The transformed cargo hold was full of magical creatures and those members of the MCPA that they tolerated with no trace of military presence active on the floor.  Though it was only just after midday and heading into early afternoon, most of them found themselves to be physically exhausted.  None had slept well the night before and what rest they found had been poor and sporadic in light of the most recent events.  Determinedly, they busied themselves as best as possible, desperate for some sort of distraction and some way to keep their focus.  Safe in their home base and in their natural forms, with the exception of Key who alone had remained in his human guise, the rest of the creatures were splayed about the floor in various states of injury and exhaustion.

                “This...!  This is why I should have been called to go,” Key bristled as he surveyed the damage his companions had sustained, pacing back and forth in agitation, eyes flashing while a handful threw him cautious glances.  He had been late in hearing the windrith’s cry and as such had missed his chance of simply bullying himself onto the helicopter as his peers had done, which he had rather doggedly pried from Eunhyuk before the gryphon opted for silence and pretended to sleep.

                Paying close attention to treating the very annoyed and fidgety chimaera, Sulli pursed her lips and asked without looking away, “What would you have done differently?”  Very carefully, she pressed medicinal soaked gauze wraps over the burns marks on his body, the soothing sensation the only thing keeping him from snapping at her, or so she suspected.

                Key glared at the scientist, the effect lost when he knew she wasn’t looking at him for a very good reason.  “I would have turned them all to stone, for starters,” he hissed, pointing at her with a frustrated grimace, posture tense.

                “But they were gone by the time we got there,” Henry reminded him with a cringe, turning his focus back to Eunhyuk who was singed rather extensively, feathers and fur blackened in several wide-spread patches, and tired but otherwise whole.  His massive head rested on his clawed front feet, eyes closed as he took steady measured breaths, lion’s tail twitching at the sound of Key’s voice.

                “The only one we got was the stupid guy the dragon knocked out and his teammates deserted,” Yesung snorted, shying away from the snake-head tail when it hissed at him, the nonvenomous python coloration no consolation when it was still large enough to rival the size of any snake he’d ever seen.  “I didn’t even touch you,” he muttered with a perturbed glare of his own, edging away.

                Heechul growled some sort of response, parroted by the goat’s head, which none of the humans understood in the slightest.  Annoyed by their inability to comprehend, he sighed and shifted, lowering his furry head to the floor.  He’d been saved from the worst damage by dint of what he was; a fire breather himself, but that didn’t mean he was completely impervious by any means.

                While Key resumed quietly fuming, Luna hurried into the room with more clean cloths she’d retrieved from the medical bay, dry and moist, face drawn and pale.  Fighting a growing sense of exhaustion on several levels, she paused at Donghae’s side where he was dutifully tending to Victoria.  When they’d returned via helicopter, after a jumbo jet ferry, several hours later, the sylph hadn’t been well enough to actually fly into her sleeping space so a bed was dragged in for her to lie on, wings and hair folding over the sides limply.  “How is she?” she asked in a whisper, handing off another damp cloth for him to press against Victoria’s forehead, eyes shut and face drawn.

                “Resting,” he sighed, the other hand holding to her right one as he dabbed at her wan skin again.  Though they’d gotten the worst of her blood cleaned up, faint hints of the green substance still lined her nostrils and the dark color pooled unpleasantly under the skin beneath her eyes, giving her the appearance of rather severe bags.

                “What did she do?” she murmured with a glance around, trying desperately to focus on something that wasn’t bad.  She wasn’t the only one that had been affected by the screams they’d heard over the headsets when the helicopter had finally cleared the explosion and they’d only been fortunate that a medical base had been relatively nearby; at least for their human crew members.  The MCs hadn’t been so fortunate, having to wait for official treatment in their natural form until they had made it back to base, a flight that had taken more hours than any cared to count.

                Donghae shook his head slightly and looked over at Junsu who had volunteered to help as well.  Nor was he the only one for that matter, but Yunho and Taemin had both agreed to remain with the MCs while Mi and Minho stayed in the labs.  The former was trying to figure out how the collar had stopped the other creatures from transforming and the latter was looking into the side effects of Joon’s recovery.

                “Something magical,” the assistant offered, brushing his fingertips against her shoulder to remind her she wasn’t alone.

