"No no no. Daehwan stay with me. Daehwan you're here! You made it! Oh god stay with me-"

"Seungchae, go get help- I don't know, any help!"

"Daehwan look at me. Please look at me. Stay with me. It's going to be okay, just stay with me."

There was blood everywhere. So much blood. On Daehwan's clothes. On the floor. On Jian's hands as he pressed on the bulletwound. Dark red on the cold white of the Spire.

This was not happening.

Not again.

This could not be happening.

"Oh man," Daehwan said with a weak laugh, glancing at the wound in his abdomen. "That's one hell of a flesh wound."

"Ssht, it's okay, we'll fix this. I'll fix this. You'll be okay." What was taking Seungchae so long? Had been a seconds or minutes? He couldn't remember.

Daehwan looked around. "You really weren't lying were you?" He made a low noise of pain. No no no.

Jian kept his eyes on his hands, pressing down on the wound, willing the bleeding to stop. 

Daehwan smiled weakly. "For a m-moment back t-there-" he winced. "W-when I c-couldn't see the p-portal, I thought, well f--" he laughed again and immediately contorted his face in pain.

"No no no don't do this," Jian pleaded. "Not again. I can't do this again. Don't leave me. Not again."

"S-so you did know me. I- I thought so but- but hey, t-there will be m-more of me right? Or is that too morbid?" He laughed again, a raspy sound, and immediately groaned. "Ow okay, n-no laughing."

"Don't do this. Don't leave me." There was nothing he could do and somewhere, through the haze of panic, he knew it. It was just like that night with the crash. He pushed down harder on the wound but the bleeding wouldn't stop. 

"I-it's okay Ji," Daehwan start. His face was white and clammy. "W-we-" he frowned and looked confused, his speech slurred. "What- where- I can't feel- Who a-are you?"

No no no. They just had to get him to a hospital and they could fix. This was fixable. It had to be. This was not happening again. Not again. His thoughts flashed back to the crash. To the car rolling over the highway, coming to a stop against guard rail. The destruction inside and outside the car. Anna who had died then and there, not having worn her seatbelt, and Daehwan's body crumpled over the steering wheel, unresponsive and later comatose.

That was not going to happen again. It couldn't happen again. Jian didn't think he could survive that again.

"He's gone Jian."

No he wasn't. He could still fix this. He had to fix this.

He glanced up. Malik and Seungchae were there, with Sigma behind her clutching a first aid kit. Somewhere in the back of his mind he found that funny. 

Malik put a hand on his shoulder. "You can-" she cleared . "He's gone Jian. You can stop pressing. Let him go."

Jian looked down at his hands. They were still pressing on the wound. They were stained with blood. Everywhere was stained with blood. He looked at Daehwan and saw that he was still. It took a long moment for that to sink in. He took his hands from the wound. From that seemingly innocent small circle of an entry wound.

Jian slumped back. When had he started crying? He rubbed the tears and snot from his face, probably leaving streaks of blood in its place. He tried to pick himself up, gather up the pieces of himself into a function human being, but the pieces weren't fitting and slipping through his fingers and nothing was right.

He could hear the other three shifting behind him. 

"Seungchae, help him get cleaned up and in bed, he needs rest," Malik ordered. "Sigma, help me with the body."

"Wait what-" Sigma started, but one look from Malik shut her up quickly. 

"Come on Jian ," Seungchae put an arm around him and helped him up, gently leading him down the hallway and Jian let her. He wasn't sure if he it was reason or if he was just too broken to protest.

~*~

"You let them get away?!" Kai demanded, half surprise and half accusation. "You had them."

Kiro rubbed his temples. He did not want to deal with Kai right now. He was tired, annoyed, and still queasy from his shift. He pressed the button on his insulin band.

"They shifted," Hana defended. "We couldn't do anything about it."

"How do they shift," Kiro started. "None of it makes sense. How many times have we confronted them without them shifting?"

