There was a crick in his neck from being bent over the prone body for so long and his limbs were trembling from the constant use of his power, even though he’d been careful in expending it. When he straightened, his spine popped almost satisfyingly and he looked down at their handiwork in approval.

Leo’s body was clear of all the infection and practically flawless. Practically. There was the scar on his chest, the one he’d inadvertently given in his hurry to save him. All in all, though, he was pretty satisfied with their work.

He sighed, wanting nothing more than to crash in a comfy bed and sleep. But alas, their work was far from done.

Across him, Suho wiped sweat from his brow, taking care to avoid the blood on his gloved hands. Tao had long given up standing in favor of sitting comfortably on the floor, back against the wall. He looked more irritable than tired, probably irked at being kept away from his mate.

He smiled to himself. Ah, young love.

Suho, who’d been busy finishing up, finally disposed of the gloves and stretched, bones popping in relief. ‘Okay, now we just need to move him.’

‘I’ll get Luhan.’ Tao volunteered immediately. Lay smiled at his response. The cub – well, technically he was now an adult but Lay could never consider him that – probably just wanted to sneak in a hug or two before Suho called them for yet another meeting. He nodded at Tao to get going.

Suho stepped up to him. ‘What’s going on, Lay?’ he asked, sounding tired.

Lay chewed on his lip. ‘I… have some ideas but honestly, I’m as much in the dark as you.’

Suho rubbed his eyes. ‘You can’t See anything?’ He sounded more worried than anything and his concern touched Lay. He shook his head. ‘No, I can still See. Except where she’s concerned, apparently.’

‘Rose?’ Suho asked, surprised. ‘Why?’

‘I have a theory.’ He had two, actually, but he shared only one. ‘I think… well, I can see things in any dimension, right? Like, I can see us… you guys. And I can see humans, your mates or people who might be relevant to us in some way. And I can see Evil if he shows up here.’

Suho picked on his direction. ‘But not when he’s in the Abyss.’

Lay nodded. ‘Not when he’s there. My theory is that it’s because the Abyss is something between dimensions. It’s not something that exists naturally but… more like a chasm the Red Forces created for Evil.’

Suho’s eye narrowed, probably trying to recall the ancient tomes he’d no doubt studied growing up. ‘Okay, I can see where you’re going with this. So, as long as something is in the Abyss…’

‘Between dimensions,’ Lay corrected quietly.

‘…you are unable to see it.’

Lay nodded. ‘That is not to say that I’m completely blindsided. I mean, it’s like having bad signal reception. You know something’s messing it up, right? And you still catch glimpses, it’s just not clear.’

Suho nodded thoughtfully. ‘Then that’s how you figured out where to go with Xiumin?’

This was where his second theory came in. ‘I think that may have been the beast.’ He stated it deliberately vaguely. ‘I just followed my gut.’

Suho didn’t prod any further, sensing his reluctance.

‘Good thing you did too.’ He looked down at the sleeping figure in front of them. ‘I don’t think we’d been able to save him otherwise.’

The door opened again and Luhan peeked in. ‘You needed my help?’ he asked, looking wide awake. Suho nodded, gesturing him in. ‘Just to move him to a proper bed. He’s going to sleep for a while with the amount of healing Lay’s done.’

Luhan nodded.

……………………………………

Now that the darkness wasn’t overwhelming her, Lay could sense what his beast had, as he peered down at the sleeping girl.

The smell of blood had dissipated, leaving her covered in brown crusts but underneath it, the pleasant scent of mate lingered, registering with him even when his beast had receded.

Not that it was staying that way, having become alert the moment they’d stepped into her room to look her over. Suho had been a bit surprised when Lay had stepped back instead of offering to heal but he’d understood soon enough.

Healing her while she was still possessed with what appeared to be Xiumin’s sister would be excruciating for Rose and might end up killing her faster than being possessed by an abby. It was actually surprising that the girl had lasted so long but her body showed signs of the contact in the dark circles underneath her eyes, the brittleness of her hair and nails, the unhealthy complexion.

