The sun was out, the air wasn't too cold, and there was barely a cloud in sight - the perfect day to lift some wallets. There were people everywhere, it would have been easy to lose Hoya in the crowd if it wasn't for the fact that he made a point to bump into several people here or there. He had decided it was too dark out for her, so she had actually gotten some sleep that night after three more poker games. Then, bright and early, he had dragged her out of bed and into the city streets.

She was standing outside the crowd of people by the street, breathing. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually done something like this. It was thrilling, but her conscience seemed to still be angry at her for everything that had occurred over the past day. Hoya seemed to notice her absence and joined her by the sidewalk.

"Come on, you should join me. This'll probably be something Max asks you to do, you know."

"I know I just," she sighed. "I haven't done anything like this in years. I don't want to get caught on my first attempt."

"You're with me, who said you'll get caught?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Watch and learn."

Hoya left her for the crowd. He took his cellphone out of his back pocket and pretended to be immersed in something on the small screen. Subtly, he crashed into someone's shoulder. He immediately apologized to the man, bowing with his hands behind his back. As he righted himself, he imediately bumped into someone else coming the opposite way. Once again he apologized and ran back to Snitch by the road. Grinning, he held up two plain wallets.

"Easy as that."

"Yeah, but that's you. Obviously, this is a daily pasttime for you."

He grinned and nodded. "You'll have to do it eventually..."

"Ugh, fine." After much deliberation, she finally gave in. Before launching herself into the sea of bodies she removed a pair of headphones from pocket and inserted the buds into her ears, not connecting it to anything. Then, taking a deep breath, she dove.

It was harder than she remembered. Snitch had already side-stepped several people because she couldn't get the angle right, or her target moved on too fast. Eventually, she managed to snatch one wallet, but it wasn't mutch of a catch for her - the man had been too distracted talking on his phone to notice its absence. After thirty minutes, she returned to Hoya and handed him the wallet along with a couple of loose bills.

"This is difficult."

"I never said it was easy."

"Actually, you did."

Hoya shrugged and patted her shoulder in reasurrance. Then he was gone again, back to what he did best. She shook her head in amusement and decided to give it another shot.

Luck; however, was not on her side that day. Her fingers barely brushed past the leather of a business man's wallet when a familiar voice called out her name. She quickly withdrew her hand and looked up for the source. When her eyes landed on him, it took everything in her to not widen her eyes and force a smile.

"Yonghwa. Fancy meeting you here."

"Same to you. I heard what happened - I'm sorry. I know you were dedicated to that case. It wasn't fair."

"Well, what's done is done, I guess."

"Yeah..." She spared a glance over her shoulder for Hoya, but she couldn't see him. Maybe he had recognized her old colleague and hid, which would be the smart thing to do. "So, Yong, what brings you down here?"

"Shopping. It's my 3 year anniversary tomorrow. I'm looking for Seohyun's present right now. And you?"

"Oh just, walking around. Actually I have-"

She was cut off as Hoya slung an arm around her happily. He hadn't noticed Yonghwa standing in front of them and happily let out a small shout.

"Score! We should move on though, people are starting to notice we're suspicious. I say we move on to-"

"Lee Howon." Yonghwa practically growled. He started reaching a hand towards the back of his belt. Snitch recognized it - he was going for his cuffs. Hoya noticed the cop's presence and smiled, laughing awkwardly.

"Jung Yonghwa... run!"

He grabbed Snitch's hand and pulled her back into the crowd at a full sprint, her old friend hot in pursuit. Hoya led them through several back alleys, taking advantage of garbage cans and bikes to use as obstacles. Several more minutes of weaving in and out of streets and sidewalks, and Snitch was thoroughly lost.

"Do you two know each other?"

"Kind of. I may have met him a few times." He was about to say more but the sound of bullets ringing past their ears stopped him. He kept running.

Snitch realized something as she was attempting not to get shot. She had missed the feeling of the city beneath her feet and the breeze in her hair as she ran. She remembered that free-running wasn't just a sport to her. Oh, she couldn't wait to go out with Sungjong. Hoya was fast, but she was able to keep up alright. He paused behind a building so they could catch their breath.

"He may have, well, arrested me a few times? Nothing gang-related. Just little stuff. You know, parking tickets... oh and he caught me shop lifting once. Oh and there was that time I tried to take his wallet-" Another bullet ricocheted off the wall across from them. "Yeah, I don't think he likes me very much."

"I noticed."

"You know him too?"

"I used to be his boss."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Let's just say our next meeting will be beyond awkward."

"Hopefully that won't happen. This way." He gestured to a portion of the city usually blocked from pedestrians. It always seemed to be under construction or repair, even though it was just an expanse of concrete and graffiti. "I think we lost them."

"Thank God."

