They didn't answer his questions, but he hadn't expected them to. Provoking them would be considered unwise, but nothing that they could do to him would be worse than the things he had already been through. Besides, it was important to keep making use of his voice aside from answering questions. He had also tried to keep himself physically fit in the beginning, but the never-ending cycle of torture and exhausted sleep had prevented him from exercising more than one or two times. Now, everything that required the least bit of effort seemed terribly hard to accomplish.

Even walking was hard. The soldiers needed to support him and he could clearly hear them cursing. He didn't know whether they were cursing him or their superior for giving them this task, and he didn't care. He hadn't seen the Patrol since... since the day it had happened. Where were they bringing him?

Their trip felt endlessly long. Finally, they arrived at what looked like the prison. Where there had been dark rooms, laboratories with walls of glass and machines he didn't understand, there were now small cells, separated by walls or metallic bars.

They stopped in front of one of the cells. It was bigger than most of the ones he had seen, and there were a few undefinable piles of clothing laying around.

One of the soldiers pulled out a small, plain white card which he held in front of the lock. With a clicking sound, the door opened.

They tossed Junmyeon into the cell without any comment, not caring when he stumbled and fell down. They pulled the door back again, and it closed with another click. Talking among themselves, their steps became more and more faint, until the sound disappeared.

Feeling slightly lightheaded, limbs still aching, he looked around the cell. It was only lighted by a small, faint bulb in the corridor which made it hard for him to take in his surroundings.

When one of the piles moved, Junmyeon screamed.

"Hyung? Is that you?" the pile next to him asked hopefully. He knew this voice.

"Sehun?" Junmyeon couldn't believe it.

"It's you!" His best friend threw himself at Junmyeon, hugging him tightly.

Junmyeon flinched away. No, this was Sehun, his best friend. He wouldn’t hurt him. Slowly, he raised his arms and hugged him back.

"How can you tell it's him when all he did was scream?" That was undoubtedly Luhan's voice. It came from a place at the end of the cell. Junmyeon could only make out a dark figure, pressed tightly against the wall.

"How easily can you startle him then?" Jongin's curious voice joined them.

Junmyeon was so happy to hear their voices again that he nearly started crying. He had been convinced he would never see them again.

He grabbed Sehun's shoulders tighter and never wanted to let him go again, fearing the soldiers might come and take him back again.

"How many of us are here?" he asked when he finally let go of his best friend.

"Chanyeol, Yifan, Jongdae, Yixing and Baekhyun are still missing," Minseok reported. "Luhan was brought here only... well, a few hours ago, I guess, and I was the first one here."

Junmyeon nearly didn't dare to ask the next question. "Your powers..."

Minseok held out his wrist. Junmyeon could only make out a faint, metallic shimmer, but it was undoubtedly the same thing he had around his own arm.

His gaze wandered towards Luhan. Losing their powers was terrible for everyone, but for this guy... He had been using his powers constantly to make daily life easier. While he had been able to live without them for most of his life, of course, he had gotten used to them. His powers had enabled him to sense far more than anyone else ever could. He didn't want to imagine how it felt to have something like that taken away from him.

"Do all of us the favour and stop thinking about stuff that doesn't concern you," snapped Luhan.

Junmyeon winced. "How can you read my thoughts if you lost your power?"

"Well, I didn't lose my other senses, neither did I lose my memories. Your sympathetic gaze is literally burning through me."

Junmyeon lowered his gaze with guilt. He knew Luhan hated pity like nothing else. He just couldn't help it sometimes.

"You should try to get some sleep," Kyungsoo advised him. "We don't know what they are planning to do, but no one has been dragged out for torture since we got here. Please try to rest a little."

Feeling a bit reassured by Kyungsoo's words, Junmyeon laid down, using his arm as a pillow. Sehun used his chance to cuddle with him like how they had used to sleep when they had been at least ten years younger. He tried to follow Kyungsoo's advice, but even though he felt the closest to happiness since what seemed like ages, he couldn't help blaming their pitiful state on himself. All of this was his fault. And he would never forgive himself for that.

