As soon as he stepped into the living room with Himchan beside him, Ryeowook knew that something very bad was up…  The tension in the air was suffocating and he couldn’t help but look from one figure to the next as he tried to remain calm.  He flinched when Hyosung gestured for Himchan to rejoin her and the other man left Ryeowook standing by himself with an apologetic nod.  He was further flustered when the vampire wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and placed her head on the back of his shoulder, holding tight.

                What the hell…?  “Come here,” Kyuhyun urged with a jerk of his head.

                “I’m fine,” Ryeowook responded, swallowing nervously.  He took an uncertain step back when Kyuhyun approached him anyway, hands rising defensively in front of his chest.

                “You won’t be in a moment,” the vampire assured him with dread certainty, grabbing Ryeowook by the waist as he pulled him close and took them both back to the couch.

                Ryeowook wasn’t exactly sure how to take that; it was either a subtle threat or a warning…  Neither boded well.  Kangin was perched on the armrest but his expression gave nothing away, and N looked… shaken.  That more than anything convinced Ryeowook to keep his mouth shut as he tensely sat beside Kyuhyun, fidgeting frequently when their bodies continued to touch.

                “Go ahead, N,” Kyuhyun nodded supportively with a fluid gesture of his hand.

                It took N a moment to gather his thoughts, during which time he pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingertips and closed his eyes tight.  “It’s worse than we thought,” he finally admitted in a small voice, shoulders adjusting in a nervous gesture.

                No one said a word in response and Ryeowook wanted to demand why but it felt wrong to interrupt the heavy silence.  He looked at Kyuhyun instead, since he was the only one next to him, and whispered, “What is?”

                “Everything,” Kyuhyun responded softly, turning to peer down at Ryeowook with dark, unreadable eyes.  The grip on Ryeowook’s waist tightened slightly and the vampire’s jaw clenched at the untold news.

                N exhaled with weary exhaustion and slumped in the chair, staring at the floor ahead of him, an intense frown of concentration on his face.  “The news isn’t saying much and the government has it as quiet as they can, but Hyosung got word of it from Jinki and I confirmed it with the Songs.  I couldn’t reach Victoria but Mimi doesn’t call himself a gentleman for no reason,” he laughed once, the sound bitter and unsure.

                Ryeowook’s brow furrowed in confusion and he looked at Kyuhyun again, since no one else seemed eager to give him information.  “Who…?”

                Kyuhyun held up his free hand for silence and then wrapped it around Ryeowook’s nearest arm, holding firm.  “Listen.”

                “The wolves…” N began, fingers tightening on the backs of his hands in the process.  “The Chois and Jungs in particular managed to break into a high security military base and have procured a nuclear warhead.  We’re not sure who else might have been assisting them but it’s not good any way we look at it.”

                “What?!” Ryeowook gasped, almost jumping to his feet, to Kyuhyun’s surprise, before the vampire stalled him and dragged him back into the seat, holding tight.

                N’s hard gaze flickered to him, daring the half-turned to speak further and Ryeowook hunched in on himself, clamping his jaw shut as he practically felt Kyuhyun bristle beside him.  The Cha blinked once and finally continued slowly, “Their attack was not without casualties.  Bodies were left behind and the humans know without a doubt what some of us are capable of now.”

                “Stupid,” Kangin scowled, obviously displeased by the carelessness.

                “They didn’t care, Kangin.  You know that,” Kyuhyun explained, daring to grab Ryeowook’s hand and give it a firm squeeze, though he declined to look his way.  Ryeowook was too dumbfounded to react and allowed it, trying desperately to make sense of this madness.

                “This is it, boys,” Hyosung sighed from behind Himchan’s shoulder as the male turned to look at her out of the corner of his eye.  “Their damnable all or nothing plan.  If they go through with whatever they intend, leaving bodies behind won’t matter because they’re not going to stop.”

                “Mimi said that they intend to attack one of the nuclear plants in New York to take out as many humans as possible in one shot.  He suspects there might be more going on as well, but even he didn’t know everything and I know that’s not all they have planned,” he admitted, his expression dark and foreboding.

                “We have to do something,” Ryeowook interjected immediately, leaning forward in Kyuhyun’s grip as he stared around the room, swallowing his nausea at the very idea of what they intended.  “We can’t just let them-”

                “And what exactly would you have us do?” Kyuhyun asked archly beside him, interrupting the flow of words before he could get very far.

