Baekhyun felt nauseous. He hated this damn war and everything that came with it.

The woods had been cleared of Rogues in the week since they had taken one of them prisoner – and she was now long dead, and they knew what they needed to know. Hive-mind, that’s what he’d heard Kyungsoo refer to it as before. The idea that if the leader falls, so does their minions.

The woman that had attacked Jongin that day in the woods, she was the one behind it all. As soon as the Rogue has begun to describe the ‘Queen’ he knew. He knew it was her.

It made him feel sick. They had been that close to her… They could have avoided this whole war, had they gotten to Jongin only seconds before… Had they been able to take her down that day in the woods.

It really hit him, then, just how much of an impact one person could have, be it for better or for worst.

But there was a whole other reason that he knew who this leader was. He knew her from back in those days that he’d much rather forget.

She was the one that had instigated his torture, and more than feeling awful about not having taken her down when she’d attacked Jongin that day, he felt worse for the fact that he had had the chance long before that to take her down, but he had been too weak, to wounded to do so.

He knew that she’d been in that room when he’d lit it up, scolding them all, but clearly it hadn’t been enough. He hadn’t killed her, and he should have…. He should have.

“Stop whatever you’re thinking” Chanyeol said, gripping Baekhyun by the arm and pulling him to a standstill as the other three walked on.

They were on their way to the main battle field to join Luhan, Sehun, Kris and Tao. There was nothing left for them to do in the Woods. There were a group of ten staying behind as guard, but all the rest that had been assigned detail in the woods were now needed where the action really was.

Baekhyun let out a shaky sigh as Chanyeol kept a firm grip on his arm, not letting him go, and Baekhyun didn’t blame him. He knew as well as Chanyeol did that if he were to let go, Baekhyun would run. Because that’s all he could do. That’s all he was good for, wasn’t it?

Running, or taking it too far and becoming a monster. There was no middle ground for him, and he was slowly forgetting how to function.

But Chanyeol held him firm and strong, not letting him go, keeping him anchored like he always did. Like he promised he would always do.

“I…” Baekhyun choked out. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. He just couldn’t make himself work. He couldn’t just… Be a person that was strong. That was good. He couldn’t be that!

Chanyeol let out a soft sigh before gripping onto Baekhyun’s other arm too, standing dead in front of him and forcing the slightly older boy to look at him, “Stop” he said firmly, his eyes boring into Baekhyun’s, “Just… Stop. Whatever you’re thinking, whatever is eating at you, it’s wrong. Those little voices telling you things, they’re not you. They aren’t right. Okay?”

“You don’t know that” Baekhyun protested in a cracked voice, and it pained Chanyeol to hear the boy sound so utterly broken.

The others had long since stopped in their tracks, though they remained watching the pair from afar to give them some shred of privacy.

“Okay, maybe I don’t know. Maybe, just maybe, I know all about what’s happening. But if there’s one thing I do know, Baek, it’s you.” Chanyeol told him seriously, “I know that you are so ing far from being whatever those voices keep telling you. I know that you feel guilty for things that are so far out of your control it’s almost ridiculous…. You… You’re thinking about that woman, aren’t you?”

Baekhyun didn’t answer, he merely looked down at Chanyeol’s shoes and bit down hard on his lip to fight back the tears that stung at his eyes.

He knew that this wasn’t the time, he knew that the others must be getting sick of his dramatics by now, knew that they must just want him to get over himself and get on with it, but he just… couldn’t. And he hated it with every fibre of his being.

Chanyeol shifted slightly, though his grip on Baekhyun remained as strong as ever, “It’s not your place to feel guilty about her. None of us could have stopped her. She’s fast, and clever, and as much as we don’t want to admit it, she’s good at what she does. That’s how she got to where she did. And if you’re thinking about back then, then you’re a tit” he said fondly, “There was nothing you could have done Baek, but we can make a difference now, okay? This is our chance”

Baekhyun let out a small breath of air as he pressed forward into Chanyeol, shuddering slightly as Chanyeol let go of his arms in favour of wrapping him in a warm embrace.

