They stared at each other across the table. Zinger’s usual pristine ponytail had loosened, and strands of her hair had freed themselves. She made no attempt to neaten them, instead locking her fingers together and resting her chin on them as she scrutinized Sungkyu. Most of the anger seemed to have faded from her face, and she simply looked tired.

Sungkyu had expected her to order him to keep going after Yuri until he had her, had waited for her to smile wickedly and tell him that if he didn’t do otherwise she would go after everyone that he cared about, but nothing had happened. After threatening him with Min she seemed to have regretted everything she had said, instead telling him to sit down before sitting down herself. That was how it had been for the last few minutes. That and the weary, unsettled silence that had settled over the both of them.

“Sungkyu,” she started almost apologetically, but he shook his head.

“Just tell me what you want,” he said bluntly. Perhaps Zinger hadn’t meant to say all those things, perhaps she had simply lost her temper, but the fact was that she knew. And if she knew, so did the higher-ups.

And if the higher-ups had even an inkling that he was still alive, Sungkyu knew he had no choice but to do whatever they wanted.

Zinger sighed, then dropped her hands and slid out a drawer beneath the desk. “I was meant to call you back in the next few days. I was supposed to give you a little more time to capture Yuri, but whether you did or not… it didn’t matter anymore.” She managed a wry smile. “I didn’t expect you to come to Aboveground so brazenly. You caught me off guard, I guess.”

“I don’t get it,” Sungkyu said slowly, staring at the file that she extracted and placed neatly before her. “It doesn’t matter if I don’t get Yuri anymore? Then why didn’t you just let me leave?”

“Things… don’t work out so easily,” she muttered, avoiding his gaze. She paused, perhaps to steel herself, then looked at him. “The higher-ups have decided that they have a better mission for you. One that you alone can complete. Even I don’t know what it is.” She adjusted the corner of the file. “I’m sorry. I really tried to get your case closed. Even though you didn’t get Yuri.”

Sungkyu got to his feet, fists curled. “You told them about me, didn’t you?” he seethed through clenched teeth. “You told them everything. I thought I could trust you to keep this a secret, Zinger.”

“I had to!” she cried out. “You know me; I can’t lie to the system nor do I want to. But I did try, you know. You don’t even know how much I tried to keep you a secret.”

The anger dissipated as fast as it had come. Sungkyu sighed aloud and dropped back into the chair, rubbing his face in the palms of his hands. “This is the last,” he said through his fingers. He looked up at her. “The very last. You know I’m done, Zinger. You know this is it.”

“This… is the last. I promise,” she replied slowly, bowing her head and sliding the paper across the desk towards him. “You know what to do.”

“And when this is done, you promise not to come near me or the others ever again.”

“I didn’t mean what I said then, about ordering people to -.”

“You promise not to come near me or the others ever again,” he repeated stonily.

“I’ll wipe all of your records from the system,” she nodded.

“Why couldn’t you just wipe my record from the system right now?”

Zinger opened as if to say something, then closed it. “You know I can’t do that with nothing in return.”

Sungkyu smirked. “Ever the goody-goody. Just remember that I am having nothing to do with this war between you and Deepground. Don’t drag me into your problems. I resigned a long time ago.” He picked up the file and tapped it. “This is the last service I will ever do for this place. This war that is going to happen has nothing to do with me, Min, or anyone else in the Precinct. Got it?” He got up and was turning to leave when Zinger caught a hold of his shoulder.

“Are you really so clueless about these… people you’re staying with?” she raised an eyebrow.

Sungkyu stared at her. The words were horribly familiar in his head. He could see the words spilling out of L’s mouth as he pressed a gun to his head. You know nothing about the people you live with, about the people you think you are protecting.

“I know about Min,” he said defiantly. “If that’s what you’re asking.” Even so, he felt a little shiver run through him. CL had rabbit ears and regeneration. Jepp had a gun for an arm. Min isn’t the only one with secrets. But they can’t be… they can’t be.

He remembered Jiyoon addressing CL. What did she call her? Number 40. She knew her, even if CL didn’t return the acknowledgment. She knew where she was hiding. She had taunted her about another runaway. Bleach blonde hair. Jepp had a gun for an arm. Jiyoon had chainsaws for arm. She was from the Facility. Min was from the Facility. L knew Min. L was from the Facility. Zico knew L a long time ago. Zico knew Key a long time ago. Key knew CL a long time ago. Zico had cat ears. CL had rabbit ears.

And everything clicked horribly, sickeningly into place.

Zinger was watching him carefully, her hand still on his shoulder. “You see it now, don’t you?” she asked quietly. “You see the truth.”

