Tao woke up, feeling a strong ache to the back of his head and a blistering pain in his shoulder. He moved his head and saw a bandage wrapped around his shoulder. His fingers were back in place, they too wrapped in a bandage. 

            The room was dimly lit with only one light on the ceiling .  He was tightly tied to a chair.  The situation and setting was actually pretty cliché.  But it didn’t change the fact that he was now a prisoner. 

            Baekhyun had Tao’s suitcase opened in front of him and turned it around to Tao, “A silencer.  And some poison gas bombs.  You weren’t planning on actually exchanging the weapon for money were you?”

            “I had to take extra precautions,” Tao stated simply.

            “The triad?” Baekhyun had his hand gun in his hand and he slammed it on the table, making Tao jump, “Why are you working with them?”

            “Next question,” Tao spit in front of Baekhyun, who was unfazed.

            “What happened to you?” Baekhyun cried.  He stood up and lifted Tao’s head so he had to look into his eyes, “What happened, Tao?  Why are you working with these guys?”

            “That’s not really what you want to ask is it?” Tao laughed.  Baekhyun let go and frowned, “What is the Triad’s plan?  Who do you have in the Chinese government? Tell me.”  Baekhyun should’ve yelled and hit Tao in the head to scare him, but his voice came out strained and soft. 

            “What will happen if I don’t tell you?” Tao asked. 

            “You know what will happen,” Baekhyun took out something from his luggage.  It was the silver suitcase, “You know what I have to do.”

            “Then do it.”

            “I don’t want to!” Baekhyun exclaimed.  He couldn’t help the tears that fell down his cheeks, “Damn it Tao!  What happened to you?  Why did you leave?”

            “I’m not telling you anything.”

            Baekhyun put his hands on the Chinese man’s shoulders.  Tao refused to meet his eyes, “I deserve to know the truth.”  His voice was soft.    

            Tao just pursed his lips, emphasizing that he wouldn’t say anything. 

            “I can’t torture you, Tao,” Baekhyun sat down on the seat in front of Tao.

            Tao looked at him, “You’re a good actor you know.”

            Baekhyun looked up.

            “What you said back there.  I actually believed you for a second.  You really had me fooled.  I guess that was my mistake,” Tao shook his head as if shaking off the thought; “I should've taken my own advice...well now I’m here.” 

            “What makes you think I was lying?” Baekhyun asked.  Tao was still the enemy but he was still his Tao deep down inside.  If he could reach that Tao, then he wouldn’t have to torture him.  He wouldn’t have to kill him. 

            Tao nudged his head at Baekhyun’s hand.

            “You usually wear a wedding band.  I can see the line where the ring should be.  Are you married?”

            Baekhyun got up and smacked Tao right across the face.  He couldn’t help shaking as the memory of a ring next to a broken picture frame came to mind.  There was only one person he’d ever loved in his life and that guy was sitting before him, a prisoner he needed to get information from. 

            “Well that hit a soft spot,” Tao murmured; he looked down at the floor.  It was silent for a few minutes before Tao’s haughty voice broke the silence, “If I know you, you probably fell in love on a mission, maybe the mission.  I’m right, aren’t I?”

            A series of knocks could be heard and Baekhyun got out of the chair and went to open the door.  A brunette walked into the room and eyed Tao warily.

            “Did you get any information from him yet?”

            Baekhyun eyed Tao.  He could see Tao’s fear clearly written on his face even though he was glaring at the brunette. 

            “No.  I’ve been trying to talk it out of him, Suho.”

            Suho shook his head, “You know that won’t work.  The more you talk to these people, the weaker you look.” Suho took one look at Tao and then grabbed Baekhyun.  He walked to the corner and turned them both around so their backs were facing Tao, “Look we have to get that information from him in some way.  If he won’t talk then we have to kill him.  But we need to try to get some information first,” Suho was whispering into Baekhyun’s ear. 

            Suho eyed Baekhyun, “Look if you can’t do this, then I will.”

            Baekhyun eyed Tao, “I…” Suho had offered him an easy choice.  He wouldn’t have to deal with Tao if Suho agreed to torture Tao instead.  But Suho would probably be more ruthless. 

            “No…I can.”

