Fifth Shot

She was still here, in the very depths of me.

Taeyeon blinked open her eyes and shut them immediately once the afternoon sun hit them. She was still disoriented from her brief nap. The tram shook occasionally, winding through the smaller areas of Shanghai, offering her a new perspective of the megacity. She shut her eyes again and rested the back of her head on the shuddering windows. The tram was practically empty, plus or minus a small handful of passengers. The tram was now on its separate railway, far from the road, hastily passing by an ocean. The windows were open a crack and Taeyeon enjoyed the sensation of the sea breeze, warm sun on her skin and the taste of the ocean. When she opened her eyes, she was temporarily captured by the prancing shadows and colourful lights that flickered to and from the worn-out cloth seats. 

After a few more seconds of silence Taeyeon checked the time on her worn-out wrist watch, 3:23pm. Her hand fell onto the empty seat beside her and she sighed in relief to find that her shoulderbag was still there.  It was uncharacteristic of her to rest in public places, let alone, drop her guard so carelessly. A poetry book was open on her lap, displaying a compilation of sonnets from various artists ranging from Shakespeare to Giacomo Da Lentini. As her vision gradually returned to normal, she drank in the sight of the familiar sonnet, her first real experience of Shakespeare. Her eyes skimmed through the verses and she relaxed almost instantly. 

Taeyeon's mind drifted off again as the words on the page began to blur. She was taken back into a memory. Her voice was still clear in her mind, her expression and her grief, Taeyeon made sure to remember it and tuck it away carefully inside of her. 

"Why do you exist?" She whispered, her breath reeking of vodka. Taeyeon knew she had been drinking again. As the taller girl stumbled across her broken-down shack to reach the couch, Taeyeon caught up to her. Tiffany refused to turn and look at her but Taeyeon persisted. There were numerous holes in Taeyeon's dry wall, usually the result of one of their heated disagreements. But Taeyeon knew, this was not exactly another one of those disagreements; otherwise they would have been throwing punches at each other already. When Taeyeon did catch a glimpse of her eyes, they were b with unknown emotions that were ready to burst at any second. Taeyeon took a deep breath and focused on Tiffany's emotions, she could feel nothing but a mess, a jumble of confusion and fear. The girl simply flashed her one of her signature smirks and cocked a brow, as if she knew exactly what Taeyeon was doing. Her walls were strong and high, cemented by her willpower, nothing could penetrate such a fortress. 

"What do you mean?" Taeyeon finally half-sighed, watching the beauty frown and push her presence away with another rough movement. 

"You shouldn't," the girl uttered out as their eyes met. Her final sentence was said with such power, it convinced Taeyeon that she was correct.  

"This world can only handle one of us." 

The sudden vibration of her phone snapped her out of her momentary trance. She reached thoughtlessly for her phone and answered the call. She was met with Sooyoung's anxious voice. "Taeyeon! What the hell, I've been calling you nonstop!" Taeyeon heard the sound of screeching tires and could almost smell the scent of burning rubber. Sooyoung cursed and continued. "Where the hell are you, I've got a ing problem."

"What's wrong now?" Taeyeon asked, slowly sitting up and rubbing her tired eyes. She knew by the tone in Sooyoung's voice that whatever happened meant business. Whilst waiting for Sooyoung's answer, Taeyeon flung her shoulderbag onto the polished floor and flinched to the loud voice. "Have you finished the job?"

Rolling her eyes the mercenary nodded before realizing the manager could not see her. The tram came to a halt and a pretty woman passed by, tripping on her bag. Taeyeon quickly shifted the obstacle and apologized, the woman however, simply shook her head and bade farewell.  "Hey, earth to ing Taeye-" 

"On a tram to the main market street. I told Hyoyeon I'd meet them there-"

"Well OK! I've got a problem- Jessica's being attacked and we've lost Hyoyeon and I'm stuck in traffic, mind to lend me a ing hand?" 

