XXX: Operation XO

Chapter 9 – Out of the Frying Pan

I can’t believe that we’re getting shot at. Well okay, yes, I can fully well believe that we are getting shot at because it’s happening right in front of my face but at the same time, I still don’t believe that it’s happening. I mean, Xiumin and Jongdae firing at us with precision, whilst they were good they weren’t that great of shots in the slightest plus I want out of this fight as soon as possible.

Sehun is just far too pale for his own good and even though Yixing is desperately trying to give him some medical aid, even I can see that it’s practically a lost cause.

No! I won’t think like that, I can’t think like that else I’ll give in and land all of us somewhere bad. I don’t quite know where but I know it’ll be bad.

I pop back up and take a few shots towards the pair before ducking back down, “Hell they’ve gotten closer,” I complain to Baekhyun who’s reloading rapidly.

“We’ve got to stop them,” the dead tone to the others voice alerts me to the fact that he’s just as worried about Sehun and he glances around the corner before pulling back. His eyes are set in a clear mode of indignation and I can practically see the cogs of his head turning as he formulates a plan. Quickly I shift, knowing that he’ll alert me once he’s thought of something but we’re running out of time fast.

Luhan grabs the spare magazine that I pass him, having virtually torn his outer shirt to shreds to give Yixing some makeshift bandages but the blood is pouring out too fast. “Got any ideas.”

“One,” I say, suddenly spotting Kyungsoo hiding behind a pillar further away from us. I had completely forgotten that the little pocket penguin was with us and I can see that he’s got his sniper gear with him too. How the hell he managed to get that on a plane I’m not even going to ask but thank goodness that he has it.

His wide owl-like eyes look up towards mine and thankfully we’re both on the exact same wavelength. A shot takes off a chunk of pillar near my head and I know that we’ve only got one shot at it. “It’s risky,” I tell Luhan as I pull myself upright.

“Will it save Sehun?” Luhan asks quietly.

“If luck is with us, sure,” I say, making a couple of quick signals towards Baekhyun who gets the idea and is exchanging info with Kyungsoo when he’s not firing off a few bullets to hopefully keep our range clear. This is probably a suicide run, even I know that but if we manage to stop this mess and get Sehun some proper medical attention before the armed swat units come teaming down on us we should be okay.

Taking a deep breath, I ditch my hoddie before throwing it to Yixing who nods his appreciation and stand back up after ensuring that I have a full load. More rapid fire shots come our way, clearly the two facing us believe they’ve got the upper hand and to a certain extent they do right now.

This better work.

Three fingers, two fingers, one fingers...and we’re off

Baekhyun lays an impressive amount of suppression fire though I don’t look back to see how come his weapon has changed to a flipping semi-auto as I’m focused on getting to Xiumin. Luhan is aiming for Jongdae without any arguments in that regard, or maybe he knew the better target for himself, I just don’t know.

Xiumin waits just long enough for the hail of bullets to stop coming his way before leaping upright with a creepily blue glow to his eyes and part of me instantly relaxes.

These are the copies, not the originals, thank god.

So, with all regret and guilt thrown aside, I smash my fist into the copy of Xiumin and send him reeling back. Barely giving him a chance to fall, I follow his movements and kick the gun out of his hand so that it clatters to the ground. He flops heavily against the floor and looks at me confused for a few seconds as there’s a barrel of a gun pointed at his face. “Do me a favour when you wake up,” I say, aiming for straight between his eyes, “kick Jongdae for hurting our kitten.”

The copy of Xiumin goes to open his mouth to reply but is silenced by a gunshot to the head.

That’s going to hurt regardless but hopefully it’ll be enough to scramble the brainwave machine and make it so that Xiumin can’t be used against us.

I turn back to see that the others have Jongdae pinned down and are clearly trying to interrogate him for information and for a second I’m confused. Then I remember that I’ve only just remembered about the clones and boy this is going to be a pain in the neck.

