~ ♕ ~

When Kass arrived with the information on the location of all three Fortuna Generals, Nichkhun did not hesitate about stating his mind. He doubted Kass. There was no other way to say it. He doubted Kass the moment she had joined their team. Junsu may have liked her, Jinwoon and Chansung complacent about her, but Rai was initially violent towards her, and that, Nichkhun trusted. Kass was unfazed however, and Staunton, upon receiving the report had immediately deployed them. The instructions were clear, and when Jinwoon asked him that Chansung be pulled out, Nichkhun let him.

He was no leader, even though he knew Hell saw him that way, even Rai thought of him as an authority figure. Nichkhun believed himself to be not. He was just as they were. An individual out for revenge. An individual enabled by Staunton to exact that revenge.

He knew that Jinwoon pulled Chansung out to retrieve their volatile shinobi- and it was the reason, though unknown to himself, that he made no argument against it. Not that he would have, not that he cared for instructions from Staunton, not that he believed he needed assistance on this mission. Rai may have wanted to kill him, but Nichkhun was willing to admit, though never out loud, that he had a gut feeling he would need her at the end of the whole uncovering of this project.

His hands trembled with the anticipation. The generals have already escaped him before, and now there was no way that Nichkhun would let them slip from his hands again. He would put an end to all this madness once and for all. Fortuna will go down. Nichkhun would make sure of that.

Around him, the sound of heavy footfalls and the rustling of the wind against trees and buildings told Nichkhun the exactness of the situation. He would never have thought that the generals would hide out in the city, but here they were now in each of their respective homes as if no one was after them. Did they really think that they were safe? What false sense of security did they have that Hell would not find them?

It was in this false sense of security that they would find their demise.

His footsteps were silent as he trod down Park Yoochun’s office. Inside him, he was burning with the desire to strike his sword through the Fortuna head’s heart. He had been waiting for this moment for two years. Finally, he was one step closer to bringing the whole organization down.

It was almost too easy, but Nichkhun ignored the gut feeling, opting to deal with the consequences later on. Park Yoochun sat idly in his office smoking a cigar, and Nichkhun smirked as he walked inside.

It was everything Nichkhun did not expect. Park Yoochun was, for the lack of a better word for it, a complete and utter mess. Papers were scattered all over the office, and furniture had been overturned. The director himself looked pale and sickly. His eyes were sunken as they looked towards the distance, and his lips trembled as he began speaking to himself.

“The end. It’s here. It’s here. The end.”

He said nothing more but this. Repeating the same words over and over again. This man in front of Nichkhun was not the same man as a few days before. Something had happened, something that frightened this man beyond anything Nichkhun could explain at present.

With a sneer on his face and dissatisfaction in his heart, Nichkhun raised his sword and slashed a cross on Park Yoochun’s chest. He watched as the man fell by his feet and bled to his death. Something, or someone had arrived before him, and enraged, Nichkhun hacked away at whatever his sword came in contact with.

~ ♙ ~

There was a light of recognition in Kim Jaejoong’s eyes as soon as Kass Lee entered his quarters. He eyed her, all the way from her thigh-high leather boots and corset, to her fiery red hair that lay in a mass of wild curls. Kass smiled at him, batting her eyelashes slowly as she crawled on top of him.

“You know, I received some pretty interesting orders the other day,” she whispered seductively into his ear. Her lips came in contact with the man’s ear and she smiled to herself as he let out a growl.

“Oh? And what would those be?”

Kass’ smile never faded as she moved back and straddled him. “Well, for one,” she purred. Kass kept her eyes on his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

With a twist of her wrist and a tight tug, Kim Jaejoong never even knew, nor did he have a chance to even have the vaguest idea of what struck him. Kass kept her eyes on him the whole time he gasped for breath and writhed underneath her.

“Sorry, there are just some times I have no choice but do as I’m told.”

There was no remorse in her voice.

