Yerin peeled off her bloody gloves after sealing her haul in a cooler bag, nose wrinkled with minor disgust. She hated making a mess, but some messes were inevitable, especially when she had a very short timeframe in which to remove the object before it exploded on her. 

Fortunately, the knife Bo-geun had gifted her was uncannily sharp. She had been surprised he let them keep their new toys, but then again, she hadn’t planned on returning them if she could help it. It was difficult coming by knives that were literally made for her, and despite the unwelcome memories linked to her training, she did enjoy wielding her favored weapons again. With her old employers already aware of her continued existence, she no longer had any need to disguise her usual habits. It wasn’t like she was a bad shot per se, but she was always a better hand with a blade. The old adage about not bringing a knife to a gunfight didn’t exactly apply to her, because she also had throwing knives specially made for range. Besides, most people didn’t realize she was there before she got the drop on them, so quiet was the way to go.

Case in point, her mark crumpled in a heap at her feet. She hadn’t wanted to kill him if she could help it, but she had been left with no choice after knocking him out and realizing that the briefcase he had been carrying was just a decoy. The real information was locked away in his head, and she had seen the likes of the headware he was packing. She didn’t have the tools or the skill to jack his brain for the data, so she had to compromise. It was fortunate she had prepared for this eventuality, hence the cooler bag. Putting it in deep freeze was the only way to make sure the package didn’t explode upon detecting the owner’s untimely demise. She barely had a minute between her mark expiring and detonation, but being handy with a knife came in useful here.

The victim had bled all over the floor, and it was a mess. Thoughtfully, Yerin dragged the headless corpse across the room and stuffed it in a locker, and she even had time to mop up quickly to erase the more obvious traces. The storage room was dusty, and with a little luck they wouldn’t even find the body until it began to rot. By then, she would be long gone, and the data she had been sent to retrieve would be in the hands of her employers.

Moving quickly and silently, she took a different route out, not wanting to risk the cleaner’s route a second time. Heights might not agree with her, but she was trained to rappel down a building. Besides, it was only ten floors up, she could deal with it. After the incident at Ulsan, she couldn’t quite say that she was finally over her fear of heights, but hanging off the side of a building over a hundred floors away from the ground tends to put things in perspective. Ten floors was really nothing in this case.

Checking her messages, Yerin pursed her lips as she plotted her next move. The drop off wasn’t too far away, and at this time of the evening, she wouldn’t have to worry about avoiding people in that area. Still, it paid to be careful, and she switched disguises with the ease of a professional. It felt odd to have been out and about in her old routine for the past few weeks without running into others like her, but perhaps the batch after her were a different breed. She had sensed Heechul’s subtle frustration when he mentioned what he had to work with, and was thus able to make a rough gauge of her own value to the organization at this point. If not for those hints, she wouldn’t have agreed to work with him at all. 

Did she trust Heechul? Not as much as she appeared to. He had been kind to her and her team before, but he was also a corp man through and through. Expecting loyalty from someone in management was a pipe dream. Yerin accepted that he would use her to his advantage, and was willing to take that gamble. On her own, she couldn’t fight the whole organization. Not even with the rest of the team, assuming that they would still help her after knowing who and what she used to be. Outside of Yuju, she trusted no one. They would never understand.

The package she carried weighed heavily on her. Murder might come easily to her, but she didn’t have the bloodthirst of a killer. It was always just a job, something that had to be done and washed away once it was over. She did enjoy the challenge of overcoming obstacles and if she were to be completely honest with herself, the thrill of the hunt when she was caught up in the moment, but that was as far as it went. There were colleagues she had who went a little too far off the deep end, and she shunned them for the monsters they had obviously become. It served as a reminder for her to always remember her humanity, and not just be reduced to an unthinking weapon in the hands of her masters, slavering for blood and violence. That line was thin, but it had to be drawn, and she was always mindful of it.

Hopping onto a bicycle she had hidden in an alley, Yerin pulled the cap she was wearing further over her eyes. The cooler bag was slung over her back, and she pedalled off, one more bike messenger in a city that never slept.

She had a delivery to make.

Umji tracked the positions of Eunha, Sowon and SinB distractedly even as the bulk of her attention was taken up by the puzzle before her. Her interest was piqued when she had been presented with a mystery to solve, and whoever had coded this had been an artisan at the craft. She had been at it for a week, and so far only made it past the first layer, with the complete key still several steps beyond her reach. 

Yerin had approached her with this some time back, and Umji had not expected it to be as complicated as it turned out to be. She would have liked to meet whoever made this, but as it turned out, the creator was already dead and gone, and this was all that remained of their legacy. Yerin had asked her only because there was no way she could have decoded it herself, and Umji was more than happy to help. It wasn’t every day that she got to fiddle with something this challenging, and she appreciated the mental workout.

