The girl in question sat on the floor with both her hands and feet cuffed to each other. She sat cross-legged, playing with the heavy iron chains that immobilized her. She tugged at her wrists but the metal made no other sound but its clanking against the chains that bound her ankles to each other and to her hands.

“Who do you work for?”

Rai smirked and raised a brow at her inquisitor. If Mai didn’t scare her before, there was no reason for it to do so now. Most of all now. “That’s a stupid question.”

Mai lifted her hand and in one swift motion her palms met Rai’s face in a very audible snap. In the dark and damp room, the slap echoed, making it sound more sinister than it already was. Mai was not done, however, and she grabbed the other’s face, digging her fingers deep into her skin. “You will tell us everything you know. Your crimes against humanity are grave. If you cooperate, then maybe you’ll find yourself somewhere a little bit more livable than solitary confinement.”

Rai smiled at her, a lopsided grin that was more maniacal than anything. “I like how you think you’re actually going to be able to actually keep me in here.”

Another slap.

Rai sighed, “Is that the best you can do?”

Again, Mai saw red, and with no more self control, she kicked Rai where she knew she was most vulnerable. The wound from before would still be raw, it would still be her weakest point. Rai doubled over in pain as she felt her flesh rip apart anew at Mai’s furious kick. It was just pain, she would tell herself. Pain that she had lived with ever since she received that cut. Rai gagged, but she pulled herself together, enough to swallow the excruciating pain.

“Who are you working for?” Mai shrieked, grabbing the other girl’s shoulders and violently shaking her.

When Rai refused to answer again, Mai’s hand found her jutte, and before the officer was even aware of what she was doing, several blows had already been landed on the assassin’s body. Still, Rai remained obstinate, choosing instead to tease Mai and instigate more anger.

Rai had nothing to lose. As easy as it was to reveal what Hell was and how the Main Office was involved, it never occurred to her to betray what she now considered her clan. She was shinobi foremost, and her loyalty, whether voluntarily given or demanded from her, was unbreakable. Staunton was now her master, and Hell her brethren. Rai simply refused to betray them.

Hit after hit, it didn’t matter to her. To Rai, it was the other officer that was at a loss. It was Mai Tran who was the one to be pitied.

The assassin felt another pair of feet enter the room, and when the main lights were switched on, she dared open one good eye. Lee Junho had Mai in his arms, the jutte used to attack her now lay almost innocent on the floor. Rai didn’t care. What bothered her was the way Junho was now looking at her- the way Mai was now sitting crumpled on the floor.

Junho picked her up carefully and seated her on top of the table at the side of the room. With his keys, he loosened her cuffs, setting all her limbs free. He knew Rai wasn’t going anywhere, not with the extent of the injuries Mai had given her in just the span of the five minutes since he left the room. He should have realized Mai was not in the proper mental state to deal with an interrogation regarding Changmin’s death. Mai had blamed Rai for everything, even the loss of Warheit even though there was no logical reason for her to do so.

He produced a first aid kit from his utility belt, and set in next to Rai. It wasn’t going to be enough as the assassin’s injuries were too much, but it would have to do. His main focus was the reopened gash on her side.

He slowly lifted her shirt, and when she did not react, he slowly peeled it off leaving her with the bandages that covered her entire torso. The blood seeped through the cloth and gauze, and Junho looked around him, suddenly unsure of what to do next.

“Just leave it.” Rai muttered, the blood from the corner of her cracked lips. To fuss would be pointless, and it was only her luck that the only time her hands and feet would be free, was at a time she was already too much in pain to even do anything.

“It’s going to get worse if we leave it. Where did you even get it?” Junho asked, pawing through the small kit, looking for a pair of scissors.

“Don’t remember. I’ve lived with it. It won’t ever heal so just let it be.”

Junho frowned, “No. The topmost layer of the skin is already necrotic. If we leave it this way it will eat up even your muscle. I’m surprised its not even infected.”

Rai rolled her eyes. He was almost like Jinwoon. Almost. “You called me Ayame.”