Taeyeon listened in disbelief to the manager's panicked tone.  She took note of the passengers who rode with her and made sure none of them appeared to be taking note of her too. Then, Taeyeon lowered her voice and clutched onto her shoulderbag as another man passed by. "Where is she?"

"I'll send the details via text, counting on you." Sooyoung responded instantly and within seconds Taeyeon temporarily pulled her device away from her ear to see a very articulate text message with all details surrounding Jessica's location. 

"Perfect."  Taeyeon let the words tumble from her lips. 

"Is that sarcasm or what?" 

Taeyeon heard the genuine annoyance in her voice and decided her on and off snarkiness had to be turned off in this current moment.  

"You better get your there too then."

Her comment was met by a breathy chuckle from the manager. 

"You bet your sweet I will."

The line went dead and Taeyeon scanned over the message, picking out the most important details. She was unfamiliar with such a city but knew the majority of the main roads. She glanced at the stop number and lifted her belongings onto her lap. Two more stops. Taeyeon shut her eyes and tried to settle her jostling mind. The last thing she needed at the moment was emotions, confusion and unwanted memories. She had to concentrate at the task at hand, rescuing Jessica. Yet, as she hurriedly stepped off the tram one stop early, her head was full of her.

Tiffany.

Therefore one of us must cease to exist.

Oh please no. 

Jessica made it to the place she had left Hyoyeon, in front of an abandoned construction site. The mercenary wasn't there. Her stomach dropped and turned to lead as she glanced around. Nowhere. Fear, as strong as a turbulent ocean wave engulfed her temporarily. She could only wince to the thought of what could have happened. There was a pool of dried blood where Hyoyeon was meant to be. Jessica scanned her surroundings, prying desperately at her thoughts of what the environment looked like before. Her mind was a blurr of events and she cursed. 

Someone had got her. 

The construction site was empty. What appeared to be a new car-park and shopping mall was left unfinished due to insufficient funds, at least, it appeared that way. A crane was present North of the site, unused, followed by one push shovel truck and one dump truck. Large hunks of metal were left in a general area with a torn-down wall, bricks, pipes and a cement mixer that overflowed into the dirt. The area itself seemed desolate, the majority of the buildings in the area being rent-storage garages and unknown factories. 

The sound of Liu's phone startled her and she answered thoughtlessly.  The sound of Sooyoung's voice filled her ears.  "Hey, Liu-"

"She's not here!"  Jessica blurted out, fear alarmingly present in her tone. Somehow saying it aloud caused Jessica to feel more dread. It was as if she was assuring the fact that Hyoyeon was no longer there and something bad had happened. Jessica paced about, one hand in her pocket and the other fidgeting with the phone. 

"Who-" The manager sounded confused before she muttered in disbelief, "Jessica?" 

"Yes and Hyoyeon is gone, I left her to find Liu to get help but now I'm back and she's gone! Liu had also ran into some kind of gang and I'm not sure whether he's OK or not and-"

"Calm down," Sooyoung cut her off and Jessica could hear the sound of squealing tires and loud horns. She must have changed lanes. The manager cleared and spoke in a way that calmed Jessica slightly. "I bet a lot went on. I'm just around the corner, nothing is certain yet but we can assume that she's still alive, which is good."  Jessica nodded, realizing that the manager couldn't have possibly seen that action. Jessica was contemplating exploring the area when she felt her cheek on fire. 

"what's going on?"  Sooyoung's voice snapped her out of the temporary daze as her mind rapidly processed what had just happened. A bullet graze. She ducked just as another bullet came her way. "Jessica!" The manager hissed, "Are you okay? What's happening-"  the shabby wall behind her crumbled like sand. 

"I don't- someone tried to shoot me-" 

The manager responded urgently. "Take cover! Wait it out till I get there, two minutes!" 