“Guys,” I call, moving quickly towards them with the intention of telling them off and sending Jongdae back but then I spot something. There’s a small black tube in Jongdae’s hand and there’s a small button on it. “Guys!” I yell more frantically now and try to somehow make myself run faster than I’m already going but I can see what’s about to happen and there’s no way in hell that I’m allowing it to end like this.

Though suddenly there’s a big gust of wind all around us, creating a virtual tornado around Jongdae which flings the others back towards me and I can see Sehun standing on his feet, hand shakily stretched out in front of him with Yixing yelling his head off but there’s a determined look in the youngster’s eyes.

My heart drops because I don’t want to see Sehun doing this, I don’t want him to save us this way and get himself killed. Before I can even really focus on what he’s doing, there’s a sudden hand on my shoulder and the world lurches dramatically backwards.

I land heavily on a floor strewn with random bits of paper and clothes, the breath escaping me in a low hiss before not five seconds later Luhan crashes down on top of me, followed by Baekhyun and Kyungsoo at the same time, then a screaming Yixing and finally Sehun though he’s being carried by a tear stricken young man with tan skin and wild hair that is in a messed up style but still looks good.

“Save him,” Kai says, through his tears, “Please, you’ve got to save him.”

Shoving the others off me, because they’re all being a grumbling lot, I move quickly to take the lanky teen into my arms and deposit him down on the nearest bed where Yixing is already stationed with a quite frankly murderous warning look and I know what he is about to do.

Grabbing the side of his head, I pull him close as our foreheads touch and pass some of my strength onto him even if it’s fading rapidly, “Do what you have to but don’t get yourself killed helping him. We’re all going to need you, my little unicorn.”

“It’s been too long since you called me that, Dragon Dad,” Yixing mumbles back, squeezing my hands painfully before pushing me back and straight away I’m back to the small doorway to close it and shoo the others away.

Though the next second I’m striding towards Kai and catching hold of his shaking form in a tight hug, he returns it wholeheartedly. The poor kid is literally wailing for his best friend and I completely understand that but there are some things that just have to be dealt with. “Kai, listen to me,” I say as I pull back, holding him gently despite the fact that he is sobbing his little heart out, “You need to go back.”

“What? No!” he complains, shaking his head rapidly from side to side.

“Kai, listen...” I start

“No! I’m not...you can’t...that’s not fair!” he wails, barely able to get a sentence together and god it breaks my heart into a million pieces, it really does.

“Kai,” I have to repeat the name several times because he’s just shouting incoherently now, “Jongin!”

That gets him to stop babbling and blink at me like a little lost puppy, “I know, I get it, I understand believe me I do but you need to be back with Suho right now. It’s too dangerous for you.”

“But he’s...” Kai starts, wiping at his face hurriedly with his fingers, “He’ll need help.”

“He’s got it,” I say, surprising myself with how calm I’m being or at least how calm my tone is, “Yixing is with him and we’ll be here to make sure that he survives. You need to go back to Suho...right now.”

“Kris is right, Nini,” Kyungsoo literally startles me, the sneaky little git, as he steps closer to Kai and places a hand on his arm, “We need to get back to Suho.”

Kai looks conflicted and glances back at the door where Sehun was left just a moment ago before hiccupping and looking back at Kyungsoo. There’s a shimmering of defeat in his eyes and I reach out to pet him as if he really were a puppy, “Good boy. Though give this to Suho when you see him from me.” Before he can complain, I place a kiss on his forehead and pull back before grinning wickedly.

Kyungsoo tries his hardest not to laugh as he grabs hold of Kai’s hand and with a pop and a swirl of black mist the pair are gone and a breath of relief escapes my mouth.

Just a second before a gun is placed at the back of my head.

Automatically I raise my hands to show I mean no harm and take a quick glance around the place we’re in. Looks to be some kind of hacker’s den which may either be to our complete advantage or just landed us in a hell of a lot more garbage than before.

authors babbling: Yeah, so hopefully the pieces are starting to make sense, right? probably not but hope you're all still enjoying anyway