She ran as fast as she could. Her lungs burned as they tried to grasp for more air, but she couldn't stop. A thousand different possibilities ran through her mind as her steps echoed loudly on the metal surface. All of them ended either as a life of imprisonment or blood. She skid to a stop as she reached a T. Looking left and right she tried to figure out which way to turn. She shook her head, so many thoughts clouding her judgment as she quickly ran through the alphabet. That's right L came first. She spun to her left and continued to run. Determination shoved her forward as she held a firm grip on her gun and then she heard it.

The echoes of a gunshot and a loud crashing of something.

Fear blossomed in her heart and she ran towards the sound.

~~~5 Hours Earlier~~~

Min Ah wallowed in a temperamental silence as she followed behind Hoya, Myungsoo and Dongwoo up ahead while Sunggyu and Woohyun kept surveillance out by the fire escape of the rundown apartment complex they had been led to. Even before stepping inside, just one look at the place told them they wouldn't be very welcome. On top of finding out that this particular apartment complex housed a multitude of not so very 'ex' convicts, as soon as they had stepped in two men had gone out running. They caught them out back and after verifying that they were only small time thieves, they let them go.

As they made their way up the stairs, the loud sounds of the people in other apartments surrounded them until they finally reached the third floor. It must've been the bulletproof vests and badges because as soon as they stepped onto a new floor, the few people that were loitering around the hallways quickly scampered off. A quick glare from Myungsoo kept them silent as they cleared the area. Finally they reached apartment 307. Myungsoo took lead as they held their guns out and he hesitated, noticing the disturbing difference between this apartment and all the other ones they had walked past. This one was silent. No background noises behind the doors, no voices, no clattering of movement. Just silence.

Taking care to not make any unnecessary noise, he took out the maintenance key that the apartment manager had been forced to hand over when they had first arrived. He slid the key in quietly and they held their breath as the lock tumblers slid down and he burst in.

"Hands up!" He yelled to an empty room.

They filtered in, guns raised as they took in the empty apartment. Myungsoo pointed in three different directions as they quickly moved out, searching any place where anyone might be hiding, but they knew there would be nothing there. If the living room was any indication, and it should be since it was completely void of anything expect for a few clumped up pieces of tape and dust, the apartment had been long abandoned. They gathered back at the living room once the search had been completed and Min Ah was the first one to speak as she looked around unsurprised.

"They were wasting our time" She muttered and pressed her lips shut as Myungsoo shot her a scathing glare.

"Let's look for anything they might've left behind, they had the entire month paid out so there's got to be a reason why these guys cleared the place out. I'm going to go call Sunggyu and Woohyun" He said firmly, his voice not leaving any room for them to comment as he practically stomped out.

"You guys realize we fell for it right?" Min Ah said as she holstered her gun and carefully looked around.

"It won't help if you rub it in Myungsoo's face" Dongwoo said quietly and Min Ah shrugged his comment off. She knew she wasn't being very helpful at the moment, but just the thought of that man sitting smugly in that cell just waiting to be set free made her skin crawl.

She moved on her own and walked past the kitchen and living room where they were and instead went straight to the back. She counted four bedrooms and she wondered why such a large place was even needed. That is, if there were ever people here to begin with. Stepping into the first one she frowned as she noticed that this one had been left furnished and she made a note to ask the apartment manager if this had been from previous owners or if the people that had rented this had brought it with them. If they did though, why not take it with them? She asked herself as she gave the wooden furniture a swift bump expecting something to break off, but everything seemed to be sturdy. Aside from some somewhat noticeable scratches on the surfaces, there was no reason to leave this behind. She stood in the center and looked around. Well, Myungsoo was right about them leaving in a hurry... and also in secret apparently.

That would explain why they didn't take their furniture. To make sure no one noticed they were leaving.

She did a careful search of the first two rooms checking the obvious places like the closet, underneath the bed, drawers and corners, but found nothing but dust. She pulled the tacky flower patterned bed sheets off the beds and looked for some sort of clue. Anything to prove that Park Min Guk had set this up from the beginning to save his son's .

"I've got nothing!" Hoya yelled from someplace off in the kitchen.

"I'm looking through this room, anybody want to take the fourth one?!" Min Ah called out as she stepped out from the second one and went on to the third one.

"Got it!" Dongwoo said from behind her and she nodded.