The line went dead and Jessica took a deep breath to settle her nerves. She touched her cheek and winced. Fire. The friction with air made the small metal chunk hot. She hadn't heard the sound of the bullet coming, or maybe she had but she purposely blocked it out. She shoved the phone into her pocket and scrambled behind a half-built wall.  Adrenaline pulsed through her veins as she decided to make a run for it, into the construction site, and she did. She could hear the bullets pounding into the earth just steps behind her. That was more than enough to urge her to bolt faster. Had her P.E. coach seen that, she would've made it for the track and field finals. The building had the structure set out with metal with long tin coverings over the openings. It was at least three stories tall.  Jessica hauled herself behind a generous chunk of cement and took deep breaths. 

How bad could it be? She just needed to hold out for two minutes, one hundred and twenty seconds more, and Sooyoung would be here and things would automatically work out somehow. Perhaps the snipers would realise they hit the wrong target and they'd speak in their suburban accent an apology and leave. At worst Jessica could die, or maybe just have a bullet wound or two, which would make some decent scars and fascinating stories when she had grandchildren. The girl took another breath and ran her hands up and down her own shoulders. It's OK. You just need to hold out until help comes. You've done stuff like this before. You can do it. 

She shut her eyes and continued repeating the same affirmations. Another round of blind bullets were fired and she had to bite her lip to not cry out.  They didn't care anymore. They wanted her dead and that scared her. The next second, Jessica heard the sound of heavy plastic hitting the floor. It reeked of petrol. Another plastic fuel can was hurled from elsewhere, higher up. The flammable liquid spilled. They were serious about this. 

Jessica's plan was to stick it out. If she could remain in the building, she would, until Sooyoung came. She waited with bated breath for the smell of fire or smoke, anything, as she made clear mental notes of possible exits in such a scenario.

Dear lord. 

When Taeyeon made it to the scene, the mercenary was cautious. Jessica was in danger but she would be of little help if she let the situation get the better of her. She could sense the presence of two hostile people, but traces of fear were still present in their aura. This relaxed Taeyeon in a way. True professionals felt nothing when they aimed the red speck at an unknown person, let alone, fired at them. Jessica's thoughts were hysterical. Taeyeon had to tune out as she picked out a few key phrases. Bullet graze. Sooyoung. Fuel. Fire. Burn. This made Taeyeon uneasy but she sensed no adrenaline from the opposition. 

She stopped just before she reached the site and took a few deep breaths. Her shoulderbag was weighing her down and she doubted the gun would do much  good as she was out of ammo. She tossed the bag carelessly aside and reached down for her two trusty handguns. Taeyeon concentrated on the aura and the breath of the two enemies. One burned bright green, the other, a dark grey. As Taeyeon focused on the two, she noted that they were snipers, one noticeably more experienced than the other. They were positioned in an abandoned apartment lot, opposite the construction site, on the fourth story. 

She her lips in anticipation. Taeyeon could feel their thoughts, a clutter of unexpressed opinions and feelings. She had tried to explain this knowing to Sooyoung before, but essentially failed in describing the sensation. The thoughts she could feel as her own once she tuned into them. Everyone was an open radio station which required concentration and patience. The auras were a different case. People, she saw, had auras. They were luminous outlines, wispy, flame-like with different colours, each associated with a different emotion. Some auras shined brighter than others and some were dull. That was the sign of an approaching death. Fire. A thought screamed out at her. 

Taeyeon growled when she saw flickering flames. They tossed a fire ball over from their window. It landed in the construction site and the thing went up in flames. Another fire ball was launched. Taeyeon's mind was about to explode from all the thoughts she could hear. A mess. She lifted her hand gun and followed her senses. She fired once. The loud ringing in her ears had become normal, as she followed their aura and fired once again. Her mind was spinning, two minutes, she had to get Jessica out in two minutes. Their auras weakened. They were alive, barely. She saw their auras shifting, moving away. They were making a run for it. As much as she wished to kill them, considering the fire, the two bodies as evidence and Jessica, she could not risk it. She bit her lip and turned the other way. 

