♦ ♦ ♦ Chapter Fifteen ♦ ♦ ♦

Baekhyun felt like someone was splitting his head open. He groaned, turning to his side to try and seek comfort in Chanyeol's warmth when his hands met emptiness. His eyes fluttered open, and the previous events rushed back into him, surging like water from a broken dam. He sat up with a sharp cry of pain, startling Luhan who was sitting watch over by a chair in Baekhyun's room.

"Baekhyun! C-calm down!" Luhan started, standing up and rushing over to Baekhyun's side, but Baekhyun couldn't do that.

He couldn't calm down. Chanyeol had been kidnapped.

"Chanyeol! Where's Chanyeol?! Oh my God, why are we just sitting around, Luhan, we need to save Chanyeol!" Baekhyun grabbed Luhan by the shoulders, eyes tearing up in panic and fear.

"I know, Baek, I know! B-but please, calm down first! Everyone's doing everything they can to think of a good plan on how to save Chanyeol."

"Plan?! We don't have time for that, we need to go now!"

"Baekhyun, please."

Baekhyun and Luhan both turned to the door, and Baekhyun felt a little pissed off as he saw the calm expression on Kris' face. Kris strode in, only stopping a few feet away from Baekhyun's bed. Baekhyun was about to snap at him when he finally noticed something in Kris' face, how his eyebrows were scrunched together and how he looked tired and angry, as well. Baekhyun stopped himself from snapping, realizing that of course, Kris was also in pain at losing a comrade to enemy hands. Everyone was. Baekhyun's anger deflated, and he let go of Luhan's shoulders, his hands dropping down to his sides.

"...Kris, we need to save him...now..." Baekhyun whispered, and Kris sat down beside him in response, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.

"I know. That's why I'm here. We need you in the other room. Now."

It was unusual, to say the least, to see his friends all looking grim and serious as they gathered around the dining table. The table was laid out with an extravagant menu for breakfast, but nobody ate. D.O. was still wearing his apron, and he didn't even look the least bit offended that no one was touching the food he made. Baekhyun clenched his fists as he saw one the chair beside his unoccupied. It was Chanyeol's.

Kris ushered him closer to the table, and both Suho and Onew stood up abruptly, looking at them both.

"Did you fill him in on his role for the plan, Kris?" Suho asked, his gentle features distorted by a tired frown.

"Not yet."

"What's the plan, anyway? I'm, uhm, sorry if I just...slept throughout the meeting." Baekhyun mumbled, and Chen waved a hand dismissively at him, gesturing at Taemin.

"Nah, man, it's okay. It wasn't your fault you passed out." Chen piped up, his gaze flitting towards Taemin who groaned in exasperation as if this wasn't the first time it happened.

"I told you already! I didn't mean it! Plus, we really needed Baekhyun to calm down earlier or else he would've blasted us with his lasers or something. I'm sorry, okay?" Taemin pouted, and Minho ruffled his hair as if to say that he understood.

"Chen, we've already settled that Taemin isn't at fault. No one is, so let's drop that issue and move on, please?" Suho was massaging the bridge of his nose, and Chen along with the rest of the EXO members grumbled in agreement.

"Now that we've settled that issue, let's move on, shall we?" Onew clapped his hands together, and Baekhyun sat down as they all started telling him about the plan to save Chanyeol.

Baekhyun thought it was stupid. Downright stupid. Suicidal and stupid.

He had originally th0ught that the plan would consist of some elaborate infiltration strategy. It was kind of a given that he would think that way since they had SHINee with them. SHINee wasn't exactly a normal-tier team before; they worked at the core of HQ which  they knew things that others didnt, so really, Baekhyun thought that maybe, their plan would have something along those lines.

"It's simple, really. We're just going to walk up to the gates and enter."

Onew's words rang in Baekhyun's mind as they all drove off in Jonghyun's black truck. Most of them were dozing off since nobody had really slept well. Baekhyun was getting antsy as the journey dragged on. He couldn't help but feel that they were entering right into a trap.

"Well, it is a trap, Baekhyun."

Baekhyun turned to Luhan who was sitting at the back, and he remembered then that Luhan could read minds. Luhan grinned sheepishly, pointing at his own head.

"Sorry. Couldn't help but overhear your thoughts. They were pretty loud."

"...sorry. I'm just nervous, is all." Baekhyun admitted, and beside him, Suho patted him on the thigh.

"It's okay, Baekhyun. We all are. It's obviously a trap. Hyunjung knows that we'll go to Chanyeol's rescue asap."

"But it's totally fine! If she wants a fight, well, we'll give her a fight! Nobody messes with our friends." Chen added, earning him an eye roll from Kris and Suho.

"So don't worry, Baek, we'll be okay. We'll kick that lady's , we'll save Chanyeol, and I'll cook us all up a nice dinner when we get home." D.O. was sitting at the back, but he still reached out and patted Baekhyun on the shoulder.