            Suho frowned at him, “You obviously can’t.  I’m relieving you of your position for now.  Take a break.  I got it.”

            “No!” Baekhyun exclaimed, “Really.  I’ll do it!” Baekhyun’s hand was grabbing Suho’s arm that was holding the suitcase.

            “Byung Nam,” Suho said angrily.  He quickly shoved Baekhyun out of the room before Baekhyun knew what was happening and locked the door. 

            “Noooo!” Baekhyun screamed.  He kept on pounding the door but it was useless. 

            30 minutes later, Baekhyun heard Tao’s screams pierce the empty corridor.  They were in the hotel basement and a metal door stood between him and the room Tao was being held.

            Tao screamed again and Baekhyun felt his own tears fall down as he kneeled beside the metal door.

            “Please!” another scream “Stop!”

            An hour later the door opened and Suho came out.  He had blood on his hands and Baekhyun was afraid to look inside.  The screams stopped more than a half hour ago.  And there was no noise coming from inside the room now.

            “Damn it.  He won’t tell me anything,” Suho wasn’t paying attention as he walked out of the room, “He’s unconscious now.  Watch him.  I’ll be back in an hour.  If he still doesn’t talk when he wakes up, we have to kill him.”

            Baekhyun walked into the room and locked the door behind him. 

            Tao’s head was drooped forward so that his chin rested on his chest.  There was blood covering his whole body.  His fingers were painfully snapped again.  His shoulder wound was bigger as well and strategically placed gashes covered his body. 

            There were some injection spots covering his arm, some solution still oozing out. 

            Baekhyun moved forward and dropped down on his knees beside the chair.  He lifted Tao’s face to look at him.  The Chinese man’s eyes were closed but he was still breathing.

            “Tao.  Tao.  Please just wake up.”  Baekhyun immediately grabbed the water bottle from his luggage as well as the first aid, “Please make it through this.”

            Tao’s eyes weakly opened and temporarily crinkled in happiness when he saw Baekhyun staring worriedly at him.  Baekhyun had his face between his hands and gasped in relief when Tao opened his eyes.

            “I never thought I’d see those eyes again,” Tao said warily as he closed his eyes again, drifting off into sleep.

            “Tao no,” Baekhyun slapped his cheek lightly, “Stay awake.  We don’t have much time.”

            “We never did,” Tao moved his face so he could feel more of Baekhyun’s warm hand. 

            “Tao.  Suho is coming back right now.  You have to tell me something.  Anything!  We can buy time.”

           Tao weakly shook his head, “You’ll kill me anyway.  I know how this works.  When you’re finished with me, you’ll get rid of me.”

            “Tao, don’t be stupid!  Just tell me something.  Anything!”  

            Tao couldn’t stay awake.   He wanted to.  He wanted to stay there in Baekhyun’s arms.  He could see his life flash before his eyes or at least he was remembering everything.  He remembered the first time he met Baekhyun, the first accidental kiss they shared, finding out he actually liked his best friend, the first real kiss, prom, moving into college together, graduation. 

            “Please,” Baekhyun’s voice was desperate. He realized now that he still loved Tao.  It was never a question.  Tao had always been in the back of his mind for the last seven years, wondering where the Chinese man had gone.  It was partly the reason why he became an agent.  He never knew he would find Tao like this, working for the enemy. 

            “I can’t,” Tao coughed. 

            “Tao, you are going to die if you don’t tell me anything now.  Do you understand that?  Suho will kill you.” Baekhyun slapped Tao harder so his eyes opened, “I can’t protect you.”

            Tao smiled at him and Baekhyun held his breath because in that moment, he saw his Tao.  His Tao had come back to him. 

            “You can’t protect me.”

            Baekhyun looked towards the door and quickly let go of Tao’s face so it drooped onto his chest again.  He went around and cut the ropes off of Tao’s wrists and unbound him from the chair. 

            “What are you doing?” Tao murmured, “Don’t be stupid.  You’ll get in trouble if you release me.” 

“I’m getting you out of here.” Baekhyun hoisted Tao out of the chair and immediately fell to the ground from all the dead weight.  He could hear footsteps nearing and rolled around on the ground looking for something that could temporarily knock Suho out if it came down to it. 

            He stopped when he saw Tao pick up the hand gun.

