July 14th, 2018 - The Capital

Heechul halts behind Hyukjae as the other man comes to an abrupt stop. He doesn’t question the hand that’s held up to stop the group’s progress. Jungsoo may be the one calling the shots, but Hyukjae is still their ace when it comes to sneaking in.

“We’re almost at the city center,” Hyukjae tells them in a murmur, “but there’s hardly any people around. I don’t like it.”

“You think they know we’re here?” Jongwoon asks him.

“I hope not, but━”

“Hey!”

A yell sounds from ahead of their position, and Heechul’s sure they’ve been discovered until another voice ━another policeman, he assumes━ answers with a perturbed “What is it?”

“I need another status report. We got word of the Resistance within the walls just five minutes ago, but the Mayor wants to know what’s being done to capture them.”

Heechul hears at least three members swear under their breath.

“A state of emergency has been declared to corral the citizens back into their homes, and Drone units have been dispatched across the city; we’ll catch them soon enough...did the Mayor specify this time why he wants them out of the picture so badly?”

The first policeman lets out a short bark of laughter. “The same thing he always says: that they’re a threat to the order he’s worked to establish. And frankly, that’s good enough for me when I see the number on my paycheck each month. It should be for you, too.”

There’s some sort of response, but by then the two men are too far away for the Resistance members to make out the rest of the conversation. Not that it would matter, Heechul supposes. They know what they need to know: the Capital has their eyes wide open, and they’re ready to strike.

“What are we going to do?” Hyukjae asks. It takes Heechul a moment to realize the Shadow Squad leader is talking to him before he remembers he’s supposed to be their Strategist.

Only, this time, he’ll admit there’s someone else who knows every possible variation of their plan better than he does.

“Jungsoo?” he prompts. “Are we sticking to the original plan?”

The Resistance leader has that look on his face he gets when he’s incredibly stressed out but trying not to worry the others.

“We...should probably split up,” he decides. “They’ll be much less likely to find us if we’re moving around in smaller groups. We can go different directions and meet up again near the broadcasting towers.”

They quickly divide in half, Heechul taking along Han Geng, Sungmin, and Kibum, and go their separate ways. Heechul’s team skirts along the west side of the market toward the more abandoned part of town, what used to be the old manufacturing district. As they slink along, he can’t help but wonder what will be the first thing to go wrong.

He gets his answer a few minutes into their journey when they practically collide with a group of Drones.

“Get down!” Heechul shouts, and the members scatter to dive behind the nearest cover, anything from decaying parts of buildings to some other piece of wreckage left behind.

When there’s a break in the Drones’ fire, Heechul leans out of cover to take one shot, two shots at their attackers with the magnum revolver at his hip. He gets back down to reload, but by the time he’s ready to fire again, there’s no Drones left to shoot at. All he can see are four bodies on the ground and three smoking guns in his chosen teammates’ hands...and Heechul is reminded of how he so wisely chose them in the first place. What can he say? He has a good sense for this sort of thing.

And speaking of senses…

“I’m guessing that marching heading our way isn't some sort of welcoming party.”

Kibum is on it as soon as the words leave the Strategist’s mouth, scaling a section of collapsed rubble to get a better vantage point. When he returns, he confirms Heechul’s suspicions.

“There’s more Drones on the way. I can’t see how many.”

And things had been going so well after that first hiccup, too. They just couldn’t seem to catch a break.

“No reason not to stand our ground,” Heechul tells the group. “We’ve got firepower and multiple exit routes. You in?”

Three nods answer his words.

“Good, because I think we’re out of time. Everyone, back into cover!”

Heechul himself has just finished reclaiming his spot when the reinforcements burst into the area, guns blazing. Whoever’s in charge of the Drone control station is clearly not playing around this time; it’s a full frontal assault. Even under the onslaught of the Resistance members’ return fire, it’s clear the latter party is outmatched.

“Retreat!” Heechul yells to the others, hating the feeling of the word on his tongue. “Fall back toward my position!”