Baekhyun looked at all of his friends, and he felt a surge of confidence run through him as he saw that underneath the tired faces and nervous frowns were confident fighters, all of them powerful and ready to bust through the HQ gates. Baekhyun shook his head clear of all his worries and insecurities, and took a deep breath. Him being nervous won't do them any good. He clenched his fists which lay on top of his legs, and he looked ahead, feeling a kind of rush as he finally saw, in the horizon, the tips of the high towers of their destination.

Jonghyun parked the car five blocks away from the headquarters. The streets still weren't crowded as it was still too early, but they still kept close to the walls and shadows of the buildings. Kai was the one designated to check if the coast was clear as he had the ability to move in the shadows and teleport from one shadow to the next (as long as he knew the place). After a few minutes, he came back, an alarmed expression on his face.

"Since when did all the people here have glowing blue eyes?" He asked, and Taemin groaned in distaste.

"Robots. Hyunjung must have deployed robots to keep watch over the city, just in case we wandered around carelessly. Damn it. I don't think we'll be able to move closer to HQ without a fight."

"I can only transport one person with me, and not that I don't want to help, but it's really tiring. If I do that, I don't think I'd be of any help when we get inside." Kai crouched down a little, and true to his words, little beads of sweat were already forming on his forehead, as if his previous activity had already taken a toll on him.

"We'll go with plan B, then. Everybody, split up. We'll enter through different gates at the same time. Minwoo-hyung?" Onew turned to the older male, who grinned like a proud little kid as he took off his backpack.

"We've been working on these for quite a while, and we think that now's the perfect time to use 'em. Here, help yourself!"

He opened his bag, and inside were a lot of earpieces, each one painted a different colour. He took a red one out and attached it to his ear. Then, he clicked something on the side and a small hologram screen projected from it, stopping right in front of his left eye. On the screen was a map, with a small blue dot blinking right beside a bunch of inactive-looking gray dots.

"What's that?" Xiumin asked, leaning closer and getting a white one for himself.

"Kind of like your watch before, but we programmed it so that all of these earpieces are connected and only visible in our own server. Makes it difficult for the HQ to breach it, so to speak. Also, we can talk to each through here, so these are perfect for our strategy."

Everybody watched as Xiumin also put the earpiece on, switching in on and seeing the hologram screen flicker to life. What projected on his screen was pretty much the same as Minwoo's, except for a single orange dot. Xiumin pointed at it questioningly.

"That's me. Listen, all of you, take one and switch it on. The blue dot on your screen will always be you, and the orange dots are the others. The gray ones are the inactive ones, so hopefully...no one will turn into a gray one during our attack on headquarters. These earpieces are battery-powered, yeah, but they automatically turn off if the user is unconscious or dead."

They took that heavy information quietly as they attached their earpieces to themselves. As soon as they were done, they quickly went to the groups they had initially formed for Plan B. Onew took charge in deciding their locations.

"Okay, so like I said before, HQ is designed like really tall cube. On all four sides is where we'll find all the gates. The only gate that everybody is aware of is the front gate. The other three are hidden, but I already told you how to find it. Be ready, though, because each gate is heavily guarded. I don't know how it is now, but it's better to be alert at all times." He reminded them quickly.

Chen raised a hand, and Onew looked at him. "Which gate will we go to?"

"I was getting to that part. We already talked about this, but the one who will lead the teams will be the ones who, more or less, know the layout of the building. South gate will be Eric-hyung, Minho, Suho, D.O., and Sehun; Minho will lead.. East gate will be Andy-hyung, Xiumin, Luhan, Lay and Chen; Andy-hyung will lead. West gate will be Minwoo-hyung, Jonghyun, Dongwan-hyung, Tao and Jun Jin-hyung; Jonghyun will lead. That would leave the north gate, the main one, to me, Hyesung-hyung, Kai, Taemin, Kris and Baekhyun; I'll lead. Any questions?"

"Our priority is to save Chanyeol, correct?" Lay asked, and Onew nodded.

"Prioritize finding and saving Chanyeol first. Depending on our conditions by that time, we will either retreat or proceed with the attack. Hyunjung's quarters is at the top, but we have no way of knowing if she's keeping Chanyeol there. He could be anywhere, so we need to search thoroughly. Move fast, but take note of everything. Anything else?"

Everybody was quiet, and Onew nodded his head in understanding. He straightened up, and each leader started moving in their own directions. The surroundings were still quiet, but they knew that it wouldn't last long. Onew cleared his throat, and activated his earpiece.

"Alright, gentlemen, let's move out."

_{A/N: Finally. Oh my God this took me forever, I'm sorry =)))) after 32854085034989054 years of not updating, I feel like there will be some errors or discrepancies in relation to the previous chapters =))) sorry in advane, i'll fix them if i find something =))}