Title: drenched, drownded

pg-13, adventure, hurt/comfort
(MAMA!AU) After a mission on earth gone horribly wrong, EXO-K is missing and feared dead. EXO-M is tasked with the impossible; to bring the 12 back together and come out of Earth alive. What makes it worse - EXO-K's powers are now corrupted, and they would stop at nothing to kill EXO-M. 

Tears I shed on a narrow driveway

Tears I shed without anyone seeing

I try not to become weak

-Leessang, Tears

Chapter 6

Weak.

The unnatural water forced into the rusted showerhead was scalding. A white mist from the quickly evaporated water fogged the dark room, in a corner of the abandoned warehouse where the shower room seemingly was. A lonely boy sat in the russet-stained bath tub with his knees drawn to his chest. His eyes were dead, staring into nothing, as the sheet of hot water blasted onto his back. It made the black t-shirt, with the words ‘EXO-K’ printed in simple font at the hem of the sleeve, stick onto his pale skin which was slowly turning red from the hot water. A black jacket was thrown carelessly on the ground.

Suho opened his eyes a slit, and let out a frustrated hiss. The familiar, almost weary, anger built in his chest. He tried to force it down, like how one would swallow hard to force bile down the throat, but it didn’t work. Red swelled in him, so that he did not realise he fisted his hands. The water was at his waist level, soaking his denim jeans, but it was still boiling hot.

The only thing he could remember was his last lesson on Exoplanet. He had attempted to move water in ice. The words his Trainer had spoken to him echoed in his mind.

Failure.

Suho was the Guardian of water – not of fire. He was not immune to the heat. The blistering water was pelting hard into his skin like needles poking. It should make him arch his back, scream, jerk away.

“Get out of me,” he whispered aloud. His voice echoed back unnaturally in the empty warehouse. He was reminded of the basement in his training building.

He sat tight. He only let the shuddered breaths escape, washed over immediately by the steady stream of the water.

Then, slowly, black liquid started to seep out of his pores. At that, Suho twisted his body, clutching onto the rim of the broken bathtub. The hot water leaked from a large crack and dripped steadily onto the filthy floor, but there was no black swirled in it, because the black stubbornly leeched onto his skin. Pain exploded in his temple.

Stupid.

The screech of self-deprecating words played in an infinite loop. Whose voice was that? It terrified him to the core. Suho gasped, a sound torn out from his throat, as the black leaked and attacked him again. Where was this pain coming from? It was like his skin was being shredded everywhere. A small voice - his own voice - cried back in anguish. “Stop, stop!”

And the boiling water stopped coming from the showerhead suddenly.

The lonely boy put his head in his arms. His thin shoulders were shaking. His skin was red and tender, but otherwise unblemished. The black had disappeared. The fog was the only proof that he had almost burned himself with his own water.

The only feeling Suho had left was the cold splatter of tears against skin.

XXX

There was pouring rain, and lightning flashes every few minutes. Chen averted Tao’s and Xiu Min’s pointed glares as they ran along the sidewalk, choosing the nearest, biggest building to take shelter in. There were square billboards pasted in different panels of the outer building, which resembled a glass hemisphere.

“For the umpteenth time, I don’t control the rain,” Chen said, as Xiu Min upturned the collar, of their standardized black shirts they had stolen, with a ‘hmph’. They were all wearing uniform black jeans as well. The discomfort on Tao’s and Xiu Min’s did nothing to move Chen. Other than having their hair wet-flattened by the rain, they looked untouched.

“You’re also waterproof when you choose to be,” Xiu Min muttered disagreeably, poking Chen on the shoulder. “You could have been wet, just like the both of us. Where’s your team camaraderie?”

Chen shrugged.

Tao looked around apprehensively, putting his hands around himself, shivering in the cold air-conditioning. There were a handful of people strolling around, some carrying colourful paper bags and/or wet umbrellas with a plastic covering plastered over them. There were shops with bright lights in the square pockets lining the sides of the complex. “I think we’re in the town’s shopping mall?” he said, drawing attention from the other two members, who were huddled closer to talk in whispers about their powers. Kris had warned them not to act out of the ordinary.

“Ah!” Xiu Min’s eyes widened. He slipped his hand in the back of his jeans pocket. “I have this card. Lay says we make purchases with it.”

“That’s it?” Tao asked blankly, taking the card and bending it. It did not look at all valuable to him.

“That’s it. We’ll improvise,” Xiu Min said bravely, nodding. “Should we walk around?”

There were clothes shops, and there were clothes shops. After finding a staircase in which its steps moved upwards or downwards, they had explored the four levels of the building. Tao soon forgot his misery in the rain, enthralled by the different shop fronts. He kept grabbing Xiu Min and pointing them towards this mannequin and that clothing rack. Eventually, Chen put his foot down. He stopped short at a department store, and sat down on one of the seats opposite a mirror and rows of shoes. “I’m not going anywhere,” he growled, when Xiu Min called him over as Tao dragged him to the next section of the store.

“I don’t want to leave!” agreed Tao, stopping short at a mannequin wearing a black tuxedo set. “Wow. Won’t this look good on the duizhang? This plastic humanoid is about the same height as him too.”