“This is just… It’s hard, Yeol. It’s so ing hard, and I don’t know if I’m going to get through this alive” Baekhyun stressed, his face pressed into Chanyeol’s chest as his fingers clung onto the taller boy’s top.

“You will” Chanyeol said softly, pressing a kiss to the top of Baekhyun’s head, “You’ll get out of this and then some. You don’t have to be strong, or brave, or anything you don’t want to be, because I’ll be enough for the both of us, okay?”

“I love you so much, Giant” Baekhyun whispered.

Chanyeol smiled slightly, “I love you too, little pup”

From over the way, Hani smiled slightly as Jongdae described to her what was happening. She was so glad that Baekhyun and Chanyeol had that special something to share with one another. As ridiculous as it was, she really did like Baekhyun a lot. It didn’t matter that it was just under a month that they’d known one another, because they’d become so close, and now that Chanyeol was starting to soften up, it was like nothing Hani had ever felt before. She was so far beyond happy.

So it was painful to know what was in store.

“I hope they get to live a long, happy life together” Hani whispered, feeling uncharacteristically soft.

Jongdae hummed, “You say that as if you won’t be around to – pardon the phrase – see it” he said, glancing at Hani and noticing the slight wobble in her bottom lip.

“Yeah well, we never know what’s going to happen out here, do we?” Hani pointed out, “I mean, I’m not exactly Dare Devil… This blind thing is kind of… new”

Jongdae hummed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders whilst he held Minseok’s hand with his free one, “That’s not it though, you’re hiding something”

“We’ve all got secrets, Dae…” Hani smiled slightly, “Seriously though, don’t worry about it. I’m just… Well, a bit of a dickhead really”

Jongdae snorted, “Alright, I get it. You don’t want me to know, and I’m not one to push” he said softly, “But you know, if you need to… I’m here, yeah? It’s not just Baek that’s got a soft spot for you, little sis”

“Yeah, yeah” Hani laughed, “Don’t get all sappy on me now, big bro”

Jongdae laughed, but it was left at that as waited for Baekhyun and Chanyeol – who had just pulled apart – to catch up with them. Hani let out a quiet breath of air as Jongdae began to talk with Minseok again, leaving her to wallow in piece.

The pieces were all starting to click into place now. As soon as the girl had told them about the connection between The Woman and a good percentage of the Rogues.

It just so happened, that percentage happened to be a part of her…

She hadn’t known it at the time, she was only a young girl, but she’d been forced into a room, where a sample of her blood had been taken. She knew that there were hundreds and hundreds more, before and after her. Men, women and children.

And it was only now that it made sense.

It made so much goddamn sense, and it hurt her to know that in order for her friends, her family, to live… she had to die.

And for them, she would gladly go.

“All sorted?” Minseok’s voice snapped her from her reverie.

She looked up to hear Baekhyun and Chanyeol walking towards them.

“They’re smiling and holding hands” Jongdae whispered into her ear, “It’s kind of cute, you know, in that sickening way” he joked lamely, making Hani laugh.

“We’re all good” Baekhyun said softly, though there was the tell-tale give of fear in his voice. Nobody was mean enough to mention it thought.

Chanyeol hummed, “Come on then, let’s get a move on. We’ve got to get to the battle field like… asap.” He pressed, “Hani, d’you want a lift?”

“A lift?” Hani repeated incredulously, “I… I don’t know….”

Chanyeol laughed as he surged forward, grabbed Hani and threw her over his shoulder, “Too slow” he said, and with that, they were off.

At some point in the journey, Baekhyun forced Chanyeol to actually hold Hani properly, so she ended up on his back, and after half an hour of walking at a pretty decent speed, they emerged at the back of the field.

“Minseok?!”

They all turned to see Luhan and Sehun darting towards them, Luhan with his arms out, then he was crashing into Minseok and pulling him into a tight hug.

“Oh my god, you’re alive” Baekhyun gasped out as he was wrapped up by Sehun, “You’re actually here. It’s really you… Oh , I’ve missed you so much!”

“We’ve missed you too, Baek” Sehun said, accepting the way Chanyeol joined in the hug, with Hani still on his back, “Who’s this?”