"You mean how many times have we murdered them?" Kai pointed out, too gleefully for Kiro's liking. Kiro shot him an annoyed look and noticed with amusement that there was vomit all over Kai. So Seekers weren't immune to shift sickness? Interesting. 

"It has to be location based," He continued to himself. This wasn't something new, he'd theorised that long ago. Either the Seekers ran from them or they all shifted at the same place. But Kiro had no idea what made a suitable place for shifting or how it worked. Was there something he wasn't seeing, or were there just places better suited for shifting than others? Limitations their own shifted bypassed? Did they have a device of their own or was an innate ability? And if so then how did that work? "What are their limitations?" he asked out loud. "If we know that then we can fight them much more efficiently."

"Why don't we just ask ask him?" Hana asked, pointing at the tent where he'd confined the captured Seeker.

Kiro sighed. "I was getting to that, Hana." He looked around. "Where's MJ?"

"Asleep in his tent," Kai said. "I checked."

"And the new guy? Jota?"

"Waiting in the command tend for further orders."

Kiro nodded. Things weren't ideal but he could work with this. "We'll have MJ Jota to the nearest manned permanent camp. Without him around we'll take the opportunity to interrogate the Seeker in peace. Then we can wrap him up with a little bow and deliver him to Zhu." He was very pleased to be able to fulfill her command so quickly.

"Why does Zhu want us to bring her a Seeker all of a sudden?" Kai asked.

"She has her reasons and they're not for you to question." In truth Kiro didn't know himself, she hadn't told him. He was a bit concerned, she usually let him in on the plans that concerned his QuSEF initiative, but she'd been very secretive and she'd seemed on edge. Frayed around the edges. But he'd be damned if he'd let Kai know any of that. 

Zhu knew what was best. Kiro trusted her to know what she was doing even if that meant excluding him from crucial information. After all, she was the one trying to save the world. All the worlds. 

He looked at Hana and Kai. "Hana, you take first watch over the Seeker. Do not enter the tent unless an escape attempt is made. Kai, you take over in two hours. And clean yourself up, you smell disgusting." Small satisfactions. 

He glanced at the tend containing the Seeker. He felt a pang of regret for the sleep that he wasn't going to get anytime soon. But he had a lot of new information regarding the Seekers to look forward to if he played his cards right and that was a reward in and of itself.

But first, to get rid of MJ and Jota.

~*~

"We're not going after him and that is that."

Sigma slammed the table. "We can't just leave him!"

"We can and we will," Malik snapped. "We are not going on a suicide mission. We're cutting our losses and proceeding with what we're tasked to do. Which is saving the world if you've forgotten."

"Jesus, do you hear yourself right now?! Cutting our losses?! This is a person we're talking about, not a loss. This is Namsun."

"Guys, calm down!" Seungchae pleaded. "Let's just talk about this."

"There is nothing to talk about. I've given my order."

"To hell with your order!"

"Why do you even care?" Malik snapped. "You never even met him! You just don't want to do anything I tell you-"

Jian cleared his throat and all arguement ceased. They all stared at him as he walked up the dinner table with various degrees of horror and surprise and guilt on their faces. He resented that.

"We are not leaving Namsun," he said.

"Jian-"

"We are not leaving one of our own. That's out of the question. We are getting him out of there."

"Look, Jian," Malik started. "You went through hell just now, and I respect that, but I am still in charge here."

"I don't care," Jian said. "Even if I have to go in there on my own, I'm not leaving him."

"Neither am I," Seungchae said. "He's one of us."

"Ugh." Malik ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "Listen-"

"You will do no such thing." Jian hadn't heard the Keeper approach, and neither had the other Seekers who jumped at the sound of his voice. The Keeper's hands were folded behind his back, the picture of authority. Jian noticed that for once Pi's box wasn't with him. "You will proceed with the mission."

"But-" Sigma started.