Reaching out for her bottle, Umji at the straw futilely for a second or two before tilting the bottle all the way up to try and get at whatever moisture was left inside, but it was dry as a desert. The young hacker looked around, frowning. Was that her last bottle? A cursory glance around her desk confirmed her suspicions. 

How odd. She clearly remembered having several full bottles in the morning, and Sowon had dropped by before leaving earlier to make sure she still had hydration easily within reach. Umji might be a couch potato, but she never forgot to attend to her bodily needs while her mind was still jacked into the Matrix. It was basically reflex by now. She was very good at multitasking for a reason.

Well, this wouldn’t do at all. Gathering all her empty bottles into her arms, the petite hacker shouldered her door open and shuffled her way downstairs. She walked a little more quietly when she passed by Yerin’s room, aware that the couple were still in there, or at the very least, the location indicators from their watches were still inside. She was glad there weren’t any weird sounds coming from inside -- the walls were most definitely not soundproof, and Umji was sure she didn’t want to know the details of what her unnies were really up to behind closed doors. She might be a little curious, but not that curious.

The house felt a little empty with half of the team outside, but Umji was never truly alone while she was jacked into the Matrix. Even as she was making her way down the stairs, her mind was halfway occupied with the many tasks she had assigned herself, one of which was monitoring the status of Sowon and SinB, who had seen combat earlier. The watches she had given them monitored their pulse rate among other useful functions, and while it wasn’t quite as good as putting an implant in them, it was a way for her to keep an eye on them and monitor their readings from afar. 

She would have wanted to join them, but duty didn’t require that many people, and even Umji could sense that Sowon wanted to go out alone with SinB. She certainly wasn’t going to be a third wheel in that case, even though she was a little miffed that Sowon was spending more time with SinB lately. That was still her mom, and Umji couldn’t help but feel just a little neglected. She might want Sowon to be happy, but she also wanted the attention she used to have. That wasn’t too much to ask, was it?

Refilling her bottles didn’t take all that much time, but Umji figured she might as well grab a bite to eat since she was in the kitchen anyway. Drinking her daily dose of nutrition might be a good idea in theory, but it was nice to actually bite into something for once. With Sowon’s attention diverted, Umji had been skimping on proper meals without her mom nagging at her. Granted, the nutrition drinks she stocked in her room was a way to make sure she never actually starved, but it was still no substitute for real food.

With half a pizza slice hanging from , Umji wandered to the main hall while the rest of the leftovers were being heated up. The curtains by the balcony were moving restlessly thanks to the wind, and the room was definitely on the chilly side as a result. Someone must have left the sliding door open, because the wind shouldn’t have been a factor otherwise. Umji shivered, rubbing at her arms as she padded over in her fluffy slippers to slide the door shut.

Voices out on the balcony. It was barely distinct over the howling wind, and Umji almost missed it at first, too distracted by the cutting cold as she reached out with numb fingers to pull the door shut. The curtains were thin and gauzy, and it was dark outside, so she couldn’t see if anyone was out there to begin with.

But as she drew closer, she most definitely heard more than one voice, which gave her pause, even as she was still trembling from the cold night air. One was familiar, the deep lilt of Yuju’s resonant voice, always pleasant to the ear. The other was pitched higher, and seemed to be arguing with Yuju about something, though the wind made it difficult to hear specifics. It didn’t sound like Yerin though, and it made Umji curious as to who it was Yuju was talking to.

Umji stepped closer, squinting into the dark and trying to see what in the world Yuju was doing out on the balcony in the cold. Wasn’t she supposed to be afraid of heights? What would possess her to voluntarily go out onto the balcony anyway?

“...back, we could go get her!”

“I promised to wait and I will.” Yuju’s voice was low and a lot deeper than usual, and something in her tone made Umji hesitate, her hand resting on the edge of the glass door. A shudder ran down her spine, and it wasn’t from the cold for once.

Yuju was alone on the balcony, facing outwards with a thin blanket flapping around her shoulders. There was something oddly ethereal about her tonight, cloaked in white as her hair streamed freely in the wind. Her long legs were exposed to the chill night air, the shorts she was wearing barely halfway down her thighs, and she was barefoot on the dusty tile. It made Umji feel even colder just to look at her. What sane person went outside in three degree weather dressed like that? It was illogical, and Umji raised her voice to call out to the shaman.

“Unnie? Are you alright? It’s cold, you should come back inside.”