The mercenary dug her handguns into the holster as she sprinted to the site, covered in smoke and flames. An angry inferno. It wasn't until then that she realized how exhausted her body was. She was light-headed and breathless. The heat raged, scorching flickers of flames and fever. She searched for Jessica through the billowing black smoke and through the noise in her head, the unwanted thoughts of civillians that bombarded her. She singled out one thought. Jessica. As she somehow managed to half stumble into the unfinished building, she could feel her skin peeling. Burns. That would hurt later. She found Jessica, huddled behind a large chunk of cement, shivering.  Taeyeon was finding it hard to breathe already.  "Come on, get up." Taeyeon urged as she felt the panic rise in the few operating factories. The girl could barely move. Taeyeon's mind screamed with thoughts. Taeyeon with her remaining strength, picked Jessica up. The next minute she regained thought, she was outside of the burning flames. A few burns on her arms, but they would heal. Jessica had a few cuts and a minor graze on her cheek. The girl looked up at her with such fear Taeyeon hugged her tighter. It shouldn't have turned out like this. She tried to communicate through her eyes, knowing well enough she was the only one who could pick up on something like that. 

The cops would be here in approximately five minutes. Thankfully, Sooyoung's car was parked a few meters ahead and the manager hopped out.  Taeyeon nodded to the manager as she threw on her shoulderbag and heaved Jessica into the backseat. She shut the door and pulled out a first-aid kit, quickly trailing after the manager who had already put on her mask and gloves. Taeyeon sprayed the remaining drops of water in her bottle onto the concrete where Hyoyeon's blood had settled. She then opened a small container of powdered sodium peroxide and sprinkled it onto the infected area. Sooyoung proceeded to scrub with a towel. It was odd how Taeyeon felt no abnormality in clearing evidence. Three minutes left. She glanced back to the car. Jessica was in a state of shock. Taeyeon felt bad for leaving her alone, but they had to do this. 

As Sooyoung waited for the powder to kick into effect, Taeyeon scanned the area. It was bad, people were moving out. She returned to Sooyoung's side as she scrubbed with a brush, clearing the remaining blood stains. Sooyoung ripped open the plastic bottle top and sprayed the remaining area with water. If things went in their favour, with no visible traces of blood, they might just avoid forensics. They worked in haste. Nothing was to be left behind. Nothing that could lead the authorities to Snake. Unlike Mongoose, Snake lacked the big-shots to protect them. They cleaned up their own , which is why they were much more careful.  

When Sooyoung gave her the nod of approval, the two slipped into the car. They drove off quickly, just as the people began to discover the scene. Sirens followed closely after. It didn't take long for a crowd to have gathered, consisting of factory workers, lot owners, ambulance, firemen, police cars and even journalists nearby. A police officer stopped the car but Sooyoung talked her way out of it. Taeyeon could sense his suspicion but clarified swiftly. The officer who inspected her expression for signs of deception ultimately believed her and let the car pass. Sooyoung let out a held breath and Taeyeon shut her eyes. His aura was weak. No wonder his judgement was off. 

Death was on his doorstep. 

Jessica was shaken up, that much was obvious. She would never get used to the sound of firing pistols or the smell of gunpowder, and something by the way Taeyeon and Sooyoung appeared, she knew that this was a normal occurence for them.  "Who were they?" Jessica managed to utter out after the two mercenaries catched their breaths. Sooyoung wrapped one arm around Jessica, who was shivering like a leaf in a violent storm. She would had been lying if she said that she didn't need physical affection in that current moment.  "Snipers, obviously, that much you know." Sooyoung murmured, her eyes dark. By the expression on her face, Jessica knew that she was concerned for the kidnapped mercenary's safety. 