 

After some time had passed, there were steps on the corridor again. Even though no one had been taken with the soldiers up to now, everyone pressed themselves deeper into the shadows. When they came into sight, Junmyeon could make out a limp figure the two soldiers were dragging along between them. They opened the cell, threw the person in and left.

Kyungsoo was the first to crawl towards the person when he wasn't moving. He turned him around and shook him slightly.

"Baekhyun. Baekhyun!"

His whispered shout made the other guy move. He murmured something Junmyeon didn't understand.

"Yes, it's me. Kyungsoo. Most of the others are here, too."

With Kyungsoo's help, Baekhyun managed to sit up. This was the first time Junmyeon got a proper view on his face.

His breath hitched. The area around his left eye was completely black, his face was covered in scratches and bruises.

"What did they do to you?"

Baekhyun met Kyungsoo's concerned gaze. He smirked. "I guess I didn't give in as quickly as they had hoped."

"But you knew that you would, in the end." If the situation weren't this serious, Junmyeon would have felt embarrassed for sounding like a scolding mother. "What did you get from that?"

Baekhyun didn't know how to answer. He turned towards Kyungsoo again. "Did you say 'most of us'? Who is missing?"

"Chanyeol, Yifan, Yixing and Jongdae," Sehun answered.

"Of course they would take their time with Jongdae," Baekhyun mumbled.

Junmyeon frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Just look around yourself. Electricity must be one of the most interesting powers for them. Aside from the fact that they must have already thought about how to use him as a power source, too."

"But that wouldn't work," Tao claimed hopefully. When there was no answer, his eyes widened in terror. "Would it?"

Baekhyun shrugged and winced immediately. "That doesn't mean they won't try it." he answered with clenched teeth.

Yifan was the next to arrive. He looked even worse than Baekhyun, but they hadn't expected it to be any different. He wasn't one to give in easily. Now, however, he barely talked, every hint of his fighting spirit gone. He also took over all of the shifts they were spending with Tao whenever he would start crying or panicking.

It took long for Chanyeol, Yixing and Jongdae to join them. They didn't dare to bring up the possibility that they hadn't survived the torture. But, as cruel as these people were, Junmyeon didn't believe that. If Tao had made it, they would, too. He had to believe that. Aside from that, he was sure that fire, lightning and healing powers were the ones the Red Force might want to do the most research on. But with every second that passed, Junmyeon was more and more worried about the state they would be in, even if they survived.

Jongdae was conscious when they brought him. His walking was insecure, but at least the soldiers didn't have to drag him over the ground. As soon as they had disappeared, Jongdae crawled towards Junmyeon.

Without losing a single word, Jongdae gave him a mischievous grin and stretched out his hands. Junmyeon could only stare at him in confusion. What was he planning to do?

Still grinning, Jongdae grabbed Junmyeon's wrist and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, the metallic thing around his wrist clicked.

He could only stare at Jongdae in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

"They were so eager to get to know my power that they accidentally managed to teach me a lot. For example, that these things restricting our powers work with some kind of electricity."

Junmyeon felt as if someone had hit him in the head. Did that mean...

"I deactivated this by accident after a research session. They haven’t noticed anything so far. I still don't really know how they monitor these things, so I can't disable all of them at once. And let's not forget that we're definitely not in the state to fight, so don't get your hopes up." He had become serious at once, his eyes meeting Junmyeon's. "But technically, you're able to use your power again. Don't do it, though, they might be able to sense that with something, too. We're lucky I only need a tiny amount of energy for this."

While he informed the others, Junmyeon stayed where he was. Could this be real? He looked at his wrist. The metal piece didn't look any different than before. How long would it take for Jongdae to get all of them free of these things?

This time, when he heard steps coming towards them, he even dared to be hopeful. Maybe this would mean the end of the torture for their two missing friends.

But when he could finally see the advancing people, there were more than he had expected. At least ten soldiers were there, and they had more than two people with them.

They were thrown into the cell next to them. Junmyeon counted seven people. One of the Patrol members stayed in front of the cells.

After a short while, the new guys seemed to recover. They had to be around their age or a bit younger. One of the guys threw a glance towards them, then froze and his eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.

"Hyung?" His voice trembled and he blinked a few times, as if not believing what he was seeing.

