The AED was suddenly brought into the infirmary, and Yunho's shirt was practically ripped open to expose his chest. I heard the loud keening noise as the machine powered up and swiftly moved to look away and hug Jaejoong closer to me, covering his eyes with my hands as I did so. I didn't want him to see. This was going to be some extreme traumatic , and I didn't want to be responsible for messing him up even further.

"Clear!" I heard a Fixer yell. I glanced behind me, just in time to see the twin metal pads land on Yunho's exposed chest, making his whole body jump at least half a foot in the air.

A short moment later, they were powering up the pads again, rubbing them together to strengthen the surge of electricity. The first attempt had been unsuccessful.

"Clear!" someone yelled once more. This time Yunho's body jumped higher in response to the stronger volts. I felt a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. What kind of sick torture device was able to make your heart stop? What extent of pain could the human body take until you died just like that?

And this time, thankfully, Yunho opened his eyes and gasped, inhaling a sharp breath of air, before he closed his eyes once more, and the Fixers were upon him again.

I closed my eyes and let out a breath of air that I had no idea I had been holding in. Yunho was still alive. He would be okay. I turned to kiss the top of Jaejoong's head to signify my relief, and he looked up at me curiously. I let my hand drop to allow him to see me, and was met with his huge doe eyes that were filled with concern and worry.

"Is Yunnie...?"

"Yeah," I answered, hugging him closer to me. "He's okay."

Jaejoong smiled softly, and peeked past my arm to look at Yunho. I turned as well, and saw Yunho in a much calmer state. He was still unconscious, with an oxygen mask strapped to his face, and Fixers surrounding him, administering shots here and there, before placing an IV drip on his hand and leaving him alone.

Jaejoong immediately squirmed out of my hold to run to Yunho, dropping to his knees by the bedside and holding Yunho's hand in both of his. I slowly came and sat on the edge of the bed, staring into Yunho's face.

As always, Yunho would be the one who would take the brunt force of Kangta's punishment, always trying to save Jaejoong and I. He didn't deserve this. I swear, he really didn't deserve this.

Yoona was still silently standing at the foot of the bed, her arms crossed, studying the three of us. Even though my back was to her, I could feel her laser eyes on me. It was a sort of comfortable feeling, to be honest. In a way, she had my back. Or rather, was watching it.

"He's going to be okay," she said, not even asking us how we were, merely just diving into the topic at hand.

"What were those things back there?" I asked instead, "Those torture devices?"

Yoona raised an eyebrow in surprise. I was asking about that instead of Yunho?

"The chairs contain modified body heat switches. They can raise your body temperature up and down in the click of a button."

I waited for her to continue and when she didn't...

"That's it?" I asked. "That's all they were? Heat switches?"

Yoona nodded in response. "The human body has a very small range of heat it can take upon itself. Changing your body temperature a mere five degrees above or below normal can kill you instantly. Your body temperature was lowered to half its core temperature before it was rapidly raised to 45° celsius. The pain you felt was your body shutting down on itself, before it restarted and then started breaking down its own proteins due to the sudden heat it was exposed to. Basically digesting itself."

I was silent for a while, taking this all in.

"What kind of sicko makes all these things?" I wondered aloud. This really was a new degree of evil.

Yoona shook her head in what I think was amusement. "You'd be surprised if I told you."

I stayed silent, letting the statement go in one ear and out the next.

"But I'll have to get rid of it. It's too much of a danger. I don't want anyone else dropping dead because of that thing."

I nodded in agreement. Although we probably didn't meet eye to eye on why we should get rid of the machines, I was still thankful nonetheless.

"Rest," Yoona practically ordered. "Go home if you wish. I'll let you three off for today and tomorrow. I'll talk with Kangta, but I expect you to be here as per normal the day after."

I nodded my understanding. This was the closest you could get to compassion from Yoona.

"Watch over your team mates, Yoochun. Lest they fall and crumble right before your eyes."

"I understand," I answered, as Yoona left.

"A holiday," Jaejoong cooed, most amused by that fact. I doubt he had even paid attention to the conversation after the 'rest' part.