"Must I remind you of what is at stake?" The Keeper cut her off. "You are securing the future of every living thing not only in the world that you inhabit, but in all the other ones out there. Must I really explain to you the vital importance of your mission? Importance to everything in existence? Is this really necessary? You will not jeopardise the mission for one Seeker. Return the portals and resume your assignments."

Malik nodded. "Yes sir."

"What? No-" Sigma started but again she was cut off.

"What happened at the portal this morning?" The Seeker asked. "Why were you cleaning up blood?"

Seungchae glanced nervously at Jian. "There- There was this-"

"Jian was hurt," Malik cut her off. "We took care of it." Jian noticed that she didn't waver at the untruth of it and felt a tinge of admiration. But why had the untruth been necessary?

The Keeper nodded. "Next time be more thorough,  there is still a stain on the floor." With that he turned and left, no doubt returning to his precious box. There was an uneasy silence as the Keeper retreated up the stairs.

"You're not seriously listening to him are you?" Sigma was the first to resume.

"I am," Malik said. "And he's right. The stakes are too high for this. We can't risk losing what is left of the Seekers and you must see this yourselves. We have to keep going."

"No!" Sigma cut in angrily.  "I know it's hard for you to see us as people but-"

"It's not about that," Malik snapped. "How dumb are you? How selfish are you? Are all of you? That you're willing to put one life before that of everything in existence-"

"Malik," Jian said.  It was so hard for him to summing his charisma now. How had he so easily manipulation people before? He opened and closed his mouth looking for the right words to say, the right phrases to convince Malik that they could not - no would not - leave Namsun behind. He thoughts flashed back to Daehwan and he clutched the table for support. No, put those thoughts away. Not now, he'd deal with that later.

"Jian," Malik started gently when Jian failed to say anything else. "You know the stakes are too high for this. You're intelligent, I'm sure you can see that it's not right to risk it all for one person. You've seen what Kiro can do, seen what they did to your friend. We can't fight that. Not with how inexperienced you all are right now. If we all die there will be no one left here. And will have been for nothing."

Jian shook his head. "Nobody gets left behind. I will go alone if I have to, but I am not leaving anyone behind again."

"I'm not leaving him either," Seungchae said and moved to stand next to Jian. He smiled at her in thanks.

"Neither am I," Sigma said.

Malik threw up her hands in frustration. "Okay. Fine then. Fine. You three go get yourselves killed, see if I care! I'll just go look for new Seekers!" She all but stomped away, kicking over a chair in the process.

Jian," Seungchae turned to him once Malik had left the scene. "You shouldn't be up yet. What you just went through-"

"I'm okay." He was doing his very best to push his grief down. He'd make time for that after they got Namsun back. Or not. He'd see. But for now as long as he could keep busy and focus on one thing at a time he could keep going. 

Seungchae didn't look convinced.

"Where do we even begin looking for him?" Jian asked,  diverting the attention from himself to the task at hand.

Sigma grinned. "I have an idea," she said. "I know where their camp is."

Jian stared at her for a moment. He hadn't expected that. "Okay. Okay yeah. Brilliant. Tell me everything you know."

"I still have a stunner from the other world," Seungchae said, grabbing it from her jeans pocket and putting it on the table. "We can use that, do you still have yours?"

Jian shook his head. "I lost that at the warehouse, but I've got a good old-fashioned gun. Seungchae, grab your sharpies, we have planning to do."

~*~

Kiro opened the flap to the improvised interrogation tent. Really it was just a supply tent with a chair thrown in, and bound to that chair was a certain captured Seeker. Kai followed him in but stayed at the entrance as ordered, leaning against the wall of the tent with his arms crossed and a lazy smirk on his face. Good cop/bad cop was always a good start and nobody played bad cop like Kai did.

The Seeker was staring intently at the ground, refusing to meet his eyes. Had he been broken already? No that couldn't be right, every other Seeker they'd captured had been resilient. Honestly Kiro hoped they'd be able to get anything at all out of this one.