♗

Schonheit

Junsu couldn’t even remember the last time he was alone on a mission. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it when the whole weight of the mission was laid on his shoulders. If it were entirely up to him, all Kim Junsu would ever be in charge of, was to assimilate and interpret data from a sizable distance from the scene of the crime. Something more like Jinwoon’s job.

Something he had an inkling originally belonged to him anyway. At least, he thought so. If the way he understood certain things to work out, then Kim Junsu shouldn’t even be out in the field.

Still, it was his battle, too. Regardless if the rest of Hell knew or not, Fortuna was his own personal enemy. Or at least, one of the generals was. He wasn’t looking forward to it either. Junsu was happy to have had this opportunity, happy that Staunton had found him too, but it did not deter from the fact that Kim Junsu would much rather execute his plans of revenge in some other manner, one that did not involve direct confrontation- or any form of confrontation at all.

He shook off the anxiety that had been worming its way up his spine. He didn’t think he was prepared for this, but there was no more turning back.

His footsteps echoed slightly on the white tiled floors of the other Kim Junsu’s clinic. How much he hated his very common name, it led to many misunderstandings. One of which led this Kim Junsu straight into Hell.

The smell of disinfectant and the white-washed halls should not have fazed him, it shouldn’t have bothered him, but somewhere along the way Junsu had found a dislike for them. Or perhaps more accurately, what he did not like, was this clinic in particular.

He finally reached the end of the hallway, and Junsu sighed as he cocked his bow into position. It was going to be a tight squeeze, but shooting arrows from inside a laboratory shouldn’t be that hard. He had done it before, and it was as if his enemy would be armed...or guarded. Jinwoon hadn’t said anything about it yet, though Junsu suspected it was more because the archbishop’s attention was more on the other, unsanctioned, mission.

He entered the doors slowly, and surprise was the least of his reactions as he was drowned with a visual saturation of Fortuna’s operatives. What appeared to be columnar aquariums actually housed humans beings pumped in with whatever formula it was that Fortuna had been using on these unsuspecting people. Something still bothered Junsu though, and that was the sudden lack of missing persons reports. Was it that these people were voluntarily joining the cause? Or was it that Fortuna had perfected their mind controlling techniques?

Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to continue.

He stepped closer to one tank and tried to decipher the mechanisms of the instrument board before him. It was useless without proper training, and Junsu knew he was only going to endanger these people if he even tried.

He walked further down, noting the cocoon and flower bud motifs on each tank. A chill ran up his spine at the implications, at the allegory of transformation. Young men and women were suspended inside the fluorescent green liquid, each of them strapped with an oxygen mask. They couldn’t have been any older than Junsu was- most in fact were certainly younger than he.

“Admiring my lovely creations?”

Junsu stopped for a moment before turning towards the source of the voice. He eyed the other doctor warily. Xiah Junsu appeared unarmed, but Junsu knew better than to be complacent. He tightened his grip on his crossbow as he faced his enemy. “What have you done to them?”

Xiah laughed. “I made them perfect.

“You’re turning them into monsters.”

“I’m just increasing their intrinsic value.”

“You’re not really at a position to talk about value, Junsu.”

“And neither are you, as I recall your judgment caused a certain Lee Yoojin’s death.”

That name- the assassin did not want to be reminded of it and he hastily shoved it away from his memory. “You know very well that wasn’t me, you bastard. You killed her. You killed her and you put the blame on me.” Junsu lifted his bow and aimed at the doctor.

“Do you honestly think you can kill me?” Xiah scoffed, “You couldn’t do anything then, there’s nothing you can do now. I’m surprised you’re still alive. I heard you just disappeared off the face of the planet.”

Junsu rolled his eyes. “Always so dramatic.”