The fire brigade had taken fifteen minutes to put out the fire completely, and in that time, the three of them were in Sooyoung's car, parked near a main street. They weren't the ones to report the fire, some nearby factories reported it for them. It was Jessica's initial reaction to dial the station until Sooyoung stopped her. A police questioning session was needed after the event and that was the last thing Sooyoung needed right now. 

It didn't take long for sirens of police cars to sound. After one hour, with no real findings, the crew left. The abandoned building site was taped with signs to keep out. There would be further investigation when the precnict had enough officers to go about. Within another few minutes, the journalists and photographers streamed out too. The factories were dismissed for the day as checkups needed to be done later that evening. 

This was when the mercenaries finally drove back to the destination, to search for remaining bits of evidence that could point to the possible culprit of the kidnapping-- before the police found all of the proof themselves. 

"These bullets." Taeyeon spoke up as she dislodged a bullet from a brick. She twirled the cold metal between her fingers, stopping when she felt the engravement on its sheeny surface. Jessica noticed the way Taeyeon clenched her teeth as she felt the sharp engravings, "Mongoose." Her voice was cold, devoid of any real emotion as she dropped the empty shell again. Sooyoung followed her previous action and dislodged a bullet from another worn down wall. She frowned to the all-too-familiar sight of their unmistakable design. As if reading Jessica's thoughts, the manager passed the bullet along to her for inspection. 

"Why did they take her though?" Jessica whispered, tracing the sharp design with her fingertips. Natural enemies, that's what they were. Mongooses and Snakes in the wild danced around the moment, until one strikes.  Sooyoung retrieved the few bullets lodged in burnt walls, semi-melted from the heat and dropped them into her zip-lock plastic bag. Her blue surgical gloves were still on as she searched for possible clues. 

"They don't want Hyoyeon,"  Taeyeon stated as her eyes met Jessica's. "They want you."

Jessica was becoming sick of hearing the same words. "So they want me but I don't know anything."

Sooyoung rolled her eyes and added with a wave of her gloved hand, "Correct, perhaps you do and are not aware of it." 

Jessica sighed inwardly. She was the target that got Hyoyeon in danger, yet, she couldn't march up to the other mercenaries and declare to them that she knew nothing. They wouldn't believe her. Not even Sooyoung would. 

"Is Liu okay?" Jessica asked softly, hoping that he by some chance would be fine. Sooyoung simply smiled, "A few bruises and cuts but he'll be fine. We sent him to a good hospital, a few days bed rest will do him good." 

"She was here." Taeyeon's voice snapped Jessica out of her thoughts. Taeyeon's expression was troubled as she shook her head lightly, "I feel her." 

Jessica knew who they were speaking about. The "Tiffany" no one seemed to mention was always in their reality. She had a unique relationship with the mercenaries. 

The manager read into Taeyeon's words and nodded, acknowledging her comment. "Let's head back first, they would not do anything rash." 

"But Hyoyeon-"

"She will be fine."  The manager affirmed with one steady, firm look. She then dangled the plastic bag, "It will be nice to have Hyomin run some tests on this." 

Jessica swore that for a second, she thought Taeyeon was about to lash out fiercely. Instead, the mercenary took note of the manager's deamenor and eventually, with reluctance, agreed. Taeyeon's judgement of others was usually correct. As much as Jessica wished to protest, her jolted body decided otherwise. 

Sooyoung took one last glance of their surroundings before she said decisively, "Let's go, we need to secure our place first. Then we'll see what we can do." 

As Hyomin emerged from one of the spare hotel rooms, all eyes fell on her. Sooyoung watched her expectantly and Hyomin cleared as she said coolly. "I can't find her signal anywhere." Jessica's heart sank. Sunny was noticeably distressed after hearing such news. Taeyeon had to keep a good hold on her to stop the girl from trembling as she threw a guarded look in the mechanic's direction. "The samples you gave me will take some time to figure out, considering they're in pretty bad shape, but it is believed that the snipers were from Mongoose." 

