Jonghyun couldn't hold it any more. Taemin's face was full of confusion and surprise, like a lost kitten. It was so overbearingly cute but hilarious at the same time. His laughter echoed around the large room, bouncing off the stone walls, but for Taemin it fell on deaf ears. 

His eyes refused to leave Minho. Minho was Flame? How was that possible?

"I think you'll find you're still clinging to him..."

He hurriedly let go of the front of Minho's shirt trying his best to avoid the blush making it's way up his neck. "You... You're..?" Minho just chuckled as the boy struggled with his words. "You're Flame?"

"Yep, I believe you can give me that message now" 

"Wh-what...?" Taemin looked around the room, eyes falling on Jonghyun, Onew and Key in turn searching for some indication that Minho was lying and this was all one big trick... he found none...

Minho chuckled and ruffled Taemin's hair making the younger boy turn to him. "We get the feeling you're not going to give us away right?"

Through his shock Taemin nodded. Who would have thought on his very first time out he would have run straight into the regions most wanted criminal... He skipped over the fact that he had also kissed him. 

"O-of course I wouldn't" If anything Taemin was a little offended by the question but he had to remind himself that the group knew nothing about him. 

"Good" Minho grinned "Did you really hear that it was a trap from Alec himself?" Taemin nodded and Minho sighed. 

"Guess we shouldn't risk it then..."

"But we were counting on that job" Key yelled, sitting atop one of the various tables, one leg comfortably crossed over the other. "The taxes are paid tomorrow! And might I remind you that you two idiots" he waved a hand at Minho and Onew "failed to sell any eggs!"

"What happed to the purse that Tom gave you?" Onew was over by a wall covered in weapons. Some were very old, others so obviously for show... in fact very few of them seemed of any real use...

"I wanted to keep that for emergencies..."

"Well we can't walk straight into a trap can we?" Jonghyun was sitting on the table with Key. The table, like everything, seemed old but very sturdy. It was large and made of once expensive wood, intricate details carved into the table legs and sides.... Just what was this place?

"No we cant..." Taemin looked back to Minho who seemed deep in thought, nearly jumping as he turned to look straight at him. "Alec definitely thinks we'll be there tonight?" Taemin nodded. Alec was desperate for Flame and his gang to be there. 

"Then how about we attack the treasury head on like we were planning to?"

"I'm all for that!" Jonghyun half yelled.

"Seriously, you're like an excited puppy" Key sighed in fake annoyance but any one could see the fond smile settled on Key's lips. "Yep I'm game"

"Me too" Onew chipped in. 

"So we have a plan then. Lets stay here for bit. We weren't planning to intercept the stage until later anyway" No one said anything against the decision, eyes still on Minho and the newcomer in front of him. 

"What about Tom?" Onew asked from his place at the wall.

"What about me..." Taemin thought to himself... Even though he was now aware of what was going on he was still a little lost... They were just spilling their plans out in front of him... Was that wise? It wasn't like he was going to betray them or anything but what if it hadn't been him standing there... 

"Well that depends on him..." Minho stated making Taemin even more confused "...and how desperate he is to go home..."

"Huh?"

"Do you wanna come with us?"

"With you...?"

"To break into the treasury"

Did he want to align himself with Flame, the one person his uncle hated more than anyone, to break into his uncle's treasury and distribute his money amongst the poorer folk of the region...?

"Yes" His answer was short and simple. Oh the satisfaction he would get out of knowing he was part of this! He was also delighted he would get to spend more time with his new friends.

"Perfect" Minho said with a smile making Taemin blush. "Do you know how to fight?" Minho asked as he walked further into the large room. 

"I do..."

"No way!" Jonghyun exclaimed from the table earning a light tap from Key. 

Taemin blushed but stood his ground. "I was trained with a sword since I was little..."

"I knew you were a noble!" Jonghyun yelled happily. 

Taemin's eyes widened... Was he really that easy to read? He doubted it mattered much but still, he would have hoped that he had done a better job of disguising himself.

Ignoring the exclamation Minho opened one of the larger chests dotting the room. The hinges creaked loudly as the lid was lifted but the sound was ignored. From where he was, Taemin couldn't see inside the chest. 

"We try to avoid fighting if we can..." Minho pulled several sheathed rapiers out of the box and laid them across the table Key and Jonghyun were sitting on. "... but it helps to be prepared". 

Taemin made his way over to the table, eyes sweeping over the swords. "These are beautiful..." he said slowly. The metal of the hilts swirled elegantly from the cross pieces. They looked so much more grand and expensive than anything he had ever handled... and his uncle was the King. Hesitantly he pick one up and unsheathed it. 

The metal shone in the dim light. The sword was perfectly balanced and incredibly light. "Where did you get these...?" his voice seemed far away as he stared at the blade. 

"They belong to Key" Minho said casually leaning on the table watching Taemin. 