There were cuts and scrapes on the Seeker's arms and dried vomit all over his shirt. Kiro did his best not to wrinkle his nose at the smell of it. It wouldn't do for the good cop to show contempt.

"So, Seeker, what's your name?" Kiro said as gently as he was able.

The Seeker said nothing at first. After a while Kai stirred but Kiro quickly motioned for him to stay where he was. Then, finally: "Choi N-Namsun."

"Ah Namsun then. I brought some water for you, you must be thirsty. Let me untie you." Kiro cut through the plastic tie keeping Namsun's hands together. A fake show fo trust, if Namsun tried anything then Kair would be on him in seconds. Kiro handed the Seeker the cup of water and he desperately grasped the cup with both hands and gulped down the contents. 

"Listen, Namsun," Kiro said . "We don't want to hurt you. I won't lie to you, I respect you too much for that, you're in a bit of a sticky situation, but I promise you that if you cooperate nothing bad will happen to you." 

Again there was a long pause before the Seeker answered, but he nodded weakly in the end. Kiro was surprised. This guy was weak in a way that none of the other Seekers had been. He was starting to doubt Kai's menacing would even be necessary, though it was always good to have him there for backup should anything happen. Kiro wasn't big fan of leaving anything to chance, especially not his own safety.

"How long have you been a Seeker, Namsun?" Kiro asked.

After a long moment of thinking the Seeker answered. "I-I think about 48 hours? I'm not sure what time it is now."

That was unexpected. "Do you mean that's when you officially started your duties as a Seeker? After completing your training?" 

Namsun shook his head. "T-thats when I was- I don't know how to explain it. I think Malik said she woke me up? That's how she put it?"

So there was no training? No wonder the Seekers had been so unsuccesful in their mission. And no wonder it had been relatively easy for them to mop up the Seekers they'd come across. He had no idea that they were so pathetically disorganised. That they were woken up from the general population of the Root World was no new information though, and he was eager to find out more. "How do you shift, Namsun?"

The Seeker frowned, still not meeting his eyes. "S-shift?"

Of course they must have different terminology. "What do you use to move from one world to the next?"

"W-we use portals."

Intersting. "I've never seen any portals."

There was one w-where you k-kidnapped me," the Seeker said, voice breaking. It annoyed him how much the guy was stammering. 

So were the portals invisible to those who weren't Seekers? That would explain how they seemed to dissapear in mid-air at the place without any sort of shifting technology. But outsiders were able to use the portals, though perhaps only if escorted by Seekers. After all that guy from world 854EF had disappeared alongside the other Seekers. 

"C-can I have some water?" the Seeker asked.

"Certainly," Kiro said, still deep in his own thoughts. "And after that you and I are going to have a good long talk, and you are going to tell me everything."

~*~

"Okay, so to recap. The most likely places for them to keep Namsun is either in the command tent," Jian circledthe big central tent on the map Sigma had drawn up. "Or the supply tent. There wouldn't be enough room in the sleeping tents for multiple people to stand and comfortably posture and threaten and interrogate."

"I hope they're not hurting him," Seungchae said.

"He should be okay. Namsun is not brave. It's the brave ones you should worry about, not the cowards." Jian stared at the map a little longer, willing some of brilliance to come upon him but he was getting nothing. He wished Daehwna were he- no, don't think about him right now. You have to keep going.

"You two go catch some sleep," Jian said to Seungchae and Sigma. "You'll be of no use exhausted. I'll figure out a plan and wake you in half an hour."

"Every minute counts," Sigma protested.

"Half an hour is not a great loss," Jian said. "Besides, I'm the only one with experience planning, well, this sort of thing. These are formidable opponents, if we want to make this work then we'll have to be at our best. A half hour nap is all I ask." His voice sounded strained even to him, he hated how much it betrayed right now. He was usually so in control of everything, where had that Guo Jian gone? He just needed to be alone with his thoughts for a little bit. Figure out a solid plan. A plan would come. A plan always came.

