“This is Yang Nara reporting live from the Weather Station at Kapitel. Three nights ago, the prime suspect of the body dumps, Tony Ahn, was found dead in his office at around midnight when the police came in for a raid on his body organ trafficking in the black market. Chief of Police Lee Sooman is again, keeping silent about the rumors going around that there is a vigilante with inside information on police investigations. For now, the Tony Ahn case is closed, but will the bodies stop piling up?

“More local news, yesterday at around 1800 hours, a body of a young man identified as Kim Sunggyu was found dead floating in the river Han. Officials concluded it to be a suicide upon the discovery of a last note in the victim's locker at the national university, this is the fourth of such an instance occurring within the last few-”

Nichkhun pressed the off button on the remote control before the news flash was even done and tossed the plastic device on the white sofa next to him. Staring blankly at the white walls, Nichkhun sank back into the cushioned seat behind him and ran his fingers through his hair. It was another mission done and over with for them, but it was still steps too far away from his real target. Anger burned within him at the thought of the man he only lived to kill, and his blood surged through his veins. Fists clenched tightly at his sides, the memory forced its way into his mind, flashing vividly as if it were happening at the present time and he was watching the events unfold all over again. His teeth gnashed against each other and his eyes hurt from being shut too tight, but the image was branded into his mind, and try as he might to repress the memory it was the pain that had kept him living up until now. Willing himself to calm down, he slowed his breathing and opened up his ears to let the soft regular beeping of the monitor next to him ease away the hurt.

Beep, beep, beep.

His heartbeat slowly mirrored the sounds of the life support next to him. Nichkhun opened his eyes and watched the green lines on the machine go up and down for every systole and diastole, every peak of brain activity- the only remaining sign that there was still life in the lithe body lying down the hospital bed. Nichkhun understood every line and every number on the LCD display, and he knew that as long as the beeping continued at a regular pace, there was hope that she would regain consciousness.

June, the name left his lips with all the devotion in his heart, and his chest ached at the sight of her lifeless and frozen in time. His eyes roamed her form, she laid still on top of the bed, hands on her chest, arms flexed at the elbow and adducted to her sides, her chest only slightly moving as she breathed with effort. Nichkhun stood from his seat across the room and walked over to her, his large hand taking hers as he sat on the edge of the bed. His thumb rubbed small circles on her hand- he knew she could feel him there, he knew that if he spoke, June would hear him the way he was hearing every beat of the monitor and every exhale from . She was so beautiful laying there, and Nichkhun wanted nothing more but to yank away all the tubes and wires plugged into her, angry that what kept her breathing marred her beauty so much. His other hand gently grazed her cheek- she was so pale that she almost blended into the crisp white hospital sheets, the only contrast was her long jet black hair. Her lips were cracked and only slightly agape with a tube running down her esophagus, and another one inside her nose. Wires of different colors monitored her brain activity, and at every spike Nichkhun would give a start, waiting in anticipation that June would wake. But she never woke, and for the past eighteen months Nichkhun waited patiently, and wait more he would.

A soft buzzing in his pocket alerted him to a phone call- a very few select people ever knew of that line and Nichkhun felt compelled to take it. He pulled the phone out from his pocket without hurry and read the name on the caller ID before hitting the call button and pressing the phone to his ear.

“Nichkhun? Where are you? I'm at district IX, I'm done with the deliveries today,” Chansung said, and Nichkhun could hear the engine of Chansung's delivery bike being .

“I'm at the hospital, I'll meet you at the shop later today. Is there anything you needed?” he replied, glancing up at the digital wall clock next to the television- it was almost four in the afternoon.

“Uh...no, it's okay,” Chansung answered, his voice softer and hesitant. “How is she? I mean...yeah, uh...never mind. I'll see you at the shop.”

“Alright.” Nickhun cut the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket and turned to June. “I have to go now, I'll come by again tomorrow,” he whispered, and before he let her hand go, he spoke into her ear, “I swear on my life I will kill him.” The dour tone in his voice reverberated around the room as he reinstated his vows for her. He would kill the man who did this to his June, and he would do anything and everything in his power to see that into completion.