“Mannequins,” corrected a girl’s voice. A petite girl looked at them, with ‘sales assistant’ tag pinned on her shirt. “Can I help you? You’re interested in buying this for your friend?”

“Yes–”

Xiu Min gave his best smile, as he stepped in front of Tao to shut him up. Tao was still a full head taller than Xiu Min, but he rolled his eyes and huffed indignantly, falling silent. “Actually, we’re looking for a shop where we can buy food? We’re a bit lost.”

“Oh!” The girl looked understandably surprised. “Well, there is a grocery store in the basement level?”

“How do we get there?”

“Uhm, the lift is just opposite the exit of the department store.”

“The lift,” repeated Xiu Min, “basement.” Thank goodness Luhan was always vocal when he studied; those human terms sounded familiar. “Thanks!”

He turned away, and the sales assistant walked away from them. “That was impressive,” Tao admitted, giving one last forlorn look at the tuxedo set, before catching up with Xiu Min by walking in large strides. “You just had your first conversation with a human!”

“To be honest, it doesn’t feel at all different from communicating with you, or any other person on Exoplanet,” Xiu Min mused. “Get up, Chen! We found the grocery store.”

All of a sudden, there was a caterwauling siren echoing through the department store. Chen looked up at Xiu Min’s steps just in time to see the latter’s face crumble in pain as he clapped his hands over his ears in an effort to block out the noise. Similarly, Tao covered his ears, jerking his head pointedly to the exit of the store to get away. The EXO members had heightened senses, and loud noises were amplified, especially in the confined space indoors. Chen was less affected; but only because he had endured hours of such noises during his training punishments. And it was still painful to a certain degree to him.

“Sorry!” exclaimed a female human, holding up her shopping bags as she walked hurriedly back to the cashier. “You must have forgotten something!”

Chen leapt to his feet, and the three of them nearly sprinted out of the exit. The level was deserted, except for a lone figure running away to the opposite end, with his hands covering his ears as well.

Tao squinted, frowning in the person’s direction. “Why’s he running in a shopping mall?” he wondered, recalling the videos he had watched with Xiu Min on human interactions. “Do you think he stole something?”

“Who cares? Let’s follow,” Xiu Min grunted, still moving forwards swiftly. “They haven’t stopped this infernal noise yet.”

It was when they had reached the opposite end of the building that the alarms stopped abruptly. The three of them slowed down.

Xiu Min pursed his lips as he turned back. “We would look pretty stupid if we walked back there to take the lifts,” he sighed.

“Stairs,” said Tao in surprise, pointing towards a door in front of them. He could see them from the rectangular glass panel on the door. “They have these too!”

“How many ways do they want to move about?” Xiu Min wanted to know, but he pushed open the door all the same. The building they called home in Exoplanet had ten storeys, and there was no such thing as ‘escalators’ or ‘lifts’. Climbing down four flights of stairs was nothing.

He stood on top of the steps, looking down. There was another flight of steps leading upwards, but he ignored it. It was probably a fire escape to the roof, since they were on the highest level in the building already. Just as he was about to call to the younger two to follow him, he felt a hard push directly between his shoulder blades.

“Yahhhh!” he shouted, his arms flailing in front of him. He tumbled down, feeling the hard edges of the cemented steps cut shallowly into his skin.

“Xiu Min!” yelled two voices. Chen and Tao stood at the top of the steps, watching Xiu Min shake his head hard before getting into a crouching position. He glared at them.

“Who pushed me?”

Chen raised both his eyebrows in confusion, but Tao instantly narrowed his gaze. He tilted his head to the left, staring intently at the shadows of the staircase leading upwards. There was something in his gut that unsettled him about it.

“We didn’t even step in,” called down Chen, “did you trip?”

Xiu Min looked indignant, standing up. “No, I felt something push me!”

Tao stepped cautiously forwards, as Chen and Xiu Min bickered in the background. There was a darker shadow cast on the west wall. Someone was standing against the wall, out of sight.

Then, Tao and Chen felt an invisible force push against them heavily. The two of them staggered back, and Xiu Min exclaimed in surprise. Chen had to grab onto the railings installed by the side of the wall to prevent a similar fate to Xiu Min. Tao felt the block of air rush into his face, and he understood. “Wind,” he breathed, and then he shouted it, “WIND.”

Xiu Min’s eyes nearly bulged out. “Ohmygod.”

Akin to a command, another solid block of air pushed against him, and it swept him off his feet. He was falling down before he knew it, but like a trained soldier, he rolled on his side and was standing up. A boy, dressed in the same black jacket and jeans as the three of them, scampered down the steps. Chen hissed as he was shoved against the wall, his back pressing into his side. Unbeknownst to them, lightning flashed dangerously close to the building outside. Xiu Min had plastered himself to the wall, but as the boy passed, he pounced on him.

“OY, SEHUN!” shouted Xiu Min, dragged along by Sehun’s momentum. The boy’s shoulder jerked involuntarily, as he socked Xiu Min in the stomach, he did not stop.