Umji didn’t think too much of the second voice. It could be a call put on speaker, and it would justify why Yuju went out on the balcony for a little privacy. The reasoning was a little thin, and Umji knew it, but coaxing the shaman back inside was priority. They had enough things to worry about without her falling sick on top of it.

Where was Yerin anyway? Umji didn’t think the specialist would let her girlfriend wander out like this, phone call or not. The location indicator hadn’t moved, but then again, Umji wouldn’t be surprised if Yerin hadn’t put the watch on. The specialist valued her privacy greatly, and Umji still hadn’t managed to plant any bugs in Yerin’s room. Not that she was actively trying to right now, considering that the couple deserved someprivacy, but even before that, she never had any luck with it.

Yuju didn’t react immediately to the sound of her voice, but inexplicably Umji felt like the temperature dropped a degree or two the moment she called out. Without thinking, she backed up instinctively, sensing danger for some reason. The moment came and went, and Yuju turned around halfway, revealing only half her face to be illuminated by the dim light of the single hall lamp located within the safety of the living room. Her side profile had long shadows drawn over the sharp edges of her cheekbones, and it was somehow eerie to look at.

“...Umji?” The shaman’s voice sounded confused and tired, and the lines on her face softened the moment she spoke. “It’s late.”

“Aren’t you cold?” Umji asked cautiously, and suddenly Yuju seemed to realize where she was, immediately stepping back from the railing as she retreated into the safety of the living room. From behind her, Umji stepped around the still pale shaman, pulling the sliding door close and shutting out the wind. The heater wasn’t on in the hall, so it was still cold where they stood. The young hacker shivered, looking at the unfazed Yuju. It must be nice to not fear the cold.

Yuju seemed more than a little distant and distracted, and the silence was almost awkward. Pursing her lips, Umji resolved to try and make conversation. 

“Yerin-unnie’s out?” Umji guessed boldly, watching Yuju’s face closely. The shaman’s face twitched, forming a small grimace, and Umji knew she had hit the mark.

“She said she’ll be back soon…” Yuju turned outwards, facing in an oddly specific direction, as if trying to reach over the distance to sense Yerin’s location. The shaman hung her head low after a moment, and Umji felt a pang of sympathy at the forlorn figure she cut in the moonlight.

“I’ve got leftovers heating up in the kitchen, you want some?” 

Her company might not be as good as Yerin’s, but Umji did want to spend some time with Yuju too. She missed talking to the creative mind that lay behind that seemingly passive exterior. Yuju had been closed off for months, and from what little she had managed to pry from Eunha, even they didn’t get to talk to her all that much. 

The invitation for food seemed to work, and a slow, tentative smile crept onto Yuju’s face as she looked up properly at Umji for the first time that night.

“I’d like that.”

“So why are we chasing shadows anyway?”

SinB couldn’t help but ask as the duo followed the blinking beacon Umji’s trace program set on their digital map. Sowon had longer legs, and she had to jog to keep up, even as they took more discreet routes to avoid running into civilians or patrols.

The tall mercenary had a grim expression on her face. Ever since the incident at Dr Park’s, Sowon had been making discreet enquiries with some technical assistance from Umji. However, there was very little she could dig up in the face of Tristar’s influence in the area. There weren’t even any hints regarding the person she fought with at the doctor’s office. It was as if such a person never existed, and even in a world where shadowrunners like them were out of the system, there were always traces to be found if one were diligent enough. 

She had been planning on making a call on Bo-geun soon if she could not unearth any other clues regarding the situation. The Spartans were long-time allies and business partners with Tristar, and Sowon couldn’t help but have her suspicions regarding their relationship. Running a paramilitary force costs money, and while it made sense for the Spartans to work with the big corps to maintain operations, Sowon had also spent the last twenty years living in the shadows cast by the megacorps. That made her naturally suspicious of anything the corps did, knowing the dark underbelly of their dealings as she did. 

Profit and power were the only motivating factors for them, and Sowon had seen some real evil being wrought in the pursuit of those aims during her time. While she had never been noble enough to intervene in the status quo, part of her could never truly agree with the kind of folk who willingly went along with those schemes to enrich themselves. Even as a runner, she avoided jobs that were obviously unethical, even if they paid less. 

The term ‘corporate scum’ was an insult thrown about among their circles, and for good reason. Mercenaries like them were hardly goodpeople, but they were all just trying to make a living in a system that marginalized and disadvantaged them by virtue of their birth and circumstances. If you didn’t have money or connections, the best life you could hope for was to maybe work your way up to wage slave status - not a full employee-citizen, but contract staff that could be let go on a whim, with remuneration just barely enough to feed yourself, and sometimes not even that. 