            Tao held it and pointed it at Baekhyun as he struggled to get up from the ground.   

            “What are you doing?” Baekhyun backed away on his elbows as Tao aimed the gun. 

            Tao didn’t hesitate as he pulled the trigger, the bullet ripping through the air and hitting the target.  Baekhyun fell to the ground, his hands trying uselessly to protect himself. 

            “Oh ! !” Suho ran down the corridor when he noticed the trail of blood coming out of the torture room.  The door was wide open and he ran into the room. 

            “,” Suho looked at the blood that dirtied the floor.  There were shards of glass on the floor.  He looked up and noticed that the camera was out.  There was a bullet that ran right through the camera lens.

            The prisoner was gone.  His agent was gone. 

            He held his phone to his ear and called someone, “The prisoner escaped with agent Byun.  We have to assume he went rogue.”

            “Then you know what you must do.  You have to find them and execute the both of them.  We can’t have them out there with all the information they have.”

            “I’ll gather my team.”

            “I need to rest,” Tao panted as he tried to run down the alleyway with Baekhyun supporting his waist.

            Baekhyun turned to him worriedly, “We need to move, Tao.  Suho probably called in what happened.  His whole team will be here in a few seconds, minutes if we’re lucky.”

            “I can’t,” Tao put all his weight on Baekhyun and the smaller couldn’t support him and fell against the side of the building they were standing next to.

            “It was my dad,” Tao said silently. 

            Baekhyun was pushing Tao’s bangs out of his face and wiping the sweat from it.

            “He mixed with the wrong people.  He became a member of the triad. He took me away on graduation day.  I couldn’t escape.  I’ve done so many bad things,” Tao was shaking his head as if trying to rid the horrible memories, “I’m sorry.”

            “Stay with me Tao,” Baekhyun slapped Tao’s face, “We made it out.  We can get away from here.  And then we can be together again.” 

            Tao smiled, even though his eyes were closed. 

            “I don’t know if we can in this lifetime.”

            Baekhyun picked Tao’s body off of the ground and started walking down the alleyway, “I’m getting us both out of here whether you like it or not.”

            Baekhyun stared out sadly at the ocean.  It was quiet on the boat.  He remembered the night 6 months ago that brought him to where he was now.  He reunited with his boyfriend and best friend after 7 years and risked his life to save him.  He still had the scars from that day.

            So now Baekhyun was running from his own company, his own government.  Because if he was captured, he would be killed for helping a Chinese Triad member escape. 

            That one day had changed everything.  It changed his whole life.  He sat down on the deck of his boat and put his arms behind his head as he closed his eyes.  He wondered what he could do with the rest of his life on the run. 

            He quickly opened his eyes when he felt a pair of lips on his.

            “Yah!” he pushed the black haired man away from him, “Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”   

            “I can’t sleep unless you’re beside me,” Tao sat down beside Baekhyun on the deck. 

            Baekhyun glared at him, “You’re still not fully recovered, you big idiot.  You need to rest,” Baekhyun was about to push him towards the cabin but Tao pouted and he couldn’t resist when Tao pouted.  Since when did he become a ball of mush in front of Tao? 

            “I can handle myself you know that, right?” Tao was looking at the ocean, “Oomph.”

            He felt a hand push the side of his face and before he knew it, Baekhyun was pulling Tao’s head to rest on his lap. 

            “I said you need rest.  You listen to what I say, you big idiot.”

            “You’re an idiot if you love an idiot.”

            “We’re both idiots,” Baekhyun smiled as he combed his hands through Tao’s black hair.  Tao grabbed Baekhyun’s hand and inspected the golden band on his finger that matched his own and smiled. 

            “Even though it took us a long time,” Tao began.

            “We ended up where we belong,” Baekhyun finished for him, “Now shut up and rest.” 

The End 

Hey Everyone!  I hope you guys enjoyed my story!  Baektao is such a rare pair and I love them so I hope that Baektao shippers enjoyed this!  And if you aren't a Baektao shipper....then I hope you like them better now?  For those of you who commented on my chapters or upvoted thank you so much!  I gave you karma points!  I really appreciated it!!! 

Thanks for bearing with me guys!  

Bye Yeom!  Toshi Out <3