The hospital corridors were empty, and the sound of the door being shut behind him echoed loudly through the halls. His footsteps were heavy and deliberate as he walked from the lobby and towards the carpark; he ignored the stares sent his way. He could hear the talks about him, the nurses and even some of the residents and interns seemed to have nothing better to do than to gossip about the man who came everyday to visit his near-dead girlfriend. Nichkhun's hand twitched, and he regretted being unable to carry his Krabi with him. How nice it would have felt to slit these people's throats.

He could hear the whispers, every time it was different, but the act remained the same. They talked about him, and they talked about June, and the latter was unacceptable. The rumors about him he would let slide, but every time he would hear these insignificant people badmouthing June, the rage inside him shook him so hard that his hand trembled with the need for blood to spill.

Nichkhun managed to make it to the basement parking lot without incident, and as the voices died down, so did his anger, but one step into the dark floor and his instincts suddenly kicked in warning him of another presence. He treaded at a normal pace, not wanting to let his assailant know he was aware. Keeping his defenses up he unlocked his car and his eyes immediately fell on the Thai sword concealed under the seat.

The air was suddenly thick around him, and Nichkhun heard his watch tick the seconds before he heard the whirring of displaced air behind him. He quickly grabbed his sword and rolled towards the side of the vehicle and into an open area, successfully avoiding the first wave of attacks. He was on his feet immediately, and when he was attacked again the sharp clanging of metal upon metal was honey to his ears. It didn't take a lot of effort on his part- Rai was not the strongest physically speaking, though her blitzkrieg tendencies and her speed made up for her lack of strength.

He overthrew her easily with a sweep of his long sword, and Rai flung towards the side, landing on her right shoulder and sliding down the concrete floor, her twin kodachi slipping from her hands and away from her. Nichkhun smirked at Rai's choice of weapon today, usually she went on missions with a pair of bagh nakh, but today she had chosen her short swords. She was a deadly double wielder, but not quite deadly enough just yet.

“Is that the best you can do? Tell me, what did I do this time?” Nichkhun said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.

“You know exactly what you did!” Rai growled, grabbing her swords and launching herself at Nichkhun, using the whole of her body to generate the force that would be required to knock her target off his feet.

Nichkhun easily avoided her attack with a sidestep, and with another sweep of his sword he slashed through the fabric of Rai's clothes, grazing the side of her torso with a thin line of blood.

Rai was unaffected, however, she reversed her hold on her right sword so both blades were turned to only one direction. “I told you to never interfere when I fight!” she screamed as she jumped up into the air, angling her body into its natural tendency to rotate.

Again, Nichkhun easily dodged Rai's spinning attacks. “If I didn't let Chansung and Junsu stop you, you would have been killed.” Rai dropped to the floor and Nichkhun took this opportunity to drive his sword as closely to her neck without slitting . “Kass would have killed you, and that would be such a disappointment.”

Rai's eyes flashed with indignation, and she looked up at Nichkhun but her eyes were drawn to the thin silver chain wrapped around the hilt of his sword. “I wouldn't have lost, I would have killed her, and then I'm going to kill you.”

The corner of Nichkhun's lips quirked to the side, creating a crooked smile. “You would have lost Rai, you can't even give me a measly scratch and yet you vow to kill me? He would be so disappointed in you.”

“I will kill you,” she spat out, venom heavily laced in her voice.

Nichkhun was calm though. “Tsk tsk tsk...keep your end of the bargain first, then we can fight for real. You need to practice Rai, I could hear you breathing as soon as the elevator doors opened.” It amused Nichkhun to see the lightning flash in Rai's eyes. “Do you know why you'd lose?” he taunted.

“I won't lose,” she answered through gritted teeth.

Nichkhun scoffed, “Kass is a master of technique, your lack of patience to master one will lead to your demise. Chansung won't always be there to-”

Rai rolled backwards before Nichkhun could finish speaking, and again she sprang forwards, swords pressed together as she corkscrewed in the air. This time Nichkhun barely avoided her swords and he dived back just in time to watch the sharp edge of Rai's kodachi whip past his face. He landed on the flat of his back, arms on his side to lessen the impact of the fall, but Rai landing on top of him slightly knocked the air out of him. She straddled his chest, kodachi thrown to the side and her hands the fabric of his shirt.

“I will kill you,” she snarled, “I'll let you get your revenge first, then I will get mine. Remember that.”

“You need to stay alive first.”

