Lay's shoulders flinched, hunching up when bullets came firing at him from behind. Quickening his steps toward an approaching tree, he made a sharp turn so that he could use it as a shield. Stepping out to the side, Lay focused on those chasing after him firing shots repeatedly. 

Once those in sight were down he continued on with haste. He eventually slowed upon catching sight of bodies on the ground and stopped to observe them. Lifting his head up to look ahead of him where the forest only loomed on, he again hurried on. 

One of his team mates was here. 

Among the heavy silence, Lay remained in stance with arms extended out, shifting his aim back and from. A row of trees lined up before him and with every step he took to hiding behind each tree. A dishelved cry echoed in the distance. Lay thought he recognized the tone and without hesitating, darted forward. 

Almost twenty feet ahead of him was Suho fallen on the ground, someone sweeping down from the tree above. Alarmed, Lay narrowed his eyes and steadied his aim.

A ringing echoed in his ears when the man crumpled down onto his knees before Suho and fell forward. Suho barely budged and realizing he must have been shocked, Lay walked forward. 

"You ok?" Lay questioned. 

Stiff Suho turned to look at him, his eyes staring at him for the longest moment. Finally shaking his head he managed, "Thanks." 

"Come on," Lay urged. "We have to find the others." 

~_____~

Chorong lifted her head up at the sound of the door opening. A ray of light seeped into the room and even though it wasn't very bright, it was strong enough to blind her. She was forced to turn away, losing opportunity to catch the faces of the two who'd come for her.

"You're free now," one of them congratulated, pulling her up from the ground, while the other laughed.

"Your people have come for you." 

At this, Chorong immediately raised her head to look at them. 

"Lets hurry and finish this. I want to leave." 

"Yes, yes," the other nodded with lack of energy before pulling her hastily after him. 

An old room filled with strange machinery appeared before her. Chorong spotted broken windows and a weak ray of sunlight filtering inside. The wooden floorboards creaked underneath their weight and before the scent of fresh air hit her, everything had smelt moldy. 

Finally on green land, Chorong felt like a prisoner caged for centuries. She felt both woozy and dizzy, her legs threatening to give way. It was then that she realized she was really hungry and there were blots of red on her shirt, both dried and fresh. There was no energy in her system to spare for a fight. 

While her eyes traced and in the details of her surroundings, she saw that they were in the middle of nowhere. Trees towered over her from left to right. 

Where exactly were the others? 

"Are you ready yet?" The man keeping a hold on her called. 

That was when she realized that the second man who'd been with them, wasn't there. Turning to her right she spotted him picking up something black from beside the building. It was a long black rifle and he was testing it out.

Her head was forcibly turned, "Eh, eh, eh. No peeking. This is going to be a surprise." 

What was he going on about?

"We're leaving!" He shouted, pushing her toward the woods. 

~_____~

Wrestling with the gun was pointless. However Donghae tried to point the nose of the gun toward the man, he always seemed to push it away. Finally releasing his grip on the handle he slid the gun up before twisting it to the side and downward, as if he was spinning the oars on a ship. Twisting the man's hands up, Donghae stomped on his feet and at last freed his gun. 

Taking a step back, Donghae kicked the man in the belly and skillfully twirled the M24 around his finger before shooting him. Quickly turning around he sought to rid of the others while scurrying forward into the distance. 

Three minutes later he could hear bullets raining in the woods like hail. Instinct told him Victoria was here. 

Propping himself behind a tree he took to slightly leaning against it with the of the gun against his shoulder for leverage, this time peering through the scope. 

~_____~

Victoria was farther away from where she'd left Kris than she recalled. She was on her last cartridge and it seemed like she was going to be another target again, since she hadn't died the last time they attempted to murder her. 

Quickly stepping out from her hiding spot she shot a round into the distance before quickly dropping down. Shards of the tree bark shot into her face nearly blinding her for a second. Shaking her heady furiously she dropped to the side, the pain in her eyes spreading like wildfire. 

Groaning like crazy, Victoria rubbed her eyes only to realize she'd worsened her already condition. Footsteps became utterly loud in her ears and she fell back when the gun was kicked out of her hand. Barely opening her eyes, she made out spots of the forest floor but still couldn't clearly see. 

She was going to die. 

Twisting her head to the side she closed her eyes prepared for her fate. Her body jumped when the echo of a shot sounded nearby. A few endearing seconds passed with no soaring through her body. Confused, she opened her eyes, the wood and dirt slowly sprinkling into her eyeballs less painfully this time. Another long round of struggling bullets flew through the air until she thought she'd become deaf when all turned quiet. Suddenly, the scurrying of footsteps from behind caught her alarm and clasping onto the gun after digging around, spun backward. 

Donghae was standing behind her with the M24 in his hands. 