As the healer, it was his instinct to heal, as long as it was a living being. But in this situation, there was very little he could do. He had no intentions of harming the abby inside her; partly because that would annihilate her and leave them with nothing, when they could use her to get information about Evil’s plans.  Mostly, it was just because she was, if their conclusions were correct, Xiumin’s sister, ergo family. He couldn’t hurt her.

So, he observed as Suho gently cleaned her, using his powers to wipe the blood off her face and clothes. He did scan her for injuries but as his initial scanning had told him, there was nothing wrong.

To be on the safer end, Suho locked the door to Rose’s room. Lay would’ve protested but he understood where the leader was coming from.

It was a little bit disorienting, stepping out from the silence of the hospital wing into the liveliness of the living room. While they’d expected the Legends to be up – after an incident like tonight’s, everyone knew they’d be debriefed – it was a bit surprising to find the mates up and about.

‘Suho!’ Angel shot up from her place, hurrying over to his side. Suho smiled, letting himself be pulled into a hug, burying his nose in her hair. She continued soothing him, talking rapidly but quietly.

Lay didn’t know what she said or how she did it but Angel had Suho relaxed in less than minute, a goofy, doting smile on his face as he gazed down at her. He looked away from the private moment, taking in the rest of the crowd.

His stomach grumbled at the remnants of some deliciously fried food, the scent still lingering in air and reminding him that he’d been using his power almost constantly for over four hours now. The resultant draining had him feeling suddenly dizzy, as if his body was finally catching up with his brain and processing that it was exhausted.

He swayed on the spot and may very well have collapsed if not for his quick-thinking shadow.

Baekhyun seemed to have anticipated his condition because he was by his side in a second, grabbing him around the waist and leading him to the nearest chair, ing a spoonful of strawberry jam in his mouth.

‘Eat,’ he instructed and Lay obeyed.

…………………………………………

Angel hugged him tightly and Suho felt himself relax into her comforting embrace, feeling the tiredness slipping out of him. He hummed contentedly, burying his nose into her hair and inhaling her sweet scent. It soothed him immensely and even though he knew it solved nothing, just having her in his arms was enough to get rid of some of the tension.

She sensed his train of thought, probably hearing him through their link and tightened her arms. ‘You don’t have to worry all by yourself,’ she reminded him gently.

Suho smiled. As Legends, possessing the beasts within themselves, it was easy to go into the over-protective, macho mode and want to take care of everything by themselves, without worrying their mates. But their human sides needed the support and well, with mates as supportive and understanding as Angel, it wasn’t too hard to let go of those instincts and share their concerns.

Angel smiled into his chest, placing a kiss right over his heart. He peered down at her; she met his eyes seriously. ‘What’s going on?’

He sighed. ‘A lot.’

‘Mei told us she was attacked,’ Angel informed him. He nodded. ‘She thought it was Evil but with everything that’s been going on…’

Angel didn’t say anything for a moment and when he glanced down, it was to find her biting her lips thoughtfully. He half-thought he knew what she was going to say but it still caught him off guard.

‘I know you think you’re protecting us by not worrying us about what’s going on with Evil but…’ She met his eyes. ‘He’s targeting the mates and they deserve to know everything.’

She was right, he knew that. And it wasn’t like they’d hidden anything intentionally. She raised her brow at that. ‘You don’t exactly debrief us about every little thing that goes on.’

Suho sighed. ‘I know, I know. It’s just… sometimes, we don’t know what’s going on either and… we don’t want to worry you guys over nothing.’

Angel nodded at the door leading to the hospital wing. ‘That didn’t seem like nothing.’

He made a face at that. ‘A lot of things happened tonight.’ His mind flashed to the girl resting in the hospital wing, against his better judgement.

‘Who is it?’ Angel picked on his thoughts with ease, as usual. ‘Who is she?’          

Suho didn’t answer in words, not sure if he could explain it all. Instead, he showed her.

Angel’s eyes were wide when it ended. ‘Rose?’ She sounded horrified. ‘Lily’s sister, Rose? She’s been… going through all of that on her own?’

Suho couldn’t help but smile at her concern; trust her to focus on Rose’s struggles instead of the danger she posed to the mates. Angel shook her head, distress written all over her face.

‘Poor, poor girl… she doesn’t even know anything about you guys or Evil; Lily didn’t tell anyone in her family because she thought they’d be safer not knowing… oh dear, does Lily know?’ she asked, eyes pleading.