It came as no surprise that many turned to crime, joining local gangs for protection and solidarity. The luckier, more talented ones sometimes even managed to survive long enough to establish themselves as full runners, people who learned to game the cracks in the system. Most, however, weren’t so fortunate. Too many left dead and crippled, lost to substance abuse and broken dreams. Incheon was a beautiful city on the surface, but it was built on the bones of the poor and unlamented. It was just too bad that no one actually seemed to care.

“Someone came after me last week. This is the first time I’ve seen them reappear again, and I’ve been looking for them this entire time.” 

SinB looked surprised. “Umji can’t trace them either?”

Sowon nodded. “They’re like ghosts. Even people like us can be found eventually, just needs time and pushing on the right sources. But the boy who attacked me just didn’t exist anywhere, even though I got Umji to review the footage.” She tapped her mechanical eye, lips thinning into a tight line.

“And you’re sure these people are the same?” SinB sounded justifiably skeptical, and Sowon inclined her head briefly.

“I wasn’t sure until I got to fight that girl just now. They definitely had the same type of training, their fighting style is very distinct.” Sowon couldn’t quite shake the feeling that it felt familiar somehow, like she had encountered something like it before. It had been niggling at her this entire time, and she had an uncomfortable feeling that she was missing something important.

“Well since they’ve been so nice to show up, I guess we should follow and teach them a lesson.” SinB scowled at the thought that Sowon had been targeted, then something hit her, and she glared at the taller woman.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

Sowon had the decency to look slightly sheepish. “I was going to once I’d figured out where they were and what they wanted.” She hesitated. “I didn’t want you to worry for nothing.”

“This isn’t nothing. ” SinB looked annoyed, grabbing at Sowon’s elbow to make her stop. The two of them halted in a deserted alley, and the gunslinger folded her arms crossly.

“I know you think I’m a kid or something, but you don’t have to protect me from this sort of crap, alright? I can take care of myself...and I want to take care of you too.” 

The last words were almost muttered under her breath, but Sowon caught it anyway, and a warm feeling took root in her chest. It was nicehaving someone concerned for her for once, and Sowon pulled SinB in for a quick hug, surprising the younger.

“Thank you… I’ll remember that.” Sowon said simply, and SinB beamed. The older woman tapped her on the forehead, a briefly worried look crossing her face.

“Don’t get cocky. I can’t be a hundred percent sure yet, but I think these kids are linked to Tristar. It’s going to be dangerous, and…”

SinB held up a hand to cut her off. 

“Spare me the doom and gloom. Anyone who s with one of us s with all of us. I’ve got your back, and I’m sure Eunha does too. Don’t worry about it.” SinB smirked.

“Besides, we went up against a whole freakin’ cult and fought a dragon man! Ain’t nothing to scare us anymore. If things get really bad, I suppose we could sic Yuju on them too.”

Sowon chuckled, cuffing SinB lightly and hooking an arm around her neck, giving the protesting gunslinger a quick noogie before releasing her. SinB grumbled briefly, trying to smooth her hair out, but Sowon was already beginning to move again.

“Come on slowpoke, we don’t want to lose the signal.”

“Coming!”

It felt like a trap, and if nothing else, Yerin trusted her instincts. She took her time, circling the outskirts of the indicated drop off point, carefully combing every inch of the outer area to familiarize herself with potential escape routes as well as poking around for possible ambushes.

Previous drop points were always in open yet discreet areas, easy for her to dump whatever she was holding and move on with the least amount of suspicion. It was standard operating procedure, and anything deviating from that was automatically suspicious to her. This was a derelict warehouse, on the outskirts of the corporate district and bordering on the coastline. It was unusual for the drop to be so far away from normal routes, and the whole place reeked of an ambush waiting to happen. 

Paranoia came easily to a spy, and Yerin had the instincts of someone long used to being on the run. She hadn’t spent three whole years right under her previous employers’ noses and remained free for no good reason. It had just been a combination of bad luck and terrible timing that she had even appeared back on their radar again. 

Yerin sighed. Three circuits around the area had yielded nothing overtly suspicious, but still she was cautious. She had promised Yuju she would return home later, and she did sort of want to keep that promise. Her plans were still progressing as intended, but certain risks still had to be taken. It was dangerous dealing with the devil, but what other choice did Yerin have?

No risk, no gain. Yerin discarded her most recent disguise, going in light with just her package and a few hidden weapons. She wore utilitarian dark greys that adhered to the shadows, allowing her to slip almost invisibly from corner to corner, taking a circuitous route as she took note of the interior of the warehouse. Night vision goggles hid the better part of her face, allowing her to see in near darkness as she progressed deeper. 