“This is Hani,” Baekhyun told him, “She’s… kind of like our adopted sister”

Hani laughed softly, “Hello stranger, I would shake your hand, but I can’t see for ”

Sehun laughed back, reaching up over Chanyeol’s shoulder and shaking the girl’s hand, “It’s nice to meet you Hani, I’m Sehun. And the person you heard screaming at Minseok is Luhan, my boyfriend”

“He seems…”

“Loud?”

“Yeah”

“He is” Sehun laughed.

They had to be quick about the rest of their introductions as their Sergeant came over to tell them that they were needed at the front.

Sehun and Luhan explained quickly on the way that Tao and Kris had been sent to the city to help, but they didn’t know for how long they’d be there. They also took to Hani rather quickly too, and they saw no reason in not liking the girl.

They knew briefly that she’d been a Rogue originally, but Sehun couldn’t say much in regards to that, he’d been all too willing to help an innocent Rogue, though he wished it had gone as well as it had with helping Hani.

“Alright, kid” Sehun said, grabbing Hani’s hands as they’d agreed on, “Ready to play with the big boys?”

Hani grinned, using all her force to lift herself and allow Sehun to lift her so that she was doing a handstand on his hands, “I’ve been playing big for years, pal” she laughed, and then Sehun pushed her upwards with the wind and she was kicking her way through Rogue after Rogue, taking them down like a pro.

--

“Is… Is that Kris?” Junmyeon gasped as a group of people came jogging over to them. The four of them – Junmyeon, Yixing, Kyungsoo and Jongin – had been circulated back to the front, where they were fending off the last of the Rogues that were hanging about the city.

They’d managed to corner them off to one area, and reinforcements had been sent over from the battle field.

“Tao, too” Jongin said in awe as the group joined them and were quick to help with the fight.

Kris looked up and caught Yixing’s eye, then Junmyeon’s. A smile crept over his face as he whispered something to Tao.

And then it was like everything was frozen and only the six of them remained in real time.

“What the… Tao, when the …” Yixing got out in awe.

Tao laughed, “Well, it’s good to see you too” he said as the six of them hugged and fought back tears of happiness at seeing one another alive and – given the circumstances – well.

“You have no idea how good it is to see you… No idea” Kris said, “We’ve been in the city for a while, but we’ve been cleaning up after the Rogues that have gotten lose about the abandoned parts. We’ve only just been allowed to come and help over this end… I’ve been worried sick!”

Junmyeon was still clinging onto Kris as he shook his head with a smile on his face, though it was obvious he was emotional at seeing his best friend again. Since the start of the war, there had been no word from anyone other than those they were with, and to see Kris, and even Tao, after over a month of nothingness… It was more than anyone knew how to put into words.

“I know this might not be the right time,” Kyungsoo said easily, “But if you can freeze all of these people like this, then why don’t you just… I don’t know, kill them whilst they’re frozen?”

Jongin tilted his head interestedly, “He’s kind of got a point you know…”

Tao sighed, running a hand over his face, “For the same reason that you can’t let yourself destroy a city. I’m not… I don’t know if I could hold it. I might have become stronger, but I’m still not powerful enough for that yet…. Even now, I’m struggling to keep my hold on this. We don’t have long…”

Kyungsoo nodded understandingly, “So… What happened out there, on the field”

Kris shot Tao a brief glance before sighing, “A lot… I… I almost drowned. The Rogues set this massive wave on us, and it was like the field turned into an ocean, it hit us hard and a lot of people were really hurt… or, well, got killed. But it got sorted and some of the stronger Fire controllers dried off the field, and then it was back to fighting…” he ran a weary hand through his hair, “It’s bad, Myeon. I’m not gonna lie”

“Well, we might have some news that’ll perk you up a bit” Yixing stepped forward, “We know how to take half their army down in one swipe”

Kris’s brows furrowed, “How…?”

“Guys, I can’t hold this anymore” Tao warned, he was visibly shaking as he tried to keep his hold on time, but people were beginning to move in slow motion and they all knew that he was fighting a losing battle.