Suho nodded, hugging her tightly. ‘Xiumin talked with her soon after we brought them in.’

Angel snuggled up to him and for a few moments, he pretended he couldn’t hear the noises around them, pretended it was just the two of them alone in their corner, without any worries. It worked surprisingly well but ended far too quickly.

‘We have to tell the others,’ Angel spoke from where her head rested on his chest.

‘Yeah,’ Suho agreed. ‘We have to figure out whether she’s staying here or going with Xiumin before she wakes up.’

Angel pushed back abruptly. ‘Of course she’s staying here.’

‘Angel… we don’t know if it’s safe…’

‘I don’t know if it’ll be any safer with Xiumin,’ she countered smartly. ‘From what you told me, Xiumin nearly killed Baekhyun because of Evil’s tricks regarding his sister. And if it is indeed her that’s possessing Rose – or something else pretending to be her – Xiumin’s more in danger than anyone else.’

Suho bit his lip, not wanting to agree. ‘But the mates…’

‘We have you guys with us,’ Angel cajoled, running her hands up and down his back soothingly. His mate, unfortunately, knew exactly how to bring him around. ‘And the HQs have more safety measures than Xiumin’s place.’

‘Also,’ She leaned closer. ‘I just don’t like the thought of leaving Lily’s sister like that. She trusted us with her family’s safety.’

Suho exhaled in defeat. ‘Fine. Let’s tell the others and see what they think. I’m warning you though, the Legends are going to disagree.’

Angel smiled sweetly. ‘Leave them to us.’

Suho swooped in for a quick, hard kiss. ‘You’re so hot when you manipulate me.’

Angel flushed but smirked triumphantly, turning within his embrace and wrapping his arms securely around her waist.

‘Let’s go, leader,’ she told him coyly, flipping her hair.

Suho felt a bolt of heat go through him, immediately followed by the reminder that he could actually make love to his wife now, without any fear of consequences. The thought had him pushing forward, suddenly eager to get this over with.

……………………………………………

‘Gather around, everyone!’ Suho called, finally stepping into the room, Angel firmly pressed into his side. ‘We need to talk.’

All faces turned towards him, for once falling attentive without him having to resort to extreme measures. He figured it was because they understood the gravity of the situation.

‘As we all know, Mei was attacked tonight,’ he began, glancing around the room. ‘Mei thought it might’ve been Evil but from what we’ve been able to gather, it appears to be an abby. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time this has happened. We believe that since the battle, Evil hasn’t shown up on earth but has been commanding his minions, for a lack of better word, to do his bidding. ‘

‘Minions?’ One of the girls squeaked. Suho nodded solemnly. ‘The attacks so far have been isolated enough that they wouldn’t be immediately connected but added up, it’s obvious that they have been active ever since the battle. At first, we thought it might’ve been just one abby but tonight’s attack on Mei proves otherwise.’

‘How come?’

‘Well… I’m sure you’re all aware about the situation with Lily’s sister.’

‘She was getting treated here but I thought they’d already left Oulphesden…’

‘Unfortunately, they were still within the city. Due to certain unusual observations, we had our suspicions regarding Rose, Lily’s sister. And it appears that they were correct. From what we’ve been able to determine so far, it seems that she’s being possessed by an abby… one that is either pretending to be or is actually Xiumin’s sister.’

There was a collective intake of breath and some confused murmuring. Even the Legends weren’t completely aware about the circumstances regarding his sister’s death; Suho, despite being his Shadow, only knew of the sketchy details. And that too because they’d been the first ones to get their powers and he knew why Xiumin had been selected for the purpose.

That being said, all of them knew how sensitive the topic was; Baekhyun was unconsciously rubbing at his shoulder where Xiumin had buried his knife during that fateful fight. The girls looked mostly confused while the Legends filled them in under their breaths. Xiumin’s face had fallen into the stoic mask it became whenever the topic came up but Suho noticed his hands curled into fists and tiny trembles in his frame. Suho felt for his Shadow and sent some energy through their link. Xiumin nodded at him to continue.