The inner office was further in, isolated from the abandoned stacks caked with grime. Her passage barely disturbed the air, but for the miniscule puffs of fine dust where she placed her feet. Chitters from local rats interspersed the otherwise deathly silence, and Yerin herself was little more than yet another shifting shadow in that unlit space. 

The instructions were to leave the package in the locker of the inner office, and Yerin compulsively checked all around the area again, determining that there was only one door leading into the office. A nonstandard exit would be the glass fronting one side of the room, but she would put that on reserve until necessary. Her options thus mapped out, Yerin exhaled silently as she twisted the knob of the door. She was fully on edge tonight, and it was making her more than a little jumpy. 

The door creaked open loudly on rusty hinges, grating in the relative silence. It made Yerin wince, her eyes darting around nervously to check if it drew any sort of attention, yet also knowing that the only person in the warehouse was her, which meant no one else was around to hear it. As far as she was aware of anyway. She could never be a hundred percent sure of anything. A healthy sense of paranoia had kept her alive so far, and hers was honed to a razor edge. 

It was an ordinary office for all intents and purposes, with dust caking unattended surfaces as it did outside. Yerin held her breath on entry, not wanting to choke on the chalky air that would surely be locked within such an enclosed space. It was a few moments later before she switched to slowly breathing in shallowly through , stalking carefully to the target locker. The air was not quite as musty as she had feared, and she was about two steps away from the locker when she realized what was wrong.

The air wasn't stale. Before the rest of her brain caught up, Yerin's body was already moving, backing up rapidly as she drew her knives. A slow clapping sound made her tense, and she caught multiple movements all around her outside from the corner of her eye. She was trapped. There was an ambush after all. She should have known. 

"Now now Yennie, I don't mean any harm. It's just been a while since I last saw you, you know?" 

Yerin scowled at the affable looking Heechul, who had his most urbane smile plastered on as he emerged from the shadows of the office. The lights came on as he did, and the imaging sensor on Yerin's goggles automatically polarized to adjust to the influx of light, making her squint at the sudden shift. 

"I see you brought backup this time." It was a flat observation, the assassin's lips pressed into a thin line as she straightened, her weapons still handy. Her posture was seemingly relaxed, but someone who knew her well would notice that she was poised perfectly to either run or fight at a moment's notice. And Heechul was definitely one to notice. 

"I said I could only buy you so much time, my dear. You know what the options are. It's time to come home. I've given you more than enough time, and you know it." 

The man's shoulders dipped as he moved forward again, extending one hand out to her. It hung in midair, like a poisoned chalice held out in temptation. Yerin stared at it, fixated, even as her heart rate tripled in a second. A bead of sweat ran down from her hairline and past her cheek, slicking off the curve of her jaw to drip invisibly into the dark fabric of her clothes. 

Heechul was saying something else, and it felt like something was squeezing her head from within, her vision narrowing into mere pinpricks, not unlike the distant view of light from the far end of a tunnel. Yerin bit the inside of her cheek, willing herself to stay focused, even as she shifted her grip on her knife. 

Yuju… Yerin breathed, struggling to hold onto that distant image. She could almost feel her puppy, as if the shaman were right there with her. She reached out, trying to make contact, but it faded like mere illusion, all too fragile and easily shattered by the much stronger hold her old handler had over her. 

Distantly, there were sounds of a scuffle, shots ringing out in the night. Yerin shook her head, biting so hard on her lip as to draw blood. One hand reached up to tear off the goggles from her face as a suffocating weight bore down, her breaths stuttering in short, labored gasps. The item clattered to the ground, forgotten, even as the nails of her hand dug into her temples, palm shading over her tightly shuttered eyes. 

I'm so sorry… 

“It stops here?”

Sowon eyed the derelict warehouse by the waterfront, a niggling suspicion rising within her. Umji’s voice crackled over her earpiece in the affirmative, taking the opportunity to update them about Eunha’s ETA. The fire mage was about ten, maybe fifteen minutes away at most, and it was reassuring to know that they had substantial firepower incoming should the need for it arise.

SinB had scaled her way up a nearby waterpipe to get a better vantage point from the neighbouring building where they were, two blocks down from the warehouse. Sowon waited at the corner of the same building, peering grimly around for any signs of activity.

The gunslinger dropped back down to ground level like a cat, landing softly on her feet behind Sowon. The ex-soldier turned, a wordless question in her eyes. SinB shook her head.

“Seems quiet, this area’s pretty rundown for something still on corp land. It’s pretty far from the main hubs anyway.”

“I’ll go in first, you hang back a bit and circle around from the other side. I want to check this place out.” Sowon’s instructions came quickly, and SinB looked confused.

“We’re not waiting for Eunha?” 