He wrenched himself away from her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered. He backed away from her, towards the door.

“I really am sorry, you know,” she called out. “About all of this. But you know where my loyalty lies, even if you are my friend.”

He simply gave her a curt nod. “I know Zinger,” he sighed, looking weary. “I know.”

And he disappeared through the door.

-

“Min,” CL knocked on the closed door. “Can you come out? I wanna ask you something.” She rapped again. There was no reply. She tried again; nothing. Min always replied ater two knocks. Sudden irrational fear gripped CL, and without a second thought she grabbed a hold of the handle and swung the door open wide.

The scene that greeted her was definitely far from what she expected.

There was Min, sitting on her desk. Behind her was another figure, and she could spot dark hair protruding from Min’s shoulder. Her head was propped up against his and she was fast asleep. A book lay open in her lap, the pages rustling in the wind that blew in from the open window. CL tiptoed into the room to see who the mysterious person was; her lips curved into a smile when she recognized the boy slumped against the window, his eyes closed and his expression peaceful.

She knew this boy, even if she had only caught a fleeting glance of him through a doorway. He was paler than, and he had worn a carefree grin on his face, but she recognized the messy black hair. He was the boy from her memories.

She was backing away as quietly as she could when she noticed that L’s arm was looped through the space between Min’s and her side. Her gaze travelled down them to find their hands clasped tightly together.

As she closed the door as quietly as she could, CL felt very much like bursting into tears.

Jepp was just coming up the stairs when he spotted her. “Where’s Min?” he asked, making to knock on the door, but CL hurriedly grabbed his arm and pulled him back down the stairs, shaking her head. “Huh? What’s going on?” he looked confused as she dragged him back out into the street. “Why are we going back, we just came from there!”

“I forgot something,” she made up on the spot, not really listening.

“Where’s Min?” he repeated, his voice pitchy. CL giggled.

“She’s sleeping,” she told him. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. When they reached the bar she unlocked the door and pushed him into a chair. “Listen Jepp, I think there’s something you should know about Min. Something that I’ve known for a very long time.”

“But how do you know?” Jepp kept asking. CL could see he was hurt that he had been deceived all this time by the one person he thought he could count on, but she had to tell him. This was her way of letting him know that there was no way Min would tell on them without implicating herself.

“I never forget a face, Jepp,” she told him for what seemed like the hundredth time. “If I see someone once, even for the shortest amount of time, I’ll remember them. How do you think Hunters catch their prey?”

Jepp ignored the question. “I don’t get it. Why would she hide it from us for so long? It doesn’t make any sense.” He had been repeating the phrase for so long that CL felt her nerves snap.

“Why did you hide it for so long?” CL growled and banged her hand on the table, startling him into jumping to his feet. “Why did I hide it for so long? We all have our reasons Jepp, and you of all people should understand why you wouldn’t want to talk about it. So can you just give it a break? Can’t you just give her a chance?” She pushed herself away, stalked over to the counter and stooped to grab something beneath it.

Jepp hung his head and followed her, slumping back against the counter. “Sorry. I guess… I guess I just can’t believe it.”

CL didn’t reply, still rummaging around. When she resurfaced she held a candy jar in her hand. She twisted off the cap and offered it to him. “Here,” she nudged him in the chest with it when he simply stared at it. “Candy always makes everything better.” He seemed to be in a daze as he took a peppermint from the top of the pile.

“Wow, you never let anyone take your sweets,” he remarked as he on it.

“This is a special case,” she grinned, popping 5 gummy bears in at once.

“Do you think we’ll ever be done with the secrets?” he asked.

CL thought of Sungkyu’s sudden trips, of the past he hated talking about, and the feelings he kept hidden behind a grim mask. “Probably not,” she shrugged, swatting Jepp’s hand away when he attempted to take another sweet from her. “Though it’ll probably make everything better if we had no more secrets.”

Jepp shoved his hands into his pockets. “Definitely,” he muttered.

The curtains on the windows were drawn, so as they stood in silence neither of them saw the white ash beginning to fall outside.

-

Min was jolted awake when an unnaturally icy wind swept across her skin. She looked wildly around, finding herself on the floor instead of the desk where she had fallen asleep. L was crouched at her head, peering out of the window. His hand was clenched tightly around the katana at his hip, and his expression was wary.

Min scrambled to her feet, careful not to let her head be seen. “What’s happening?” she whispered, every receptor in her body suddenly on guard. She tried to bob up to see out the window, but L put a hand on her head and pushed her back down. “What is it?” she repeated as he placed a finger to his lips.