                “Stop them!” he answered immediately, glaring at the vampire with fierce eyes.

                His response drew a laugh from the vampires present, though Himchan looked as uncertain and nervous as Ryeowook felt.  “I already told you it’s not that simple,” N reminded him in a flat tone of voice, looking at the half-turned from under long lashes, the fall of his dark red bangs nearly obscuring his vision.

                “But-” Ryeowook tried again only to wince when Kyuhyun gripped his arm hard enough to hurt.

                “Just because we know where does not mean we know when.  It could be today.  Tomorrow.  A week from now,” Kyuhyun explained drolly, as he would to a child.

                Kangin stood up and coughed into his hand.  “I for one know that I don’t want to get caught in the blast.  Vampire or not, even we wouldn’t be able to withstand the explosion,” he grimaced, his expression otherwise speculative.

                “Keep going,” Kyuhyun urged when he stopped, though everyone in the room was waiting for his next words, desperate for some sort of idea.

                “A wolf might be able to stand up to it for a little while, though even then, that’s uncertain.  It’s not like we’ve had the opportunity to find out,” he shrugged with a roll of his eyes.

                Hyosung heaved a sigh and looked up to perch her chin on Himchan’s shoulder.  “It looks like we might have the chance soon.”

                “No,” Kyuhyun shook his head, his tone flat though his gaze was calculating.  “Radiation doesn’t effect our bodies so much because we have don’t have living tissue and the wolves just regenerate at an excessive pace.  What if the plan they told you about was only a diversion?” he offered, raising his gaze to meet N’s specifically.

                A chorus of scoffs met his proposal, but they quickly died down as the possibility actually sank in.  “Holy …” Kangin spoke first with a disbelieving laugh.  “They really have lost their minds haven’t they?” he exhaled, rolling his eyes before he scrubbed both hands over his face.

                Ryeowook wasn’t exactly following their conversation so panic began to well inside.  What did they mean?  How could setting off a nuclear bomb in a nuclear power plant in an incredibly populated area be nothing more than a diversion?  “I don’t understand,” he murmured, reactively grabbing onto Kyuhyun’s shirt with one hand, his fist shaking as he did so.

                “War, Wookie,” Kyuhyun responded, curling his fingers around Ryeowook’s fist to pry it from his clothes, though he kept his grip as he lowered their hands to rest atop his thigh.

                N roughed his hair up in irritation, growling under his breath.  “!  They’re so stupid!” he muttered, shoving himself to his feet to pace in agitated circles.

                “You know it’s not just going to be here, right?” Kangin offered, uncrossing his arms to gesture with one hand.  “If this is a diversion, you can almost guarantee it’s not going to be the only place where it happens.”

                “Ah ,” Kyuhyun snorted, smacking himself in the forehead.  “Of course,” he agreed, nodding at Kangin with a disgusted quirk to his mouth.  “N.  You’re gonna have to get in touch with the overseas clans.”  He nodded once in mute agreement, his entire body tense.

                “This just keeps getting better and better,” Himchan murmured with a nervous frown, resting his hands on Hyosung’s arms, fingers gripping harder than usual if the white-knuckle appearance was any indication, though she didn’t complain.

                “You have no idea,” Kyuhyun murmured, the lack of expression on his face terrifying, given the situation.

                As it was, Ryeowook couldn’t even begin to imagine the scenario that would require this much underlying anger and worry.  He thought the nuclear bomb in New York was bad enough but now they were talking about international concerns.  He gripped Kyuhyun’s hand with both of his and stared at his profile until the vampire looked at him.  “Is my family in danger?”

                Kyuhyun looked around the room and met everyone’s collective gazes before he returned his focus to Ryeowook, touching the fingertips of his free hand under his chin.  “If I’m even remotely correct, then a large portion of humanity is in danger.  We might be too for all I know.”

                “We have to do something then!” Ryeowook urged, trying to get to his feet instinctively, his heart and mind racing.

                Abruptly, Kyuhyun grimaced and yanked him back into place with an iron grip.  “Stop it.”

                “No!  You don’t get it you damn vampire!” Ryeowook hissed back before his mind could step in and be a voice of reason.  He wasn’t the only one that was surprised by the slip and he flinched when all eyes settled on him, their weight a heavy pressure that made him want to disappear.