Sowon shook her head. Something within her was telling her not to waste time, and the old soldier trusted her instincts. There was something decidedly eerie about their intended destination, which logically should have warranted more caution, but Sowon was also confident of her ability to fight through a small army now that she was in top condition. With Eunha mere minutes behind them, they could also easily hold their ground for that long if trouble decided to find them. 

“She’ll catch up. Let’s go in first, you know the drill.”

SinB cracked her knuckles in anticipation, nodding sharply before disappearing into the night. Sowon snorted quietly, breaking into a quick jog as she went straight in through the front. Out of habit, she had her rifle drawn and ready, alert for danger. 

“There’s a light further in.” SinB’s voice whispered through the comms, and Sowon glanced at her watch to check where the gunslinger was relative to her position. She acknowledged the warning, her mechanical eye scanning the area as she made her way in, SinB approaching from the far side. 

Movement, and it was bigger than a rat. Sowon ducked on instinct, taking cover behind a pile of broken down crates. Just in time for a spray of gunfire over her head where she used to be standing, and Sowon bit back a curse. SinB was less restrained, swearing loudly over the comms. Sowon growled as she returned fire, but the shadows were elusive in the dark.

SinB was having slightly better luck, having taken the stairs to the rickety walkways suspended above the main floor. She leapt onto one of the still standing shelves looming in the darkness when the shooting began, hopping from stack to stack like a hunting panther, her eyes beginning to glow in the dark as she started picking off anyone she found from above. She had taken out at least three before the enemy realized what she was doing, and she had to abandon her position, jumping down among the stacks to get more cover. 

Less than five minutes of fast paced combat, and both Sowon and SinB had managed to push the unseen enemy inwards, despite being outnumbered. The light from the warehouse office was within sight now, with two figures outlined in the window. One looked awfully familiar, and Sowon couldn’t help but take a second look while exchanging fire with the remaining enemy. A stray bullet shattered the window, forcing the obviously male figure to duck, though the other familiar figure remained standing, clutching her head. The return spray of gunfire shot out the only light in the office, plunging them all into darkness.

Sowon’s mechanical eye switched immediately to thermal image enhancement, so there was little difference for her. Their opponents appeared to have no fear of the dark either, and neither did SinB, though her glowing eyes made her appear like a vengeful wraith for all that it enabled her to see.

The combat had slowed down, and there weren’t that many of the enemy left. SinB broke the stalemate with a flash of movement that made her little more than a blur, flanking the enemy position in the blink of an eye. While Sowon kept them pinned from the front, she picked off two more with well placed shots, and was about to finish off the last one when someone else yanked the hapless target out of the way. 

Shots pinged off cold concrete, and suddenly the overhead lamps came on without warning, flooding the warehouse floor with a glaring light. SinB blinked rapidly, blinded by the sudden change in luminescence, her eyes unable to adjust as quickly. 

"Look out!" 

Sowon's voice, almost shrill with panic. SinB backed up when a human shaped shadow came into her field of vision, but she was still disoriented and ran into an obstacle behind her. It was followed by a searing pain in her shoulder, and her vision equalized from the sudden shock, blurring into painful clarity as she took in the familiar presence with its bloodshot eyes

"You...?" 

Eunha started running the moment she heard the distant sound of shots upon entering the district, the sound distinct in the crisp night air. She was nowhere near as fit as the physical fighters on the team, but with SinB’s efforts to try to get her to exercise every once in a while, at least she wasn't completely out of shape. 

Still, she was almost too late for the bulk of the fight, and when the source of the commotion suddenly flared into full illumination, the mage pushed herself forward faster despite starting to pant from her exertion. 

And the first thing she saw was her best friend getting stabbed in the shoulder by one Jung Yerin, who looked completely different from her usual self, though Eunha's magical sight still managed to identify her instantly. 

As if sensing her entry on the scene, Yerin looked up past SinB’s shoulder, eyes wild and streaked with pulsing red lines, like a rabid beast caught mid-feast. Their gazes met, and Eunha thought she saw something flicker in the assassin’s eyes, but the moment was lost as Yerin abruptly pushed away from SinB, abandoning the knife she left plunged into the gunslinger’s left shoulder. The assassin ducked the grab Sowon made at her from behind, twisting around and flipping out of the way, using the furious leader as a convenient springboard to put distance between them. 

Yerin landed in a crouch, springing easily to her feet even as she was joined by the last remaining black-clad operative and an almost nonchalant Heechul, who had his hands stuffed in his pockets as he drew level with the assassin, standing side by side with her.

“Well done, you managed to save one of your juniors. Pity about the rest though.” 