"Key?" his eyes flew to the male sitting atop the table who just seemed to be smiling secretively.

"Yep, this whole place belongs to Key... Well..." Minho paused. "I suppose you could say this place and everything in it belongs to both Key and Jonghyun."

Taemin was confused. "How'd you mean?" He was directing the question to Minho but it was Key who answered him. 

"Well my family used to be family of aristocrats... We were the family who looked over the region... Until Alec came along." Taemin could hear the hate in the older male's voice even though it was well masked. 

"What happened..." Taemin got the feeling he would hate his uncle even more after this story... 

"That castle that Alec lives in belongs to my family, or at least it did..." A soft sigh left Key  before he continued. "As far as I know, I was born in that castle but I don't even remember what the place looks like." He paused, thinking of something. "I believe Alec had already settled here years before that though, but he seemed to think it only right that because he was brother to the King he should be the leader of the land so to speak. So he went on a mission, creating scandals that didn't exist and secretly killing off my family members to get what he wanted."

Taemin was completely absorbed in what Key was saying, not to mention horrified by it. Why would Alec go to such lengths to ensure something like that?

"Soon, somehow, he had managed to turn the entire region against my family, propaganda, rumors, making them believe that he would be a better ruler than my family which had resided here for generations...."

"They definitely got that wrong..." Taemin muttered to no one in particular. 

"It escalated to the point that the head of the family, my grandfather, was accused of going against the crown and committing treason. But the lie was so over blown no one really understood what he was being accused of. In the end we were forced out our home and position. According to what my mother told me, my parents and grandfather fled after learning that Alec was planning to murder my grandfather... We went into hiding and learnt to live as peasants... though this is the only life I've ever known so I cant complain much..."

Taemin could only imagine how enraged he would feel if he was in Key's position. His whole family forced out of their home and killed? He would be livid...

"After time though, my grandfather died of old age, I don't remember him much, and about 6 years ago my parents died of illness..."

The room was quiet, each in their own thoughts. The torches crackling was the only sound for a few minutes..

Taemin had never hated his uncle more... though, it wasn't the first time he had thought that. It seemed every time he learned something new about his uncle, his dislike for the man increased, not that he liked him much to start with. 

Key's story replayed in his head. Alec could have easily found somewhere else to rule over... He was the King's brother for god's sake... why was this place so special? So important...? Maybe there was something more to the place..? It was definitely something he would look into later. 

"Surely though, that means this place and the castle is your birth right?" Taemin asked slowly. 

Key sighed but nodded. "As I am now I have no way to take it back... By law Alec is just babysitting the place until the rightful owners show up but if I tried anything Alec would find a way to get rid of me..." Key seemed completely unfazed by this. There was a hardness in his eyes, a look of determination. 

"We'll overthrow him somehow" Jonghyun who had been quiet since the story began spoke up, a look of pure hate on his face. It was as if the story had riled him up even more than Key... 

"I know..." the feline male said softly placing a hand on Jonghyun's shoulder. This seemed to calm Jonghyun down some but he still looked angry. 

"So... this place belongs to your family..." Taemin said slowly as he looked around, a thought drew his gaze back to the two on the table though. "But... Where does Jonghyun fit in?"

Key smiled and looked towards the older boy next to him. "Jonghyun's family were servants of sorts to mine" Taemin nodded but still hadn't gotten his answer yet. 

"Jonghyun's family has lived by ours for generations..."

"We've always been poor, but that didn't matter because we were very well looked after" Jonghyun said with a smile. 

"What kind of servants were you?" Taemin asked. 

"A special kind" Jonghyun said with a grin. "We were a family of trades men at the top of our professions; carpenters, bodyguards, blacksmiths, even scholars... anything the Kim family needed we could provide or find someone that could."

"They were out closest friends and secret keepers. They were higher than any servants and had nearly all their expenses paid and some of their children were even allowed to be educated along with ours. Though it was highly disliked by other nobles." Key paused to smile at Jonghyun again "His family built this place along with all the weapons in here... even the box with the false bottom back at the house..."

Taemin made a small noise of amazement. 

"All my family is buried here. Down those tunnels..." Key pointed to the far left of the room were several archways stood leading off into different directions of darkness which Taemin had no desire to explore. "So this place is actually a crypt, but it was also built as a safe hold and hiding place if ever we need it. A lot of Jonghyun's family is buried here too..."

Taemin was quiet, this explained all the secrecy and the keys, the expensive furniture and expensive looking weaponry... Even the "KIM" on the entrance to the crypt. 

"But when we had to flee, they had to as well... We had nothing to offer them and no way to support them-"

"But we stuck by them! And still do!" Jonghyun interrupted happily. Taemin smiled at the two. How long they had been together was written all over both of them. Taemin had noted earlier that even during their bickering their were hidden smiles and playful glaces. He could see not only Jonghyun's loyalty to Key, but Key's to Jonghyun as well... they were bonded to each other... 