"What do you mean you can't find her signal anywhere?" Sooyoung asked, becoming visibly concerned. 

Hyomin scrunched her eyes shut and sighed in frustration. "I mean I can't track her signal. The device was embedded in her necklace, either the thing broke or they took it. Anyway, we have to do this the old-fashioned way," she spread out a large tourist map of the city. "We'll just have to assume they did not leave this-" the girl circled a range with a red highlighter, "fifty to one hundred kilometer radius, then according to their past bases and what they obective or motive is, we can single out a few possible areas that may be their current-'

"This takes too long," Sooyoung cut the girl off and sighed. "is there no other way?" 

"There's not much choice currently." The mechanic snapped, irritated. "We would have to assume."

Jessica was sure Taeyeon knew the tension was bad, and with the two quirky bodies both on edge, the calm mercenary chipped in with her sound logic.
"It is okay, we still have time. They do not wish to harm Hyoyeon. It is their means of luring us out to them." 

The mechanic rolled her eyes and gestured for silence as she lowered her voice. "Well, unfortunately, I've got more bad news." She gazed directly at Taeyeon and finished. "Whilst you were out not-kicking-, I was cramped up in here with air-conditioning. Anyway, the news leaked this morning that we've got the girl and there's now a bounty on our heads."

A series of groans came from Sooyoung, who violently dug her fingers into her scalp as she practically sunk into the leather chair. She massaged her temples, and beckoned for Sunny to bring some refreshments. The short girl nodded in understanding and scrambled off for the over-priced mini-fridge. 

Hyomin coughed and eyed the manager disbelievingly. "I followed your orders to not correspond to anyone who expressed interest. We've been offered quite a generous sum of cash too; but like I said, I declined offers and the last time I checked, a few hours ago, we're the hottest item right now." She placed her laptop down on a nearby counter and spun it around, revealing the clean screen with numbers Jessica couldn't understand. 

"."  Taeyeon cursed just as Sunny returned with a bottle of vodka and shotglasses.  "Therefore according to you, we've got a bounty on our heads because we have Jessica, and now they're hunting us for her?" 

"Put simply, yes. Because we've been so un-co-operative, it can be seen that way. Don't forget, we were employed by a corporation to do this. Not only does this go against our own morale, but the corporation insists that nothing be said. Our job is to safely transfer Jessica to the headquarters. Although I dislike this, if any risk or danger is put on Jessica, we're pretty much screwed. The safest way is to evacuate, now." Hyomin explained, for once, semi-serious. Sunny began pouring shots and when she offered Hyomin one, the mechanic shook her head. Taeyeon took the offer, as did Sooyoung. The mechanic sighed quietly, noticing the distress in her allies. As Taeyeon took another shot, the mercenary exhaled a long breath. 

"Then according to that train of thought, Hyoyeon should not be alive." Taeyeon spoke after a few seconds of silence. "We are mercenaries, we do what is neccessary to survive. Our survival is not in jeopardy. It is easy to leave her and go. They have anothe reason for the kidnapping, an ulterior motive."

Hyomin flashed her one of her vexed indications and continued, rather angrily.  "What could they gain by kidnapping Hyoyeon? She's the last person-" 

"."  The curse words tumbled from Sooyoung's lips and Jessica swore she saw all of them grow pale. Hyomin shut once she replayed the words in her head. Then she hung her head low and poured herself a shot.  

The room hung in dead silence. Jessica knew by the expressions on the mercenary's faces that they had figured it out. 

"She's the last person."  Taeyeon repeated again, then her expression contorted. She rested her head in her hands and shook profusely, "you must be kidding." she growled. Sunny was by her side in a heart beat, running her hands down Taeyeon's shoulders in a comforting way.  Taeyeon, instead, downed another shot and groaned, settling back into the fancy couch. 