                “Have we got any word from the Captain yet?” Yunho asked from his vantage where he was braving the chimaera’s ire by assisting Sulli, handing her medicinal wraps as needed from the fairly extensive stack over his arm.

                “Not yet,” she responded with a neutral expression.  “They’ll let us know if anything else happens,” she assured them quietly, keeping her voice carefully regulated, the betraying quiver still evident despite her best efforts.

                Taemin stood up from petting Eunhyuk’s wings and approached her, placing a tentative hand on her shoulder.  “He’s still alive and that’s saying something considering what he was going in for,” he reminded her with a forced smile.

                “But he’s damaged,” she retorted before she could stop herself, hands freezing in place and then closing as she drew the shaking fists to her chest.  There was no way they hadn’t heard that…

                “What do you mean, damaged?” Key asked sharply, not in the least bit worried about being polite.

                Sulli shook her head and took another deep breath, applying another burn gauze to Heechul’s flank too hastily, flinching when he complained with all three heads.  “It’s still early…” she trailed off, trying to sidestep the question.

                “Sulli?” Luna asked, coming closer and pausing next to her, tired eyes searching the equally tired visage that refused to look at her.

                Taemin rescued her again and came close, guiding Luna back towards Victoria with a gentle hand against her back.  “She means his injuries are extensive and we won’t know what happened to him until he regains consciousness.  It is still very early for any solid diagnosis,” he told them all firmly, meeting Key’s gaze for as long as he dared before he looked at Sulli until she nodded in mute understanding.

                “And in the meantime, we’ve got these fellas to take care of,” Henry called attention back to the MCs with a gentle pet on the Eunhyuk’s eagle head, avoiding the blackened patches on his cheek.

                The doors leading to the rec hall slid open and a fumbling fairly overloaded Changmin stepped through, balancing a tray heavily laden with… food.  “Can I get a hand?” he asked with a grimace, struggling to bring in the food for the MCs.

                “Oh!” Yunho yelped, jumping up to assist as quickly as he could, setting his own load down on the floor next to the chimaera and taking one of the massive plates of mostly raw meat to haul it over to Heechul warily.

                “Good timing, Minnie,” Donghae smiled appreciatively, grateful for the breather it gave the room.

                “Took me long enough,” he grumbled, wiping his forehead with the back of his wrist and tossing the stray strands of hair back hastily.  “I just hope it’ll be enough,” he mused, eyeing the quickly disappearing meals with interest, completely oblivious to what he’d just missed walking in on.

                “I said I’m fi-” Sungmin groaned when he tried to push off Jonghyun’s restraining hands and found himself overmatched.  “Dammit,” he grunted, forcing himself to take a deep breath while he steadied his shaky body by the medical bay bed, hands clinging to the shorter male.  A glance down at his person showed that his uniform had been replaced by a hospital gown type covering loose enough not to aggravate the gauze wrapping around the more painful parts of his body.

                “Easy Captain,” Jonghyun encouraged with a firm grip, making sure he was stationary as he looked the blonde and injured male over.  The explosion hadn’t done irreparable damage but it had certainly burned through portions of his clothes and scarred the flesh beneath in more than one area.  His hair especially looked rather butchered and in bad need of a cut…  “I expect the pain meds will be wearing off soon,” he warned with a grimace and another glance around the area.

                Amber and Siwon both were sleeping in two of the other beds nearby, their outer armor, boots and the majority of the burned portion of their clothes cut away.  Further up on the ropes, they’d received only superficial damage and the majority of their clothes had been left intact since Hyoyeon hadn’t had time to do more than make sure they were stable before all her attention had been turned to Joon’s care.

                She had argued vehemently against moving him from the military hospital he’d received his initial treatment at, but because of the nature of their mission and secrecy, as well as his continued safety, being a major concern, Sungmin’s superiors had ordered their transfer.  A fresh sounding, if somewhat confused Seunghyun had relayed the command and they’d found themselves ferried back to Camp Roberts where Jonghyun picked them up again.  He’d only just gotten them back actually…

                “ the pain meds,” Sungmin hissed through clenched teeth, staring at both Siwon and Amber’s sleeping forms, making sure they were alright.

                “They’re just sleeping,” he relayed when he saw his Captain’s focus.

                “Joon?” he asked with fierce intensity, grip tightening almost painfully on his support’s arm.