“We’ll explain later…” Junmyeon promised, “Tao, we’re ready…”

Tao nodded, and just like that, all hell broke loose once more.

The six of them were like a unit in the way they moved, backing each other and fighting away any threat the Rogues plagued them with.

Jongin shot Kyungsoo a look before he flitted behind a Rogue and grabbed him steady, then with Kyungsoo’s help, he plunged him half way deep in the Earth, trapping him and giving him no way to escape.

A girl Special whipped around and placed a hand on the Rogue they’d half buried, and before their eyes he turned to ash.

She looked up at the pair of them with hard eyes, “Quit playing around” she said, “You can show off another time” she pressed as she used her elbow to hit a Rogue that was running up from behind her, effectively knocking him out and breaking his nose in the process.

Kyungsoo scoffed, but said nothing back as he turned to help Yixing fight off a group of three that were trying to sink their claws into the young healer.

Kris was doing still in his human form, but there was the tell-tale wisps of smoke falling from his nose. He’d done a lot of things in his human form that he’d picked up from his various transformations, but he’d not yet tried to hone in on his Dragon Fire.

There hadn’t been a need… Until now.

“STAND BACK!” he roared, his voice deeper and more sinister than usual.

There was no hesitancy in the way the Specials moved out of the firing line, leaving a gaggle of Rogues stood watching them in confusion as Kris pushed forward to stand in front of the hundred or so Specials protectively.

“He looks like he’s going to crumble,” One of the Rogues taunted with a dirty laugh.

Kris said nothing, he only smirked in return, and then the rumbling began.

It was as though there was an Earthquake inside of him as his chest began to glow through his black jumper, a violent blue colour with cracks of deep red moving through it and then it happened.

He opened his mouth as though to let out a scream, but all that came was a loud roar and scolding flames that were unrelenting as they at their victims. Kris leant forward slightly, pushing the flames further forward, doing his best to ignore the pleas for mercy that rang out from the Rogues.

It felt like forever before he reined it in and the flames disappeared, allowing his chest to return to its usual colour.

There were only few Rogues that had survived the attack unharmed – those that had been at the back of the pack – whilst the rest were either burnt to within an inch of their life, or were dead.

The Special Army cringed at both the sight and the stench of it all. None of them felt good about the situation, least of all Kris, but it had to be done. If he hadn’t killed them, he knew that it would have been his friends, his people at the receiving end of a deadly attack.

“Fall back” One of the Rogues gasped, “Fall back…”

But the Specials couldn’t allow that. They’d been instructed to either kill them all, or lure them back to the main field, and that’s just what they had to do.

With understanding flooding over the Special Army, they moved to trap the Rogues, pushing them back in the direction they wanted them to go, without being too obvious about it. No Rogue could escape, no Rogue could make it out of there unless to get back to the main battle.

They fought relentlessly, and though Kyungsoo found it somewhat tiresome, he had to admire their refusal to back down, even after such a blow.

He hated to think that there were people amongst those that had been killed that were perhaps not as evil as he’d been lead to believe. But he couldn’t let himself dwell on that.

Too many innocent lives had been lost already, and he couldn’t let his guard down lest it result in more.

“It’s really… Starting to hit me how real this is” Jongin said quietly as they circled around towards the main battle. They could already hear the fighting close by, and the battle field was starting to come into view, though it seemed the Rogues had yet to realise their plan.

Kyungsoo swallowed, “Yeah…” he nodded, “Yeah…”

“I know it sounds stupid” Jongin said calmly, “Since we’ve been in this now for so long, but… Seeing it like this, knowing that we’re getting closer and closer to the end, getting closer to knowing if we will actually win this, or if it was all in vein… It’s actually scary”

Kyungsoo hummed, “It’s like… If we do win this, what comes next? If we lose, we’ll be ed anyway. But if we win… I don’t even know how to function in a world where I’m not constantly being threatened with death or dismemberment…”

“I’m actually really scared” Jongin laughed incredulously, at a complete loss of what to even say, let alone what to feel, “I’m so ing scared, Soo…”

“Me too, Nini” Kyungsoo sighed as he planted a foot on the hard dirt of the edge of the battle field, watching as the Rogues made a run for it, heading back to their own side, though majority of them were taken down as they ran by random Specials.