"That counts for you too," Seungchae pointed out.

"Someone has to plan this thing," Jian said, but he smiled kindly hoping it would belay her worries. "I slept for a bit earlier after-" he cleared his throat. "Earlier. I'm okay."

Again she looked sceptical but she didn't argue and pulled Sigma along with her toward the bedrooms. Jian had the feeling she understood much more than she let on but that was something he'd deal with later.

He stared at the rough map. Damnit why was his brain betraying him now of all times?! Why couldn't he think of anything? A way to use their surroundings? How to play the agents? Any form of trickery? Anything useful at all!

He buried his face in his hands. Nothing was coming to him. He was completely blank.

"How are you going to take them on? How are you going to fight Hana and Kai? You don't stand a chance if you don't figure that out." Malik was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. Jian stood up straight, mentally kicking himself that he hadn't noticed her entering the room and wondering how long she'd been watching. He hated anyone seeing him like this. He was supposed to be the one who had his together, damnit.

He took a steadying breath. "We've got two guns. A stunner and a normal one. The plan is to overwhelm them, hit them before they can recover-"

"You've got nothing do you?"

Jian slumped against the table, pretense falling away. "I've got nothing. I think I just don't know enough about them."

"Your friend is dead. Nobody expects you to bounce back from that." Malik walked up to the table and looked at their plans. 

"I'm afraid he won't even be there," Jian admitted. Steer around the problem that was himself. Give her something to focus on that wasn't the fact that he was falling apart. He'd deal with himself later. "They know that you know where their camp is. The smart thing to do would be move Namsun immediately to any world at all. There are so many out there it would be impossible for us to find them."

"He'll be there," Malik said. "Kiro is very smart but he knows that too well. He thinks he's invincible. Plus he won't be able to resist the chance of luring me out. We, eh, have kind of this nemesis thing going on." She looked almost embarrassed at that.

"Ah yeah he mentioned you earlier. Seemed offended you hadn't told us about him."

Malik snorted. "He would be. I guess I'd be too if he hadn't mentioned me to the new recruits. Okay show me what you have right now."

Jian pulled up the rough map. "From Sigma's description I wager  they'll be holding him in the supply tent. Too many things to mess with in the command tent."

Malik shrugged. "I've no clue about any of that, but I can tell you that whichever it is, either Kai or Hana will be standing guard outside,a and the other probably inside. Kiro's not much of a match for anyone physically so he'll want one of his guard dogs at his back. Hana is the woman and Kai is the vile one."

Jain laughed bitter. "We've met."

"Here's what you're gonna do." Malik grabbed a sharpy and drew a cross in front of the supply tent. "Whatever you do, you get Hana first with the stunner, make sure she's out. I'm willing to bet she'll be the outside guard since Kai is much more menacing than she is. She's the tougher one but she doesn't look it, she's stronger even than I am. You'll have to get the jump on her, that's the only way, but if you manage to get her down then Kai will be easy pickings. As much as he hates her, he relies on her, and seeing her down will throw him off. Kai is tough but he's not impossible to deal with. And Kiro is just smart, take away his muscle and he's not much of a threat. What's that thing they always say? Separate and win?"

"Divide and conquer."

"Right. As soon as you've got a gun to him, Kiro will try to convince you that you don't have what it takes to pull the trigger. He'll make you doubt yourself. Regardless if he's right or not, don't let him talk. He's a snake."

"You know him well," Jian said, half amused.

Malik actually laughed. "If you're acquainted with them then Kiro and I are practically best friends."

"Don't worry, I think I can handle him. I'm pretty good at talking too, it's kind of my thing." There was a moment of silence. "Come with us," Jain said. "We need you."