                Jonghyun was reluctant to answer and his gaze traveled to the back of the sterile room where a closed door led to the further more secure recesses.  “He’s in isolation.”  At Sungmin’s immediate frown, he was forced to add, “He’s not contagious but he’s in critical condition and the risk of infection is high.”  His hand clenched into a tight fist at his side and his jaw firmed while he struggled with his helpless anger over his teammate’s condition.

                “Help me,” Sungmin ordered, nudging Jonghyun in the direction he wanted to go.  It wasn’t that he couldn’t walk on his own, but rather it would be much faster if he had assistance.

                “Just take it nice and slow, Captain,” Jonghyun encouraged, bracing the taller male with a supportive arm and maintaining his position nearby.

                “Shut up, Jong,” he snorted with a shadow of his normal humor.

                “Yes, sir,” Jonghyun laughed once in return, pressing the release switch to open the door.

                The barrier slid away with a quiet whisper of sound, showing them into a smaller but brightly lit room sectioned off into two areas: their side and the one on the other side of the see through walls they found themselves facing.  Sungmin shuffled up to the invisible barrier and placed his hand on it, making no effort to find the door into the sterile room.  He just watched with an unreadable expression as he saw Hyoyeon tending to the horribly scarred Joon.

                His usually attractive face was nothing more than a mass of bruised flesh, spattered with ugly cuts and abrasions, what he could see from under the white gauze wrappings and around the respirator over his mouth and nose at any rate.  He was covered by a thin white sheet that outlined where the rest of his body was, hiding the majority from sight, though his arms, lying on top, were heavily bandaged and his hands were unrecognizable.  Next to him were a series of machines monitoring his vitals showing his pulse to be steady but slow; the same could be said of his blood pressure.

                Pensive, Hyoyeon continued to observe both Joon and the machinery, taking notes on the clipboard in front of her before moving over to another machine that had wires running from Joon’s head to it, apparently measuring brain activity.  She chewed her lip in thought and frowned, giving a slight shake of her head before running a hand over her hair.  It was only belatedly that she realized she had observers at all…

                Nervously, she set met their respective gazes and nodded once, fidgeting slightly before she made her way to the double doors that separated the rooms, leaving the clipboard on the inside.  A sanitizing mist doused her frame for five full seconds before she shook herself and stepped through.  “Captain,” she bowed politely, mouth pulled down into a frown to see him up and about.

                “Doctor,” he responded evenly, meeting her gaze.  “How is he?”

                “Stable,” she gestured at his unconscious form on the other side.  “I’ve treated his external and internal injuries to the best of my ability, but he needs more help than I can give him alone.  I’m not a specialist in treating all of his ailments,” she explained somewhat awkwardly.

                “You’re going to have to be,” Sungmin told her simply, staring at her while she continued to look at Joon.  “What are the extent of his injuries?”

                Hyoyeon winced at the question, clearly unhappy with having to respond.  She grimaced and let out a long sigh.  “Where should I start?” she murmured, her shoulders slouching.  When neither Sungmin nor Jonghyun responded and merely continued to stare at her, she grumbled under her breath some more and finally started detailing his condition.

                Crushed phalanges, metatarsals and metacarpals didn’t even begin to cover it but they were an awful and painful start; several broken ribs, a punctured lung, various degrees of internal bleeding that hadn’t been severe enough to be fatal but had resulted in near permanent damage to several of his internal organs.  His jaw and cheekbones were fractured in various places; he was still recovering from a pretty severe concussion and none of that counted the massive amount of adrenaline that had been pumped into his body at near toxic levels.

                “And I can’t start treatment on the majority of it until he wakes up and then we can assess his mental capacities,” she stated huffily, clearly feeling overwhelmed.

                “Holy …” Jonghyun murmured in shocked disbelief, jaw hanging partially open while he blinked slowly.  “Holy goddamned mother !” he cursed, trembling in his anger.

                “Jonghyun,” Sungmin stated in a dangerously calm tone of voice.

                “What?!” he snarled immediately, hastily remembering to add, “Sir.”

                “Step outside,” he instructed, keeping his eyes focused on Hyoyeon.

                “But…”

                “Step.  Out.  Side.”

                Furious and filled with too much energy, Jonghyun fidgeted in place and grudgingly responded through gritted teeth.  “Sir.”

                Sungmin waited for the door to close before he swallowed once, complexion white, but his eyes were stormy and dark.  “What about his mental capacities, doctor?”

