Jungkook was pretty sure his adrenaline and blood pressure had never been so high before in his life. Sweat was dripping down his temples, his hands were shaking ,every noise nearly had him jumping out of his skin. He hated being this out in the open. The uniforms they were wearing were clearly the wrong size, and they weren’t physically big enough to pass off as Enforcers. They were quickly reaching the heart of the city and the closer they got the more panicked Jungkook became.

Beside him V looked as nonchalant as ever, like he did this sort of thing all the time. Honestly if it hadn’t been for his complete lack of motivation for a leadership role, or anything outside of computers, he would probably have been the one calling the shots not Jungkook. However Jungkook had been chosen as leader and that meant trying to keep his team safe and make sure they made it out of this and his mind was racing towards each and every worst case scenario he could think of.

If they were caught the Enforcers could just kill them on sight, or they could torture them for a few hours before they were killed. If the Enforcers realized they were part of Dominari they could be taken back to New Seoul and tortured for information. If that were to happen he could only hope αlpha Duo was close enough they could kill them before the Enforcers took them out of the old city.

At least αlpha Duo would make it quick. 

“Are you having a nervous break down or something?” V’s deep voice startled Jungkook out of his increasingly dark thoughts and brought to his attention just how incredibly jumpy he was. He needed to calm down and stop freaking out over nothing. One step at a time, they were fine right now. They were going to be okay, they were going to make it out of this. 

“Or something.” Jungkook agreed, letting out a slow, controlled, breath as he mentally calmed himself down. “I’m sorry guys, I’m just a little freaked.” He admitted after a few heart beats of silence. He could feel his team mates gazes on him even without turning his head to look.

“It’s okay, we all are. This is a lot more intense than the practices they put us through.” Jin pointed out, offering a smile that really did little to help Jungkook calm down.

Jungkook couldn’t help but agree, as rigorous and exhausting as training had been, and as difficult as the practice tests had been they were poor preparation for this. Maybe it was because the element of true danger had been missing before. Before if they messed up, it was alright. They were corrected and they started again. But here? Here a mistake meant they died. No do-overs, no corrections, just death. Granted they hadn’t actually needed to re-do a practice session since that first week but that didn’t mean Jungkook had been prepared for this. This was terrifying, practice had only been challenging. 

“What’s the worst than can happen? We die? We’re doing that already, it would just be speeding up the process a little is all.” V said with a shrug, his tone entirely too casual. Sometimes V’s thought processes made next to no sense to Jungkook. Most people were born with a sense of self preservation, V was apparently not most people.

“The alien has a morbid point.” Jin agreed, nodding and reaching up to pat Jungkook’s shoulder. “No matter what happens, we’re with you all the way. You haven’t let us down yet.”

Jungkook nodded and managed a slight smile, his nerves were still making him feel shaky and his thoughts were racing too fast, but he didn’t feel quite as jumpy. If he had been forced to do this solo he would never have survived, he wouldn’t have made it this far without his team. Not just because of their skills but because of who they were too. V’s utter indifference to things and his black and white way of looking at the world was a welcome relief to Jungkook’s easily overwhelmed mind. He needed to be reminded sometimes the situation was never as bad as it seemed, and even if it was there was only so much he could do about it. Jin was always the sympathetic one, quick to smile and offer reassurances when it was needed. He was always the support that Jungkook needed when he was starting to lose himself in the stress of everything. When he questioned his ability to lead, Jin was his rock, reminding him that he was the one who got them this far. 

Jungkook knew his team would follow him anywhere, and that kind of responsibility was always a heavy weight on his shoulders. One that he never forgot, it was always at the forefront of his mind. Whether he lived or died was irrelevant to him, his true concern was whether Jin and V made it. He always had back up plans for his back up plans to make sure that no matter what situation Jungkook lead them into, there was a way for Jin and V to get out. Even if it meant leaving Jungkook behind. 

Being a leader wasn’t about being able to give orders, it was about being able to truly utilize your team’s strengths, to understand them completely and be able to depend on them as much as they could depend on him. It meant always making the choices that was best for everyone and not just himself. It was about taking the most risks so that they wouldn’t have to, and about making sure he was never too reckless. It wasn’t easy, it was stressful and there were many many nights when Jungkook questioned whether or not he was truly the right person to lead this team. But that was exactly what made him the best candidate. He knew he couldn’t do this one his own, he was glaringly aware of his own weaknesses and faults. When he thought he didn’t think of what he could do, but what they could do in any given situation. He was constantly completely aware of his team mates, almost like they were an extension of each other rather than three separate people.

“Wait.” Jungkook murmured suddenly, his sixth sense alerted him to the presence of someone two streets over heading their direction. “I think it’s an Enforcer.” He said, frowning as he hesitated for a split second before he started walking again, acting as casual as he could. He didn’t think they would get within eye-sight of each other but if the Enforcer heard their footsteps he may come over to investigate. 

Another turn took them down another deserted alley, Jungkook was keeping a close eye on where the other life forces were. There were too many too count about a block inwards and Jungkook was trying to avoid that section of the city. There were several ambling about in the area they were in but he was able to lead his team around them easily enough. Timing was critical, and they had to duck into buildings once or twice to wait for an Enforcer to walk past before they kept going. 

