Changmin’s fists made a loud thump on his desk as he bolted right up from his seat and his chair slammed right into wall directly behind him. “What?!” he seethed. He was furious knowing Mai and Junho had kept this information from him. Though what angered him more was the fact that the two rookies had engaged their targets on their own without even calling for back-up.

Mai shrank back slightly in her chair. Her eyes flew to the sides of their sockets hoping to catch a reassuring glance from Junho, but he was seated directly behind her. “We tried to apprehend them, but they got away.”

“When was this?”

“Yesterday, at the explosion site. We have reason to believe that they may have been involved in it.”

Changmin ran a stressed hand across his face, displacing his glasses onto his forehead. “What happened?”

Mai flinched at the tone of the captain’s voice. “We were in the area, and I- I was just searching around the perimeter. I had visuals on three members as they were making their escape. I recognized one of them from the White Tiger laboratories. They were already on their way out of the site.”

Changmin sank back into his seat rubbing his temples putting Mai’s injuries and the confrontation together. “You can point them out in a roster? In a surveillance feed? Are you absolutely certain that’s who they are?”

Mai hesitated for a moment. “Positive, sir. One of them, a female, age between 20-24, lightweight and around 161-164cm, race is a bit ambiguous. She had a weapon corresponding to the assassin we have been searching for. She had two males with her, both above 180cm tall, age range could be from 25 and above. One of them a foreigner, a blonde while the other could be half.”

Wooyoung’s eyes snapped towards Mai at her mention of the blonde. Like her, he had kept the altercation with Nichkhun at the White Tiger laboratories from their commanding officer. No one needed to know that a ghost from his past had begun to haunt him. Wooyoung didn’t think it was necessary for Schatteinheit to know just how personally involved he now was in this case.

“Our killer’s a girl?” Taecyeon said incredulously, turning back to Seulong who sat behind him.

“With two bodyguards?” Seulong added, confused. “That doesn’t make any sense. What’s their motive anyway? I get the dirty old officials, but Hu Fengmin, Andy Lee, Tony Ahn, and then Eric Mun, that’s a little off base from the past victims.”

Fuu pulled out a thick folder and scanned through the pages. “Eric Mun was a journalist, one of the nosiest in the field. There was a missing person’s report filed for him the week before he was found dead in the lab.”

“Who filed the report?” Mai asked.

“His partner, Shin Hyesung, who is also missing, actually. No one has any clue to anything,” Fuu answered, obviously highly unsettled. She had been running late nights trying to figure out the links each victim had to each other, but so far all her searches had gone in vain. While there had been some kind of link between Beast and Dr. Hu, she still could not figure out how Tony Ahn, Andy Lee, Lee Minwoo, Park Junjin, Eric Mun, and Shin Hyesung were related. The why could be simple enough. These assassins had been taking down corrupt officials ever since Fuu could remember, but why the change in victims?

“For all practical purposes, we have no clues.”

Schatteinheit turned towards the door where Dr. Lim Jeonghee now stood. The forensic psychologist was a woman of averages. Average height, weight, even looks, what set her apart however, was her more than average intellect. She strode confidently into the room with a file case in her hands and setting it down gently on top of Changmin’s table. Her eyes surveyed the room and its inhabitants. A hint of a smile touched her lips. As the rumors went, Schattenheit was indeed an interesting round-up.

The profiler pulled out a large file of text and notes from her case. “Don’t be fooled by the size, we know less than you think.”

Silence greeted her, and Lim Jeonghee eyed Changmin squarely, lightly amused. “I’m sorry to drop by unannounced, I’m not uninvited am I?”

Changmin shook his head and waved a hand. “No doctor, it’s not that at all. We weren’t expecting you to drop by. Schatten doesn’t exactly get many visitors.”

A soft chuckle escaped Jeonghee’s lips. “Well, I didn’t come empty handed,” she handed Fuu a tablet, “I have the evidence logs from yesterday’s blast in here. I’ve gone through them. Your targets are smart.”

Changmin nodded gravely. They were all aware that their targets were not to be taken lightly at all. Once again, Mai’s note reminded him of that which plagued him. Yesterday could have been a coincidence, but what about the other nights? “All right, let’s get this settled while Dr. Lim is here. What do we now know of the assassins?”

Jurisdiction-wise, it was vague just what exactly Einheit: Schatten was assembled for. For the past few weeks, cases had been handed to them by their administrative officer Police Chief Lee Sooman. No questions were asked, and Changmin knew immediately that there was something more at work here. The thought never bore fruit as their concentration remained on apprehending these assassins.

“Judging by the last few case files I’ve received, we can safely tell that you have five assassins on your plate. The first three as you have mentioned, and another two. We have your long-range shooter whose bolts are all custom made, we can trace every one of his arrows back to him, but that’s all we can tell about him, his identity remains unknown. He is very good at choosing his hiding spots.