“BoA is here,” he simply said.

“BoA…” Min murmured. It sounded familiar. She vaguely recalled CL mentioning the name when she was recounting her story to her and Jepp, but she couldn’t remember the significance. And yet she felt her skin growing cold at the mention of the name.

“She’s Head Hunter,” L offered, risking a small peek out of the window. His expression turned stoic and he quickly ducked down beside her. She had seen this look many times; it always appeared when he knew he was about to face a formidable foe. “I think it’s best that you get out of here,” he breathed. “I can get you out, then come back for you when she’s gone.” He was speaking fast, not looking at her.

“Why is she even here?” Min questioned. When he didn’t reply, she grabbed his arm to make him look at her. “L. Why is she here?” she repeated in a firmer tone.

L’s jaw set. “Yuri must have sent her. I think…” he faltered slightly. “I think she’s here for you,” he said in a low voice. “Neither of us stands a chance against the Head Hunter.” His eyes bore into hers. “The only way I can keep you safe is by getting you out of here.”

“I… I’ll get Jepp,” Min whispered, feeling the long-forgotten fear beginning to rise within her and constrict . “He can take her. I know he can. If he just enters Berserk State, he’ll be indestructible. I know. I’ve seen it.”

“Min,” L said softly. “We have to get out of here.”

“I’m not leaving!” she hissed. “If we run she’ll see us, and if she can’t catch us she’ll just keep coming back. I know how Hunters work. There’s no stopping until the job’s done. Right?” She stared at L until he grudgingly nodded. “If we don’t defeat her now… If she sees you who knows what she’ll do to you when you come back,” she added in a softer tone. “I can’t let that happen to you. And even if we did run, you know there’ll be no going back for you, don’t you?”

“I know,” he said quietly. “But if we fight there’ll be no going back for me anyway.”

“Better than having you killed,” she said obstinately.

L shook his head, then peered once more out of the window. A look of relief broke on his brow. “I think she’s gone,” he sighed, sinking to his knees and shaking his head in relief. “I was using the shadows to cover us; she must have missed our presence.” It was then that Min noticed his hand pressed to the wall, the veins protruding on the back of it. His neck was strained, and he looked paler than usual.

Silently, Min removed his hand from the wall. “You always end up saving me,” she said softly. “I don’t know how to thank you enough, L.”

He smiled slightly, the colour returning to his cheeks. He reached out and touched her on the chin again, the both of them on all fours. “I might know a way,” he smirked. His other hand crept forward and linked their fingers together.

-

Somewhere on the opposite side of the Precinct, Zico raised his head and sniffed the air. He tossed aside the rag that they used as a curtain and spotted the last of the white ash dissipating into the air.

“Thought I smelled you,” he smirked. “U-Kwon, go get Jepp and tell him to go to the church, stat. He’s probably at the bar.” He paused. “And get CL as well,” he added a little grudgingly. The boy nodded and tucked a dao sword into his belt before leaving.

“Where are you going?” asked Kyung as he and reached for the bow and quiver that was propped up against the wall.

“Going to catch me a boa,” Zico grinned.

-

There it was. That feeling again. The feeling that her heart was about to burst out of her chest, that she was going to pass out from the spinning in her mind. L’s eyes on hers were unlike anything she had ever seen before, and she wanted that light in them.

“We can run away,” he whispered. “Just the two of us. We can leave this place, this city, we could even leave the country. We can start somewhere fresh, just the two of us. Come with me, Min. We can leave everything behind.”

Min was speechless. “What?”

“I’m serious,” he insisted. “We can go somewhere no one knows us at all, somewhere no one would find us. We can leave behind the weapons, the blood, the fear. Think about it.” He brushed his thumb against her cheek and smiled again. “Just think about it.”

Min wanted to protest. She wanted to tell L that he was crazy for having a dream like that; they both knew that the Facility would find them. She wanted to tell him that he was nuts for even thinking that she would drop everything and go with him, that she would throw Jepp and CL and Sungkyu away as easily as if they meant nothing to her.

Looking back, she was relieved she wasn’t given the chance to crush his hopes.

Because there was a sudden loud thump from the roof outside and L jumped away from her, hand immediately reaching for his sword. Something in his eyes glinted and he dove at Min, knocking her backwards as the glass above their heads shattered into a thousand fragments. He was so fast that Min didn’t even time to realize what was going on when he sprang off her and blocked the blade of the nodachi that flew through the still falling shards of glass.

“Get out of here!” he yelled at her, pushing the offending weapon away and leaping through the opening himself.