Sungmin takes the first chance he can get to rush out of cover and back to safety in the the street they’d just taken, Han Geng and Kibum hot on his heels. Bullets embed themselves into the walls behind them, but they’re faster. Fast enough to sprint down the street and follow Heechul’s best guess at a turn that takes them deeper into the abandoned district.

They don’t dare stop running until the Drones’ firing isn’t even an echo in the distance. Only then does Heechul pause, hands resting on his thighs as he leans over to catch his breath.

“Is everyone okay?” he asks, and is relieved to hear the affirmatives he gets in response. Only...

That’s not three voices.

Heechul turns back around, and that’s when he sees the member who’s failed to respond. Kibum is lagging behind at the tail of the group, clutching his side with a pained grimace.

The What’s wrong? that crosses Heechul’s mind evaporates the moment he sees red staining Kibum’s fingers.

“,” he mutters under his breath, and thankfully Sungmin is quick to start examining the injury before Heechul has to do it himself. The sight of blood is not one of his strengths.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Kibum insists, following it up with another wince as Sungmin presses on the skin.

Heechul’s not buying it. “Bull. Were you shot?”

“Yes, but with a rebounded bullet. It’s not deep.”

Sungmin frowns as he moves Kibum’s fingers aside to take a closer look. “That doesn’t change the fact that you’re losing a lot of blood. Ryeowook sent supplies along with me, so I can patch you up...but we’re going to need cover. Somewhere relatively safe.” The last remark is directed at the Strategist.

Cover. Kibum’s situation had made Heechul lose sight of his top goal: survival. If he recalls correctly…

“The old shipping center was based a few blocks ahead. There are enough buildings in the complex to hide us while we’re hiding out. Think you can make it that far?”

Kibum gives him a stubborn nod, mask of calm back on his face.

It’s almost believable.

~*~

Heechul’s memory serves him well; they do actually end up in the complex he was aiming for, even if it’s a bit more run-down that he was expecting.

Sungmin helps Kibum limp inside their chosen hideout, keeping weight off of the injured man’s side. The bleeding hasn’t gotten any worse after Han Geng sacrificed part of his shirt to form a tourniquet for the wound, but it certainly hasn’t gotten better. It’s good for everyone’s sake they’ve found cover when they have.

The building they’ve picked is one floor, presumably used as a warehouse at some point in its prime. The high ceiling and wide open space hadn’t inspired Heechul’s confidence, but one key feature had: the building has no windows. There’s no telling how long they have until Capital forces catch up with them; the last thing they need is to lose their cover to a rookie mistake.

Kibum collapses against the wall the moment Han Geng locks the door behind the group. Sungmin opens the pack strapped at his waist to start treating the wound, and it’s only when he addresses Heechul that the Strategist remembers his part to play isn’t over yet.

“You should radio Leeteuk and let him know what happened.”

“If it was that easy, I would have done it the second things went south. We’re under strict radio silence until Donghee perfects a scrambling chip for the headsets.”

Han Geng crosses his arms. “Radio silence unless there’s an emergency. I think this qualifies.”

I hate it when he’s right.

“Fine, I’ll just...I’m not the only one hearing that, am I?”

There’s a low rumbling from outside the building that slowly fades back to silence, only for the same sound to repeat again, close enough to make the walls vibrate.

“What the hell?” Kibum hisses out from the floor.

And Heechul takes that as his cue to hit the call button on his earpiece.

Jungsoo’s voice comes through half a second later. “Heechul?” There’s gunshots in the background of the static.

“Things aren’t going well. Kibum needs serious patching up, so we had to take cover, and now I’m hearing explosions outside?”

“We’re in the same boat, minus the explosions. Only minor injuries, but we’ve run into a lot more Drones than we’d planned for. Progress is slow.”

Heechul lets out a long sigh, walking out of the others’ earshot. “Jungsoo...I think we should pull out of the city and scrap the mission.”

“After we’ve gotten this far?”

“They’re obviously ready for anything we’ll try to do. I really don’t think━”

“Hold your position,” Jungsoo tells him. “You’re headed toward the old manufacturing block?”