“The next one is variable though we can connect all blunt edged weapons on him. We are certain it is a male because of the force of his strikes and the sizes of the bruisings on his victims. His choice of weapons marks him different from the others. Especially the last three of them. All three remaining members are ruthless, they show no hesitation. The clean cuts from their swordsman is impeccable, while the more furious attack patterns from the two remaining are indicative of a hidden anger or perhaps even a desire. We have your strangler and your melee fighter, both stare at their victims as they die slowly in their hand, quite possibly in the eye.

“All these people seek something out. This girl you mention, she’s the most unstable of them all. She’s very dangerous, it’s almost as if there’s a desperation in the way she kills. Unlike the other four who are methodical, she has no patterns.”

Mai nodded at the profiler- Ayame, as Junho had called her had been unpredictable because of her aerial assaults. “She’s quick. To compensate for her lack of strength?”

Jeonghee nodded. “As you’ve described her, then yes. A more conservative approach is to think she’s angry. Perhaps maybe even all of them, but not angry enough to compromise precision or method.”

“What about the explosion?” Seulong asked.

“What about it?” Jeonghee repeated, brow quirked.

“Well, yesterday’s blast. If they’re involved, who planted it?”

“What have you found out about the bomb?”

Seulong’s eyes shifted for a brief moment as he made himself more comfortable in his seat. “Well, it was a remote detonation device with no termination switch.”

Jeonghee nodded. “In other words whoever built it knew how and what to build and how to detonate it without being detected. The lack of a termination device tells us whoever detonated that bomb had no plans at all of stopping it. If your targets are in fact involved in this, they wouldn’t be there. They would have simply pulled the switch. You have a different bomber.”

“They centered the blast to Zara Choi’s apartment. Her body was blown up, but evidence suggests she was attacked by-” Mai stumbled on her words, suddenly conscious about the fact that there was a chance that Junho personally knew who this assassin was, “by the female.”

“How is Zara Choi linked to all this?” Taecyeon murmured, leafing through the thick file of papers in front of him.

“She was a biochemical engineer. The last targeted research scientists dabbled in human researches, perhaps she’s involved in the same,” Fuu suggested.

Changmin stared hard at the wooden desk before him. They had semblances of evidence, but no links to tie them together. “Scientists, journalists, what are these people trying to tell us?”

Wooyoung’s hand was gripped tightly into a fist under his desk. He had tuned out the rest of the discussion the unit was having with the forensic psychologist. Zara Choi. He knew that name, along with Hu Fengmin. His mind brought him to his own personal notes from his independent investigations. Before Nichkhun had gone rogue, the two of them had come across these names but with no knowledge of who they were. Now it was all coming back. Wooyoung knew of only one reason for Nichkhun to be where he was now, and the discovery of these new victims made clear sense to him. There was only one reason for Nichkhun to kill, and that reason he now knew linked to all these people involved.

~ ☖ ~

“Remote detonators, signal jammers, run-ins with the police, Rai almost dying. It’s been a busy day for all of us.” Jinwoon said, looking up into the screen where Staunton’s profile loomed over him.

Jinwoon was alone in the dark backroom. Chansung and Nichkhun were attending to the shop while Junsu was attending to Rai. He knew that all of them were unwilling at their current posts, with the exception perhaps of Junsu, but what needed to be done had to be done. Staunton was silent, something Jinwoon had already been accustomed to. Their leader was not one for words, often choosing his personnel to deliver his messages. The only occasions Staunton did speak was to hand out a mission- a kill order.

Jinwoon had spent the previous night tossing and turning in bed unable to find sleep. Every time that rest would feel so close, he would relive the events a few hours back. First was the fear of Rai’s death, and the next being a very close encounter to it. He couldn’t erase the sight of Rai bleeding to her death as Nichkhun carried her out his car. The blonde’s white sports coupe’s interior was stained crimson- Jinwoon was no stranger to blood, but knowing that that amount came from someone he knew and cared about was a harrowing experience. Junsu had immediately taken control of the situation. Chansung had called earlier alerting him of Rai’s condition and Jea and Miryo from the Main Office had dropped by to help. Now Rai was stabilized, but still unconscious in their recovery room on Junsu’s floor of the building.

“Someone knows about our activities.”

The calmness in their leader’s voice permeated into Jinwoon’s flustered state. It could have easily had been Park Yoochun or even Xiah who knew about their activities, though Jinwoon had suspected something more from the bomb that was set off. Like many sworn to secrecy, the analyst was not about to disregard the possibility that Zara Choi was a fanatic for whatever Fortuna’s cause and beliefs were. She could have easily sent a signal alarming her higher-ups about the danger she was in, hence the blast. Rai and the building tenants would have been acceptable collateral damage.

“I’ve been- well, I wanted to talk about how it’s possible for Schatteinheit to know about our activities. I’m afraid that after yesterday, they would be on to us. I know only Chansung and Junsu have any form of existing government records, but Chansung is the most at risk at being found out.”