Junho’s fingers froze as the name escaped her lips. So she had heard him after all. The scissors in his hand returned to her bandages, and he snipped off the lower half, revealing an open wound. “I did not.”

“You did, at the explosion site.” Rai answered as she watched Junho wipe away the blood from her side.

Junho blanched at the flesh exposed. The wound was open, the sides almost rotting, and the inner layers of her skin was raw nowhere near healing itself. He pulled out a large transdermal patch and weighed the options of just sticking it on without thoroughly sterilizing the area. He sighed realizing there really was not a choice and he dabbed at the perimeter of the wound with a wet towel. “It’s your name isn’t it?” he asked, peeling off the adhesive and gently pressing it against the open wound.

“My name is Raijin.” she answered before gasping in pain. “What’s that?”

He lifted his gaze to her eyes, and his frown deepened at the bruises on her face and the blood trickling down her lips. “Raijin? It’s a medicated patch. It’s more effective than just relying on plain bandages. I don’t think your wound is going to heal on its own. This is going to induce the-”

A groan from behind him reminded him of his forgotten partner. He looked at her from over his shoulder, and again, Junho sighed. “Are you okay?”

Mai didn’t answer, and Junho remained quiet, choosing instead to finish up bandaging the assassin in front of him. It didn’t take long before more guards arrived. Mai’s unattended interrogation time was up, and Junho watched helpless as the men tied Rai up again, this time tying her wrists together, separate from her bound ankles, and hanging her up by the wrists from a hook that dangled from the ceiling.

Mai dragged herself up to look Rai in the eyes. “We’re not done, yet.” Her voice came out venomous and spiteful, and her face remained tense with her jaw set painfully tight.

Rai just appeared unaffected by her, and this angered Mai even more. This assassin was clearly unaffected by what she had done to the people around her. Not the blood on her hands, or even the sins she had committed fazed her, and Mai did not know how she wanted to feel about that. One on hand, Rai frightened her. Someone like Rai had no real emotion, she could kill without thinking about the consequences. On the other hand, Mai was curious about her. What could have possibly turned her into this monster?

Her gaze dropped, and that was when she noticed something about Rai. On her skin, just at the swell of her hipbone, peeking through the thin hospital pajama bottoms, was an image carved into her skin.

“I need to see it myself.”

Jay’s voice broke through Mai’s thoughts, and she was pushed aside as the detective-inspector took her previous position. In his hand was a photograph, and he set it next to the carving. They were identical.

“Take Officer Lee into custody.”

Junho was not even given time to react, neither had his rights been announced to him. It was a matter of seconds until he, too, was in a similar position as Rai now was. Mai couldn’t even do anything amidst the chaos, and she stood there waiting for an explanation. Her mind was completely blank.

Jay dropped the picture to the floor and stepped up to Junho. He pulled away Junho’s uniform shirt, and lifted it high enough to prove what he had hoped had been a mistake.

Mai’s eyes grew wide in horror. On Junho, at exactly the same position, was the same brand as on Rai.

“A blood iris. They’re both Fortuna.”

…

Chansung scratched his head as he regarded the NeoSeoul Police Department a block away where he was now parked. The building stood three stories high with two underground levels, and try as he did to feel calm about the situation, there was just something that was innately terrifying about infiltrating the police. Regardless of how incompetent Hell thought of them to be, Chansung was, unlike the rest of his team, undecided as to how he wanted to feel about Schatten.

It wasn’t that he was feeling insecure, or that he did not think he could face any of them in combat. He was certain that he would emerge victorious should he face any of them off. After dealing with those Fortuna monsters, there really was no more doubt in Chansung’s mind when in came to his own fighting skills, but Schatten was very human. They were like him, just with a different set of principles and the law masking what evils they held inside them.

He shivered at the thought of seeing one of those badges up front. It was not a sight he ever wanted to flash across his face, and he wrestled with his mind as his eyes trailed any and all pathways he had in order to successfully retrieve Rai.