"Yeah," I answered, running a hand through his hair softly. I guess it was.

About an hour later, I felt a presence entering the room. Jaejoong had already fallen asleep again by then, cuddling into Yunho despite him being unconscious and unresponsive to his touch. I knew it wasn't one of the Fixers or guards; their footsteps were messy and noisy, these were carefully calculated, due to being ingrained on how to be stealthy from young. I ran a mental match in my head, before I deduced that it was probably Junsu.

I looked up to see that it really was him. He was soaked, for some reason, though I seriously doubted that that was sweat dripping off him. It looked more like someone had poured a bucket of water on him. And I noticed the bandages wrapped around both his wrists.

"A meeting with Kangta?" I asked, looking up at him. His eyes seemed sharply focused, too sharp to be from our natural state of attention however. He had been overdosed, I realised.

He nodded his answer. "They found me at the park. Brought me here. I assume they introduced you to the new chairs?"

I nodded in turn. "They turned up the notch too high for Yunho. His heart stopped."

Junsu sat on the bed parallel to ours, facing me. His right foot tapped silently. He was too riled up to stay still.

"But he's alive," Junsu added, his tone unchanged as he glanced at Yunho.

"They managed to revive his heart," I answered.

"Good. He would be of no use dead."

I flinched slightly at the answer, but I knew it wasn't really Junsu's fault. I doubted he had any evil intentions, but Junsu showcased the signs of an Outpost that was moulded too perfectly. He lacked EQ, to such an extent that it would be obvious that something was wrong with him if he was exposed to the outside world for too long. It was a reason why Junsu wasn't allowed to go to school and interact. He'd be too weird. As I've said before, Outposts are allowed, and even encouraged to grow our own personalities, so we would be able to blend easily and be able to at least have some degree of normalcy. But Junsu had been trained and moulded too extensively, up to the point that he was close to being emotionally dead. It was one of the reasons that Junsu was always kept inside, only going out for missions. He attracted too much attention in the normal world.

"Yes," I answered in turn, "If a leader as great as Yunho goes down, his whole team will go down with him." I purposefully spun my answer around to confuse him. Junsu's foot stopped tapping against the concrete floor, and he was silent in thought.

"I doubt we would fail so spectacularly because of one individual," he said.

"On the contrary," I carefully countered, "A team is seen as a whole, as one. When one member fails, either the rest of the team helps him get up, or they all fail as one."

Junsu was silent once more. I had the impression he was doing some deep thinking.

"We're a team," Junsu said after some time, more to himself than to me. "So I won't let us fail."

I smiled. "Yeah. We're a team."

I was messing with Junsu's head, and I knew it. Compassion wasn't something we Outposts were taught to feel. Rather, some of us taught it to ourselves. We formed it from nothing, letting it grow deep within us.

Of course with an environment and a jobscope like ours, it wasn't something built to last. Some Outposts lost it far along the line, and in the process, became one of the best killing machines Nine had to offer.

But the reason Jaejoong, Yunho and I were considered top notch Outposts was because, unlike most Outposts, we had the ability to stop and think, to judge and make decisions of our own. We were still assasins, no doubt about that, but we weren't robots. We had a conscience.

I felt Yunho stir behind me, and turned to see him slowly open his eyes. He glanced at Jaejoong, who was cuddled tightly to his chest, before he slowly looking at me, and, I assumed, went back to sleep.

"Why was Yunho so injured?" Junsu asked, after a few moments of silence.

I found myself smiling softly, as I answered.

"Yunho lied, and took responsibility for all our actions. He took the brute force of the punishment." I gazed at Yunho's face. It looked peaceful, a state he was almost never in when he was awake.

"Why would he do that?"

I shrugged. "Because he loves us, and doesn't want to see us hurt."

"So he'd rather hurt himself?"

I smiled once more as I turned to look at Junsu. The innocence of his answer was almost sad.

"Yes," I answered. "He'd rather hurt himself than see us hurt."

Junsu was silent at this, before he got up.

"Let's get back," he suddenly said. "Back to that house. The hostages are alone. We will need to guard them."