Tao grabbed onto the railing, and looked down, seeing the brown head. “Xiu Min, let him go, but don’t let him get away!” he yelled.

“WHAT?” Xiu Min shouted back incredulously, and he did the first thing that came to his mind. Using his right hand, he punched Sehun’s face. Xiu Min grabbed onto the railing to steady himself. On the other hand, Sehun stumbled down the last four steps, using his hands to break his fall.

Reacting quickly, Tao reached out in the air in front of him and waved his palm in Sehun’s direction in a circular fashion, before curling his fingers into his palms suddenly. Sehun froze.

The air around him had a gel-like quality to it, like a plastic bubble. Black liquid started leaking from the side of his face, the only movement in the bubble.

“I don’t understand,” Tao murmured, his voice faltering. His hand fell back to his side, and he hurried down after Chen and Xiu Min. He looked at Xiu Min, and then looked back at the bubble. “The time in the warp has stopped. Nothing should be moving.”

Chen was standing stonily with his hands by his sides, an arm’s reach away from Sehun. He looked down at Sehun, taking in all the details of his face. Sehun had lost considerable weight; his cheeks were hollow and his collarbones were prominent. He was wearing a dirty grey t-shirt. The only visible injuries he had were the red cuts littering the pale skin down the length of his arms.

“Look at his eyes,” Chen observed, almost wondering. Sehun was glaring to the side. The way his eyebrows were drawn, and the narrowing of his eyes made it clear they were not welcomed. “He’s frightened. He doesn’t get angry like that unless he’s frightened.”

“What’s there to be afraid of?” Tao asked, confused. “It’s us! Why would he attack?”

“Guys, that’s not nearly as important as this,” Xiu Min interrupted, astounded. “We found Sehun.”

“Ah!” Chen jumped back. Sehun’s fingers began to flex, and he blinked. Tao wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Sorry,” he said, before there was a ripple in the air. The black rushed into Sehun’s body, and disappeared. Sehun gasped for air, turning over.

Xiu Min quickly put his hand on Sehun’s back, both as a comfort and a precaution, in case Sehun decided to run away again. Thinking along the same wavelength, Chen subtly shifted towards the door on the third level, while Tao remained on the higher steps.

“Kyungsoo said that our powers may weaken,” Tao thought aloud, still dwelling on the moving liquid in his time wrap.

Sehun didn’t move his face, but his eyes shifted upwards at the sound of Tao’s voice. He looked at all of them, almost hungrily, and again Tao wondered about the difference in time flow between Earth and Exoplanet. Then, the corner of Sehun’s thin mouth quirked upwards. “Only yours,” he sneered.

A blast of wind shoved the rest behind a step or two. Sehun moved – and his eyes widened a fraction as his feet didn’t obey. A distorted voice echoed in his mind. Weak.

Xiu Min pushed Sehun against the wall, abandoning all gentleness. His eyes were wider than usual also, confusion mixed in aggressive caution. “Yah, what was that for?” Xiu Min demanded.

Sehun glared straight back at him, ignoring Tao and Chen who were standing by the side, watching the exchange intently. The pitter-patter of his heartbeat racing told him how he felt at seeing the other guardians. All of a sudden, red exploded at the back of his eyelids as he blinked. Failure.

“…Sehun?” Xiu Min saw the veins popping in his temple.

“Get away from me,” snapped Sehun. He wrapped his hands around Xiu Min’s that were clutching the front of his black shirt. Xiu Min’s hands were cold, but so were Sehun’s. Worry for the youngest guardian’s health clouded Xiu Min’s mind. “He’s angry.”

“Who?” Tao asked immediately, just as Chen said sharply, “Is anyone after you?”

Sehun blinked at them. That, they recognized as the same boy they had left yesterday; impassive to everything. He had no answer.

Chen tried again. “Do you know where the others are?”

Nothing. But Sehun averted his gaze to the floor. No then.

“Let’s bring him to the others,” Xiu Min decided. He put his face very close to Sehun’s. Sehun could count the number of Xiu Min’s eyelashes. Xiu Min could list the number of small cuts on Sehun’s face. “Don’t you run away again, alright?!”

The red was fading quickly from Sehun’s mind but he knew it would be back soon. All of a sudden, he just felt very, very tired. Tao latched a hand around his arm. It could have been a friend supporting another, or a guard escorting a prisoner – Sehun did not know. He hadn’t been around people for a long time.

A thought came to Sehun, one that had been haunting him ever since EXO-K’s spaceship crash landed and went up in flames all those days – he had lost count – ago. “…Is-is Luhan looking for me?”

Stupid.

Xiu Min let out a relieved sigh, evidently thinking they had Sehun’s co-operation now. “He’s here,” Tao replied, nudging to get Sehun moving. He didn’t.

There were bright tears b in his eyes.

XXX To Be Continued XXX

A/N: Well, this chapter concludes any pre-'when the hour hand is up' drafts of this story. Thinking of the Kaisoo and Baekyeol storylines is hard, writing about their fragile friendship later on will be worse. Oo Luhan meets an angsty Sehun next chapter.

And I'm completely used to not having comments for this story now.