“L!” she scrambled to her feet and ran to the side of her bed, snatching her own sword from the floor. Without a second thought she grabbed the scythe from her bookshelf as well before following him.

L was crouched in a fighting stance, his fingers curled around the sheath of the sword that still hung at his waist. BoA was looking at him with a mix of curiosity and cold indifference playing on her features. As Min stepped on the roof the Head Hunter’s eyes flitted towards her, and she felt the fear beginning to overwhelm her. Instinct was telling her to run, but her legs were frozen to the roof and she couldn’t move. L sent her a glance, then stepped in front of her, shielding her from BoA’s gaze.

“Stand down,” BoA’s eyes flickered back to his face. She looked as if he was an insect that she could easily crush with the heel of her boot.

“No.” The word was bold and defiant, but Min could feel him shaking before her. She could see the fear written in the tensity of his back. He drew his sword and held it before him.

“I said stand down,” BoA ordered once again, her voice sending chills down Min’s spine.

“I said no,” he repeated.

He saw the slash before it happened, his instinct kicking in as he pushed Min away and blocked the blow. BoA simply ran to one side, her gaze fixated on Min, who had drawn her own katana. He watched as she gracefully flipped over the slash that BoA aimed at her before spinning around and slicing the nodachi’s blade clean in half. Her expression was calm and devoid of emotion, but her eyes flashed silver. He wondered how long ago it had been since he had seen her with that sword. It really was a beautiful image.

Min caught his eye and he ran forward silently, standing so that the three of them formed a loose triangle. A light wind whipped Min’s hair around her head as BoA darted her eyes between them, throwing the broken weapon to one side and pulling her own sheathed katana from behind her back. “So you would betray the place of your birth,” she sneered.

“I was already given life before I was taken to that hellhole,” he said dully, his expression unfathomable. As Min watched, his eyes flashed light gray.

BoA’s eyes narrowed. Whirling around, she unsheathed the katana and pointed the blade right at L’s throat. She glanced over at Min, then blocked the blow that the girl aimed at her with her sheath, spinning around and counteracting L’s attack as well. Driving the weapon backward, she sent the of the hilt into Min’s elbow, knocking her away. Connecting the sheath to her hilt, she launched a circling attack that had the both of them driven backwards under the force of her blows.

Min had never known strength like this, had never experienced fighting with someone as powerful as BoA. Even with the two of them attacking her she seemed to be handling them with ease. Neither of us stands a chance against the Head Hunter.

L skidded backwards on his feet towards the edge, dragging his blade into the roof to keep from losing his balance. He watched as BoA battled with Min, the fight resembling more of a dance than a brawl. He had seen the way BoA was assessing her; it was not the look of a lioness waiting to pounce and kill. He knew then that she was not intending to kill her, rather she was waiting for an opportune moment to knock her out cold and drag her back.

He could not allow that.

He knew what happened to traitors who were brought back alive. Their memories wiped, they would be reconditioned to serve the Facility willingly.

He could not let Min go through all that again.

Lifting his hand, he seized BoA in a shadowy grasp and watched the surprise on her face as her arms and legs were bound stiff as a board. He slowly got to his feet and pulled her towards him as Min dropped her weapon to her side and watched.

“Batch 14,” he said coldly, bringing BoA to rest in front of him. “The only ones in the entire Facility imbued with shadows. We are the only two left of that batch. You would never have learned how to harness this power.” He raised his sword. “This ends here.”

There was a clash of metal against metal, and then a blade went whizzing through the air and embedded itself into the roof. L stared, dumbfounded, at the broken katana in his hand. A searing pain streaked across his chest, his blood bursting from the diagonal cut that BoA slashed from his right shoulder down to his left hip. L let out a choked gasp, blood projecting from his lips and his eyes wide as he pitched forward. He landed with a heavy thud, eyes still wide with surprise. BoA only regarded him with cold indifference as she stepped over his fallen body.

“I am Head Hunter,” she said, no longer looking at him. “And you are a fool.”

Desperation seized L’s body, terror that BoA would soon destroy everything that mattered to him, everything that he had finally found after taking so long to find. As her foot passed over his head he mustered all his strength and lunged forward, catching a hold of her ankle. The exertion only made his wound erupt into pain but he held on, his breathing ragged. BoA paused in mid stride, her head turning back to look down at him.

So this is how it's going to end.

“Disgusting,” she sneered as he glared into her face. Her sword glinted, his blood running rivulets down the blade before spattering on to the roof. “I have no patience for traitors.” With her other hand she unsheathed a wakizashi and raised it above his head.