                “They’ve really done it this time,” Jiyong yawned, scrubbing his face with both hands while he leaned back in his chair and took his eyes off the screen.

                “Done what?” Seunghyun asked, frowning slightly at the monitors.  Just settling in to get ready to begin his shift, he was still slightly put off by the fact that he’d managed to sleep through the vast majority of the excitement and was basically on cleanup duty once the dreadfully tired Daesung had turned in shortly after the excitement had finally died down.

                “Blew on the bees nest,” the redhead snorted, mouth quirking sideways in a lopsided grin.

                “Us or them?” he asked with a raised brow, amusement tugging at his lips. 

                “Good question,” Jiyong nodded, shrugging once.  “Hey.  I know I’m supposed to be here for a bit longer but would you mind terribly if I split for a nap?” he asked, leaning forward to clap his hand on his companion’s shoulder with a forced grin.  “It’s been a hell of a morning…”

                “Ditching me already?” he chuckled with a deep and pleasant rumble.  “You go ahead,” he waved instead, the gesture turning into a pat on the slender hand.  “I think I can handle it from here,” he winked, especially since it was only about half an hour until his shift started around two anyway.

                “If you say so,” Jiyong grinned, hopping to his feet and stretching tall, midriff exposed in the action.  He belatedly realized the exposure and laughed, dropping his arms and tugging the shirt down in embarrassment.

                “Go on, Ji,” Seunghyun shook his head, brushing one eyebrow with his index finger.

                “See you later!” he waved, trying to maintain an air of cheerfulness as he waltzed out of the observation room.

                “Right,” Seunghyun nodded to himself, playing with the cameras on the screen to get a better feel of where everyone was.  Nothing out of the ordinary in the base.  The prisoner they had was currently being held in one of the more secure labs since this base hadn’t been fashioned with any sort of prisoners in mind.  There was no brig or actual holding cell but the labs were even more effective in that regard with ready access to incapacitating injections or sprays as well as incredibly strong and secure rooms in general.  In short, once you were locked inside, you simply weren’t getting out unless someone let you.

                The prisoner was injured, though not life-threateningly so anymore.  Due to the commotion of treating everyone else, he had yet to be questioned so they knew very little about him, but both Minho and Mi were in the area to help keep an eye on him while they worked on their own projects.

                On another screen, he continued to keep an eye on the hive like activity over and around the Lake of the Woods while the remains of the Atamos base were scoured.  An underground launch bay had been discovered indicating an unseen escape route.  The lake was still being scoped to see if they could get an idea of where they had gone to in the meantime.  Beyond that, they were pretty much back to square one, though they did have a new MC if that was any sort of consolation.  Unfortunately, they’d lost the dragon and merman entirely…  None of them had any idea how they were going to find them either.

                He was dragged from his thoughts by another of the crew set to monitoring more mundane channels.  “Seunghyun, sir!” he chirped, standing up and pointing at the terminal he was manning.

                “What is it, Danny?” he asked, brow furrowed in curiosity.

                “I’m not sure, sir.  The news.  It’s claiming sightings of a unicorn looking creature in Wisconsin and now Minnesota, sir,” he explained, scratching his head in bewilderment.

                Seunghyun sat up in a hurry and leaned forward.  “Link it to me,” he instructed, locating the stream Danny was watching and pulling it up on the main screen.  He’d compiled various clips from several news stations thus far that were reporting on the unusual but likely hoax sightings of an actual unicorn.  No good pictures had been forthcoming but there were too many claims for it to go unremarked upon.

                “They’re claiming they’ve found hoof prints and hair samples so far,” he further explained.  “Sources say it’s heading west.”

                In the blink of an eye, Seunghyun plotted the ‘sighting’ locations with the general heading and blinked in surprise as the trajectory line pointed almost directly to their base.  “I’ll be damned…”

(a/n: Took me longer than I intended but we're finally dragging the unicorn in too.  Soon at any rate.  hehe  So Atamos has gotten away at present and the good guys are... dealing.  I'm trying to figure if things are going to launch forward in the next couple updates or if they're going to slow down a bit for character and relationship development.  Not sure yet, but you guys will be pretty much the first to know.  haha  I may need to step into some fluffy areas after all this stuff though.  ;)  Thanks for reading and please look forward to the next update!)