“Yes, but━”

“I’ll lead my team directly to you. Once we meet up, we can all rush the comm station together and then get out of here as quickly as we can.”

Heechul doesn’t like it, but Jungsoo has a point. He supposes it can’t go too badly to wait a little while longer. If they really need to leave, Heechul won’t hesitate to get the hell out of the district.

“If you’re sure. But get here as fast as you can.”

“I will; I promise.” There’s another round of gunfire in the background before Jungsoo cuts the connection.

Another explosion rattles the walls as Heechul walks back over to the group, which probably doesn’t make it all that convincing when he tells them that they’re staying.

“Does he have any idea why they’re setting off explosives?” Han Geng asks him instead of objecting.

“My guess is that they’re detonating buildings they think are disposable to flush us out,” Sungmin answers. “And on a similar note...there, Kibum. You’re good for the time being as long as you take it slow.”

Kibum, being the stubborn person he is, immediately takes the opportunity to get back on his feet, one hand bracing against the wall. His determination is something Heechul has to admire, even when he really thinks the man should rest. He’s been shot.

“Think you can walk?” Heechul asks him.

“I’ll do my best. And I think we should use that to our advantage and leave. Either this area or the Capital.”

“Like I said, we’re under orders to say.” Even if I don’t exactly agree.

“You didn't seem like the kind of person to blindly follow instructions that might get us killed.” Kibum takes another step forward. “If we could at least find a better position to defend━” he starts, and that’s the last of the sentence he gets out before an explosion goes off just outside.

A secondary charge follows moments later, and with an earth-shattering BOOM!, the back of the building caves in, sending the wall and part of the roof tumbling to the ground.

It happens too fast. One moment Heechul is gaping at the sudden devastation, the next moment he sees Kibum disappear underneath the collapsing rubble. The loud groaning of metal doesn’t reach his ears in his state of shock until he’s being violently shoved aside by Han Geng. The “Watch out!!” the other man yells at him still echoes as he falls to the ground, earpiece landing broken next to him with a sharp crack.

Something Heechul can’t see crashes behind him and kicks up more dirt and debris. The air is filled with falling pieces of what used to be the back of the building, he thinks he hears voices shouting, and Heechul is so disoriented he can hardly tell up from down.

Get up! he yells at himself. He makes it to his hands and knees, coughing up dust, but standing gives way to the priority of finding his team. Heechul is supposed to be looking out for them, dammit, and if they’ve gotten separated…

He sees Sungmin first. The other man must have rolled out of the way of the cave-in in time, if the dirt staining his clothes is anything to go by.

Good, one less person to worry about. Now where is…?

Then he sees Han Geng. And in that moment, Heechul hardly registers that Kibum is nowhere to be found, because he sees the massive steel beam that’s fallen across Han Geng’s lower half and pinned him to the spot Heechul was standing just moments before.

Because he saved Heechul’s life.

Heechul scrambles to his side, horror sinking into his bones at the sight.

“Holy , Geng, are you okay?”

It’s a stupid question when the answer is so obviously ‘no,’ but it comes out all the same.

“No, I think…” Han Geng trails off, agony painting his features. “I think I broke something. Or everything? I don’t think I can feel one of my legs.”

. . .

“Sungmin, help me with him!” Heechul calls. He doesn’t look up until there’s no response, but when he does, he finally realizes why the other man wasn’t immediately available.

Sungmin is dodging gunfire when he ducks down behind a chunk of what used to be the roof to call back, “I’m a little busy right now!”

It utterly confounds Heechul why there would be gunfire in the first place until he remembers: Drones. They’ve been found, and everything’s gone to hell.

Two more shots, and Sungmin rolls from his cover over to where Heechul is kneeling in front of the beam ━ which, Heechul realizes with a kind of bitter irony, has been acting as his cover this whole time.

A curse falls from Sungmin’s lips when he sees the state Han Geng is in, but he doesn’t let himself freeze up like Heechul had started to do; he loops his arms around Han Geng's protruding torso and pulls, Heechul doing his best to help.