Then Jessica looked at Sooyoung and Hyomin, wishing one of them would fill her in exactly what was going on. Hyomin simply shut her eyes and muttered as she massaged her persistent headache. Sooyoung cleared and spoke up.  "There was an incident many years ago, a small village in Africa was entirely wiped out. There were doctors there of course, to find some kind of immunisation for the unseen illness. It took less than two months for the village to be infected. Whatever the thing was, was spreading rapidly with symptoms never seen before. Higher-ups panicked and confined them to designated areas. Intense treatment, therapy and proto-type immunisations were tested, but nothing seemed to work. In the end, whatever the thing was slowly disappeared again." The manager took a breath and made sure Jessica was still following the story as she continued.   

"There are many theories as to what happened. Perhaps a cure was found but not shared, it could have vanished due to natural causes; or perhaps the next generation were naturally immune to them- although such a drastic alteration usually took decades to change. Eitherway, whatever this thing was sparked an interest in the shadier parts of society. Hyoyeon was the only child that survived in the village. The rest of the patients were deemed incurable and were sent to psychiatric wards under the orders of 'treatment', but eitherway, it is safe to assume they never took step out of such a thing again."

Taeyeon's voice sounded shortly afterwards. "My mentor took Hyoyeon into his care." Jessica watched the mercenary, during the story she had seemed to re-collect herself.  "The rest is long history." 

Hyomin slammed the shot glass down and Jessica jumped. She had not realized the mechanic had been drinking the whole time. The bottle was already nearly empty. Jessica could only wince to the thought of her liver processing the sheer amount of liquor. Sunny seemed to watch her allies with a worried expression as she helped Hyomin, just before she tripped on nothing. 

"There's one thing when you're going crazy, but there's another when you are injected with drugs that with your mind." The mechanic hissed as she swung a sloppy arm around Sunny. Despite being semi-drunk, the mechanic could feel Jessica's questioning gaze. She simply laughed in a crude manner as she spat out.   "Been to prison, was a junkie." 

Sooyoung growled and shook her head, gesturing for Sunny and Hyomin to leave. The mechanic snorted to the manager's request. "Get her out, she needs rest."  Sunny obeyed her order and took Hyomin firmly by the arm and helped her clean up for rest. 

"Stop drinking." Sooyoung ordered fiercely after Taeyeon took another shot. 

Taeyeon looked amused as she threw back a calm retort."I'm good with hangovers."

"I need you sober." The manager was exasperated as she took the bottle from the mercenary's grasp. 

"Says the alcoholic. OK, great." The mercenary countered before sighing, "What do we do now?" 

"We wait." Sooyoung stated simply. "They're not stupid enough to heal an injured enemy unless they are still useful. It's unlikely that they would have taken her anywhere far, considering the bad condition she is in. We need to find out who they're working for and what they want. We need to wait for them to contact us." 

Taeyeon listened to the manager's plan before she asked,"And if not?" 

Sooyoung watched the shorter girl as she responded carefully. "If we get no news by morning, we go."

The mercenary narrowed her eyes and spoke again. "We go find her, yes?" 

"No." 

"What do you mean?"

As if troubled by her own decision, Sooyoung sighed. "We leave her." 

"What?" 

Her gaze was firmly fixed on the mercenary as she said, "Look kid," the term slipped from Sooyoung's lips as she continued. "I'm the captain here, chief, whatever you want to call me. My job is to keep the ship sailing and the rest of you alive. I make my decisions based on what is neccessary to keep us going and you, who I know for sure, are alive, working and safe. " 

"You're out of your mind." The traditionally calm mercenary growled, displaying rare defiance. "Sooyoung, we aren't them. We're our own people. We don't leave any person behind, ever." 

Sooyoung felt the tension in the air and sighed as she shook her head dismissively. "Please, let's not argue now."  Jessica felt Taeyeon bristle indignantly and Sooyoung did too. The manager ran her fingers through her short hair as she murmured warily, "Sleep, rest. The morning will determine what action we take." 

