This soundtrack , Changmin decided when the squeal of rending metal, the sharp, flat crack of breaking plastic and a staccato beat that told of danger invaded his dream and set his teeth on edge. The timing was off, the rhythm laboured and as he floated towards wakefulness, Changmin wished for purer sounds. He imagined a melody, clear and soothing as a mountain stream, washing away the discordances of his dream. Harmonies like honey and velvet weaving a veil of healing and protection. A laugh bright as the sun and a steady, uplifting beat that didn't falter through speed changes, flows and crossovers.

Changmin turned his head and saw Jaejoong sitting up on his bed. Waking up a little more with each slow blink, he was singing softly to himself. A cookery book lay open on the bedside table and he glanced over the pages, nodding and intent as if he were reading sheet music, his voice gaining depth as the song gained meaning.

The sounds Changmin had wished for in his dream now brought his body alive and together the two of them stood, swaying in sync as they found their feet. Their hands touched, arms slid around waists and Jaejoong's soft song grew stronger and brighter as Changmin added his voice and words from his dream.

Junsu couldn't be still even in sleep. His fingers wove patterns that his feet tried to follow and as soon as the music reached his bed he woke and joined them in their slow, sweet dance, adding a new, lighter rhythm and a smile so bright it washed the last of the fear and dread from Changmin's mind.

They were together.

They would do this.

As one, they built the melody—from protection, healing and strength—until their voices merged and rose and drowned out the cacophony of death and destruction that had taken over their world.

Junsu and Jaejoong bent over Yoochun, while Changmin—fierce hope speeding his heartbeat—knelt beside the one he'd grown to love the most.

Yunho had been in the front passenger seat when the truck had hit, seatbelt off and turned towards Changmin, Junsu and Jaejoong in the back. His face had escaped the damage inflicted on his body, but there were lines between his brows now, speaking of pain and the time and patience it had taken to mend.

Changmin brushed his fingers through Yunho's hair, an unruly, two-tone mop now that would set the stylists swoon could they but see it, and blinked tears from his lashes. Loyal they'd been. They'd kept the faith for all the weeks it took to heal their hurts, but Changmin had clung to the nightmare soundtrack for so long that now, when he needed it most, he struggled to remember Yunho's voice.

Help came from across the room, where Yoochun was sitting up, wrapped in Junsu's fire and Jaejoong's warmth, smiling the soft smile none of them had seen in far too long. Notes flowed from him like rainbow sparkles, matching the complex beat created by Junsu's feet and Changmin's heart.

Gathering all their courage and love and the music that bound them together, Changmin leaned over and brushed his lips across the corner of Yunho's mouth. "Come on, leader-sshi," he coaxed in his softest voice. "It's time."