Yunho had slept for another hour, before the four of us moved to get out of there. I was actually pretty surprised at Junsu was being marginally nicer to us than before. He hadn't said a word since leaving the building, and even now, as we sat in the car, me driving with Junsu shotgun beside me, he was silent, instead choosing to stare out the window in some kind of lonesome contemplation. He hadn't even picked up a fight with Yunho.

Speaking of which, Yunho was particularly silent too. Maybe the torture had taken a much heavier toll on him, or maybe the fact that he had literally died and been brought back to life tired him. I had no idea, but he was leaning silently against the window, his eyes closed in sleep, as Jaejoong held on to his hand gently. Hell, even the way Jaejoong was holding on to Yunho was different. Almost as if Yunho was too fragile to hold on to too tightly.

Was I the only blind one here?

We pulled into the driveway, and I exited the car as soon as I stalled the engine, going up to check on Changmin and Karam. Both brothers were still fast asleep when I checked on them. Which was a good thing, considering that there hadn't been anyone who had watched over them while we were gone.

It was late, and I decided that it was safe for everyone to just hit the sack and go to sleep. Yunho surprised me when he silently went to his room and just curled up in bed, falling asleep with his blazer and shoes still on. I think Jaejoong got the gist that something was wrong when he crashed on the couch and started watching tv with the mute on. Junsu completely disappeared. I had no idea where he went, or even whether he was in the house, but what he did was his business, so who was I to interfere.

I was pretty concerned for Yunho, so I crept up to his room and sat on the edge of his bed.  He was deeply asleep, which worried me even more. Outposts didn't fall into deep sleeps.

"Yunho?" I whispered aloud, placing a gentle hand on his hip.

What happened next was a blur of movement, and before I knew it, I was lying on the bed, Yunho above me, his hands wrapped tightly around my neck. I widened my eyes more in surprise than pain. Yunho looked delusional, as I stared into his twin orbs. The hands tightened around my neck, but I resisted the urge to move.

Yunho wouldn't kill me.

Would he?

Just as I was seeing black spots, a flash of recognition appeared in Yunho's eyes and I felt the hands around my throat loosen, giving me much needed oxygen.

"Yoochun," he murmured, withdrawing his hands.

"Yeah," I answered. "It's me."

Yunho only stared down at me in confusion and doubt. Grabbing on to his shoulders, I pulled him down and turned to lie on my side at the same time, making him lie down on the bed beside me.

"What's up?" I asked him.

He let out a loud exhale of air, before he closed his eyes once more.

"Tired," he explained. "Whatever those things were, they wore me down."

"Your heart stopped for a few minutes, you know that? They had to use the AED to bring you back."

Yunho nodded slightly. "I felt it. Being ripped from the air and being alive once more. It was strange."

"I'm just glad you're alive," I answered him.

Yunho didn't reply. He was still, before I realized that he had fallen asleep once more. I reached for his hand in the darkness, finding some sort of comfort in his rough, scarred hand, before I myself fell asleep.

At four in the morning, I woke up.

Something wasn't right, I could taste it in the air. I got up, sliding off the bed. Yunho was still asleep beside me. I tried my best not to wake him, but he still stirred at the shift in weight.

I crept out the room barefoot. Going downstairs, I saw Jaejoong still watching tv. It was that time of night when shows of the 90's were being played, and right now, Popeye the Sailorman was on. Jaejoong's eyes were fixed on the tv, but he looked up at the feel of presence.

"Chunnie?" he said, with a tilt of his head. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Ah. It's nothing. You okay?"

He nodded in response, eyes still looking up at me questioningly.

"Did you hear anything out of the ordinary, or felt someone else's presence?"

Jaejoong frowned for a while, deep in thought, before he shook his head.

"Why?" he asked.

"I woke up feeling something wasn't right," I answered.

"Jae Jae was awake the whole time. He didn't feel or see anything."

I nodded my understanding. "Alright then. Maybe it was just my imagination."

I turned to climb back up the stairs, only to stop when Jaejoong called me.

"Chunnie hyung."

"Yes?"

