my OCs? Dee Dee, Tom, Simon, Alec and the like? I am genuinely interested.

BTW I have a tumblr http://tokorothmicky.tumblr.com/

Any way enough of that (why do I feel like nothing happened in this chapter again...) 

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MadMicky o(^o^)o