It seemed that the battle had calmed somewhat, and trenches had been dug on either end, a form of meagre protection for either army.

The Specials fell towards the back lines to get their commands.

“S’Changed a lot since I was last here… I’ve only been away from it for a week” he shook his head in shock, “How did this….”

“Well, more people were brought in” a familiar voice said from beside them, catching them off guard.

Kris, Tao, Junmyeon, Yixing, Jongin and Kyungsoo turned to see Baekhyun standing before them. He was sporting a busted lip and dirt was caked all over his face and mixed in his hair.

Behind him, Chanyeol looked a little worse for wear too. He had a gash across his forehead that didn’t look too nice, and dried blood stuck to his face. His hair was matted and there was a large tear in the front of his top.

Beside Chanyeol were Sehun and Luhan, both of them looking pretty bruised up, but otherwise intact.

To Baekhyun’s other side was Jongdae, who had a black eye and a bandage covering a good portion of his side, visible through his shredded t-shirt.

Minseok was beside him, looking the least frazzled. He had a fairly nasty looking cut on his cheek and his clothes were a mess, but other than that, he looked pretty decent.

With them stood a girl, who was wearing bandages over her eyes behind cracked sun glasses. She had blood dried over her clothes and a fair few bruises, her hair was a mess despite being swept back in a ponytail.

Kyungsoo felt like his heart had just fallen out of him. He didn’t bother to wait before he was in Baekhyun’s arms and the two of them were hugging as though their lives depended on it.

Sehun caught the Sergeant glance their way, but they were at the back, just by the medical tent, and there wasn’t much of a threat there, since they’d just rotated and their strongest were at the front again, so he let them be for a moment.

Kyungsoo pressed a hard kiss to Baekhyun’s forehead before pulling back slightly and holding his best friend’s face in his hands.

He couldn’t help himself then, the tears began to fall hard and fast, and they were mirrored on Baekhyun’s face. Neither of them could say anything for a long time, they could only hold onto one another tightly, as though they couldn’t believe that it was real, as though they would wake up and it would have all been some kind of sick dream.

The others said their hello in brief, but mostly they just watched the exchange between Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, all of them feeling rather emotional at the sight of it.

“Baek…” Kyungsoo’s voice cracked, “Baekhyun-ah….”

Baekhyun nodded, knowing exactly what Kyungsoo meant, knowing what the younger boy so desperately wanted to say, but couldn’t find the words, “I know” he whispered heavily, “I know, Soo… I… ” he cried, burying his face in Kyungsoo’s neck.

Kyungsoo’s shaky hands were holding tight onto Baekhyun’s hair, keeping him close. His heart was beating a mile a minute. He hadn’t realised just how terrified he’d been of getting there and not knowing if his best friend was okay. How terrified he was at the very thought of his best friend not being around anymore.

And it was the same in return.

But Kyungsoo hadn’t let himself think about it. He’d been pushing any thoughts like that far out of his mind, only now that he was seeing Baekhyun again, it all hit him. Hard.

“Room for one more?” a tentative voice croaked.

Kyungsoo looked up and tears fell harder as he and Baekhyun pulled Jongdae into their hug, holding him tight and refusing to let go.

“I was so s-scared I’d lose you both” Kyungsoo admitted shakily, “… I just…”

“Us too, Kyungsoo-yah” Jongdae nodded against Kyungsoo’s hair, “It’s so ing good to see you, Soo”

Kyungsoo pressed a kiss to Jongdae’s jaw, “I’ve missed you so goddamn much” he gasped through his unrelenting tears.

“Alright fellas” The Sergeant’s voice called out softly, “Take it inside. Sehun, lead these lot to the back, get them some food and water, then join the back line. You’ll be rotated forward in a couple of days, so make the most of the break, alright?”

Sehun nodded, “Yes, Sir” he replied, and with that, the thirteen of them were making their way to get cleaned up and get some food in them after what felt like decades without it.

