A/N: so, tomorrow is the start of RWBY volume 3 and my mind is gonna be focused on that all tomorrow and since there's this whole 'watch volumes 1 & 2 together' things that the FNDM is doing later today, my mind is gonna go focus on RWBY in general in about.......ten minutes so.........best to get this chapter posted while i actually remember.

“Oh my god,” Hongbin gasped as he burst through the front doors.

It was chaos. Complete and total chaos. There were bits of wall and floor and ceiling all over the room, the result of several blasts. Agents were fighting against armed men and women dressed in black as well as other agents. There were a good couple dozen bodies on the floor, several so damaged that Hongbin couldn’t tell who they were.

And then there was Kris, about fifty seven percent of the way through his transformation.

“Oh god,” Jihu said, coming to a stop beside Hongbin, “Lay.”

“What?” Hongbin looked around, trying to locate the shifter and his heart froze when he saw the limp form at Kris’ feet.

Jihu was already rushing over and Hongbin chased after him, praying that there was something he could do.

A small voice in Hongbin’s mind whispered that he could do nothing. He couldn’t save Lay. He wouldn’t be able to save Chen. He wouldn’t be able to help Tao. Xiumin would be another name to add to the list of people he couldn’t help.

And Hyuk?

Oh god, Hongbin hoped he could help Hyuk. He hoped he could help everyone, but if he failed to save Hyuk………

Oh god, he couldn’t fail to save his brother.

--

Hyuk whimpered, trying to suppress the pain coursing through his body.

“It’s gonna be alright,” Leo whispered, trying to put pressure on the gash, “it’s gonna be alright.”

“Lie,” Hyuk tried to laugh, “it’s not going to be alright unless you stop the bleeding.”

“I’ll stop the bleeding,” Leo promised, pressing harder. Applying pressure was supposed to help right?

“Hmmmm,” Hyuk just hummed, listening to his hyung’s panicked muttering.

He felt horrible for doing this to Leo. He should have been more careful, kept a better eye out for hidden blades or something. Maybe then he wouldn’t be slowly bleeding out in a hallway like some kind of worthless dog. N was going to be so upset when he found out what had happened. He’d blame himself for not being there. Ravi and Ken would be the same way, but not like N.

And Hongbin?

God, this was going to destroy his favorite hyung. Hongbin would probably end up doing something horribly reckless as a result. Something he thought was a perfect punishment for failing to keep Hyuk safe.

But whatever happened to Hyuk would never be Hongbin’s fault. Hyuk didn’t want the other to blame himself.  If anyone was to blame for this, it was Hyuk himself for getting carless. Not Hongbin, never Hongbin.

“Hyung,” Hyuk breathed, “can you make sure Hongbin stays safe?”

“I will,” Leo pledged, a look of reluctant understanding in his eyes, “I’ll make sure he survives.”

“Good,” Hyuk nodded, “let’s……let’s keep moving. I can hear them starting to catch up.”

“Alright,” Leo nodded, picking Hyuk up and rushing off down the hall as fast as he could go.

--

“Where does this lead anyway?” Jessica asked, “besides down.”

“I think it’s to one of the basement levels,” Ken replied.

“Levels?” Chanyeol asked, “How many levels does this place have?”

“Not sure,” Ken sighed sadly, “Jihu the owner is suspected to have added stuff. Like a few secret rooms and a new basement level. It’s just theories, no proof. The plans we have are from the original owners.”

“Who owns this place?” Ravi questioned, “I mean, I thought this was some kind of public building.”

“I thought that too,” Taeyeon nodded, “why else would they be holding the meeting here?”

“Well,” Hyoyeon sighed, “the owner only owns it on paper. Most of the time it’s used as a public building. Heck, pretty sure only a few people know who owns it ‘cuz the paper trail has been covered up so well.”

“Yeah,” Ken nodded, a thoughtful look appearing on his face, “Jihu had to do a lot of digging for that information. Do you think…….do you think that any of the councils know?”

“No,” Hyoyeon scowled, a realization finally hitting her, “because if they knew, there’s no way they would have come here.”

“Then this is all part of the plan,” Ken hissed, “we’ve all been set up.”

“Seems that way,” Hyoyeon sighed, “Jihu thought it was weird that they would be holding the meeting here of all places, but when he asked his boss he was chewed out.”

“So who owns it?” Ravi asked again, annoyed that they pair seemed to know something the rest of them didn’t.

“Jihoo,” Hyoyeon, “he owns this place.”

“It belonged to his parents,” Ken explained, “and when they died, he made this show of making this into a public building.”

“but he kept it,” Ravi hissed, “it’s still his.”

The cold chill filled the group.

A/N: alright, so several thoughts to get out here so I’ll start with the most important: There will be no update next week. It’s Halloween and I have plans. Sorry, but……yeah. Secondly, wow, you would not believe how hard writing a fight is. And so, Lay is dead. And Hyuk is bleeding to death. And you must all hate me so…….. *hides*. I’d also be worried about those you haven’t seen yet *goes back to hiding*. And if you guys have any theories on what gonna happen, feel free to throw ‘em out. I can’t confirm or deny anything, but I can smile at your theory.