The sound of a sharp slap together with Rai's frustrated groan resounded across the whole floor and Nichkhun's cheek burned from the force of Rai's slight hand. She had used the force from her whole body to slap him, and he almost laughed out loud at the effort it took her to even hurt him.

“That was for the other night,” Rai grumbled, climbing off Nichkhun and hauling him up by the arms.

Nichkhun dusted off his clothes and picked up his sword, watching Rai as she did the same. His eyes zoomed in on the cut on her midsection where her white shirt gaped open, while there was still some drops of blood oozing out of the injury, it was already clotting up. He briefly wondered if it hurt her, he never knew if her pain receptors were knocked out or if she just simply had a high pain tolerance, Rai never seemed to be in any pain from all their sparring sessions or even their missions. Looking up to her neck, he wasn't surprised to see a thin ligature mark from where Kass had strangled her, it was beginning to fade out, but there were still signs of broken skin.

“Are you going back to the shop?” Rai asked, sheathing her swords criss-cross at the small of her back.

Nichkhun nodded. “I think Chansung has something for us.”

Rai took one look at the white vehicle and shook her head. “I think I'll walk.”

Nichkhun nodded in understanding and contemplated about telling her that Chansung was in the area and that she could ask him to come get her. Walking around with her kodachi was not exactly the best idea, though Nichkhun was pretty sure when Rai said 'walk' she meant through roofs and shadows. It didn't need much thought, for Rai turned her back to him and he slipped into his car, watching her disappear into the shadows.

~ ♖ ~

Rai wasn't surprised to see that Nichkhun was the last to arrive. One of the reasons she didn't trust four-wheeled vehicles was that there was always something bound to be in the way. The time it took for Nichkhun to arrive she had already managed to make it to her room, change her clothes, and make it to the backroom. Leaning further back into the shadows, she watched Nichkhun take his usual seat in the middle of the room. Who does he think he is? Does he really consider himself as our leader?

She pushed the thought away and watched as Jinwoon and Chansung both smiled as he walked in while Junsu just gave him a lazy wave of the hand; Min and Kwon both nodded acknowledging his presence.

“Well, now that we're all here, we can finally get started,” Kwon announced, his voice a little too high for Rai's liking, but she wasn't the one with the extrasensory hearing and she was thankful for that. Pulling out his file folders and passing them around according to each of the assassin's requirements, Kwon flashed a schematic of the perimeter with a red dot indicating the targeted site. “We've centered the suicides-”

“I'm sorry I'm late!”

The door banged open, and they all turned to see Kass as she walked in, her six-inch heels clacking even on the padded floors. The expression on Rai's face soured as she took note of what the other female was wearing. Bright turquoise blouses paired with deep purple skirts and stiletto heels were not Rai's choice of attire- not only did it attract unwanted attention, the fabric itself limited her range of motion. Even on the first night they met, Rai was not impressed by Kass' leather tandem and thigh-high boots, Junsu however, was all eyes on Kass, both then and now. Disgusted, Rai turned away and read the report prepared for her. It was a schematic of all possible entrance and exit points as well as every blind spot in the perimeter. Marked on her sheet were all the areas where shadows would fall, and she looked up at the main diagram on the screen for cross-referencing.

Although as much as she wanted to concentrate on the given mission, Rai was distracted by the unusual thumping and vibrations she could feel from both the floor and the air. She scowled, recognizing the tell-tale beat of Junsu's heart when he found a woman he was interested in, and her frown deepened as Kass seemed to reciprocate that interest. Rai felt like throwing up at the thought, and try as best as she could to will away the sensation, the pulsations were strong in the air, and she held back the gag reflex as best as she could.

“Anyway,” Kwon continued, “as I was saying,” he eyed Kass, somewhat annoyed at the interruption, “the victims all have one thing in common, and this leads us to believe that these are in fact not suicides. At least not by their own will.”

Min continued Kwon's introduction, “All these students were test volunteers of this new sleep program involving invasive probes to the brain, we suspect more than just inducing sleep. This may be another brain washing or mind-control program. Staunton wants this man dead.”

“They're from my school,” Chansung said, voice grave. “I know this is selfish of me to ask, but please let me take revenge for my schoolmates.”

The request was sent to Rai most of all, and the girl could only concede to the younger one's request. Rai would step down for now, Chansung hardly ever asked for favors and she was willing to grant him this one.