Stepping into the room she noticed it wasn't much different than the other two. Same ugly flower pattern on every and anything that could be patterned. Except from the commonly used surfaces, everything else was coated in a thin film of dust. She groaned she turned and hit her knee on the edge of the bedside table. She swore in pain as she rubbed her knee and angrily kicked the worn down thing with her other leg. The wood screeched as it slid up against the bed and she made a face as she bent down to take a look at the deep scratch it had left on the floor. She bit her lip, wondering if she was going to have to pay for it when she figured it really wouldn't hurt to move the bedside table over the scratch right?

Taking a quick look behind her, she grabbed the edges of the table and was just about to move them when she found the edge of something white peeking out from behind the bedside table. Her pulse quickened in excitement as she grinned and quickly moved the trash can that stood in her way. She reached down and pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper. She smirked as she held the paper ball in her hand and stared at the trash can. Someone was a horrible shot she thought happily as she quickly uncurled the piece of paper.

She stared at a layout plan for some sort of house? She pushed the things off the bedside table onto the bed and spread out the wrinkly paper on the solid surface. Smoothing it out with her hands, she studied it carefully. It wasn't a house though. More like an empty... building? She frowned, trying to follow the architectural design. The square footage was scribbled on the bottom along with a few more details and she turned the paper to see if there was anything on the back.

"What are you doing?" Hoya's voice asked, making her jump slightly in surprise.

"I found this!" She said, holding out the paper and she laughed at the glint of excitement in Hoya's eyes.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. A building? Warehouse?"

"Let's get Woohyun. He'll figure it out" Hoya said as he grabbed the paper and she followed him out.

They found Myungsoo on their way down and he smirked as he took in his teammate's looks, instantly knowing they had found something.

"We can't really figure out what or where this place is, but we think it's where they might've gone"

"Finish searching the apartment. See if there's anything left. I'll give this to Woohyun and tell him to head back to the office and see what he can find" Myungsoo said as he took the paper and looked at the time on his watch, "The night isn't over yet. Let's make sure we spend it wisely"

With a feeling of accomplishment they finished searching the apartment, closed it off with evidence tape and called in the forensics team to catalog and search for anything they might've missed. By the time they were done two hours had passed and they sat impatiently waiting in the van.

"Maybe it's nothing" Dongwoo said quietly.

"It can't be nothing" Min Ah replied.

Hoya was about to say something when the car phone chirped loudly. They grinned as Myungsoo reached out and put it on speakerphone.

"I've got six possible locations" Woohyun's voice came in from the speakerphone as Hoya drove them out.

"Let's go to the closest one. It's out best bet" Min Ah suggested.

"There's too much risk. We don't know what we're walking into" Myungsoo said.

"I know if we come back empty handed tonight we'll have nothing to really hold him on. That assault charge will be gone before we even step foot back. We need to see at least" Min Ah insisted.

"Woohyun, how far is the closest location? What are we walking into?" Myungsoo asked and Min Ah relaxed.

"You're 40 minutes away, I'm sending over the coordinates to the car's GPS. It's a two story warehouse. It used to be part of a junkyard, but it went out of business and now it's just empty supposedly. There might still be a lot of scattered debris, I don't see anything about the area being cleaned up either so on the plus side you'll have lots of places to creep along but..."

"That also means they could be anywhere" Myungsoo finished for him, "What do you guys think?" He asked out into the car and this time Min Ah stayed quiet. She wasn't stupid, she recognized the risk they were taking.

"I'm good for it" Hoya said.

"Same" Sunggyu and Dongwoo echoed out and Min Ah nodded.

The rest of the car ride was spent with strategic talks and plans. Finally as they neared the location, it was decided Sunggyu, Dongwoo, and Hoya would go in together and Min Ah and Myungsoo would pair up and go in from the other side. Myungsoo shut the lights off as they approached and very silently pulled the car in.

"Keep the earpieces with you. You guys know right, press the button on the back of them and we activate it so that whatever we say goes to all of us" Myungsoo reminded them and they nodded, "Be cautious. We're only going to take a look. If anything breaks out we regroup back at the car alright?"

"Understood" They all chimed as they split up.

Night shrouded their vision in shadows and blind spots as she followed behind Myungsoo. There were still piles of debris, filled with sharp broken metals, glass and plastic as they carefully snuck alongside it. It was too silent as they got closer and finally they saw two cars parked behind the building.

"Light" Min Ah whispered as she motioned to the far end where she saw the glimmer of light.

"Let's call it in and—" Myungsoo began before he went completely still.

"What's wrong?" Min Ah asked urgently.

Myungsoo's lips curled into a smirk as he gently moved her head to the right and she saw two figures walk out from the back of the building. Min Ah could actually feel apprehension take its grip on her, crushing her tightly until she had to take a forceful breath.

