Kai slams the metal tray on the counter, and everyone jumps. “Enough,” he says sharply. He unloads the tray, managing to make menacing sounds with each bottle even though Lay knows they’re made of plastic.

Lay watches the tattoos on Kai’s arms flex for a moment, then tears his eyes away back to the belligerent man in front of him. The man is shaken but still defiant, which is different because Kai has a reputation, and normal people usually cross the street to avoid him.

“Listen,” the man says through gritted teeth, straggly hair swinging as he moves closer, “it’s just one more person. We’ve been waiting for hours and we haven’t said a word even though you’ve done just about all the people you like first.”

It’s hard for Lay to be intimidated when he’s spent most of his time around people like Kai and Yunho and Henry. Instead, it’s the desperation in the man’s eyes that makes him uncomfortable.

“I do those worst off first,” Lay reminds him. “It’s always been that way.”

“It’s been three weeks!” the man protests. “It’s hurting her.”

“It’s healing,” Lay says. He’s done with his gloves, and he turns away to drop them in a basket. Someone will wash them later. Latex can’t be wasted. “Just give it time.”

“You don’t get to walk out now,” the man grabs his arm, stopping him. “You owe us. I give half of what I grow in my garden to you all and go hungry some nights because of that. You can’t walk away when we need you.”

Lay shakes his hand off, because Kai’s coming over with a disturbing look in his eyes.

“I said,” Kai pronounces each word clearly, crowding up against the man, “to go away.”

The man’s taller, but Kai is lean, whipcord-hardened muscle, and has the coldest look Lay has ever seen. He sets his head back like a cobra, watching the man with warning silence.

“If you wait here, I’ll get one of the trainees to do something now,” Lay inserts. “Either that, or next healing day I will see your wife for sure after hours, if I have anything left. That’s the only offer you’re going to get.”

The man’s more than glad to step away from Kai. “If the trainees can’t…” he begins. “Then next healing day.” Lay promises. He beckons one of the younger trainees, who’s been watching the show surreptitiously, over.

--

“You’re too soft,” Kai scolds, as they make their way back to EXO-M’s barracks. People look at them, most wary. “You’re already doing healing on your own time. You need to set better limits on how much you spend on the townpeople.”

“Well, they do feed us,” Lay points out. He rubs his fingers together, attempting to bring some circulation back into them. “And Kris makes sure I don’t overdo it.”

“Does he?” Kai snorts. “Doesn’t sound like much of a guy to me.”

“Kris is…” Lay trails off. “Trying.”

“Lay!” Looking up, Lay sees Luhan hurrying down the cramped streets, picking his way through the piles of rubble. His long limbs help with that. SMTown always looks like a bomb went off between the buildings, Lay thinks to himself.

“Chen’s got into a bit of trouble,” Luhan reports. Another shorter man with cotton-candy hair, slimmer, but identifiable as an idol from the inked swirls on his arm, hurries down the street towards them. He’s obviously young – Lay hasn’t seen someone that looks as young, other than Luhan. But Luhan is more angular and sharp if you look closely, and this boy has some puppy fat left on his cheeks, and rounder eyes.

“Sehun,” Kai says, surprised. “What’s wrong?”

“Kai-ah,” Sehun says. He has a soft, if bright, voice. “Suho wants to see us.”

Kai frowns. “I should go,” he says, glancing at Lay. “You better take care of yourself.”

Kai can never speak non-threateningly. “Okay,” Lay agrees, smiling. He’s learned not to argue with Kai.

“I’ll know,” Kai warns. He’s off the street with Sehun then, fast.

--

It’s a bit of a shock to Lay, then, when he opens the door to the EXO-M barracks and finds it stuffed to the gills with people, Kai amongst them.

“Whoa,” Luhan’s swivels around in surprise. “Isn’t this EXO-K?”

Is it? Lay looks around with a bit more interest. There’s Kai and the candy-haired boy they saw just now, skulking at the wall near Xiumin’s bed in the far corner. Two other boys, one a ginormous, lanky thing (and he thought Tao was tall) and the other a shorter, confident-looking man. Chanyeol and Baekhyun, probably, whom Kai always talks about with scattered curses. Kris is speaking to two of them, which should be the last two members, Suho and D.O. D.O has to be the petite one with red-purple hair and huge eyes, oddly solemn. Suho is the one with a brisk air of leadership around him, then. He has warm eyes. Kai actually respects Suho, and doesn’t make fun of D.O much, so they should be nice people, Lay supposes.

Xiumin and Tao are on the other side of the barracks, near the door. Xiumin’s curled up on the bunk, dozing, and Tao is standing. Watching.

“Chen!” Lay says. Chen’s on the bed beside Kris, hot and flushed. He stirs sleepily as Lay puts a hand on his forehead. “It’s not even heat exhaustion, it’s heatstroke,” Lay says, horrified. “What were you doing?”

“Being angry,” Chen says ruefully, blinking. Lay sighs and perches himself on the bed. “I’ll put you to sleep and then start work,” he says. “An hour, tops.”

“One hour?” Kris says over his shoulder. He looks hot and flushed, ruffled for the usually untouchable Kris. “That long?”

“I’m not a miracle worker,” Lay says dryly. “This isn’t like closing a cut – I have to help his body rewire his own thermostat.”

“Right.” Kris says. “Okay. We need to begin briefing, though, so we’ll do it here, and Lay, you focus on Chen and come back when you can.”

Lay tilts his head, wary.

--

“The suspected targets,” Suho finishes, “are rebels trying to undermine SMTown by attacking our food and trade routes. Possibly they are building up their own resources first, and by attacking food and trade, they both build themselves and harm us. So we’ll hit the towns first, talk to people and get some things sorted out. Then we hunt them down quick. With twelve of us, we should be enough to take a small rebel force out.”

“We need to move tonight,” Kris finishes. “It’s a rushed order – they won’t tell us why , but someone up there is highly uncomfortable with these rebels.”

Lay’s – tired, anxious, nervous most of all. Working together with another team like that? With EXO-M in the shape that it is?

He looks back down at Chen, sleeping fitfully, and can’t help but be worried.

--

“BoA sent them out,” Changmin tells Yunho. “You know this isn’t – if those rebels are really the three of them, EXO doesn’t stand a chance. You know that.”

“We don’t know that it’s them,” Yunho returns harshly. He rolls his shoulders uncomfortably. “Changmin- they disappeared three years ago.”

“I’m not imagining things,” Changmin returns. “I’m going to make my choice soon. Yunho, you need to make yours.”

“Let EXO go and find out,” Yunho said at last.

“It’s on you,” Changmin says. “This time, it is.”

--

AN: worldbuilding finally more or less then! action will ramp up in the next chapter. also, I'm aware the P.O.V keeps changing, so apologies if it's confusing-just that all of them want their own floor space in this story