It was not an order. Staunton said nothing about Rai when they held the briefing earlier in the night, and Jinwoon was everything that was belligerent about him. Kass had finally made a reappearance, with her the allegedly secret location of the three Fortuna Generals. It was going to be a quick kill judging by the numbers on Dr. Aybarra’s notes. They had eliminated what humanoid beings Fortuna had been brooding ever since it had been established, and there had been less reports about kidnappings. Had Fortuna given up?

Unlikely, Chansung thought there would be more up their sleeve considering the measures the enemy had been taking until present.

The knowledge would have to wait until after Nichkhun’s return, though. Because as soon as they were deployed, Jinwoon had taken him aside and requested that he retrieve She Whose Obstinacy Rivals He Who Is Mercurial By Default.

“Jinwoon?”

“Please, Chansung. We can’t leave her there.”

The thief heard nothing more but pleading in the younger one’s voice, and he sighed in defeat. Whatever Jinwoon asked of him, whether it made sense to him or not, Chansung was morally obliged to follow. There was no other option or compromise for him. It had been the agreement after all.

“I know that.” It wasn’t as if Chansung liked the idea that Rai was trapped. Jinwoon knew that Chansung worried for Rai, too. What made him anxious was the fact that he was alone at such an important retrieval mission at such a highly guarded place. “You said she’s in one of the basement levels?”

Jinwoon hummed a reply.

“Alright. You sure you won’t be sending me any back-up?”

“Chansung, if I could walk, I wouldn’t even ask for your help. I’d save Rai by myself.”

There was guilt, then there was guilt, and Chansung silently cursed under his breath as he made his way towards the back of the department.

The Police Headquarters was an unevenly shaped building when viewed from above. Chansung had no idea how he was going to get to the basement floors, find Rai, free her, and make it out of the building without being detected. At all.

Yet a part of him was excited. He was a thief after all. Rai would just have to be seen as some valuable artifact kept at high security.

Right, Chansung thought to himself, positive reinforcement.

Besides, it wasn’t as if he came unprepared.

His best point of entry was from above. As much as Chansung wanted to just step right through the door and say hello, he valued his life just as much. Hiking his utility bag up his shoulders, he set his jaw tight and took that one step forward.

“Chansung, always doing it the hard way.”

He literally stumbled on that one step, and his head snapped towards the distraction.

Kwon brushed off the absolutely glacial glare Chansung had sent his way. “Believe or not, Staunton sent us.”

Us? Chansung’s eyes grew even wider as he saw Jia and Suzy reveal themselves behind Kwon. “Staunton sent you?”

Kwon’s eyes scanned the building Chansung had just been looking at a few moments before. “Yes, he did. Much to everyone’s surprise, I can see. Raijin is irreplaceable. Retrieving her is worth the small effort put into this operation.”

Jia was laughing behind him. “In other words we all like her, and be thankful we like you, too. You do know what you’re doing right now is a direct act of insubordination. Staunton did tell you to go find the Fortuna Generals, didn’t he?”

Chansung rolled his eyes, “I’m surprised you didn’t go at them yourself.”

Jia shrugged, “Like you, I owe Staunton my life.”

The conversation ended there with the sudden awkward air. Jia stood as if there was nothing awkward at all, that anything and everything she had said was pure established fact. Which, for most of them in the association, most likely was.

Suzy took a step forward, the action alone dispelling the edge in the atmosphere. “Are we done with the ooshy feelings? I thought we were here to bust Little Lightning out.”

A small smile tugged on Kwon’s lips, “Indeed we are.”

If Chansung ever doubted Kwon before, he wasn’t doubting the archbishop now. Suzy and Jia, he knew to be dangerous, but Kwon? Chansung had this idea that Kwon was the quintessential executive assistant, proper, not willing to lift a finger- that of them all Kwon would be the one with least blood on his hands, but all that changed.

Kwon was deadly, in ways that frightened Chansung. It was more because Kwon’s face did not exactly spell danger, but his deadly accuracy said otherwise.

“You know, it would be a lot better if we just killed them.” Suzy commented as Kwon released another dart from his pistol.