--

They sat in the very back trench with heavy hearts. It was cold and they knew that tomorrow they’d be headed to the front line again.

It was obvious that the end was lurking by, but the way it would come, they didn’t know. They couldn’t tell if they were winning or losing at this point.

Kris let out a soft sigh and he moved to sit beside Tao, placing a comforting hand on the younger’s knee, “How’s it going, Taozi?” he asked softly, a small smile on his lips, “I feel like we haven’t gotten to speak properly since…” he trailed off awkwardly.

“Since you kissed me and ran off?” Tao supplied, “Yeah, well… With everyone almost dying and what not, I understand. We’re not exactly playing around at school anymore, right” he sighed softly.

Kris laughed awkwardly, “Yeah, well… Still” he coughed, “I, um, I don’t really know what to say. Do you like, maybe, want to talk about it?” he asked, “Or something?”

Tao bit his lip awkwardly, “Kris… I” he paused, frowning down at the dirt by his legs, “I should tell you… I mean, I like you. I really do, but I, um… I’m A-ual” he said quietly, unwilling to look Kris in the eye. Instead he kept his gaze on the trench floor, watching as his fingers pressed into the mud.

He heard Kris hum from beside him, “Okay” the elder said, “Is that supposed to change my opinion of you?”

Tao looked up in surprise, he expected Kris to laugh, or maybe even scoff, but when his eyes fell upon Kris’s face, he was as normal as ever. There was nothing there to even suggest that he was in some way surprised or annoyed, or… anything other than his usual self.

“I… You don’t care?” Tao asked, “You really don’t care?”

“Why should I?” Kris asked, “It doesn’t make you any different. So you don’t feel ually attracted to anyone, cool. And I’m not gonna judge you for something you can’t control, so relax. You’re still the same Tao I knew before you came out to me” he laughed softly, ruffling Tao’s hand in a soothing manner.

Tao couldn’t help the smile that spread over his lips, “I like you a lot, you know? But I don’t… I don’t want you to regret me if anything did happen with us” he sighed, “I know you might say now that you’d be okay without the ual element, and I mean, it’s not like I’m completely against it or anything, it’s just… It doesn’t… Peak my interest. I guess that’s the best way I can describe it”

“Still doesn’t change how I feel about you, kid” Kris rolled his eyes, “We’ve just been over that”

Tao paused, “Well,” he laughed, “Okay then. Um, yeah. But look, this… whatever this is. Can we just save it until after? I don’t want this to start in the middle of a war, because feelings are running high and people just… I need to think, okay? I need to think about it after all of this, okay?”

“Sure” Kris hummed, “It’s not like I plan on disappearing anytime soon, so we’ll just, like, pause the conversation until we win, yeah?”

“If we win…” Tao pressed sadly.

Kris tutted, “Don’t have that attitude, man. We are going to win this, and when we do, I’m ordering an extra, extra large pizza with everything on top!”

“Oh god” Tao groaned, “Don’t… Don’t talk about pizza… The need for Cheese is strong in me” he let out, dramatically clutching at his chest to further emphasize his woe, making Kris laugh.

The others were all chatting quietly together, sharing tales of what they’d faced over the time that they’d been apart. Kyungsoo told them of how he caved in half of the city.

Baekhyun explained how Hani came to join them, and Sehun told them in turn of how the field got flooded only to be returned back to normal by the Special Army.

They all discussed the prospect of winning if only they could kill the leader.

They just caught up, and talked, but it was the feeling of finally being together again that renewed their hope, that made them feel as though they might actually have a chance to win this thing for real.

As the others grew more and more invested in their conversation, Kyungsoo slipped just off to the side, gesturing for Yixing to follow him.

Yixing waited a moment before casually moving out of Junmyeon’s hold, though he accepted the kiss that the elder pressed to his lips before moving away to join Kyungsoo.

The two of them sat in the darkness of the trench for a while as the sun set  and the day turned to night. Kyungsoo stared up at the grey clouds overhead, whilst Yixing watched his friends in silence.