They both stood still, panting. Snitch could hear her heart pumping in her ears. It was an almost exhilerating sound. Hoya himself was laughing out of enjoyment. He had obviously found the situation fun as well. He took another step into the Concrete Field, a light skip in his step. She joined him.

Suddenly she felt the ground shaking slightly underneath her feet. Earthquake? No, that couldn't be it. It was too constant to be an earthquake... She looked over at Hoya. His eyes widened as he watched the ground crack beneath his feet. The barely had time to exchange a glance before the concrete gave out underneath them, and the next thing they knew they were falling. 

Both of them landed with loud thuds! and painful groans. Hoya landed on his back, and could only pray to God he hadn't broken anything.

"You okay?" He managed to breath out.

"Yeah, I think. I can still feel everything. You alright?"

"Yeah... what's that?"

They both stopped. There it was - the distinct sound of boots meeting the ground coupled with hushed voices. Hoya motioned for them to lie still, but the approaching figures had already seen them. It wasn't hard, considering they were lying in the middle of the alley.

"Well, well, well. Looks like two lovebirds fell out of the sky." The one who spoke had a bright, joking voice, and it was definitely male. He shined a flashlight in Snitch and Hoya's eyes, blinding the two until he had crouched down beside them. "Long time no see, Hoya. This is a pretty weird date, don't you think?"

Hoya groaned and turned his head to address the person talking to him. Oh yes, he could recognize that voice anywhere. As he met the other man's eyes his face broke out into a bright smile and he laughed, only to groan in pain again.

"Yoseob."

"So you actually managed to find your way into the Lower City again? I don't think that was the best way to do it." Yoseob cackled a little.

5 others had appeared with him and helped Hoya and Snitch to an abandoned bar. They checked to make sure nothing was broken or fractured. Somehow, the pair had managed to get away with some pretty serious bruises and only a cracked rib on Hoya's part. Snitch had been bleeding from a large cut on her forehead, but one of the six had done a pretty good job patching her up. Then they all sat down to talk.

"Yeah. Didn't think I'd ever be down here again." Hoya shook his head and took a sip from the drink he had been given.

"So, who's your female friend? I feel like I've seen her around before."

"Sitting right here." Snitch raised a hand in sarcasm. Even so, she didn't feel like speaking.

"Her name's Snitch. At least, that's L's nickname for her. She's Scorpion's newest member, and an ex-cop. That might be where you've seen her before."

"Max and U-Know actually let an ex-cop join you?" An older looking man with a commanding presence took the lead in the conversation. It was clear he would be asking all the questions now.

"Well, she hasn't officially joined yet. She still has her field test, so I took her out for some pick pocket practice. We ended up running into an old buddy of hers and, after getting  chased and shot at, ended up down here."

The man only raised an eyebrow. He was still gauging her, deciding whether or not he could actually trust her with such information as their names, even though she already knew Yoseob's. She finally sighed and took a shot of her drink before answering his silent question.

"My dad used to be in a gang. I grew up in the environment and had all sorts of training. Hoya was just trying to refresh my memory."

"Good enough for me. So, you already know Yoseob. The short guy who helped you with your head is Gikwang, the silent and intimidating one by the bar is Junhyung, the pretty one is Hyunseung, the foreign-looking one is Dongwoon, and I'm the leader, Doojoon. The six of us are Beast."

Snitch nodded. She remembered Sunggyu mentioning Beast when they'd first met.

"You're... Jia's partner, right?"

"Correct. I'm probably the only Beast member you'll see around the warehouse. The others would rather keep their distance. As I'm sure you've already been told," he glanced at Hoya as he said this. "You'll get most of the recon or other outside information from us. We're generally not down here in the Lower City, but sometimes it's required. It's not so bad down here, really."

"And yet you insist that all of us come with you when you have to come down here..." Dongwoon teased his leader, earning a glare. He shrugged it off and went back to leaning against the bar. Hoya took another gulp of his drink and set the empty glass down on the table. He slowly rose to his feet and helped Snitch up.

"If you guys don't mind, we should be heading back. This is the one place Z's network doesn't work and I'm sure everyone's wondering where we are, since I said we'd be back an hour ago."

Doojoon nodded and agreed to help the two back to the upper level. Before they left the bar; however, he grabbed Hoya by the arm and pulled him aside, an urgent tone overtaking his voice.

"Tell this to Max and U-Know as soon as you see them, no one else. They're back, they're growing, and they're after something."

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Woo!

Here's the chapter I promised. I'm sorry to keep you all waiting. Things pick up from here (I hope)! Honestly I may have found my motivation to work on this story because I absolutely cannot wait for the last five chapters. Actually, I can't, but you guys probably can.

Now that this is out of the way I can finally write a oneshot sitting in my requests list!... tomorrow.

Peace!

-Roo

P.S.: UNEDITED chapter