[CONTENTID1] Twenty-Five [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

The force of the gunshot sends you flying backwards. Your precarious balance on the very edge of the building breaks, and then you're falling. Your hair whips forward, shrouding your vision in darkness, but you can still see the curve of her smirk imprinted on the back of your eyelids. Your entire body is numb, in utter disbelief over the piercing hole in your abdomen.

But the spike of fear from falling overwhelms the shock of the second bullet buried in your flesh. You fling both arms out, desperately clawing against the rush of gravity. The stars glare above your head as you crash down, and the innumerous windows of the skyscraping trade center rush past your eyes so quickly that they blur into dark shapes. Your heart slams up into your throat as you open your mouth to scream, but no sound comes out.

Vaporize, You yell at yourself. Hurry!

But your body is too heavy, and the fear paralyzes you. The split second of falling lasts an eternity as visions and memories flash across your mind.

You're in the basement again, the cement frigid against your cheek as your father slams his steel boot into your stomach over and over. He continues even after your skin breaks and your cries ring through the hollow room. Only the darkness of unconsciousness can rescue you from the pain.

You remember the feeling of desperation, the wild despair. How defenseless you felt, like a trapped animal.

But you are not that helpless teenager anymore. You have grown, those five years away from your father. You are strong now.

Your flailing right arm hits the concrete hard. At this velocity, it's enough to shatter every bone up to your shoulder. Before the rest of your body can follow in this demise, you burst into vapor.

You swirl along the edge of ruined building for a few minutes, too dazed to do anything but lurk around in the shadows, formless and wilting.

A shrill voice cuts through your haze of pain.

"Where's her body?"

It's the water mage woman. Instinctively, you curl yourself closer to the building—not that it would accomplish anything. At this time of night, the flickering street lamps are not nearly enough to illuminate your dark form.

"She must still be alive… I see that she's finally learned to vaporize on cue," Your father's dark chuckle fills the air, "I must say I'm impressed."

Disgust floods your system. Not only is he still alive, but he sounds one hundred percent healed. The traitorous must be good at her job.

"She's injured, sir," One of the male bodyguards calls out, "She couldn't have made it far. If we spread out, we'll be able to find her in—"

"No," The Leader brusquely cuts in, "I can still sense her power in the air… She's close."

At that, the water mage whips out her gun from the holster, "Where is she, sir? Allow me to finish her off this time."

"No, there's no need for that."

She pauses at that, "Sir?"

From your hiding place, you can't see their faces, but your can imagine the gruesome smirk on your father's face too well. "My sweet daughter takes after her mother with her weak health… It's only a matter of time before she bleeds out. But I am curious to see whether my blood really does run through her veins... Let's see if she survives, shall we?"

"B-but," the female bodyguard stutters in protest, "But if she lives, she'll tell everyone about what she saw!"

"Excellent," your father's rich drawl wafts through the chilly air, "Let them know. I am simply itching for a good fight."

You can sense their confusion, but no one dares disagree.

"Alright, I've had enough of this nonsense. Playtime is over. Let's get the hell out of here."

"Yes, sir!" Three voices yell in unison.

There's a soft crunch of snow under boots, and then it's all silent. You count down in your mind from ten until you're sure they're gone for good. You know you're being paranoid—if they wanted you dead, they would have finished the job. But fear makes you stupid.

The second you reach one, your form condenses and you collapse on the ground in sheer relief. The snow is so dense that it feels like solid rock beneath your back, but you're so drained that it's as soothing as the softest feather bed.

Your vision flickers in and out, casted in a strange red tint. It takes you a while to realize that it's coming from the blood soaked snow around you. Your wounds are gushing blood so quickly that they seep through your heavy parka and drench the snow, melting it into ruby slush. Your right arm hand limp at your side, bent at all the wrong angles with broken bone like snapped twigs jutting out of the thick fabric of your coat.

You exhale deeply, reveling in the way the obliterated flesh in your ruined abdomen screams at the simple action. Then you open your mind for the first time since arriving at the World Trade Center.

Hi guys.

At once, seven voices slam into your mind. They are hysterical, tipped completely over the edge of feral. You've blocked your mind too well to give them even a hint of where you are or what you had been planning, but the explosive pain of the gunshots tore through even your bulletproof defenses.

There is screaming, and what sounds like sobbing. You expand your mind and gratefully invite them in. Yoongi and Taehyung are racing through Daegu in a taxi. Jimin and Jungkook are already at the airport in Busan, Jimin holding back the younger boy at he spits curses at the ticket office attendant. Hoseok is haphazardly shoving items into his suitcase and Namjoon is calling every train station in town for last minute tickets. Jin, the only one with his license and only an hour from Seoul, is tearing down the highway, breaking every traffic law in his haste.

They all freeze at the sound of your voice. Then all seven panic-stricken voices are attacking you at once.

What is happening?

____ where are you?

Where the are you?!

You want to laugh at their concern, but it's too much effort to curl up your frozen lips. I'm sorry, you murmur, even as your eyelids flutter with exhaustion.

___, what happened? Namjoon's steely voice cuts across your mind like a knife.

It's The Leader, you sleepily reply, He's won.

Won what? What is happening?!

It's too tiring to reply and instead you let your heavy eyelids droop. The lull of unconsciousness is too seductive to resist, and soon your mind fades.

Stay awake! A voice booms, rattling the cage of your skull.

Your open your eyes a slit and stare up at the muted stars, dim and bleary from light pollution in the city. I'm tired, guys.

Don't you dare sleep, Yoongi growls, even as he jumps out of the taxi to the airport, dragging Taehyung along with him.

___-ah, you've been shot! Jimin's worried voice intercedes, How did this happen?

That's not important! Jin cuts in, ___, you need to get yourself to a hospital right now. Do you understand?

Oppa, I'm so tired, you whine, Just let me sleep for a bit…

If you sleep, you'll never awake up! Jungkook practically screams in your mind, Noona, stay awake!

You try to process his words, but all you can think about is the warmth of the blackness looming at the edge of your consciousness. With every passing second, more blood drips out of your wounds, draining you until you feel desiccated. There is no pain anymore, just a tingly numbness. Soon, it's too difficult to even draw oxygen in your heavy lungs.

I love you, Jungkook, you sleepily mumble, your voice so thick and jumbled that you sound intoxicated, I love all of you… Thank you.

NO!

Seven voices explode in your mind, shaking up your frazzled brain. You hear the whirl of acceleration from Jin's car, the sound of crunching bone as Jungkook sends his fist through the wall, and a shrill scream as Jimin sinks to his knees and breaks into sobs.

Stay with me, Taehyung's choked voice fills your mind, You promised me you'd stay… Please.

I love you, you repeat, over and over, your voice fading like wisps of smoke with every repetition. You picture their faces in your mind, so handsome and bursting with laughter and life. You've failed today in every aspect. But at least you've managed to protect them. At least they're not here, bleeding out in the snow next to you.

You wish you could have had more time with them. You have a million things you want to say, a million regrets. But they're safe now, and that's all you really care about.

Not that it matters.

That single thought has you slamming on the brakes before you can topple into oblivion, a hair's breadth away from the edge.

Not that it matters… They will die anyways. All of them.

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