Kyungsoo let out a soft sigh before his gaze moved to the others, joining Yixing in watching the others talk and laugh, and feel like family together.

“I’ve missed this” Kyungsoo admitted, “I’ve missed seeing them smile”

Yixing swallowed the lump in his throat, “They’ve not had much reason to lately” he said quietly, his voice almost a whisper, “Seeing each other again, it’s like finally having water after weeks alone in the desert.”

“Yixing… Hyung, I need you to tell me that you’re still game for that promise you made me” Kyungsoo said after a long moment of comfortable silence, “I need you to tell me that you’ll still keep Jongin away, keep him safe, when the time comes. No matter what”

Yixing nodded, reaching out and taking Kyungsoo’s hand in his own, lacing their fingers together easily in silent promise, “I’m not one to go back on my word, Kyungsoo” he said in a small voice, “I promised I’d keep him away, and I will”

Kyungsoo hummed softly, holding onto Yixing’s hand just that bit tighter, “I’ll make her pay, hyung. I swear to you, I’ll make her pay for what she’s done to us”

“Good,” Yixing swallowed hard, “But ‘Soo… Just, don’t lose yourself whilst you’re doing this. Don’t… Don’t become a monster just so that you can kill one. The minute you feel like you’re losing control of yourself, promise me that you’ll stop. Promise me that when you come out of that fight, you’re still going to be the Kyungsoo that I know and love”

Kyungsoo laughed a little bitterly, “I can’t make a promise that I don’t know if I can keep” he said before turning and finally looking at the healer, “But I promise that I’ll try. I promise to try and come out of there as me. As the person I want to remain as”

“I guess that’s all I can ask for” Yixing looked back at him, a small smile on his lips, his dimple showing slightly, “I love you, you know. All of you. You’re all the best thing that’s happened to me”

“Ditto, Xing” Kyungsoo smiled slightly, though there was a sad edge to it, “You guys are the family I’ve always wanted. If I lost any of you… It’d kill me”

Yixing nodded slowly, “Then we’ll just have to make sure nobody gets killed” he said simply, “Until the end, brother?”

“Until the very end” Kyungsoo agreed, “Come on, let’s go join them again. One last night as a family before the final hurdle strikes”

“You’re planning on doing this soon then?” Yixing questioned, his eyes glistening with something akin to worry, though there was definitely a darkness behind them that said he wanted that Woman dead just as much as Kyungsoo did. And Kyungsoo didn’t doubt that Yixing’s only regret would be not having killed the himself.

“As soon as I can” Kyungsoo told him as they slowly shuffled back towards the group, “The quicker we can end this war, the better”

Yixing nodded, “Very true” he said, “Well, go and spend one last night of freedom with your teleporter. Make it a good one, yeah?”

“You too, Xing” Kyungsoo smiled before splitting off to join Jongin, who was quick to take the elder into his arms and hold him close as Kyungsoo joined back in with the chatter.

Junmyeon moved over to pull Yixing into him, allowing the healer to settle down in between his legs and rest his back against Junmyeon’s chest, whilst in turn, Junmyeon wrapped his arms around Yixing’s middle and reached to hold his hands.

“What was all that about?” Junmyeon asked, pressing soft kisses to the top of Yixing’s back.

Yixing hummed in content, “Just chatting about all of this… About how it’ll be once it’s over” he said. So it wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t a lie either.

Junmyeon could obviously tell there was something Yixing wasn’t telling him, but he didn’t press for more, knowing that Yixing would come to tell him in his own time.

“Do you know how much I love you?” Junmyeon whispered softly into Yixing’s ear, pressing a warm kiss behind it.

Yixing smiled, “Remind me?” he asked, turning his head slightly so that he could kiss his lover’s lips, slow and languid, in no hurry to part.

Junmyeon made a small noise of contentment, his lips still brushing Yixing’s as he replied, “I love you to the moon”

“I love you to the moon,” Yixing repeated, “And back”

They had one last night, one last night to be with their friends, their family. One last night before the real fight became their reality.

The fights leading up to this had been bad enough, and they all knew that this was where it would all come to blows. Knew that this was the end.