                “Quiet,” Kyuhyun leaned close to growl into his ear, demanding obedience.

                Trembling where he sat, Ryeowook nodded shakily and bit his bottom lip hard enough to taste blood, but it was a welcome distraction from their scrutiny.  His fingernails dug into the backs of his hands and he felt like a bug about to be squashed as he stared at the crescent imprints in his flesh.  He gasped and jumped when Kyuhyun placed a surprisingly gentle hand atop his and pressed hard enough for him to relax his fingers so that they would lay flat.

                Without saying another word, Kyuhyun nodded at Kangin and the other vampire seemed to understand what needed to be said.  Kangin turned to N and Hyosung with a determined expression.  “You both know what you need to do.”

                “Of course,” N rolled his eyes with a sneer.  “But the question is, what are you going to do?”

                “That’s a secret,” Kyuhyun winked from his seat, amused and unflustered.

                “Kyu!” N scowled, stomping his foot in frustration.

                “Don’t worry.  We won’t get in your way,” he added as he stood up, drawing a very subdued Ryeowook with him.  “Given the urgent nature of your latest news, however, I think we shall be on our way as quickly as possible.”

                “You’re just leaving us to do all the legwork aren’t you?” Hyosung grumbled, finally edging around from behind Himchan with a disgruntled frown.

                Kangin snorted and sent a rude gesture her direction to which she gasped, affronted.  “You know better than that.”

                Still offended by his crass motion, which Kyuhyun found amusing to say the least, Hyosung glared at the other Cho and grumbled, “Are you sure you didn’t find him in the Dark Ages?”

                “Enough!” N snapped, stepping in the middle of all of them with his hands raised between them.  “We don’t have time for this.”

                “We might,” Kyuhyun couldn’t help but throw in.

                “Cho,” N hissed, rolling his head to glare at Kyuhyun out of the corner of his eye in a warning gesture.  The targeted vampire sighed and raised his hands in modest surrender, though he continued to smirk in silence.  “Hyosung.  Go downstairs and start initiating conversations.  Those on the other side of the world will be house bound right now anyway,” he explained with a furrowed brow.

                “Right,” she nodded, pausing to smile at Himchan as she smoothed his hair down in a very tender gesture that made Ryeowook at least uncomfortable.  It felt almost like it should be private…  Himchan silently nodded back at her with a slightly pained smile and stayed where he was to await further instructions.

                Kyuhyun looked at Himchan and spoke, “You did good.”  To clarify, he nodded at Ryeowook beside him and gave a half-smile.  They all knew it was as close to a thank you as the other male was going to get.

                Himchan stepped close to approach Ryeowook and grabbed his cold hands in both of his.  “You’re gonna be just fine, Wookie,” he reassured him, tightening his grip a tiny bit.

                “I’m scared, Himchan,” Ryeowook admitted in a breathless whisper, not daring to look away for fear of seeing the expressions on the faces of the vampires.

                “It’s okay to be scared,” he smiled at the slender male, reaching a hand to cup his cheek and flinching slightly as Kyuhyun’s low warning growl sounded nearby.  “Just remember what I taught you.  Ne?” he asked, giving him a brave smile so that his eyes crinkled under the short black hair.

                “I will,” Ryeowook agreed quickly, swallowing his nerves as he forced a smile he didn’t feel in return.  “Thank you,” he added, clutching to the one hand harder in a grateful clasp.

                “You’re welcome,” Himchan replied as he stepped back and shifted his attention to bow at Kyuhyun and Kangin abruptly.  They gave him brief nods in response and the other half-turned pivoted in place to follow after where Hyosung had gone, leaving the remaining four alone.

                “Don’t do anything stupid, Kyu,” N exhaled with a shake of his head, expression concerned after witnessing their exchange.

                Kyuhyun waved his concern off and rolled his eyes while he tapped the side of his head lightly.  “We’re the smart clan.  Remember?”

                Irritated by the comment, N flailed in place in a very controlled manner and then huffed once before he pointed a finger at the other vampire.  “You know where the door is.”  Shoulders hunched, N dropped his hand and stalked towards the back, pausing to turn around and face them once more, his expression considerably more concerned.  “Good luck,” he called, declining to linger long enough for a response as he disappeared through the doorway.

                “Well.  That was fun,” Kangin chortled, dusting his hands off as he waved towards the door.

                “Why are you like this?” Ryeowook surprised them both when he asked, standing his ground with a very concerned and hurt expression.