‘Tonight, for some reason, she attacked her brother, Leo.’ There was another bout of collective gasping. ‘Thanks to Lay and Xiumin’s fast thinking, we were able to save him. Rose, in the meantime, is also within the premises, currently sleeping in the hospital wing.’

‘But…’ Sehun spoke, protest clearly written all over his face. Suho raised his hand for silence and continued. ‘We discussed this matter amongst ourselves and the Legends had decided that it would be a good idea to keep Rose away from the HQs and have her stay with Xiumin.’

There were some protests but he spoke over them. ‘We thought it would be safer because it’s obvious by now that Evil wants to target the mates, whether they are claimed or not and Xiumin is a trained fighter, so we don’t have to worry for his safety.’

‘However, my dear wife disagrees.’ He smiled down at Angel, who sniffed delicately and stepped up, dragging Suho with her.

‘I think that we should keep Rose with us because…’ She raised her voice, glaring at the protesting Legends, who fell silent immediately. ‘not only is she Lily’s sister but also Xiumin’s, which, no matter how you twist it, makes her family.’

‘But it’s not simply that. All of us had a chance to get used to the boys before we found out about their powers…’ Chanyeol opened his mouth but she spoke over him. ‘Almost all of us. And fortunately, none of us had an abby possess us and make us do stuff we probably wouldn’t even dream of.’

At this point, even the Legends could see where she was coming from and fell quiet.

‘As far as I know, Lily kept everything about the Legends a secret from her family – for their own protection. However, Evil seems to have targeted them anyway. And I think that right now if there’s anyone who needs our support – rather than being pushed away – its Rose. The girl attacked her brother. If any of you think she did it because she wanted to, you’re wrong. And isolating her, at this point… I’m not a psychologist but maybe Kyra can tell us if it’s healthy or not.’

Kyra nodded solemnly to show her agreement. ‘It would be ill-advised.’

‘And lastly…’ She turned to look directly as Xiumin. ‘I know you think this is something you have to deal with all by yourself but we’re all here for you. I don’t know what happened and I cannot pretend to understand it but from what I’ve seen, from what Suho has told me, this has to be tough for you.’

Xiumin looked mildly shocked at being put on the spot like this. Angel didn’t let his coldness deter her.

‘And from previous experience, you know Evil will try to use your sister against you.’ He looked like he might snap but bit on his lips and kept quiet instead. ‘When you guys were in the maze, he managed to trick you into attacking Baekhyun. I don’t think that leaving you alone with her is a good idea, in any sense.’

‘We all know that the HQs are the safest place for any of us because of the efforts you guys have put in to secure it. And you always say it yourself, that you are stronger when you’re together.’

‘So I don’t see why Xiumin and Rose should be kept separate, especially when you guys can just as easily observe her here. D.O’s put cameras at literally every turn of this place and one of you guys is always about, so chances of her secretly attacking anyone are significantly reduced. I don’t think I need to make any more arguments as to why this is a more solid plan and why you’re being idiots if you don’t agree but I will add one more thing.’

Suho was quietly smiling to himself, more than a little impressed by Angel taking the command so easily. The Legends, who’d thought of protesting initially, had fallen quiet, looking apprehensive and mildly impressed.

‘If you are going to do something for ‘our sake’,’ She made quote marks in the air. ‘at least have the courtesy to ask for our input.’

She fell quiet, breathing quite heavily with how impassioned she’d become during her impromptu mini-speech. The following quiet was broken by a sudden applause, from Lay.

‘Angel, that was brilliant!’ he called, sounding proud.

She smiled prettily and was a little overwhelmed by the hoots from the girls. The Legends didn’t look too keen but she’d made a solid argument and they couldn’t counter it, really. She was right. When the noise died down, Suho spoke once again.

‘I know that we’re all not in agreement but we have to decide on it, one way or the other. So, let’s have a vote.’

Of course, Angel’s proposal won.

…………………………………….

A/N

Hello :) How's everyone been? I'm sorry for not updating very quickly but I'll keep my promise to update at least once a month. Recently, life has been very busy and a lot of things have changed, so I don't have a lot of time to write. But I'm trying my best to keep this story rolling. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far and I'm always glad to hear from you. Welp, I hope you enjoy this update. See you again :)