And Han Geng screams.

“Stop it!” he begs them. Heechul drops the hold as though he’s been burned. “That hurts like hell, and I haven’t even moved an inch. Not when this thing is so heavy.”

“So, what? You’re giving up?” Heechul asks him, voice going up an octave. He looks over to Sungmin for backup, but the other man is back to firing at their pursuers, a grim look set on his face. “Geng, we are not ing leaving you here!”

“You think I want you to?” Han Geng looks up at him as much as he can, and that’s when Heechul sees the angry tears threatening to fall from the other man’s eyes. “Let’s face it: more Drones are coming, the other squad isn’t, and you aren’t going to be able to take me with you.”

“But━”

“There’s too many of them!” Sungmin yells from above them. “We have to fall back if you don’t want to end up dead!”

It’s too fast. Heechul’s whole world is slipping more through his fingers with every second that ticks by.

“I already said we aren’t leaving! After you literally saved my life, after everything, you expect me to walk away from━”

“Heechul…” Han Geng says, trying to calm him down even now.

“Don’t give me that! I’m not leaving you behind, idiot, I already━” Heechul chokes on the lump in his throat, finally unable to stop his own devastation from overwhelming him. “I already made you a promise. We have to watch the stars from a Capital rooftop, we have to finally enjoy our time together not running from the Drones, we have to…”

He can’t continue. It’s a foreign concept to even consider not being able to wake up and know he’s with his other half. It’s not until Han Geng softly tells him, “Heechul, please don’t leave me here knowing that you’re going to die. I need to know you’re going to be okay,” that it sinks in: Heechul really has to leave him. And when Han Geng knows Heechul would do anything for him, how can he possibly ask this?

How can he ask Heechul to walk away?

“Always remember that I love you, okay?” Han Geng says softly, and that’s the last straw. Heechul breaks down into ugly sobs, because despite all that’s happened between them, they have never said those words out loud to each other.

Of course you would pick now, of all times. I thought I was supposed to be the heartbreaker between us.

Sungmin sounds more devastated than he ever should when he says, “Heechul, we have to leave now. I’m sorry; there’s too many for the two of us to take, much less just me.”

Two. Kibum’s not even..., this is not happening.

Another round of gunfire forces Sungmin down behind cover, and Heechul knows this is it. The clock is ticking down its final seconds.

Tick-Tock.

He tries to memorize every last detail of Han Geng’s face, preserving it forever inside his memory. No matter what happens, he refuses to forget.

Tick-tock.

And, god, does he try his hardest to plaster a smile on his face. Han Geng’s final memories of him shouldn’t be of him losing himself to his agony.

Tick…

Heechul should say something. He wants to, but there are no words that are enough. Thankfully, Han Geng seems to understand. He reaches out his arms for Heechul to embrace him as best as he can, the Strategist holding on to him fiercely.

...Tock.

Time’s up.

Heechul refuses to let go, so Sungmin does it for him. He detaches Heechul’s death grip from Han Geng and pulls him to his feet. He says something to Han Geng, but Heechul is far past paying attention, far past doing anything beyond staring at Han Geng’s face as Sungmin forcefully drags him toward the door.

Goodbye. I’m sorry. I’m so, so…

They’ve just made it out the door when another blast goes off and the building collapses in on itself, leaving nothing but a heap of smoking rubble.

And Heechul is sure he’ll never feel anything again.

Except…

There’s one thing he forgot, isn’t there? He can’t put his finger on it, but he’s sure there was something Han Geng said…

I love you.

Heechul hadn’t said it. He’d forgotten to say ‘I love you.’ Now it was too late to say anything at all.

And Heechul screams. He screams out his pain in the direction of Han Geng’s final resting place as Sungmin drags him the opposite way.

Screams until the ringing in his ears is louder than the sound of him breaking apart.

A/N: ...I'm sorry. The only thing that let me write this chapter was the fact that this was already established in the story's canon. o(╥﹏╥)o Now I just feel evil.   Thanks for reading and commenting~