Junmyeon frowned and looked at the others.

Upon hearing the boy's voice, Baekhyun's head shot up. He stared at the stranger.

"Tae?" His voice was filled with disbelief and he crawled towards the bars that separated them. "Taehyung? Is that you?"

The other guy smiled widely and wanted to answer, but the soldier hit against the bars from outside, making them clank loudly.

"You’re not allowed to speak to each other," was everything he said.

Out of fear of the consequences, both of the boys went back to their places. But it wasn't hard to see the relief that spread over their faces.

"Is that your brother?" Junmyeon asked as quietly as he could. Baekhyun only nodded.

His face was soon clouded with sorrow again. It was obvious what he was thinking about. These boys were in a state similar to theirs. It wasn't unlikely that they had gone through similar procedures, even though Junmyeon wasn't sure, why. The tree hadn't told them about any other people with powers. Yixing's father had gotten his long ago, but it made no sense for people their age to have powers as well.

He looked at the strangers again. If only they could talk to each other... He exchanged looks with the others and knew they were thinking the same. Yifan only nodded as if he already had a plan.

For a long time, though, nothing happened. Finally, the Patrol returned.

It was Yixing whom they brought this time. Contrary to Baekhyun and Yifan, his face wasn't bruised. But from what Junmyeon saw through the bars, the bags under his eyes were even worse than Tao's, and he seemed to be unconscious.

Yifan moved a bit. He seemed tense; his eyes were fixed to the soldiers. What was he planning to do? He caught Junmyeon’s gaze and nodded.

And he understood. He smiled and nodded back. Yifan was buying them time.

When the soldiers opened the door to throw in Yixing, the tall guy shot up and out of the cell. He was so quick that the soldiers were completely stupefied for a few moments. Then, they started shouting and moving. One of them pressed a button at the side of the cell and they could hear Yifan screaming. But it obviously wasn't enough. They closed the cell and hurriedly disappeared in the direction Yifan had fled to. There was no one left.

Junmyeon gave Baekhyun a sign. They moved towards the bars that separated them from the other guys.

The strangers understood immediately. They guy Baekhyun had called Taehyung, and another guy crouched down at the other side of the bars.

"Your friend is crazy," the stranger said, while they were both watching Baekhyun and his brother talk with hushed voices.

"He's not someone to give up easily," Junmyeon admitted. He looked at the stranger. "I'm Kim Junmyeon."

The stranger smiled. "Our last names are the same. I'm Kim Namjoon, nice to meet you."

Junmyeon couldn’t lose time. He had no clue when they would come back.

"Look. I don't know how much you know, but they took us because of our powers-"

"- That they want us to develop as well."

Stupefied, he stared at Namjoon. Was that what the experiments were for? Figuring out how the powers worked, to create them on their own?

"I don't suppose you came here voluntarily." He had to bite back his sarcasm. No one would come here on their own.

Namjoon chuckled bitterly. "It didn't work, that's why they gave up on us. I don't know what they're planning to do now."

"Don't lose hope yet." Junmyeon kept looking at the point where the soldiers had disappeared. "One of us can disable the things that restrain our powers. We could try to flee."

Namjoon showed him his own wrist. He had one of these things as well.

"They use them for electric shocks as well. I guess that's what your friend is going through at the moment. Do you think this guy can take disable ours, too?"

Junmyeon noticed the suppressed hope in Namjoon's words. They were complete strangers, after all. The more of them tried to flee, the riskier would it be.

"He can't deactivate all of them at once. Tell your friends to come here one after the other. It will take time and we have to be careful. If the soldiers notice it, they will separate us or take us back. And if there is a chance to run, we need to take it."

Namjoon nodded. "I understand. I'll tell the others about it. You can count on us."

Junmyeon gave him a relieved smile which he returned. Baekhyun had already returned to his place and Junmyeon quickly crawled back as well.

He was back just in time. The soldiers dragged an unconscious Yifan behind them and pushed him back into the cell harshly. His head landed on the ground and he didn't budge.

"The next one to try something like that," one of the soldiers warned them, looking at both of the cells, "is dead."

No one answered and all of the soldiers left, except for one who stood in front of the cells again.