“Jinwoon.”

Staunton’s voice had always been calming for the young analyst. Even more so when the enigmatic leader switched off the voice masking devices when they spoke alone. Jinwoon looked up at the shadowed figure before him, a silhouette was always much more assuring than a faceless, figureless, shapeless abstraction of what their leader could look like. “I’m just worried about them all.”

“Fei and Jia are infiltrating several databases, and Kass is deep undercover for us. Rest assured.”

Assurance was not what Jinwoon wanted. He needed something more concrete than just words from Staunton. As much as he respected the man, Jinwoon was not about to put Hell at risk, especially not when he knew he was to remain safe through it all. “Am I to assume that the next kill order is up?”

“It will be. While we are unable to find Park Yoochun and Xiah, the next Fortuna link will be handed to you upon Raijin’s recovery.”

Jinwoon dropped his gaze to his hands. “Why did you make her go alone?” He knew it was disrespectful to question his senior this way, but Jinwoon wanted to know. He wanted some form of justification for what happened to Rai.

“Hell would be insulted going after one woman with two dogs. You don’t need a full assault team.”

“She could have died,” he retorted. Understanding something didn’t make accepting it any easier.

“Raijin will refuse to die until she’s achieved her goals. Know that well.” Staunton’s words fell on deaf ears as Jinwoon stubbornly refused to accept the risks Hell was being put through. “Jinwoon, there is never a fight with no risk. Life, yours and Hell’s most of all, are a series of attacks, and no matter what move you make you will always be put at risk. Haven’t you learned?”

Jinwoon nodded, albeit reluctantly. “I understand that. I just-”

“Your place is here inside. Learn from yesterday’s mission. Next time it shouldn’t be so easy.”

Dejected, Jinwoon sighed. “I know that. I shouldn’t be too attached to any of them. I know.”

…

Junsu adjusted the intravenous drip attached to Rai’s knuckles. Jea and Miryo had stitched her up and said nothing more to him. He was tempted to take a look at what more scars Rai hid underneath her, but right now, what peaked his curiosity was what demons chased her in her sleep. After a bag of blood transfused, Rai remained unconscious, but her eyes never stopped moving under her lids. The color was slowly creeping back to her- what color she had at least, for that Junsu breathed a sigh of relief. She was again clothed in the dark reds she liked wearing, and Junsu thought this was to mask the bloodstains she would so often get when they were out on a kill order. Why she was in these clothes now, Junsu could only wonder why. Crimson suited her though, Rai’s pale skin may have been pallid next to the dark reds, but it somehow made her look less angry.

He buried his head in his hands as yesterday replayed in his mind. Nichkhun came in with Rai almost dead in his arms. With Chansung screaming in his ear and Jea and Miryo’s watchful gaze, taking control of the situation had not been easy. He was expected to treat her, but he had frozen even when no one had noticed. Thankfully the Main Office medics had been there. All Junsu had to do was do as they said, eventually he was asked to leave the room. Now, here he sat watching over her.

Rai’s eyes fluttered open, squinting as the light penetrated her eyes. She scowled seeing Junsu. “You.”

“You’re welcome. Jea and Miryo send their love.”

Rai struggled to stand up and Junsu simply watched her, afraid to touch her. He didn’t fancy a bloody nose, and he was certain Rai could easily inflict one even in her state. She pulled the needle off her wrist and lifted the covers. Junsu took a step back as Rai stumbled towards the door.

“I can help you, you know.” Junsu meant to help her walk, but in some ambiguous sense, he wanted to be able to help her more.

“I’d rather not,” she said tersely.

“Because it’s me?” Rai ignored him and dragged her feet to the door. “You know, there’s nothing wrong with wanting another person’s company. A touch, a kiss, a hug.”

“What’s your point, Junsu?”

“I know you don’t like me because of my more human needs, but you can’t honestly tell me you don’t find yourself wanting the same things.”

Rai rolled her eyes. “Do you always start conversations that have nothing to do with the situation?”

Junsu shrugged as he watched her leave, speaking under his breath. “I’m just saying you might need it one day.”

…

Nichkhun stared blankly at the deep red stains on his car. Rai’s blood was everywhere, inside and out. He drizzled powdered bleach onto the stains and watched as they transformed into a sickening shade of green before coloring into a rusty brown. He swiped this off with a large sponge dipped in water. Nichkhun hated having to be stained with blood. Even until now he could still feel the nauseating smell in his nose, and the stickiness in his hands.

He kneeled down next to the wheel to remove another stain on the door. He didn’t realize Rai had been bleeding this much. How and why seemed to be the relevant question as her attacker did not handle an edged weapon. Though Nichkhun was vaguely aware of Rai’s old injury, he never knew the extent of it until yesterday. Had he known, would he have been more careful fighting against her? Would that knowledge stop him from willingly slashing his blade through her? Perhaps.