"Can you make me something to eat? I'm hungry~"

I smiled in amusement.

"Of course I can."

Soon I was in the kitchen, preparing some snacks for an excited Jaejoong. I made him a chocolate smoothie, as well as some French toast before I joined him in watching the cartoons for a while. Because I was beside him, Jaejoong probably felt a lot more relaxed than normal, and he was soon asleep, his head resting against my shoulder. I stayed a few moments longer, to make sure he was properly asleep, before I repositioned him to lie on the couch.

I let the tv stay on, because he was going to wake up at odd hours and find the moving pictures of the screen comforting, before he'd fall asleep again.

The feeling that something was wrong had yet to leave me, so I checked through all the rooms of the first floor, as well as the basement, where a load of Jaejoong's toys were kept. Nothing out of the ordinary, save for a creepy China doll that seemed to stare at me as I closed the basement door. The things Yunho does to spoil Jaejoong are beyond me. I mean, a China doll, really?

I crept back up the stairs to my room, letting Yunho have his bed to himself. I stood in front of my door, about to enter when it hit me to suddenly check up on Changmin and Karam.

Would they be okay?

As quietly as I possibly could, I unlocked the door to Karam's room. My eyes quickly fine-tuned themselves to the darkness, to see Karam on his bed, fully asleep. I gently placed a hand on his forehead.

It was still hot with fever. I shouldn't have left him alone for so long. I quickly went back downstairs to the medicine cabinet, retrieving some pills as well as a jug of water. Placing them on the drawer by the bed, I made another trip downstairs to make some quick sandwiches as well as retrieve a carton of sealed milk, along with a cup. He hadn't eaten since the day before, and I hoped that he would be well enough to at least feel hungry and eat.

As I placed the food on the bedside, I couldn't help but think. It had been a day since the kidnapping. Someone was bound to at least make some noise. Shim Siwon hadn't even made contact in order to search for his sons. What kind of father was silent when his children were kidnapped from their own homes? Did he really care for these children? Or was there something sinister behind all this?

I quietly exited the room, locking it as I did so, before going to Changmin's room. I hesitated a bit as I stood outside. It was one thing having Karam, a mere kid, as a hostage, but it was another to have someone you knew as one too. The feeling was different. As an Outpost, we weren't allowed to be emotionally attached to many things, and though I barely knew him, the fact that I *knew* him alone changed the rules of the game.

I had a sudden fear that both Changmin and Karam wouldn't live through this game, despite our best tries to at least keep them safe.

I unlocked the door, and entered, surprised to see that the nightlight on the drawer by the bed was on.

Changmin was sitting on the bed, his elbows resting on his knees as he hunched over in thought.

"Changmin?" I said in concern. It was awfully late for someone like him to still be up, wasn't it?

And then I suddenly remembered Dr Kim's explanation on Changmin a few days before. Changmin couldn't sleep without sleeping pills. And even if he did, the nightmares would keep him awake all night long. "You okay?"

"What do you want?" I heard him ask, as he loosely brought his legs up to his chest. He wasn't looking at me, rather being adamant to stare straight ahead at the wall.

I entered, closing the door behind me, and slowly came to him.

"Go away," Changmin growled. He suddenly turned his head to look up at me with the coldest eyes I had ever seen on a normal human being. It would have been fine to see it on an Outpost, but seeing it on Changmin made me flinch. "Leave me alone."

His tone made me want to go out and leave him be, but something made me stay. I slowly made way to the chair by the bedside and sat down. As I did so, Changmin moved away to lean against the headboard, putting a larger distance between us, as well as to avoid looking at me. I couldn't help the tiny sting of hurt I felt in my chest.

"It's not healthy to stay awake for so long, you know? Do you need some sleeping pills?" I asked, in an attempt to sound friendly.

Changmin scoffed, his lips pulling up to a smirk. "No," he answered. "I don't need anything. Even more so from you."

I flinched internally at the answer. I wasn't used to acting so nice in front of someone other than Jaejoong and Yunho, and deep inside, I could feel the instinct to lash out grow.