That was when she turned back with fluttering lids, still trying to clear up her eyes, to see her attacker on the ground. Victoria found herself momentarily breathless.

She'd nearly been on the brink of death again.          

"Are you ok?" For the first time he sounded genuine. 

Victoria nodded, becoming surprised when he hoisted her up by the hand. 

"Come on, we need to get going," Donghae urged, pulling her along. 

Her eyes settled on his back as they raced down the way she'd come and eventually, tightened her grip around his hand. 

~_____~

Namjoo had been forced to make a few quick stops to fight off her pursuers, but the fight never lasted more than three minutes. Within a duration of time she was closely approaching a building near the west side of the forest, where she believed Kris and Victoria had separated. It slowly appeared like a shadow in the distance.                 

Walking out into the clearing she double-checked for any gunmen before going forward. Her eyes took in the isolated building as she fearlessly approached, remaining on guard at all times. Grabbing the doorknob she pulled the door open and peered inside the desolate darkness before lowering her gaze. 

Without thinking, she raced in the second she spotted Kris lying on the ground. 

"Kris, wake up," she called, pulling him up into her arms. He was deadweight heavy. 

Trying to shake him awake while his head dangled against her arm, she yelled again, "Kris!"

It was useless. He was unconscious. Namjoo checked for his pulse, discovering that it was normal and let out a breath of relief. Scanning her eyes over him again for further injury she found none, which was to her relief. She honestly wasn't very good with first-aid. 

Linking her arms under his she tried pulling him up, but his weight was too much for her. In the end, she dragged him out while listening to the rest of his body skid against the ground. The very moment half his body finally made it outside, Namjoo paused. From out of the corner of her eyes she spotted a figure standing among the clearing. 

Alarm trickled over her. No matter what happened, she was intent on getting Kris out alive. 

Turning abruptly her eyes widened at once when she saw Chorong being held captive by someone she didn't recognize. There was a gun held to her head and she spotted blood running feverishly down her face. Her breath trembled from inside and she tightly gripped onto Kris before slowly letting go of him. Softly lying him down she stepped away from him so as not to make him a target if she were get into a brawl. 

Reaching her hand back while measuring the man's wits Namjoo pulled out her gun. Now a certain space away with Kris behind her she halted. 

"Put your gun down," the man ordered, "and she won't get hurt." 

"You let her go first," Namjoo bargained, her eyes running simultaneously between Chorong and the man holding her captive.

"You here to save her or to kill her?" The man questioned. "I'll let you have her once I know you won't kill me."         

Her eyebrows twitched.

"Namjoo, no!" Chorong's weak voice penetrated the air before the man immediately tightened his arm around .

"Let her go!" Namjoo demanded again, tightening her grip on the gun. 

"Don't be rash now," the man cooed. "Put the gun down. I promise I'll let her go."

What to do? What to do? 

Pressing her lips together, Namjoo debated for the better possibility. If she put her gun down she was as well letting her guard down. But she'd already affirmed that the area was clear. Should she trust him?

It was either have Chorong back on the team or let this be another failed mission. Even though she'd already committed atrocity by denying Donghae's orders, she could at least make it up by freeing Chorong, just as they'd come for.

With a final breath of courage, she flung the gun onto the ground with eyes strictly remaining on the man and Chorong. The whole world revolved around them for what seemed as long as an hour and Namjoo suddenly felt her heart start racing. She'd caught the smile climbing on his face, but it was too late. The last thing she heard was a loud shot coming out of no where, something sharp plunging into her. 

~_____~

The trees seemed to be running alongside them as Donghae quickened his pace. He could spot something brown out of the clearing ahead, most likely the building Victoria and Kris had been at earlier. The greenery and mixture of brown surroundings came to a slow swirl when he spotted someone making their way out of the building. 

He recognized Namjoo's white shirt. 

Upon the turn of his head to the right he spotted two other figures moving toward Namjoo. Giving up the slightest chances to be caught Donghae pulled Victoria along with him behind a tree.  

"That's Chorong," Victoria whispered. "What are they doing? Is he going to trade her in?" 

"No, that won't happen," Donghae quietly answered, lowering himself down with a knee onto the ground. "What would Namjoo give him in return?"  

Victoria shot him a glance. "What are you going to do?"  

"Protecting my men," Donghae replied and focused his gaze through the scope.  

His heart was pounding and he was frustrated with Namjoo for coming out. He was even more frustrated that Chorong was in the way of his target. He had to make the exact shot so accurate that not even a part of Chorong's hair would get hit by his bullet.  

In all of his career, he'd never been in such a messy situation.  

When Namjoo dropped the gun onto the ground Donghae felt his mind screaming from the top of his lungs. Unable to hold back the uneasy breath escaping through, he resituated his hold on the gun to fight back his overwhelming anxiety.  