Heechul glanced around at the corpses of the unit he had borrowed for this operation. An unfortunate cost, but at least he had achieved his objective. Sowon was supporting SinB, and Eunha had come forward to shield them in a protective stance, fire already starting to gather at her fingertips. All three of the girls were staring directly at Yerin, who was breathing heavily, her head down and avoiding their accusatory gazes.

“Now now, ladies. No need to get hostile. You’ve murdered my people for no good reason, but I’m willing to let it slide.” Heechul interrupted smoothly, placing a hand on Yerin’s shoulder and signalling the assassin to back down. Eunha’s eyes widened as Yerin obeyed him without question, still mute and unresponsive.

“What have you done to Yerin?” Sowon snapped, glaring suspiciously at the calmly confident Heechul. The corporate man held up a hand, waving a finger in quiet disagreement.

“Done to her? This is who she really is, I only came to bring her back to where she belongs.” He paused, nodding politely at the girls. “I must thank you for taking such good care of her though. It would have been a pity to lose one of our best operatives otherwise.”

Sowon ground her teeth together, mind whirling as she put together the pieces she had so far. It was why the operatives she had fought before felt oddly familiar; Yerin’s fighting style bore the same distinct imprint, a sign of similar training. Yerin’s secretiveness, her familiarity with corp laws and politics, suddenly it all made sense. She was corp trained and one of them, and if these people were Tristar…it threw into question everything Yerin had stayed with them for. She wanted to believe, but she couldn’t be sure of anything right now. Next to her, SinB finally moved, raising her head to glare at Heechul.

“I don’t believe you, asshat,” SinB panted out, pale from the pain but no less stubborn. Her eyes were fixed on the shadow of Yerin’s figure behind Heechul, jaw tightly drawn as she bit out.

“Is this what you really want, Yerin? If that is forcing you, we’ll wipe him off the face of the earth.” The gunslinger in a breath, blinking to keep the spots out of her eyes. The blade that had penetrated her armor so easily was of course the special one Bo-geun had gifted Yerin, and none of them dared to remove it right now for fear of making the wound worse.

“Yuju’s waiting for you too.” Eunha added quietly, flames dancing in her irises from suppressed emotion. She might have a certain self interest if Yerin’s apparent betrayal was true, but she refused to take unfair advantage of the moment. For one, it would hurt Yuju deeply if this were real, and Eunha cared about the pup’s feelings. Since the girl had chosen Yerin, she was willing to step aside, no matter how much it hurts, as long as Yuju was happy.

But if Yerin did turn traitor, she would not hesitate to step in to teach the assassin a lesson. No one got away with hurting someone she cared for, and she was already pissed off that SinB got stabbed. Eunha worried at her lip, also waiting for Yerin’s response.

“How sweet, you were always such a charmer even back in the day. Look at how all your friends are willing to give you a second chance.” Heechul commented offhandedly to Yerin, who tensed at his words. The corporate man smiled, gesturing Yerin forward.

“Come now, do tell them your choice. They won’t give up until you do, and we don’t want to hurt them, do we?” There was a subtle threat in his words, and Yerin flicked a glance at him in response, her face an impassive mask.

“You and whose army?” SinB scoffed, still brash despite being wounded. Then again, with Eunha on their side and still fresh, nothing short of an army was going to stop them, so her confidence may have been warranted. Heechul looked amused at her bravado, looking expectantly at Yerin as she stepped forward, head still bowed. Her steps were heavy on the dusty concrete, her fists clenched tightly before she relaxed them, finally raising her head to meet the gaze of her former team.

Yerin’s face was an unrecognizable shroud, her eyes still bloodshot and unreadable. She raised her chin, opening after a long moment of tense silence.

“I’m not going back.”

SinB stared disbelievingly at her, as she did Sowon. Eunha tried to catch Yerin’s gaze, but the assassin was standing ramrod straight and facing ahead with a blank stare, angled to prevent the mage from getting a good look into her eyes. Heechul smirked, clapping approvingly.

“Good girl, I knew you would come around.” He turned to face the shocked trio.

“I won’t pursue the matter of your unwarranted attack. Tristar holds no grudge for this, and I look forward to working with you fine ladies someday should the opportunity ever arise.” He made a gesture, and the remaining operative tossed a smokescreen, obscuring them from view as the Tristar trio made a hasty exit before the runners changed their mind about attacking them.

All of it had happened within a span of less than twenty minutes, starting from when Sowon and SinB had engaged the then unidentified hostiles, and none of them had quite processed the speed at which things had changed. Especially not Eunha, who only showed up towards the last five minutes or so, and all of them were still shaken by what had just happened.

