You stopped struggling against the robot. It was only making your arm hurt worse. It was climbing a spiral staircase that you knew led to the President’s room. A room you had hoped to never go back to. You cringed as you entered; Tera was the first thing you saw. She looked gaunt, older than she should for only being one year apart.

“Ah, finally.” She smiled wickedly. The robot dropped you unceremoniously onto the bloodstained carpet. It then held you down, keeping you from moving away. “You have done a good job of avoiding me so far, my friend. But the second you met that group of ruffians, I had you. It was only a matter of time before you would be back here on your knees before me.” You glared up at her. “Well? Aren’t you going to say anything?”

You looked around the room before meeting her eyes again. “So is this it? You’re going to just kill me here and be done with it? What will that accomplish? I’m not hurting you. You could have just left me alone.”

She shrugged. “I could have. But you’ve always been a threat. One I’ve wanted to erase for years, actually.” Her cat-like smile made you shiver involuntarily. “But dear, I’m not going to kill you just yet. You’re going to stay in the lower levels for a while so I can play with you.” The robot pressed down on you harder.

You looked down at the ground and gathered your strength. You were going to make one last-ditch effort. You weren’t going down like this. Quickly, you Slipped out from under the robot, lunging up. You grabbed Tera around the neck, squeezing as she grabbed your forearms. The robot tried to grab you again and again, but each time you Slipped away. Eventually the robot stopped and sat back to wait for the right opportunity. You brought Tera down to the ground, still choking her with your hands.

She glared and used her legs, pushing you off of her. You rolled away and both of you stood up, facing each other. Tera grinned, grabbing the short knife from her desk. “You wanna end it like this, huh?”

“Yes.” You picked up a slim vase. The two of you ran at each other and you managed to land the first blow, a hard hit to her sternum. Even though you knocked the wind out of her, she was able to grab your hair, pulling you in. She stabbed directly into your stomach and you hissed. You backed away with her knife still in your abdomen. You fell down to one knee, your vision wavering as you looked at the blood stain your clothes.

“Well, I guess this is how it ends. Not what I wanted, but it’s fine.” She walked closer and loomed over you.

Gathering the last of your strength, you pulled the knife from your body and lunged up. As you moved, you slashed into , taking the dictator by surprise. You pushed her back as blood flowed out of both of you. Her eyes were wide as she stepped back. She muttered a curse before falling to the ground. She didn’t move after that.

You fell to your knees, breathing heavily. You brought a hand to the wound on your stomach, closing your eyes against the pain there. Gunshots were blasting around you suddenly, but you couldn’t find the energy to care.

**

Jongup caught you just as you fell sideways. His own body was wracked with pain as he looked you over. It felt like death. “No, no, please, you have to stay with me.” He called out your name and held you tightly to his chest.

He felt you move one hand to touch his arm and he pulled away, looking into your eyes. They were dull. Too dull. “Jongup, weren’t you.. weren’t you going.. to..” You coughed, blood coming from your mouth. “to tell me s.. something..?” “I want to hear it. Please…”

Even your mental voice was weak and he fought to remember what the hell you were talking about. Then he found it, knowing what you wanted to hear. “I love you.” His eyes turned green as he repeated his words again and again, caressing your cheek. He kissed your lips lightly before resting his forehead against yours. “I love you, please don’t go, I need you…”

“I.. love you, too..” Suddenly a green spark visibly went off between you and your eyes went wide with surprise. Your pain was easing, still present, but much more tolerable. Your wounds stopped bleeding. It was like even the world around you froze. Jongup glanced around, looking you up and down with surprise. “Jongup, what are you-”

“You’re going to be okay. I’ve got you.” He told you, looking into your eyes as you suddenly felt incredibly tired. “Everything’s going to be okay.” His voice was the last thing you heard before everything went dark.

★☆★☆★☆