                “What do you mean?” Kyuhyun asked, honestly confused.

                “You act like this is a big game to you,” he responded angrily, upset for how disrespectfully he treated the other vampires and especially Himchan who had been the only one to genuinely help him so far.

                “All of life is a game,” Kyuhyun smirked, tilting his head to the side.  “If you know the rules.”

                Ryeowook’s mouth dropped open in surprised disgust.  “You really are an ,” he murmured, past the point of caring.

                “I’ve been called many things,” Kyuhyun conceded again, clearly not offended or perturbed by his companion’s conversation.  “Come on,” he urged, placing his hand firmly against Ryeowook’s back as he pushed him towards the front door with a look at Kangin.

                “I’ll get it started,” the other vampire nodded with a glance between the two as he quickly retreated from the scene.

                “People are going to die, Kyuhyun,” Ryeowook snapped, shaking off the vampire’s hold as he stood his ground and glared at him, vindicated in seeing a flicker of surprise in the other’s eyes.  “And you think you know something the others don’t but all you can do is make fun of the people that could help us.”

                “Wookie,” Kyuhyun warned softly, his expression losing all traces of amusement.

                “You have no right to call me that and no right to treat them that way!” Ryeowook went on heatedly, pointing his finger in Kyuhyun’s face.  “Just because you don’t care about anybody but yourself doesn’t mean-”

                His words were cut off midsentence when he suddenly found a hand around his throat and his back abruptly shoved against a wall hard enough to rattle the pictures hanging nearby with Kyuhyun’s face directly in front of his.  “A week ago you didn’t even know we existed and now you think you know everything?” he whispered darkly, his intense gaze spearing Ryeowook’s eyes, unblinking.

                Terrified, Ryeowook could find no words to respond with.  The hand on his throat was tight, and not choking him, but Kyuhyun’s looming, livid presence was almost worse, the angry aura around him nearly enough to suffocate the half-turned.  His jaw trembled as he took a shaky breath and tried to meet Kyuhyun’s eyes before it was simply easier to shut them and pretend he wasn’t the current focus of his displeasure.  He flinched and whimpered despite himself when he felt Kyuhyun press closer, pinning his body in place with his as he whispered into Ryeowook’s ear.

                “You should wait for the whole story before you try to shoot off at the mouth, Wookie,” he spoke, clacking his teeth together on the last word.  “You might live longer,” Kyuhyun added as he pushed away and shifted his grip, grabbing Ryeowook by the back of the neck to guide him physically out the door.

                Wincing with each step, his shoulders hunched to his ears, Ryeowook went along as best he could with his arms plastered to his side and his hands held up in tense surrender before him.  He whimpered in the back of his throat when Kyuhyun paused long enough to open the passenger side door and shove him in, following immediately after.

                “Well then,” Kangin commented with a confused expression.

                “Drive,” Kyuhyun stated flatly as he jerked his head towards the garage opening.

                “Whatever you say boss,” Kangin agreed without complaint, though he couldn’t help but continue to glance down at Ryeowook who was rubbing at the back of his neck with his fingertips.

                Ryeowook didn’t really know what had come over him.  He had only meant to…  Well, he didn’t really know.  He was mad at Kyuhyun for disregarding Himchan in particular but he was also mad at the vampire in general.  There was no getting around that.  And he wasn’t giving them any information and just playing coy and he simply didn’t care, which was infuriating!  This stupid war they were talking about was going to happen right in front of them and all he could do was joke around.  Stupid .

                “Kangin.  How many power plants are there in the states?” Kyuhyun asked into the oppressive silence, surprising the half-turned.

                Their driver seemed just as caught off guard as he looked to his side.  “Eh…  Around a hundred, the last time I saw.  Give or take,” he admitted, not entirely sure where the other vampire was going.  Neither was Ryeowook for that matter and he looked up carefully to see Kyuhyun staring straight ahead, his face expressionless.

                “How many world wide?” he went on, chewing on his index finger nail distractedly, seemingly more concerned by the catch in it than their actual conversation.

                Again, Kangin was confused but knowledgeable.  “Over four hundred, but that’s including the ones in the US,” he clarified.

                “And how many of us, the wolves included, do you think could be convinced, one way or the other, to help in taking them down.  Especially if they didn’t know the whole story?” he finished up, flicking his nail before he shifted to lean his elbow against the passenger door window.