Xiah raised his railgun. “Well, there’s only room for-”

Junsu automatically released the hold on his trigger, and the impending sound of his bolt was swiftly followed by a resounding thump as the doctor hit the floor. “One of us, I know.” He looked down with no remorse at the dead body. “Can’t say the world will miss you. You made my life a living hell. Trust me, when we meet down there, this won’t be over.”

He crossed the room and into the main power supply box. He doubted he could do any more for the people the doctor had already changed, but he could at least make sure they weren’t going to wreak havoc when they awoke. Junsu shot several bolts into the power box and made his leave. The remaining tanks were sealed tight, not even giving an hint of who its inhabitants were and he was almost at the door when he noticed something from one of the tanks.

Victoria Song.

He was certain it was her, and he rushed to her side immediately, grabbing a metal chair and smashing it against the glass. Victoria came tumbling down, and Junsu caught her in his arms. She lay unconscious, and Junsu’s eyes zeroed in on the iris branded into her skin. He knew he’d seen that mark before, but he couldn’t seem to remember where.

Wrapping a sheet around her, Junsu carried her out of the building, and back to Fourth Avenue.

…

“What were you thinking?!” Nichkhun raged, grabbing Junsu by the collar of his shirt and slamming him against the wall. Junsu was being ridiculous and letting his human side win over him- win over the mission.

The other man struggled against the blonde, willing the stars to disappear from his vision. “I saved your girlfriend, you ingrate! She would have died along with the others! Hers was the only open bud, didn’t you even notice her absence?!” Junsu didn’t understand why Nichkhun was so enraged, what was so wrong about saving a life? Was Nichkhun all about killing people now? Junsu knew Nichkhun’s blood thirst though he never knew what the reason behind it was. Why was the blonde making such a big deal out of it?

Nichkhun growled through his teeth, “You were supposed to make sure no one survived!”

“It’s Victoria!” Junsu shouted, shoving Nichkhun away from him. “I can’t just leave her there!”

“She’s another one of those monsters!”

Jinwoon sighed as he watched the two of them go at it all over again. Kass stood to one side of the backroom studying her nails, while Chansung sat in his usual seat, temple rested on the heel of his hand. Upstairs, they had three patients: Rai, Lee Junho, and Victoria. Jinwoon didn’t know how he wanted to feel about the situation, but he was certain he didn’t want a fight to break out.

Nichkhun distanced himself from the rest of the team and his fist connected to the wall behind him. Loud cursing escaped his lips, and he ran his fingers through his hair. “We have to kill her.”

“We don’t know that yet,” Jinwoon answered, keeping his voice as calm as he could. “She might not have her orders yet, we don’t have to kill her. We can wait for Staunton’s orders.” The young hacker turned to Junsu. “Would you please check on the patients? Miryo and Jea should be arriving shortly.”

With a tiny nod, Junsu wordlessly stalked to his floor.

Nichkhun returned his attention to Jinwoon. “She’s a threat to us all.”

“Nothing we can’t handle, I’m sure. Let’s just,” Jinwoon sighed at a loss at what else to say, “Let’s just call it a night. We don’t have to open today. Let’s just rest and clear our heads, and wait for our next instructions.”

“When.”

It wasn’t a question and while Jinwoon was not one to fear Nichkhun, he felt the slightest bit unnerved by him at that instant. “Soon,” he stressed. “Would you please be a little bit more patient? I know you don’t like being stuck here, but-”

Nichkhun didn’t even wait for Jinwoon to finish his sentence and left the room. He couldn’t wait- he wouldn’t wait, and as much as he wanted to cast a full onslaught against Fortuna, he was smart enough to know that he wouldn’t be able to go against them on his own. That pained him more than any cut or injury. The knowing that he was incapable of avenging June on his own- that there was a possibility that that person had been right about him. He refused to acknowledge that, that person was wrong about him, and the thought of proving that burned into his veins.

For now, however, he needed to see June.

Oh, Oh, look. I have a new fic <3 check out my attempts at fluff/romance with a touch of angst:

Polaris