"Myungsoo we're here to observe. Let's go back to the car" She said desperately as she grabbed him by the forearm and pulled him back, "P-please"

He was too focused on his goal though to notice the sudden change in her. He was too distracted to notice the way her voice wavered and the way she held onto him with a trembling hand. Instead he felt excitement and adrenaline pump quickly through his veins. His heart rate sped up and his muscles ached to move. He stared at the kid who clearly hadn't learnt his lesson from the last time he had been interrogated by him and his knuckles ached with the memories of last time. If the kid was here then that meant EXO was the group Min Guk had been talking about and that meant this was it. This was the night he was going to catch them.

Kim Myungsoo felt like the luckiest man. Tonight was going to make his career.

"Let's go" Min Ah said in a firmer tone as she dug her nails into his skin.

The sudden tingle of pain reminded him of her and he turned to her with a bewildered look.

"We're going to catch EXO tonight" He whispered as he pulled out his gun, loaded it, and unlocked the safety.

"Myungsoo we're not ready for this. You're being an idiot!" Min Ah insisted.

"This is going to set my career for the rest of my life" He said with his usual predatory smile, "Don't worry, if I get promoted I'm taking you with me"

"Myungsoo please—"

"I'll lead, you've got my back right?"

".... This is too dangerous" She whispered nervously.

"We'll be fine" He said leisurely as he rolled his shoulders back and crept forward.

Min Ah grabbed him by the back of his coat and pulled him back.

"And if we die? If they've got a dozen guys in there and we get caught creeping around? What happens then?" She asked.

"I can promise you that I'll kill at least one of them before they get to us" He said with a confidence as she dropped her hand and knew nothing she could say at this point would make him turn back.

Min Ah followed behind him and tried to keep from having a panic attack right then and there. Jong In was here along with some other guy she couldn't remember the name of, but were they the only ones there? Jong In... why here?!  She stopped suddenly. That man was setting those idiots up.... What the hell was Wu Fan doing sending Jong In and some other guy back to Korea?! Didn't he know he was basically sending them back into the lion's den?! She tried to think of another way out, but there just wasn't. How many of them were in there? How many were armed? How many would die?

"Hurry up" Myungsoo hissed from up ahead and she snapped back into it as she followed him. They crept along the wall as they neared an entrance. Myungsoo reached out and slowly turned the door handle. It creaked and they both put up the guns, waiting for a few crucial seconds before continuing. He opened the door just a sliver before they both slipped in.

"Myungsoo as I are going in. Stand by for cover. Do NOT approach until we send a signal" She whispered into the earpiece as she activated it and quickly shut it back down.

"Are there only two of them here?" Myungsoo asked as they listened for any sounds and wandered around carefully.

"I think so..." Min Ah started before she recalled the four bedroom apartment. She felt anxiety crush her in a stronghold, choking the breath out of her as she realized that meant there were more of them and could one of them... could one of them be Wu Fan? "Wait..." She whispered faintly as she stopped moving and took a few breaths, staring down at the ground.

She looked up, ready to drag Myungsoo out of there when she looked around and realized she was alone. She swore as her mind urged her to leave. With a sick feeling in her stomach she went further in. She needed to get Myungsoo out of here before he got hurt or before he killed anyone. Quite honestly, she had a feeling he was more likely to hurt someone first. As she kept her footsteps light she thought this through. These were criminals, these weren't her friends. Jong In... wasn't the one who treated her like trash though and Tao... didn't either. Would he be here too? She shut her eyes and tried to ignore the stupid, stupid memories of those two idiots back when they younger, but even as she shut them away she knew she couldn't just stand by and watch them get hurt. When it came to Wu Fan or the rest of them though.... she had no relationship to them anymore. Jong In and Tao, she could keep at least those two safe right?

She kept going and broke out in the center of the building. She quietly stepped out into the center, gun held tightly as she took a look around. From the center upwards it was empty so that she could look up and spot the railings of the top two floors, there were three floors total and she silently wondered what else they had gotten wrong before she felt a sharp pain and someone shoved her into a wooden table. She barely took the time to register the bags of white powder before she groaned as someone grabbed her by the back of her head and flung her to the side.

Min Ah lost her grip on her gun as she hit the ground with a thud.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

There will be another update in a few hours, but probably not three like last week so just one more lol I really can't believe it's already August and school is going to start back up in a few weeks sighhh so I'm going to try to write a lot and enjoy the last few weeks of summer too. This fic is getting kind of long (compared to my last one) and I'm not really near the end yet.... OTL Hopefully you guys don't feel like it's dragging on :/ If it does just let me know :D

Like always, thanks for reading! :)