She sighed a brushed a hand through her hair. "I can't. You know I can't. If you fail, and there's a good chance you will, then someone has to be left behind to find new Seekers."

"Can't the Keeper do that too?"

"Regardless of that, I'm not very fond of the idea of dying. You know how hard I've warked to not get killed by those s? And besides, I can't risk everything for one guy. And orders and orders, and I, for one, respect orders."

"If it changes anything," Jian said. "You're not risking everything for just one guy. You'd be risking it for all of us." He took a deep breath. "Truth is? I don't see this ending well without you."

"Those are bold words from someone who hasn't seen me in action once," Malik pointed out.

"I don't have to. It's my job to size people up and figure them out and you, Malik, are an open book. Plus those guns have to count for something," He said with the closest thing to an actual smile he'd come to since- nope still not thinking about it.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere," Malik said with her usual no nonsense tone, but there was a hint of a smile in there too. She reminded him of Kwon Ok, Daehwan's mother. Unbreakable. Unbendable. Nearly devoid of a sense of humour. And she reminded him of Daehwan too in her brash ways. All of that boiled down to a certain amount of repsect.

"Can't blame a guy for trying," he said, and this time with an actual smile. A genuine one. 

"Listen," Malik got serious again and the moment was over. "You cannot under any circuimstances tell the Keeper that you brought an outsider into the Spire."

"Why?"

"Nobody has ever done that before. Ever. At least that I know of. Just- just don't." She took a breath. "There wasn't much blood left behind when he found it, and he thinks it was yours. Keep it that way."

Jian checked his watch. The 30 minutes had come and gone. "I have to wake the others and then we have to go. Thanks for the help."

Malik nodded. "Good luck. Come back in one piece."

"That's the plan." He shot her one last wry smile before heading off to wake Seungchae and Sigma. It was time to put their plan to the tet, for better or for worse.

~*~

"Thank you so much for your cooperation, Namsun." Kiro's mood had lifted considerably. The Seeker had been very useful indeed. Besides being annoyingly slow to answer and continuously refusing to look him in the eyes, everything had gone smoothly. The Seeker had been very forthcoming with his information and there was much for Kiro to consider. The previous and only other Seeker he'd tried to interrogate had taken her secrets to the grave, this was a great imrpovement.

"S-so what will happen to m-me now?" the Seeker stammered. Always with the stammering. The guy didn't seem to be capable of formulating complete sentences.

"Now, Namsun, we will take you back to our world," Kiro said slowly, as if speaking to a particularly unintelligent child.

"You get to meet the boss," Kai supplied with a grin. "Ain't that exciting?"

Kiro really wished that Kai would just hut up unless he was needed but his mood was too high to let it get ruined by Kai. He'd only just gotten the order to bring Zhu a Seeker and he'd already fulfilled it! That was a new level of efficiency. And not only that, but he'd learned a great many things about Seekers, things he hadn't known before. Nothing was going to ruin his day. If Kiro were the kind of person to whistle he'd be whistling right now.

And what Zhu was going to do with the Seeker? That wasn't Kiro's problem.

"Kai, bind his hands again and get him ready for transport."

"Do I have to be the one to shift him? He puked all over me last time," Kai complained.

"Yes, Kai, you have to be the one to shift him." Not even Kai's continued insubordination was gong to get him down today. In fact, imagining Kai arriving at HQ covered in the Seeker's vomit was only lifting his mood more.

There was a crash outside.

That had better be Hana tripping over a crate. 

He exited the tent and was greeted by the barrel of a gun. Someone was ruining his day.

"Don't move," the guy at the other end of the gun said. It was the same Seeker from before, the one who'd worn the trenchcoat.

This was annoying to say the least.

Kiro took quick stock of what he had to work with. Hana was down. . The Seeker who'd invaded their camp before, Sigma, was standing over her with a strange gun in her hand. Hana had better not be dead or there would be hell to pay. It wasn't one from the root world, Kiro had seen Seekers wield those a few times. This one was different.