"Changmin," I sighed, ignoring the twitch of my arm as I forced it to be still. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I broke into your home, attacked you, killed your guards and brought you and your brother here against your will. I'm sorry. And I know that this apology is worthless to you and it won't make any difference, but I *am* sorry. Believe me, I am. I'm sorry. But I just had no choice."

Changmin stayed silent, not even looking at me. But I could see that he had relaxed some what. Perhaps it was because we knew each other from school, but I hadn't expect it to be this easy to try and get a calm reaction from him. It was something, compared to how he had practically screamed at Yunho each time he entered.

Changmin rested his head against his knees, his entwined fingers placed on his shin.

"I don't need your apology," he said in a near whisper. "I just want to go home. Why can't I go home, hyung? Just let Karam and I go. We'll keep quiet about this. Just let us go."

I could hear the quiet dejection in his voice, almost as if he was aware that this wouldn't go anywhere, that his plea would fall on death ears. And I found myself tearing up at this. Tearing up at what it felt like to feel so hopeless.

"I'm sorry," I found myself saying it again. "I'm sorry, Changmin. I really am, but I can't do that."

"Why?" Changmin asked, turning his head to look at me. "Why not? What's keeping us here? Money? Siwon can give you all the money you want. Revenge? Politics? What is it, hyung?"

I shook my head. There was no easy way to say this. Hell, I wasn't even *supposed* to say this, but I knew Changmin deserved to at least know what was going on before he had to be killed.

Changmin had to be killed. I slowly realised this, and a tear rolled down my cheek. Unless a miracle happened and Kangta suddenly grew a heart, there was no way he would let the brothers stay alive. The mission was to kill them, and nothing else.

Changmin was going to be killed, and no amount of protection from either Jaejoong, Yunho or I could stop that.

Changmin silently watched the lone tear roll down my cheek. He looked so lonesome right then, that I felt sorry. Sorry for making him go through all this.

I realised that I was failing once more. I was growing attachments to people I shouldn't. And for once, I couldn't seem to care. I knew Changmin, he was a good person. He didn't deserve to be killed.

"There's no easy way to explain this," I said, as I looked him in the eye.

Changmin stayed silent, waiting for me to continue.

"Yunho, Jaejoong and I work for a government organisation. We specialize in carrying out missions our Head Leader assigns to us. And a few days ago, we were given the mission to kill you. Specifically the two sons of Shim Siwon."

"Have you done it before?" Changmin suddenly asked. "Killed a human being?"

I gulped, taking a moment before answering. "Yes. Countless times."

Changmin straightened up as he leaned against the headboard. He nodded, looking straight ahead, as if asking me to continue.

"When we were given that mission, we had no idea that the sons of Siwon were actually you two."

Changmin laughed softly. It was a painful, forced laugh, one that made me fall silent.

"Siwon was always the careful one. No one outside from his circle of friends and family even knew that he had adopted Karam and I. He said it was for our own protection. But I expect it leaked out, however quietly. I found people, strangers even, bowing as I walked by. I had a feeling people would know."

I was still silent, not how to exactly respond to that. Changmin turned to look at me, the soft smile on his face completely gone now.

"Siwon is a good person. He works for the government. How can you claim to be under the government, when you're out to destroy him?"

"The government has many secrets it keeps from its people," I answered as I leaned forward, resting my elbows against my thighs. "I learned that the hard way."

When Changmin was once again silent, I continued.

"When we broke into your house, all we had on our minds was one thing. Sneak in, kill the sons, get out. But it got a lot more difficult and complicated. It became a total disaster. We killed way more than necessary." I looked up at Changmin, who was looking down at the bed like it was the most interesting thing in the room. "And I'm sorry for that."

Changmin slowly looked up at me through the corner of his eye. "I told you," he said, "I don't need your apology." He looked to the front once more, and I contained my sigh.

"When we realized it was you... We couldn't do it. *I* couldn't do it, neither could Yunho or Jae. When we saw it was you, we couldn't make ourselves aim and pull the trigger to end you, like we did to so many others. Even Yunho, however cold hearted he seems to be, he froze. And when Junsu tried to shoot, our first thought was to protect you, to save you. We should have killed you, but we didn't. We *couldn't*."