Clamping an eye shot, Donghae concentrated the rest of his focus onto the man brought closer into view through the scope. Shutting the rest of the world from his ears he finally pulled the trigger only to immediately let go of it. Although he could hear someone screaming from the background of what had become his surroundings, he swore he'd heard someone making a shot from afar.  

His eyes swiftly ran over the woods from his right before Tao immediately bolted out of the trees with a gun in hand. Had he...and Tao made the shot at the same time?

Quickly darting his attention away when Victoria ran past him, he followed.  

Namjoo was down on the ground, bleeding from her stomach. Un-makeable words quivered from her lips as she fought to retain the pain and he saw her hand shakily touching her stomach. Tao dashed over as fast as the wind, dropping onto his knees immediately by her side. 

"No, no," Tao cried reaching for her bloody hand. 

A whimper befell Namjoo's lips and Donghae helplessly watched tears stream down the side of her face for the first time in his life. 

"You're ok, you're ok." Tao comforted, his voice breaking between his words. "You'll be ok." 

Donghae lifted his head when Suho and Lay dashed out from the trees. They immediately made way toward Chorong, pulling her up from under the perpetrator.  

"Are you ok?" Lay questioned.

Taking off his jacket Suho swept off his shirt before pressing it against Chorong's head. "Hang in there for a few seconds. We'll get you to the hospital soon."

"N...Namjoo..." Chorong uttered, suddenly more lightheaded than ever.  

Donghae and Suho's eyes met when he turned their way.  

This...was a total mess. Donghae had not predicted this.  

He was upset and he was frustrated. More of his people had gotten fatally injured in a mission that didn't require it so.  

"Does anybody have their cellphone on them?" He questioned, trying his best not to explode.  

No one replied. For interruption purposes, all phones had been kept behind.  

"Suho!" Donghae ordered. "Call the ambulance! There's a phone wired in the van! Hurry!"

Lay's eyes ran from one to the next, quickly sinking in the dire situation, offering, "I'll go. Suho, you stay."

Shrugging his jacket off he crouched down, continuing, "Victoria, do you still have ammunition left?" 

"No, I don't."

"Take mine," Donghae ordered, short of breath. He was angry Namjoo had gotten shot. He was angry he couldn't find Hyukjae and Eunhyuk. He was angry he couldn't go after the man who'd made Namjoo this way. He was just angry things had come to this.  

There was no time to waste. Namjoo was dying and the panic was starting to sink in. She'd always done things right. Not once had he allowed her to get injured before. 

Folding up his jacket he gently lifted her head up, placing it on the ground, and set her head down on it. 

"Namjoo, you hang in there, do you hear me?" He ordered looking at her. The color was draining from her face and the tears were still coming. Compressed cries were trying to come out of , but she was still trying to fight them back as the stubborn person she was. He caught her eyes and was immediately sorry, more worried than ever for her.

He'd wanted her to have a life outside of her job. Like an older brother, he would have liked to see her settle down. If she possibly died like this, he'd never forgive himself. 
               
His eyes darted up further ahead where it looked like Kris was finally awakening.   

"Everybody else stand on guard!" He screamed from the top of his lungs. His eyes scanned around to make sure everyone was following orders before looking at Tao, who was finally crying tears of humanity.  

Because they were in the middle of the woodlands they had to wait an extra twenty minutes for a helicopter to fly in. Donghae was already on the verge of losing his nerves when the paramedics finally arrived. Chorong was already on the verge of losing so much blood she could barely stand and Namjoo had already fallen unconscious. Angrily, he literally barked orders everywhere, shoving his government ID into their faces.  

Finally in front of the surgery room hours later, the pack waited frantically for news about Namjoo's surgery while Chorong recieved treatment at the ER. Donghae paced back and forth impatiently while Tao slumped down into the chair with head hung low; everyone else standing behind him. The very moment the doors opened and the doctor walked out, Donghae rushed toward him. 

"How is she?" Donghae anxiously questioned. 

"Is her husband here?" The doctor asked. 

At that moment Donghae swore his mind swerved blank. "Husband?" 

"Yes," he nodded. "It'll be dangerous to proceed due to hemorrhaging, so we're going to need to remove the fetus."  

"Fetus?" Donghae's eyes became strictly narrow at the shock he was receiving. Appalled and stupefied, he turned around to stare at Tao who was now standing.  

***Lets be honest, we knew Namjoo would lose the baby but at the cost of saving Kris and Chorong i~i

***Remember a few chapters back when Victoria had that dream about Donghae? Even though they fight, he's still always there extending a hand to help her when she needs it most. They finally held hands!

***Big brother Donghae is going to have to take things more seriously now.

***Chorong was able to put two and two together. She knew they were going to try to kill Namjoo :'| Suho and Lay are going to have to come to terms soon too