"What happened to your family?" Taemin asked Jonghyun quietly, he was unsure if he really wanted to hear the answer, fearing it would be as grim as Key's. 

"I'm not sure what happened to most of them..." Jonghyun looked lost in thought for a moment. "I know when Alec started killing people, he first went after my family members... He hated the idea of nobles being so close to peasants. I think he was trying to create distrust amongst us and the Kim family... causing confusion" Jonghyun paused, looking at the floor with a soft sad look on his face, but it disappeared quickly. "As for me, my mum died when I was born so I never met her. My father and I fled with Key, his parents and Grandfather, bringing them here if remember correctly... I would have only been a toddler and I don't really remember much... My father died about a year before Key's parent's did, from the same illness I think, but instead of throwing me out they let me live with them" he said with a smile. "I know there was a lot of my family members, aunts, uncles and so on living in and around the castle but when Key's family fled they did too... going there own way with their own families... They're staying hidden... but I'd like to meet them someday."

"Our fathers were good friends, I think that's why Jonghyun's father stayed loyal to us" Key added with a fond smile. 

"Wow..." Taemin said softly. He could only imagine how they both felt. He thought losing his mother had been bad, and it was, but he felt for both these boys they had both been through so much. "You two must be pretty close huh?" 

Both Key and Jonghyun looked at each other with soft blushes. "Yeah we are" Key said with a smile before looking back to Taemin "His family even created secret tunnels and passages though the castle itself and his family and mine are the only ones who know about them... But our parent's died before they could tell us where they came out..." 

"I could show you one of them" Taemin blurted out instantly blushing at his own enthusiasm. 

"Really?" Jonghyun asked excitedly. 

"Yeah, I found one by accident... I use it to sneak out of the castle..."

"Why should you have to sneak out?" Onew had been pretty quiet throughout the story... Taemin had actually forgotten he was there. 

"Let's just say I'm not allowed out..." he smiled at the older boy. 

"Where does the passage come out?" Minho asked. 

"Well it comes out at the cliff face on the east side of the castle at the other end it comes out in a bedroom" Minho stored away the knowledge for later use. 

"Maybe you can show us at some point... Onew, what time is it?"

The eldest male pulled a pocket watch out his trouser pocket and flicked it open. "Nearly seven..."

"We'll head out in about half an hour then" Minho said stepping closer to the table. He picked up one of the rapiers, unsheathed it and turned back to Taemin. "But for now..." the boy stood in front of Taemin with a smirk. "Mind showing me what you know?"

Taemin smirked back and he could tell Minho hadn't expected it. "I'd love to" the younger replied. "I only hope you can keep up" there were multiple chuckles around the room at the challenge but Taemin kept his eyes locked on Minho, perhaps not the best place to stare at but he was determined to show the older boy what he was best at.

"So do I" Minho replied with a chuckle before lunging at the boy trying to take him unaware.

Taemin easily blocked the swipe, replying with one of his own which Minho managed to dodge also. Neither were actually trying to hurt the other but there was definitely playful smiles on both their faces. All lunges were easily blocked or dodged, neither seemed to be gaining any ground on the other, but neither seemed to break a sweat either. 

After a moment of circling each other Minho reached his rapier forward but instead of aiming for Taemin he slid his blade behind, around Taemin's before pulling the younger closer. Their blades created an "X" between their bodies, their faces mere inches apart. "You know..." Minho said softly. "You'll have to try a little harder if you intent to beat me."

"Who said I wanted to beat you?" Taemin asked with a smirk. Minho looked at him confused for moment but then yelped as he found himself on the floor. Taemin had used his foot to pull Minho's out from under him. 

Laughter erupted around the room as Minho lay flat on his back. Taemin appeared above him with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself" he said with a soft giggle as he extended his hand to help Minho up.

Minho took the offered hand, ignoring the tingle that shot up his arm at the contact. "It's okay" he said with a soft blush but he was certain it was caused by embarrassment. Minho brushed himself off feeling a tad awkward. 

The others were still giggling in the background but Minho ignored it the way he always did. "Lets get ready to go shall we?"

Key shrugged and jumped off the table. He went over to the same box Minho got the rapiers out of and pulled out a pile of neatly folded clothing. "I guess we shall". Key hit Jonghyun off of the table and placed the clothing down before separating it into piles. Both Onew and Jonghyun began grabbing stuff from the table but Taemin just watched. 

"We keep our clothes here whilst we go out. We disguise ourselves in case we're recognized" Taemin could understand that, after all that's what he had to do to get out of the castle. So... he would end up as a boy in disguise... in disguise... The thought was rather amusing. 

"Here, you can borrow a spare set of mine... I don't know how well they'll fit but you're not too different in size from me so they should be okay" Key said holding out a pile to him. 