Okay Hana was breathing. Good. This was salvageable.

"We want our friend back," Another girl said, standing behind the male Seeker with the gun. Unarmed then? Kiro glanced at the one named Sigma, who was fumbling with her own weapon. That meant only one weapon in play until she figured out hers.

"Are you really going to shoot me?" Kiro asked, loud enough for Kai to hear inside the tent. "You don't seem like the type to murder someone in cold blood."

"Like you murder my friend in cold blood?" the Seeker shot back. "Do you really want to risk it?"

"Technically she murdered your friend," Kiro said, nodding at the downed Hana. "But I do suppose I gave the order."

What was taking Kai so long? Kiro wished he could directly order Kai somehow, he did not trust him to think for himself. Kai wasn't stupid, but Kiro didn't exactly trust him to have his best interests at heart.

Speak of the devil, the flap to the tent opened and Kai came out with hisarm around Namsun, pushing the Seeker in front of him. Kai had one of their own guns pointed at Namsun's head. "Drop it or your cowardly friend gets it,"  he said, tone almost lazy.

Kiro wasn't stupid. He knew that Kai that taken his sweet time, and he knew that he'd done it to make Kiro squirm, but that fight would come later. Kiro turned back to the Seeker with the gun. "You see him?" he pointed at Kai. "He is the type to murder in cold blood. I'd drop the gun if I were you."

Kiro moved ever so subtly to put himself between Kai and the unconcious Hana. Right now they had the upper hand, the last thing he wanted was for Kai to get spooked.

"I don't think so," the Seeker with the gun said. "If he klls Namsun you'll be without a hostage and there'd be nothing stopping me from pulling the trigger on you. We are simply at a stalemate, you and I."

"That's assuming you've got what it takes to pull the trigger," Kiro said, buying time. Sigma appeared to have given up on reloading the stun gun, the one thing that might turn this situation around for the Seekers. How long would Hana be out for? As soon as she woke up it would be over. Kiro just had to stall until she woke up. 

Alternatively there was the gamble of who could shoot first, Kai or the Seeker. None of the Seekers looked like they could handle themselves in a physical fight should it get to that, it was just the one with the gun they had to worry about. But Kiro hated a gamble, and even if Kai could shoot first, gun shots kill slow, if at all, there'd be plenty of time for the Seeker to pull his own trigger. 

At least he didn't have to worry about Malik. He knew Malik. She would never risk so much for one person.

"All this assuming we are upstanding citizens," the Seeker with the gun continued. "I mean we puled the trigger on her, did we not?Why should we hesitate with you?" .

"What?" Kai glanced at Hana and froze as he saw her crumpled on the ground.

While Kai stared at Hana, Malik darted from behind the tent and pushed Kai's gun into the air, simultaneously shoving Namsun to the ground. She chopped down on Kai's arm, making him drop the gun entirely, and kicked in the back of his knees. Without seconds Kai was on the ground eating dirt and Malik had her knee on his back and arms twisted behind him. "It's over, Kiro,: she said.

Kiro blinked, still recovering from what just happened. This shouldn't be happening. He knew Malik. Knew her inside and out. She was pragmatic and insenstive and unemotional. This was not something she'd do.

The unarmed Seeker rushed at Namsun and hugged him while the one with the gun kept it firmly trained on Kiro. He kept his hands in the air. He knew when he was beat.

Malik searched Kai's pocket, ignoring his lewd taunts, and found the plastic ties. She bound his hands behind him. Then she got up and waved the tie in front of his face. "Your turn, Kiro," she said wit much satisfaction. He winced as she roughly pulled his arms back and bound his wrists together. She was enjoying this way too much.

"Enjoy the victory while it lasts," Kiro grumbled. Witht he amount of victories he had on her he supposed it was time she won once, but he wouldn't let it happen again. 