Her eyes focused on the picture of the man on the screen. He looked like the typical scientist, a man and a face Rai would never trust. She memorized his facial features, though she knew she didn't need to remember as much as Chansung did. The younger one's eyes were focused on the screen, and Rai imagined Chansung picturing out just how he was going to kill this man in his head as she so often did.

“Everything should be ready,” Kwon said, wrapping up the briefing. “All you need to know, Jinwoon would be more than happy to help with.” He pointed towards Jinwoon, and the youngest smiled and waved a hand. “He's managed to breach the first level of security, but if you need more inside information I'm sure your new Bauer can aid with that.”

“Jinwoon should be more than enough,” Rai interrupted, her voice cutting through the air. “I told you, we don't need a Bauer,” she uttered, crossing her arms on her chest.

“Listen girly,” Kass turned toward her, resting her elbow on the backrest of her seat, “you're not one to talk. In case you forgot, I almost killed you the other night, you better learn to keep your mouth shut, ” Kass retorted tartly, fingers moving through her hair.

Rai dropped her hands to her side and clenched her fists, but the feeling of not having the weight of her leather gloves made her feel suddenly very vulnerable, and the lack of claws springing out from her leather knuckles held her back from lunging at Kass. She set her jaw tight until it hurt, her breathing becoming more labored as she willed herself to calm down. Chansung was at her side in an instant, and a hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality somewhat.

“Then I suppose we're done here,” Kwon finished. With an assessing look across the room, he left through the backdoor with Min.

The heavy door banged close, and Rai wondered if banging Kass' head against the steel door would be enough to kill her.

“You're bleeding.”

Caught off guard, Rai looked up at Chansung, then immediately down to her right side where Nichkhun had inflicted the fleshwound. She had covered it up earlier today, bandaging it tightly so that it wouldn't cause her any more trouble. There wasn't any blood on her shirt, and she shook her head. “No I'm not,” she lied.

“Yes you are. I can smell it. You're bleeding.” Chansung's eyes narrowed into slits as he regarded Rai once more. “What happened to you?” he asked, and Rai imagined him sniffing out where her injury was.

“Don't you think maybe Rai's bleeding because it's-”

“No, Rai doesn't-” Chansung cut Junsu as the elder stood from his seat to sit on the desk.

Rai cut Chansung off, yanking her arm away from his grasp. “I'm fine, nothing's wrong with me.”

“Maybe Junsu should take a look at it?” Jinwoon suggested from the opposite side of the room, wheeling closer to where the others were.

Rai's face contorted into one of pure loathing and she shook her head. “I told you I don't need anything!” she screamed, stepping back into the shadows and disappearing. She resurfaced near the main door, and quickly made her exit.

“I hate it when she does that. It’s really creepy.” Junsu leaned back on the desk and crossed his legs. “I was only going to take a look, it wasn't even my idea.”

Chansung sighed. “Jinwoon, you should have known better.”

“I know, but if you say she’s bleeding, then she needs to have it looked at whatever it is,” Jinwoon answered, his face apologetic.

“I don't get it, how does Rai do that and how did you know that?” Kass asked, turning to Chansung. “And why would you even take a look?” This she directed to Junsu.

“Junsu was kicked out of medical school, and Chansung’s nose just knows,” Jinwoon simply answered in an 'it all makes simple and perfect sense' tone of voice.

“Hey!” Junsu countered defensively. “I did not get kicked out, I dropped out.”

“Same thing,” Chansung snorted.

Kass looked even more confused. “Okay, you I get,” she said to Junsu, pointing a well manicured finger at him. “But you,” she turned to Chansung again, “what do you mean your nose knows? And how does Rai work the shadows thing?”

Chansung shrugged. “It just does, and Rai just does.”

“We don't have time for this,” Nichkhun said, standing up from his seat. “We'll meet at Ω-point at 0200.”

~ ♖ ~

Rai clutched at her midsection, her other hand laid flat against the wall to stabilize herself as she struggled to climb up the stairs back to her room on the fourth floor. The metal creaked loudly underneath her heavy footsteps, but she made it to her room with no further incident. She burst through the door and collapsed on the wooden tiles and looked down at where her injury should be. Scarlet blood was all over her arm and stomach, and she laid her head down on the floor, eyes heavy and body tired.