WARNING: This chapter contains slight swearing/violence

"Put in the pin, sweetheart."

She stood still, the cold metal of the gun pressing against her head. Her eyes fluttered shut, feeling his breath against her neck, steady, soft, absolutely calm. She wondered if perhaps he could hear her pulse, standing this close.

"Don’t be a hero, okay?" he mumbled, "Just put in the pin and I promise, once we’ve got what we came for, we’ll leave. Not a scratch on you or anyone else."

She clenched her hands, fighting the tremble in her fingers. She heard the soft hum of commotion coming from the other room. Cries, whimpers, whispers. Sounds of life. She wondered how much longer she would have to make such noises. She wondered why she hadn’t made a sound yet.

"You’ll kill me either way."

The words came out sounding more like a question than anything else. Her voice was low and slightly raspy, as if she had a cold. Baekhyun curled in his lip.

"Is it done yet?" he heard Kris call from the hall.

"Listen, sweetheart," he sighed, "You can believe that I don’t want to hurt you or not. It makes no difference to me."

She moved to turn her head when the barrel pressed harshly against her temple. He leaned in closer, so close she could smell the subtle peppermint on his breath. Her pulse quickened.

"But you can be sure of one thing. If this gets to where it’s my life or yours, I won’t be as kind."

She swallowed a lump in , her hands now visibly shaking, unable to hide. The clamor from the hall grew louder.

"Is. It. Done?" Kris yelled through gritted teeth.

"Give it a ing second!" Baekhyun shot back, the calm of his mask all but shattering. He pressed the gun closer, his voice tensing as he repeated, “Put in the pin, now.”

Click

Click

Click

Beep!

The vault hissed, jutting out of its lock. Baekhyun stepped back, pulling Navy Shoes with him. The door swung open of its own accord, revealing the small room stocked full of bills. He hooked his arm around the teller’s, dragging her inside with him. Quickly, he pulled off his dufflebag, ping it. Navy Shoes stood still in the corner, watching, her hands curled into fists. He stuffed the bills into his bag, glancing at her every now and then. She looked away, her lips trembling, her eyes watery.

"Don’t get upset about it," he half mumbled, keeping his eyes on the task before him,"Any one out there would’ve done the same."

She looked down at her shoes, the toes turned in childishly. “You’re still going to kill them, aren’t you?”

He zipped up the dufflebag, the shelf before him now completely empty. His eyes flickered to her, standing as far away as possible. She crossed her arms over her chest, her head kept down. He heard her sniffle.

"Hey," he walked over to her, cupping her chin to force her to look at him, "Didn’t I say before, sweetheart? You do what you’re told and I’ll make sure my buddy out there doesn’t lay a hand on your friends."

She cringed away from his touch, her back hitting the wall. Baekhyun looked her up and down, slightly satisfied at the way her legs shook. What a fragile thing, he thought. Sehun really knew how to pick em.

"Here," he tossed her a small plastic bag he’d kept folded in his back pocket, "Fill this up with the rest of the stacks over there."

She caught the bag, turning to do as she was told when a loud ringing invaded the room. Baekhyun jumped, his eyes immediately turning to the ceiling, catching sight of the red blinking lights on the security camera.

"!" he muttered, readjusting the balaclava on his face.

"Who set it off?" Kris yelled from the hall.

"Stop him," Navy Shoes ordered, her nails practically ripping at the bag in her hands, "You promised-"

"Don’t move." Baek pointed the gun at her, easing into the hallway, "Not a muscle, you hear?"

He ran down the hall back into the main room, seeing Kris holding one of the men by the collar.

"Tell me," he pushed the gun against the man’s throat.

"Yah, get the f-"

Before he could finish, the screeching of tires filled the air. The lights appeared before the actual people, their pale red and blue blinking through the glass of the building.

"Get out." he choked, "GET OUT KRIS, NOW."

The man fell to the floor as Kris dropped his collar, sprinting for the door. Baekhyun hurried back to the vault to grab the dufflebag. Navy Shoes was gone. The bankers immediately rose to their feet, swarming to the door, their cries echoing against the bare walls of the room. Baekhyun returned, holding his gun out above and pulling the trigger.

BANG!!!

The shot rang through the room.

"GET OUT OF THE ING WAY." he ordered, pushing his way through the doors. A gust of cold night hair slapped him in the face, the blaring lights of the police cars blinding him.

"Drop your gun and get on your knees, now!"

He heard the click of the safety turning off.

"Stop!" the voice yelled again, "Seize him!"

He blinked, adjusting his eyes to the light. The gun wasn’t pointed at him.

"Kr-"

BANG!

His voice diminished into nothing as he watched his friend collapse to the floor, gripping his calf in pain. Without a moments hesitation, Baekhyun turned around, sliding back into the bank.

"There’s the other one!" he heard a voice call, "Quickly, this way-"

He ran down the hall, spotting the red exit sign he’d noticed earlier. He pushed the door open, escaping into the small alleyway behind the building. He slammed the door shut, colliding with another body as he turned to make his escape.

"Jesus Ch-"

He heard a small gasp as he looked down to see Navy Shoes picking herself up, a wince contorting her face.

"Through here." he heard a voice from the other end of the alley.

Instinct kicked in as he gripped the girl by her wrist, pulling her up in front of him in the same familiar position as before, his arm around her waist, his gun against her head. She in a breath, but remained still, knowing by now that fighting back was an effort in futility.

"Put your hands in the-"

"Another step and I’ll shoot." Baekhyun replied, his voice clear and calm, despite his erratic pulse.

"Put the guns down, gentlemen." he almost smiled, seeing the look of disgust on their face.
 
The men slowly lowered their guns as he began to make his way down the alley, feeling the ground with the heel of his shoe before taking a step, in order to keep his eyes forward. He felt the wind hit the nape of his neck as he approached the exit.

"Where’s my friend?" he called over his hostage’s shoulder, hoping his voice didn’t give anything away.

"He’s with us." one of them replied, the grip on his gun tightening, "If you come with us, you can see him."

Baekhyun scoffed. A loud screech sounded from behind him, followed by a door unlocking, He turned for a second, spotting Sehun’s eyes through the window. In an instant, he leaped into the open door, pulling Navy Shoes along with him. The policemen brought their guns up, aiming and shooting as the door slid shut. Sehun stepped on the accelerator. The van jutted forward, humming as it zoomed down the street.

“What happened?” Baekhyun screamed, menace dripping from his voice, “You were supposed to disable the ing alarms, Sehun!”

"I don’t know!" he snapped, "There was a secondary alarm or something, I don’t know!"

He glanced over his shoulder at the back seat, “Where’s Kris?”

"They got him." his voice cracked as he removed his mask and ran a hand through his hair, "They said they got him."

Sehun curled in his lip, his eyes flickering between the road and the rear view mirror.

"Is that-"

"Yeah."

"Is she alive?"

He looked down at the girl lying in his lap, brushing aside the hair that had fallen over her face. Her eyes were closed, passed out, her brows drawn together as if frozen in distress. He put a hand against her lips, feeling her breath come out unsteadily.

"Yeah. She’s alive."