As much as Taeyeon seemed to want to argue, the mercenary nodded, still considerate of her manager's current state of mind. "I understand." The mercenary uttered out with a huff. 

Sooyoung met her gaze and nodded as she dragged her dead body off the leather chair, into her own bedroom. Taeyeon watched wordlessly before turning to Jessica, who had to witness this unusual disagreement. The mercenary signalled in the direction of the two shared bathrooms.  Taeyeon let out a breath she was holding, as she evidently relaxed. 

Then, the mercenary turned to Jessica and said gently. "You should have a shower, get cleaned up." She flicked remaining debris off her own jacket and added with a little smirk. "Hate to say, but you look like you are in pretty bad shape." 

It wasn't until Taeyeon's mention that Jessica remembered she had not changed or cleaned the dried blood from her skin. The mercenary brushed the remaining harmless glass shards from her hair and smiled, almost amused as she stepped back. "Goodnight." She said in a manner which made the day's events feel oddly normal, her eyes soft were fluid oceans and Jessica nodded slowly as she managed to say the same words.

"Night." 

The mercenary gave her a small smile as she too, left for her own bedroom. Jessica glanced down to her hands, covered in god knows what. Hyoyeon's blood was dry and caked in a thin layer of dirt and grime. Jessica wasted no time taking up Taeyeon's offer. She stood in the hot, luxurious shower for a good twenty minutes or so before she had to urge herself out. She had washed her hands a record of seven times. Jessica dried her hair and returned to the empty living room. It was abnormally quiet so she could assume that the mercenaries were worn out from the day's events. With a white towel wrapped around her cold body, she trailed to her room. 

As she turned the door handle and stepped into her room, the door closed behind her.  The bedroom was furnished with simple but elegant bed-tables, lamps, a queen-sized bed and a built in mirror wardrobe. Just as Jessica was about to fold the wet towel and hang it by her bed-side table, she felt overwhelmed. 

Her heart stopped.

There was someone in her room.

The windows were wide open and the pale moonlight shone in, bathing the room in a mysterious light. It was a cool, cloudy night. The figure stood dangerously still. When the scene began to finally register in Jessica's head, she willed herself to turn and run but she was glued to the ground with fear. Her pulse was wild in her ears. Before she could scream, the figure advanced. In a split second, she was pinned to the door by not a man, but a woman. The intruder's unbelievably soft hands were on her lips, silencing her. 

Her eyes must have given Jessica away, for the intruder smirked in the semi-darkness and leaned toward her. Her breath, minty and feverish on Jessica's neck made her weak in the knees. If it had not bee the strong grip the woman had on her, she would have melted into a warm puddle on the floor. She had a strong and distinct scent of lilys. Her glimmering brown orbs took in Jessica's expression, analyzing her every breath. Much like the way Taeyeon had first examined her. Once the breeze trickled in, the clouds parted, revealing a gorgeous woman. Her hair was a scorching red, almost stronger than the intensity Jessica sensed in her blazing eyes. 

The woman chuckled at the obvious awe present in her eyes. She laid a gentle kiss on Jessica's cheek and whispered, her husky voice resonating in the very depths of her being.  "Well, aren't you beautiful?" 

Jessica felt herself flush involuntarily. 

Suave, that was what she was.

The woman laid another alluring kiss on her neck and on her jaw, her breath causing Jessica to quiver faintly. Her eyes shut briefly as she felt the woman's lips travel to her ear. Jessica braced herself for what would come. She held her breath in anticipation. Instead, the woman slowly pulled away.  As Jessica stared, wordless, the woman's lips cracked into a knowing smirk. Jessica had no evidence but her mind only thought of one name.

She struggled to find the strength to whisper it aloud.

"Tiffany. "

A/N: Didn't proof-read, enjoy ^_^""