“Umbra does not kill unnecessarily.” was Kwon’s simple reply.

In a matter of minutes, Kwon, Jia, and Suzy had infiltrated the police station and had knocked out everything and anything that was in their way. Chansung didn’t even have to do anything. He was at least thankful that Jinwoon was no longer rambling in his head, that Jinwoon was much more needed by the others.

With a trail of unconscious bodies behind him, Chansung jogged down the long hallway on the last floor down. Directly down the dark floor was the last room in the building, and Chansung’s heart raced as his footsteps became faster. He smelled blood. Probably too much of it, and the ferrous tang that assaulted his nose was creeping into his tongue. His stomach lurched at the thought of it, and already he was not looking forward to seeing Rai. Even more so because he was smelling two different sources of it.

The scent of blood irises became stronger as he made his way closer, and at the very end of the room, behind the thick metal bars, was Rai, dangling limply from a hook from the ceiling. Next to him, was Lee Junho.

Disabling the locks was easy- not even requiring conscious thought. His thoughts were too fixated on setting Rai free. Blood was slowly pooling beneath her, and he quickly worked through the chains that bound her.

“Hi,” she said, her voice weak and strained, “took you long enough.”

Chansung couldn’t bring himself to look at her. Her face was bruised and bleeding, veins broke through the sides of her face, and contusions peppered her arms. He carried her small form, cradling her to his chest, “Kwon, Jia, and Suzy are waiting for us. We’ll make it out safe.”

“Wait, you have to let him free, too.”

Chansung looked behind him where the other officer was. He too was bruised and bleeding all over. “What happened to him?”

“No time, just let him free.”

Chansung set Rai on her feet and did as he was told. Junho fell forwards, he was unconscious, and Chanusng winced as officer’s bloodied body fell on him. “What are we going to do with him?”

“Take him with us.”

Chansung didn’t understand, and the look on the other’s faces when they saw Junho said the same thing, but none of them openly argued. With Suzy and Kwon leading the way out, and Jia keeping Rai steady, the group made it out of NeoSeoul station with no further incident.

They would just have to wait until the morning to hear the news.

…

Wooyoung entered the locker room not expecting company. The night was spent trailing another lead and when that proved to be a dead-end, what better way to release the frustration than a long and extended training session. Brushing off the sweat from his bangs, the inspector regarded the officer inside the room with him. He had heard about the news- that Junho had the mark of Fortuna on him. To Wooyoung, it meant nothing. There was nothing in Junho’s behavior that hinted at him being another pawn for the enemy. In Wooyoung’s head, he knew there must have been some logical explanation for it. He had no attachment to Junho in any way at all, but the circumstances were awfully similar to something he knew very well, something close to his heart.

Mai sat crumpled on one of the benches. She was covered in blood, and Wooyoung didn’t need to ask to whom the blood had belonged to. In an outrage, Mai had turned into something no one had ever expected her to be. Wooyoung scowled at this. It was not disappointment, but the inspector did not want to put a label to it.

He pulled out a clean wash cloth from the cupboards and ran it under the open faucet before flinging it towards Mai’s face. “Clean up. You’re making a mess of the place.”

Mai looked up at him, glaring daggers as she did.

“He’s your partner, you know that. I wonder how you would feel if you were suddenly accused of something and Junho wouldn’t even give you the benefit of the doubt.”

“The evidence against him is beyond any reasonable doubt.”

“Or so you say. He’s your partner. What are you going to do?”

Mai couldn’t answer him. She didn’t know how to. Everyone had been taken away from her in a flash, so quickly that she didn’t even have time to understand how it all happened. Now Junho, the one last person she depended on was not who she thought he was. “You don’t understand, people died! People I care about died and now Junho turns out to be one of those monsters!”

“I understand more than you think. Junho is your partner.”

“I know that.”

“Yet you did nothing in his defense?”

Mai scoffed, “I am not taking this from someone who was rumored to have killed his own partner!”

Wooyoung rolled his eyes. “You’re an idiot. Just go home Mai.”