His seat is vibrating softly beneath him, and he can hear vague whooshing sounds, and a low hum. He cracks his eyes open, and finds himself seated in an unfamiliar car. His head hurt like hell. Once he figured out how to move, he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands.

“Good to see you’re awake,” the man driving the vehicle says. He knew this voice. Even if he didn’t know where he was, he was certain he'd heard this voice somewhere before. He groaned, shifting slightly and finding himself restrained again. He panicked momentarily before realising it was just a seatbelt. He was in a car, on a busy road. 

Sehun was very confused. The last thing he remembered was feeling detached from his body, and a floating sensation accompanied by the scritch of pen on paper as the woman who drugged him wrote something down. But she wasn't here, and he was starting to think that was just a bad dream. Tentatively, he grazed his fingers over where the needle went in him. It was sore. He shuddered.

“Right. Now that you’re awake, I can tell you that my name is Jordan, and I saved you from Isla, that woman who sedated you, and we’re now on the way to save your boyfriend before they try to hurt him again. Ok?”

He blinked slowly, unable to process this.

They were going to get Tao? Before someone hurt him?

“…what?” his brain was groggy and he couldn’t hold a thought still for more than a second, but he didn’t hurt anywhere as far as he could tell.

He saved him? He tried to sit up without realising the seatbelt was done up, and he frowned at the restraining strap.

“How’re you feeling, by the way? When I got to you, you were unconscious, and Isla was about to stick you with a scalpel. I’m glad I got to you in time- if I hadn’t she probably would’ve either killed you, or done something awful to you,” he sounded so casual, like he did this kind of thing- swooping in and rescuing people- every day,

“…huh? Wait, wait,” Sehu slowly went through everything the stranger had just said, the foggy, urgent memories of being tied to the chair and attacked by the crazed woman… “That was Isla? She’s freaking insane!” More awake now, he took in his surroundings, outside the car. They were on the motorway, and the landscape was a messy mixture of sprawling fields and building sites.

“But wait, I know you from somewhere,” Sehun narrowed his eyes at him, trying to figure out where he'd seen him before, but his face didn't ring any bells. He saw him glance at him, then tighten his grip on the steering wheel.

Then it hit him; he was the guy who was hacking the computer that time when he was hiding!

 “You! When you were in Mr Evans lab that time, I was hiding behind the desk! I heard everything!” Jason raises his eyebrows,

“Hm. You’re more proactive than they give you credit for.” He mused. Sehun made a face at him though the mirror. Beginning to panic slightly, he concluded that there was no feasible escape route; it's not like he was going to throw himself out of a car travelling –he checked the dial –eighty-six miles an hour. Coming up ahead there was a green sign on the side of the road, so he squinted to see it better as they sped by. From what he could gather, they were quite close to where he lived. Waws that a good thing

“How long was I asleep for?” His voice cracked embarrassingly during his question and he refused to look up to see if he was laughing at him, or worse, pitying,

“Nearly four hours; you may’ve noticed we’re almost there,” he chuckled humourlessly, “I suppose you want to know what’s going on?” Sehun nodded.

“Ok, well I work for a human rights organisation, and I’m undercover. Originally I was just on a reconnaissance mission, to find legit proof that you were being abused so we could pull you outta there- that’s what I was doing when when you eavesdropped me on the phone to a colleague-  but then they decided to try and perform some kinda spontaneous surgery on you and I couldn’t leave you there like that. So I knocked her out, cut you loose and now we’re here. On the way to get your little boyfriend,” Sehun glared at him because of the way he said ‘little boyfriend’, like he thought it was funny or something. Sehun just found it condescending.

“Well thanks, I guess,” He grumbled. He knew he should be grateful, but he just don’td like his attitude; he seemed like a really annoying person. He thought adults were supposed to be mature, but this guy? He was infuriating, for no real reason,

“What about my parents?” His cocky smile strained at the corners, and he glanced at him from the corner of his eyes,

“They’re, um, still back at the lab. With Mr Evans.”