It took them an agonizing hour of playing hide and seek before they finally made it across that section of city. The city was so much smaller after the war, what had survived the bombs was only a portion of what Seoul had once been. People had tried to rebuild until the Black Ring put a stop to it. Rebels still tried to hide out in the old city but too often the Enforcers caught them, the Black Ring was ruthless and absolute. 

One tiny mistake, one second he allowed himself to relax thinking the worst was over. One single moment nearly ruined them as a voice called after them from behind. They all three spun and Jungkook froze, two Enforcers were standing at the end of the alley. How they had gotten so close without Jungkook realizing he didn’t know. He could only assume he let his guard down just too far. 

“You three! State your names and registration numbers!” One of the Enforcers shouted, they were both holding their guns pointed their way and Jungkook’s mouth opened but no words came out. He couldn’t tell them the truth, that would get them killed faster than saying nothing would.

“Choi Minsung, Lee Sungkyung, and Kim Junyeon.” Jin suddenly rattled off, “Registration numbers 278-1996, 145-2347, 137-5890, respectively.” 

There was a tense moment of silence as one of the Enforcer’s lowered their guns to check their registration numbers, whatever they saw on their holographic screens seemed to check out because they nodded to each other after a few minutes of hushed conversation. “You aren’t signed in to this area, remember to sign in next time.” He said before the two of them  headed off down a different alley.

Jungkook waited a few more minutes to be safe before he let out a heavy sigh of relief, “What the hell was that Jin?” He asked, his eyes wide in appreciative disbelief. 

“They worked at the abandoned station we were at. I found their files in one of the boxes.” Jin explained with a shrug of his shoulders. “I was just kind of hoping they weren’t dead.”

Jungkook laughed softly and shook his head, “That was good thinking, thank you.” He said, placing a hand over his heart to calm it’s racing before he turned to continue down the alley. 

“It’s too bad you can’t hack people’s brains.” V commented with a shrug. “This would be so much easier if this was a video game.”

“Sometimes I wish it was just a video game.” Jungkook admitted, what a nice thought that would be. If all of this was just some fantasy world created by someone like V. None of it was real and none of the consequences mattered. If this came with save points and reset buttons, boss battles and cheat codes on the internet. Their lives would be so much easier. “We need to keep going, we’re almost there.”

Despite the way Jungkooks’ heart was pounding they made it to the check-in building without incident. It took them another two hours but they finally made it inside, the building was some kind of old pet store. It smelled like mildew and rat feces, there were cages full of skeletons and old fish tanks that were so over grown with algae it was impossible to see inside them. 

They walked inside cautiously, looking around for whatever it was they were supposed to be finding to let them know they’d made it to the right place. As they opened a back door it opened it what had probably been a storage room. Now it was just empty, except the small black object in the center of the room. 

Jungkook walked up to it and crouched down, as soon as he did so a black rod rose up to eye level and a sensor scanned his iris. The device flashed green for a moment before  the top opened and a projector started playing the image of a woman that Jungkook had never seen before.

She looked at them and smiled kindly, “Congratulations, our third ß eta team has finally succeeded in passing the training phase.” 

Just as she finished speaking the back door flew open and Rap Mon stalked inside, followed closely by the other three members of his team. He looked pissed, but his posture was far from confident. 

“Ahh welcome to our second αlpha team. Congratulation on passing your second training phase.” She greeted them, her smile growing wide as she turned to face Rap Mon and his team.

“What do you mean we passed? We didn’t kill them.” Rap Mon pointed out, the frustration in his tone was apparent but so was the hesitant relief on his face. His team was slowly fanning out to stand beside him rather than where they had been hanging back behind him. 

“You were never meant to.” The woman explained, shaking her head. “You did exactly what we wanted to you. To followed their trail perfectly even when there was no trail to follow. You both have succeed our expectations, we couldn’t be more proud of the seven of you.” 

Jungkook frowned slightly and looked over at Rap Mon who looked about a lost as he did. He looked at Jimin, who just grinned apparently he wasn’t made about getting shot, and at J-Hope and Suga but he saw none of the hostility he’d been expecting. They all just looked like kids, just like Jungkook and his own team did. 

He had been expecting αlpha Duo to be more intimidating, more formidable, but looking at them now, when they weren’t on opposite sides of the playing field they didn’t look all that scary. 

“I would like to give each of you my sincerest congratulations. From this moment on you will not longer be two teams, the seven of you will now join together as one ultimate team.” The woman explained to them, the smile on her face never faltering. 

Jungkook wasn’t quite sure what was going on anymore, why would they be joined with αlpha Duo? There were no seven member teams as far as he knew, they were put into small groups for strategic reasons they’d been told. And didn’t they still have to pass their second phase before they could even reach αlpha Duo’s level? They were still practically amateurs in comparison to Rap Mon and his team. 

“Jungkook, Rap Mon, your leadership skills have proven to be the best we have ever seen. Your success rates are near 100%, you both carry the self-less goal oriented qualities we seek. We could not be more proud of how flawlessly you have constructed and sculpted your teams. Your performance not only tonight, but in each of your training exercises has more than proven your abilities. For that I congratulate you.

From now on, you are Dominari. The fate of Seoul rests with you.”

~.-.-.~

Author's Corner: Sorry it's so much shorter than the other part, I was so tired last night I couldn't finish writing but I wanted to go ahead and post what I had. So this is the conclusion of the two-shot, I hope you enjoyed it ^^