                When there was no immediate response, Ryeowook looked back to Kangin to see the other vampire very troubled indeed.  His thumbs tapped on the steering wheel in a nervous thinking gesture and he finally answered with a heavy sigh, “More than enough.  God dammit!” he growled, arms tensing on the steering wheel, corded muscles bunching under the skin.

                “Steering wheel,” Kyuhyun murmured, reminding him to calm down before he broke it.

                “Stupid mother ers!” Kangin snarled, banging his fist on the wheel once before he visibly calmed himself, seething in silence instead as his glower warded off any additional questions.

                Ryeowook sat in stunned horror.  It wasn’t possible was it?  Could they truly be that mad?  The bomb in New York would be more than enough to draw the attention of the nation, and the world at large, to that spot specifically.  Would they worry about another follow up attack on a different scale?  If they managed to get the reactors to melt down, the explosions probably wouldn’t be terrible; they were built far enough from a lot of people to avoid most of the direct impact, but the radiation, if it got out, was another matter entirely…  “Oh my god,” Ryeowook breathed, his mouth falling open at the possibility.

                “Still think I don’t care?” Kyuhyun whispered in his ear, making him inhale sharply as he jumped.

                “We have to do something,” Ryeowook murmured again, the fear much more real this time.

                “I’m all ears,” Kyuhyun responded, shifting his attention to look into Ryeowook’s eyes, waiting for a suggestion.

                “Can’t we warn them?” he breathed, grabbing onto Kyuhyun’s shirt with both hands again.

                Kyuhyun smirked at the question, an almost bemused expression crossing his face.  “And begin the biggest monster hunt the world has ever seen?”

                “What do we do then?!” Ryeowook practically yelled, yanking on the shirt in his hands, perilously close to ripping the fabric.

                The vampire glanced down to still his efforts and looked back up to meet Ryeowook’s eyes.  “And that’s why I’m the brains of the group.”

                No better off than he was before, and far more terrified, Ryeowook worked his jaw but no words came out until he finally leaned back in his seat and struggled simply to take one breath after the other.  This was too much…  Kyuhyun’s response indicated one of two things: either he had no plan at all and wanted to play the high and mighty know it all, or he had a plan and simply didn’t want to tell them.  Both were equally likely.

                “So where we going boss?” Kangin interrupted his thoughts with the question.

                Kyuhyun smirked irritatingly as he looked down at Ryeowook, holding the shorter male’s gaze for a long second before he answered, “Back to Illinois.”

                Ryeowook gasped at the response and stared at the vampire with an open mouthed expression.  He couldn’t keep his heart from soaring at the location, though he knew there was no way it was what he thought.  In the next moment, Kangin echoed his sentiments.

                “Illinois?  Why?” he asked with a furrowed brow, looking at Ryeowook himself before the puzzled expression deepened.  When Kyuhyun raised his brow and gave him a skeptical look, he opened his mouth in silent understanding.  “Oh!  There are a lot of power plants there,” he conceded with a shrug.  “Game plan then?”

                “I’ll let you know when we get there,” Kyuhyun responded, reaching over to wrap his fingers around Ryeowook’s arm gently, the contact tentative but… supportive.

                The half-turned looked down, reaching as if to touch the pale appendage over his skinny arm but he paused.  Kyuhyun wasn’t looking at him and the paltry support was better than nothing.  Slowly, he set his hand down to rest atop his other forearm and looked ahead, clinging to that tiny fragment of hope, no matter how pathetic it might be.  He didn’t know what Kyuhyun had planned or anything like that, but they were going to his home.  Maybe, just maybe, he’d get to see his family again.

(a/n: hehe  Surprised at all?  ;)  So you've got a vague idea of what's tentatively brewing.  lol  But I did manage to get a lot more KyuWook in this update, good and not so good.  haha  Poor babies.  Though our little Wookie is developing a voice, even if it is panic and/or fear induced.  XD  I was sad to split them up again but I do so have fun with Kyuhyun needling the crap out of the Chas.

Anyway, we're on our way back to Illinois.  Thoughts on that matter?  hehe  You can probably tell we're rising on that roller coaster hill right now.  As Samuel L. Jackson said in Jurassic Park, "Hold onto your butts."  ;)  Or at least we'll see if that'll be necessary or not.  Woot!  Thanks for reading and please look forward to the next update!)