“What! Why didn’t they come too?” Sehun couldn't believe his ears! If he ‘saved’ him he should’ve brought his parents along too! He clenches his fists,

“They… They didn’t want to come.”

“Excuse me?”

“They approved the surgery, Sehun. They’re partially on the same side as Mr Evans. They don’t know anything about Isla, but they breached human rights laws by experimenting on you non-consensually,”

“I don’t care; they’re still my parents,” He gritted through his teeth.

“Um, I guess it they never told you that you’re a test tube baby, then?” He laughed awkwardly when Sehun stared at him, aghast.

“Obviously not,” Sehun didn’t know whether to believe him or not. Everything else he’d told him so far seemed to be true, why would he lie now? He stared out of the window, mulling it over, and wishing he had his phone so he could tell my parents and Tao that he was ok. They would both be worried about him by now, he was sure.

The rest of the journey passed in relative quiet. Neither of them spoke, but Jason turned the radio on to alleviate the awkwardness. At least he isn’t obnoxiously singing, he thought sardonically. When they started driving through territory he actually knew, he felt a small smile force its way onto his lips at the thought of seeing Tao again soon.

They drove down Tao's street, and as Jason looked for somewhere to park, he told Sehun, “Try not to be too ostentatious, ok? We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves.” he had that smirk again, the annoying one that made him want to hit him.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” he mumbled. The moment they were stationary hr flung the car door open and sprinted to Tao's door, pressing the doorbell and knocking simultaneously. His sister opened the door, and he could see her debating over whether to call Tao down or just shut the door in his face. Luckily though, she chose the first option,

“Taaaaaao! Your boyfriend’s here!” 

Hearing Tao thunder down the stairs, Sehun's heart soared, and then came into view, throwing himself at Sehun with an ‘mmf’ as he buried his face in his neck, and hugged him so tightly he thought he might burst. He made them walk forward a few steps so Sehun could shut the front door, not wanting Jason to walk in, not yet anyway, and then leaned back on it. He cradled him in his arms and breathed him in.

"I missed you,"

Xiao-Xing made a disgusted sound from somewhere down by the kitchen, but Sehun didn’t care. Then, just to piss her off with pda, Tao turned around, looked her in the eye for a second, then kissed him right in front of her. She stormed off into the kitchen, slamming the door behind her and complaining to her mother. Sehun smirked into the kiss.

Tao pulled him upstairs by his collar, laughing brightly. He tugged him into his bedroomroom and closed the door behind them. Suddenly he looked a whole lot less happy,

“What happened? You said you were going to call me back after a ‘short test’ and it’s been hours. And you didn't answer any of my calls either. Something obviously happened, Sehun,” he frowned at him, his eyes imploring. Sehun his lips and nodded, moving to sit on Tao's bed. Tao followed and made himself comfortable across his boyfriend's lap,

“I left my phone on charge before I went down, which is why I couldn’t call you.”  He brushed Tao's fringe out of his eyes. He didn’t want to talk anymore, didn't want to go through it over again, but Tao was clearly not going to let this wait; he tried to condense it as much as possible, leaving out all the details,

“When I got down there Mr Evans tied me to the chair and left.” Tao froze in his lap, muscles tense, staring at him incredulously. He opened his mouth to say something but Sehun interrupted him,

“Then Isla came in, drugged me, and I fell asleep. Then, remember that guy who was on the phone when I was-?” Tao nodded, tired eyes wide, “he apparently saved me. I woke up in his car and he dropped me off here. My parents are still down there with Mr Evans, so he tells me.”

Tao twisted himself upright and pulled him close.

“Isla, as in psycho kidnapper Isla?” he whispered, his voice muffled in Sehun's shoulder. He nodded. Tao pulled back, resting his forehead on Sehun's. He tilted his head closer, and leaned closer, their lips just barely brush –

“Tao! Sehun! You have a guest!” Tao's mother shouted up the stairs, “He says he needs you two to come down. Now!”

He shut his eyes and groaned.

Jason.