Taemin took the clothing, eyeing them closely. The were nothing like what they were currently wearing. The material was soft, meaning it had to be expensive, and it was dark colored. "How did you afford these?" Taemin asked before he could stop himself. 

"I sold a few bits and pieces from down here..." Key said with a smile. "We found a reliable tailor to make us everything from masks to cloaks to waist coasts and boots... I think he knows who we are and what we're doing but he hasn't said a word"

"Yeah, he's nice, we go in there a lot for repairs. We can't really keep the clothes in good condition what with getting in fights and what not but they're really just for disguise purposes anyway" Onew said from the table.

Jonghyun on the other hand was busy changing in the corner, making Taemin blush and look away, in turn making Minho chuckle. "Let's get changed and head out okay"

There were various replies from around the room before all fell silent. 

~*~

It was safe to say Taemin found changing in front of the four a rather embarrassing routine. He was no stranger to these types of clothing so he knew how to put on everything but it was still an awkward experience. 

However, once they were dressed, they all looked completely different intimidating even. Taemin realized this was exactly how they looked the night Minho and the other's had stopped the coach his and Dee Dee's coach. It seemed so obvious now...

More cloaks were passed around with masks to fit over their eyes as well as the rapiers. They definitely looked like they were going out to do no good. Taemin could feel himself getting excited in a nervous way. 

"Right, we have to stay away from the road tonight, so we're cutting through the forest to get to cliff face, okay?" There were nods around the room at Minho's voice. 

"Key, you're the best at being stealthy so I want you to do something before meeting us at the cliff. 

"Fire away"

"I want you to head to the place we were going to stop the stage without being seen and just observe for a while. I just want an idea of what Alec had or has planned... it might help us in the future."

"Okay" Key sighed. He didn't particularly want to spend his time watching a bunch of soldiers, probably crouched in a tree, but he agreed with Minho. "How long do you want me to stay?"

"I'll leave that to your judgment. If there is something worth watching, stay, if not, head up to the usual place at the castle but if Tom is right, and I have no doubt he is, then you'll be in over your head so stay hidden".

"I know, I'm not an idiot. I wont get caught"

"I know" Minho said with a chuckle. "Tom can take your place until then"

"Alright, I'll leave before you lot then so I can meet up with you quicker, I hope" Key sighed again before moving over to one of the archways. 

"Hold up a sec" Minho called after him. Key came to a halt and just stared at him with his arms crossed. "We need to think of an alias for Tom" Taemin looked back and forth between the two when he was mention. He was going to say they could just continue calling him "Tom" seeing as it wasn't his real name anyway but then realized that doing that could lead to lead to the real Tom getting into trouble, or any one else with the name "Tom"...

Key was silent for a moment, deep in thought. "Hmmmm..... why don't we just call him Maknae to keep things simple? It can always change."

"You okay with that?"Minho asked the younger boy who just nodded in return.

"Good. I'm heading out. You had better look after him" Key pointed at Minho, who held his hand up in defense, before heading to the arch way again.

"Stay safe" Jonghyun called after him. 

"I will" Key replied. Both just smiled at each other for a moment before Key disappeared into the dark of the tunnel. 

Taemin shivered at the thought of going back into the pitch dark. "Tom, when we're out, be sure not to say our real names, okay?"

Taemin nodded. "What should I call you then?"

"Well you know what to call me right?" Minho asked to which Taemin nodded.

"Call me Dubu" Onew said from the table.

"Call me Puppy" Jonghyun called out after him "And call Key Kitty" 

Taemin laughed, the sound echoing around the room. He hadn't known them all long but he could already tell they fit very well. "Key came up with them all" Minho couldn't help but smile at the boy's laughter, it really was a beautiful sound. 

"Come on, we can't stay here all day. We'll fill you in on everything as we go through the forest" Minho continued to Taemin. The younger could feel his heart beating nervously. He'd never really done anything wrong in his life now he was going to steal from the castle's treasury... He was both scared and exhilarated. Onew took one of the torches off the wall and disappeared down the tunnel Key had gone down.

Minho held his hand out to Taemin. Taemin hesitated before taking it noticing that it was getting darker because Jonghyun was going around dousing the torches. "Let's not get left in the dark" Minho said softly, pulling Taemin towards the tunnel which was still partly lit by Onew who was waiting for them. 

"No, let's not" Taemin said with a smile thinking that tonight might just be fun. 

I'm sorry this chapter took a little longer than the other's but I am enjoying writing this. 

For those of you who don't know what rapiers look like here: 

And for an idea of what they're wearing (this actually from the inspiration for this story):

One more thing, if anyone thinks up a better nickname or alias for Taemin let me know, I may put it in the story. 

Anyway, please let me know what you think by commenting ^^ Love you subbies ^^