I looked up at Changmin to gauge his reaction. There were tears collecting in his eyes, but none rolled down his face.

"When Yunho came pointing the gun at you, my first thought was 'he's not going to kill you, is he?' And he didn't. He couldn't pull the trigger either. So we had to run. Run away from that house, and bring you along, because when our Head Leader sends agents to clean the aftermath and sees you alive, he would kill you on the spot."

"Has he... Been there?" Changmin asked after several moments of silence. His voice was shaking very slightly. "Has he been to my house already?"

"Yes," I answered. "He's been there."

"And what happened?"

"He didn't find your bodies. He called the three of us over to find out what happened," I paused, the memory of what happened after that making me uncomfortable. But I continued anyway. For Changmin's sake.

"At first we tried to hide that we kept you alive. But after putting us through extensive torture, the truth slipped out."

"Torture...?" Changmin repeated questioningly in a half whisper.

I nodded. "I've been through many types of torture, but this one stood out. I couldn't take it anymore, and my mouth slipped. Yunho covered for me, took the blame fully for himself, and was shown the brunt of our Head Leader's anger."

I could see that Changmin's body was shifting slowly in my direction. It showed his interest, as well as the fact that he was trusting me to let his guard down, albeit fractionally.

"What happened...?" he asked.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "Jaejoong and I were taken out and brought to the Infirmary, while Yunho stayed with the Head Leader alone in that room. A few minutes later, Yunho was brought out by the guards. It was a total state of emergency. His heart had stopped."

Changmin's eyes widened slightly at this.

"Luckily they were able to revive him," I said softly, the memory of it making my voice shake slightly. "Yunho was alive. And he still is."

The tone of my voice signified the finality, that my story had ended.

"Yunho tried his best. I know for sure that he wants only to make sure that you are safe. If it was within his power, he would have surely left you alone. We would have avoided that mission, made special arrangements to make sure nothing happens to you and your brother. But we couldn't. We can't go against our Head Leader, Changmin. We've tried, to only fail. I'm sorry, Changmin." I reached out a hand to gently place it on his knee. Changmin didn't react to it, almost as if he didn't even know it was there.

"So what happens now?" he asked. "What happens to Karam and I?"

Changmin looked up to me, with eyes that were a weird mixture of innocence, wonder, hope and desolation. It made me retract my hand in guilt.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "Yunho, Jaejoong and I have tried all we could to keep you alive and safe, but when our Head Leader steps in, there's nothing we can do to stop him."

Changmin was silent for a while, before the realization dawned in him.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" His words were whisper soft, but I could have heard his pain from a mile away. They were like a bullet to my face, making me flinch in pain.

"Not unless a miracle happens."

Changmin was completely silent, as he brought his legs closer to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He hid his face in his arms. I didn't even have to see the slight shaking of his shoulders to know.

Slowly, carefully, I came to him. I sat on the bed facing him, pulling him towards me, before I wrapped my arms around his lean form.

Changmin didn't pull back, didn't even flinch when his head rested against my chest, and I held him there.

I couldn't speak, because I knew that if I did, I would cry. Because I knew that I had kept the largest and the most painful secret from him.

That I knew, as punishment, Kangta would make Yunho, Jaejoong and I pull the trigger on him and his brother. That we would be the ones to watch him die.

That we were their would-be killers.

===================

Badum-dum-dum!

Part 2 of my two part chapter update!

It's been two months since I last updated this fic! Why so late, you ask?

I don't know D:

I honestly have the most fun writing this fic. The flow comes so naturally to me, and I'm starting to really like this genre! I was planning for a three chaptered update, but because the final one isn't to my liking yet, I'm gonna re-write it all over.

I BETA-ed through this fic all by myself! Thrice! *conceited moment*

But yeah! The fic finally hit over a hundred subscribers (like finallyyyyy x.x) and I'm gonna celebrate!

By giving you this update!

Yeah~~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY AWESOME LEADER JUNG YUNHO I LOVE YOU <3