He thought of the things he could have done to avoid this. Keep Jota around during the interrogation for added support? Keep Hana and Kai both outside of the tent? No both of those decisions had been the right ones at the time. Jota was too shaken up to be of any use other than getting MJ out of here, and Kai had been needed inside in case the Seeker had tried something. His decisions had been solid.

The unarmed Seeker had managed to cut through Namsun's ties and he was massaging his wrist. "Th-thanks Seungchae."

"Are you okay?" She asked. Namsun nodded but kept quiet.

Sigma stopped in front of Kiro, pulling his attention away from Namsun and Seungchae. "Where's Jonghwa?" she demanded.

"You mean Jota?" He still didn't understand Sigma's fascination with Jota. He supposed she must have known him in the root world, or any other, but still. The amount of delusion needed to project that onto a version of the guy from another world, let alone a QuSEF agent, was considerable. He'd make sure to remember that weakness for later. "He went back to our world."

The girl slumped her shoulders and stepped back. "What do we do with them now?" She asked of the Seeker with the gun.

"We leave them," he said.

"We can't just leave them, they'll come after us again." Sigma protested.

"We're not murderers, Sigma," Malik snapped. "Not unless we really have to."

Kiro would feel releived if he hadn't known this already. He had no doubt that none of them had the stomach to kill them in cold blood. He was honestly just annoyed at the turn of events. His day had been going so well. ing Kai and his dependencies.

"They'd kill us," Sigma protested.

"And we're better than them," Malik said with finality. She walked over to Kiro. "Enjoy your little time out." 

Kiro opened his mouth to repond when Malik hit him square in the stomach. He doubled over and almost vomited. He wheezed, struggling to breathe. 

"That's because you deserve so much worse, you ," She spat. 

He was still gasping for breath as they left the camp. Tied. Beaten. Humiliated. How had this happened? No matter. He would be sure it wouldn't happen again.

 

~*~

"You came back for us," Jian said to Malik as they returned to the portal. 

Malik shrugged. "I'm known for making mad decisions," she said. Squinting against the dust of this world it was impossible for Jian to see Malik's face but he liked to think it wasn't totally filled with disdain.

Seungchae was walking ahead with Namsun, supporting him as he limped on. He must have hurt his foot when he'd been transported to the camp. Still, that and the cuts on his arm he'd sustained earlier in the other world seemed to be his only injuries. 

Sigma was lagging behind, staying silent.

"Thank you anyway, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there," Jian said.

"Hana would have woken up and destroyed you?" Malik offered.

"Lovely thought." That they'd even managed to take her down was incredible. Without Seungchae's stunner there would have been no hope at all. "I hope we never run into them again."

"I always hope that and I always do," Malik said. "Sometimes it feels like they know where we'll be before even we do. it's damned annoying."

They climbed up the crumbled concrete steps of the decayed tower, up to the platform that held the portal. The weight of everything that had happened the past 24 hours (had it only been 24 hours?) was presing on him more and more. There would be a point where he could no longer push it down and he was not looking forward to that.

At least there would be alcohol?

"When we get back I've got a serious date with a bottle of scotch," Malik mumbled.

Jian laughed. "It's like you just read my mind."

With that they entered the portal and left that dusty hole of a world behind them. In its place were the cold white walls of the Spire.

And just for that a moment it felt somewhat like home.

author's note

This is obscenely late and I am so sorry. Even worse that  I've had it written for over a month now but Lils and I just never found the time to go over it and proofread it, and honestly there were periods of time where I just forgot about it, but here it is now and hopefully none of you have forgot about this trainwreck of a story like I did ;A;

So disclaimer, this has been second drafted by me but not proofread by Lils so there is a good possibility of many a typo. I apologise for that. I also now know a lot about what happens to a person whose aorta is ruptured by a gsw. Research! 

Hope you guys enjoyed it and that you're still with me on this crazy ride! :D