“Did Yerin really just…” Eunha still sounded disbelieving, waving away the smoke that made her cough even as she scanned the area for any remaining threats. But they were left all alone in that empty warehouse, and Sowon grunted noncommittally in response, lifting a protesting SinB into her arms after putting her rifle away.

“I don’t know what’s really going on, and she never harmed us before. I’ve said this before, and it applies to all of you, but she always had the choice to leave.” Sowon paused, considering the possibilities. Yerin knew too much about all of them, and if her loyalties were truly with Tristar, it would put them all at risk. She wanted to give the woman the benefit of the doubt, but she couldn’t risk the safety of her team. They needed to move, and quickly.

“.” SinB cursed under her breath. She had considered Yerin a friend, and the betrayal hurt, even more than the knife the assassin had stuck in her shoulder. She had wanted to believe it a ruse, that Yerin was just faking it, because the woman could have just as easily placed the blade through her heart. SinB had sparred with her before, and Yerin didn’t miss, not like this. She could have been killed, but Yerin had spared her for some reason. SinB wanted to believe, but the facts were making it difficult for her to reason her way out of this.

Eunha escorted them back out, and all three of them were grim even as they bundled back into a rental vehicle, Sowon taking the wheel as Eunha took over the care of SinB, who grumbled about being perfectly able to walk since the only part of her injured was the shoulder. On the other side, Umji had the comms channel open the entire time, meaning that she too had managed to listen in on at least part of the exchange earlier, and thus had an idea what had taken place, even while she had been safe at home with the last member of their team.

Retreating into the privacy of her own room, the young hacker finally spoke up while the others were safely on their way back, putting a voice to the unspoken worry all of them had.

“What are we going to tell Yuju?”

Spending time with Umji again felt nice, even if the hacker was twitchy and half distracted by whatever other thing she was managing at the same time, but that was normal behavior for the younger girl. Yuju didn’t mind, and the pair chatted amiably over a late supper. By mutual agreement, they abandoned the dishes to the automatic washer, and Umji even invited Yuju to come look at her newest toy in her room afterwards.

Yuju declined, feeling a creeping weariness catch up with her. Umji looked disappointed, but didn’t press the issue. The shaman did walk her back to her room though, helping to carry half of the refilled bottles the younger had prepared. As Umji disappeared back into her room, Yuju felt a little lost, her attention drifting off into the distance.

As always, she thought of Yerin, could almost feel the assassin’s touch on her skin from earlier, a reminder of the intimate connection between them. The shaman wandered, letting her feet carry her restlessly around the rest of the house. Distantly, she could sense Yerin’s presence, rising like a beacon over an ocean of living souls. 

It was not quite the same as having the woman right next to her, but Yuju learned to make do. She understood that Yerin had things to do, knew that her own condition made her unfit to be of much help right now. Yuju clenched a fist, grinding her teeth together as she recalled how Umji found her earlier. She had no memory of wandering out onto the balcony, but at least this time the blackout was brief? It was frustrating, knowing that something was wrong, but without being able to figure out exactly what was wrong. 

Yet, despite it being deeply unnerving, there was a growing sensation that felt almost familiar, as if she should have known what this was. But that same familiarity also echoed back to the early days when she had been wandering in the wasteland without any aim, just trying to survive from day to day. Just thinking about it left her with a sense of painful melancholy, the dissonance separating her from the sense of self she had struggled so hard to find.

Remember. Bloody images flashed across her mind, jagged shards of broken memory that brought forth an instinctive gag reflex, and Yuju held out an arm, using the wall as support as she tried to regulate her breathing. She felt parched, as if her insides were being strung out and left to dry under a burning sun. The accompanying weakness made her knees tremble, and almost involuntarily her sight shifted onto the magical plane, the glowing outlines of living souls shining like torches in a radius all around her. 

No. Yuju forced back the gnawing hunger, and a wave of dizzy exhaustion hit her, making her sway on her feet. Unbeknownst to her, her eyes had gone red, emitting an almost eerie glow in the dark. Red eyes blinked shut for a few seconds, then refocused, jerking her body back up as her head snapped over to face one direction, as if responding to a clarion call. 

Yerin!  

She was too far away. Yuju fell to her knees, fighting back nausea and the trembling rage that was building rapidly. No one touched what was hers. Knuckles turned white from strain as her fists clenched together even more tightly, nails digging deep into her palms in an attempt to use the pain to stay focused. Yerin needed her.

Fury alone was not enough though, not with her body in the state it was now. She wanted to get up, move, bring Yerin back to safety, but already her vision was starting to haze over. Stubbornly, Yuju pushed forward, crawling on her hands and knees, but it was just too much. She collapsed, a distant voice echoing from within the last thing she would remember that night.

I’m so sorry…