A/N: warning for physical violence towards the end of this chap

The only company Ara had for the next couple of days was Jungkook.  No words were exchanged. Rather, he silently cared for her. He made sure she ate and didn’t overextend herself.  He watched from the sidelines as she began to overthink the situation regarding Taehyung, but there was nothing else he could do.

Finally, the day came where she was discharged.

She couldn’t help but smile at the freedom she was regaining, along with her strength.  Thanks to the ROMAN tech and the constant vigilance of the hospital staff, she was discharged a lot faster than they originally intended.  

She didn’t hesitate to head straight to where Taehyung was being held.  

Jungkook held her back before she walked through the doors.  

“What?” she shot.  

He furrowed his eyebrows.  “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Her mind flashed back to the short fight she had with Taehyung.  She could vividly see how golden his eyes were. If he was in fact what she thought he was, it would explain the fact that his strength and speed were unparallelled, and how toxic his character had become.  She nodded her head at the thought.

“Yes,” she said firmly.

Jungkook released her and gave her a small smile.  “I’m not going to bother arguing with you,” he teased lightly.  “I’ll see you later. Stay safe.”

“I will,” she said before turning and walking into the building.

She walked down the quiet and sterile halls, glancing into the rooms she passed.  Most of them were empty, until she came upon men strapped to chairs and women screaming into the window that they desperately wanted out.  Ara kept her composure as she kept walking and eventually ran into Chanyeol.

He didn’t seem surprised to see her.  

“You’ve recovered,” he said.

“I have,” she said.

He hummed.  “It’s good you’re here.  Namjoon just went in to interrogate him again, and I do believe he was going to show no mercy this time.”

“What room?”

“A3.”

She immediately jogged down the hall, not waiting for a response, scanning the room numbers as she went.  Her shoulder was still aching, but she pressed on and eventually found the room. Through the window, she could see Taehyung strapped to a chair.

She opened the door to see Namjoon holding the collar of Taehyung’s shirt.

The man was bloody and beaten, almost like a corpse in battle.  His skin was pale as a fresh sheet of winter snow, coloured and splattered with dried crimson blood.  His lips were cut and chapped, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. He still bore the small sadistic smile he always had.

She was mortified.

“Ara,” Namjoon said, his voice low.

She stared at him with wide eyes.  “Namjoon.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Namjoon warned.

“He’s right,” Taehyung croaked.  “He throws a mean punch.”

Namjoon flashed a glare.  “I’ll punch you again if you don’t shut that dirty mouth of yours.  How dare you speak to her?”  He grasped his collar harder, shaking him.  “You’ve been the source of her grief!”

She flinched as Namjoon landed a punch square on Taehyung’s lower jaw.  He added a knee to the gut for good measure.

“You were the source of her suffering!”

Another punch.

“You’re the enemy!”

Ara was shaking as Namjoon landed solid blows to his face, one after the other.  “Stop…” she whispered, covering with shock.

The room was filled with flesh hitting flesh, making her bones chill.

“Stop!” she cried out, running forward and pushing Namjoon away.

He crashed into the wall and stared at her with disbelief.  He approached her, and she cowered away, taking a few steps back.  With a deep frown, he yanked Taehyung’s collar again.

“You’re going to side with him?” he questioned.

She shook her head.  

“I’m doing this to protect you!”

She shook her head again.  “You’re doing this because you’re angry.”

Namjoon scoffed.  “Well, why shouldn’t I let off some steam on the man that broke you?” he shot.  “An eye for an eye.  It’s the least I can do.”

“You don’t get to play God and call the shots,” Ara reasoned.  “He doesn't deserve that. No one deserves that.”