His limbs were aching and there was a crick in his neck, his shoulders burning like he’d been supporting weight for too long and he was beginning to go numb. Yet, so much remained to be done.

‘Ya!’ Baekhyun snapped his fingers, breaking his concentration. Lay blinked up at him, looking a little dazed and whole lot tired. ‘Enough, take a break!’

Lay shook his head, going back to healing Xiumin. He’d already dealt with Chanyeol – he was the easiest, since there was no physical damage to be repaired and far as Lay could determine, nothing psychic either. And Suho…

Thankfully, Kris’s wayward flames had only caught him across the chest. The burn had caused a deep gash that could’ve been dangerous but thankfully, Tao’d acted quickly and put him in a time-freeze immediately, so he hadn’t bled out. The healing hadn’t required too much energy but it had demanded concentration to restore everything to order. Hopefully, it wouldn’t scar.

Kris only had surface scorches which was… kind of a relief because the guy had been a walking inferno. They hadn’t seen anything like that, even from Chanyeol – although, that was probably because the Legend was very careful about the use of his powers and never lost control. Healing Kris had been a piece of cake.

Xiumin, though…

Lay bit his lip, wondering where to begin. The burns were massive and many had eaten through his entire skin, parts of the insides showing in places. Under normal circumstances, it would’ve required surgery, excision and tissue grafting.

Thankfully, Lay could do all that without the instruments but it’d take time and poor Tao was getting drained as well, having to hold multiple people in stasis for such a long time. Sehun and Luhan were standing over his head, holding a straw in front of his mouth as he visibly paled.

He looked at Xiumin and Chen, the two people who’d require long term healing. Lay would have to pace himself, otherwise, he’d be useless. The others needed his attention too.

‘Five minutes.’ He announced, grabbing the shake Baekhyun had in his hands and wolfing it down. He walked over to Tao and placed his arm on the cub’s neck, letting healing energy trickle slowly. Tao looked up at him and smiled wanly, before sipping his own.

‘Just a little more time.’ Lay told Tao, knowing the cub was exhausted. ‘I’ll work enough to get them out of danger and then, you can let go.’

Nodding, Tao closed his eyes and leaned his head back. Hurriedly finishing his drink, Lay threw it on the table and hurried over to Xiumin, refreshed and ready to get cracking. He signaled Tao to drop the stasis and busied himself.

He focused on stopping the bleeding and removing the damaged parts that could cause infections or further complications and then, just healed enough that the guy would hold for eight hours or so – enough for him to catch some sleep and regain his energy.

Chen…

Technically, there was nothing to be done seeing as it was just a body without a soul but…

Evil had damaged him so much, put him through so much pain, all but broken him to pieces. The least Lay could do was take a little pain away…

Too little, too late, his mind whispered as he stared at his brother’s body, struggling to live even when there was nothing to sustain it. In medical terms, Chen’s body was in a vegetative state, a coma and could keep for a long time under clinical conditions, even if their brother was lost.

Tears filled his eyes as he extended his arm, touching the rather cool, flaky skin, the bones brittle underneath his touch. So much pain…

His hands gleamed as he sent whatever remained of his energy into Chen, wishing it was enough to bring him back and knowing it never was.

…………………

D.O was pacing outside nervously, biting his nails every now and then as his eyes danced around, trained for any sign of trouble.

Kai, sitting on the wall, watched him move this way and that. The sound of footsteps made him straighten but he slumped right back when he saw who it was.

‘Hey.’ Luhan handed a box to Kai and offered the other to D.O.

Food. Figured.

‘Where’s Sehun?’ Kai asked, using his teeth to rip away the plastic covering.

‘I left him with Tao now that he’s free. You know he can’t sleep without company.’

Nodding, Kai took a hefty sip of the soda Luhan had brought along with their burgers. ‘Lay?’ His voice was muffled as he spoke around the food.

‘Don’t talk while you’re eating.’ The reprimand came from Baekhyun who’d followed Luhan out. ‘Lay’s knocked out.’

‘The others…?’

‘They’re healed but they aren’t waking any time soon.’

D.O, who’d been staring in the distance as they talked, sighed and turned to them. ‘What now?’

Luhan stopped, the burger midway to his mouth. He his lips and put it back. ‘Since the leaders are out of commission now, I guess we need to pick someone else…’

‘It’s you.’ Baekhyun interrupted his awkward speech. ‘You’re the oldest among us.’

Luhan looked at Kai and D.O – they shrugged in unison. Luhan looked around nervously, suddenly feeling the burden of leadership on his shoulders.

‘Uh… we have to wait until the others can be moved. Suho’s fine now… so are Kris and Chanyeol. Xiumin will need more treatment but I think it would be prudent if we get back to HQs ASAP.’

Kai and Baekhyun nodded but D.O bit his lip, not satisfied with his answer. ‘What about Chen?’

Luhan had deliberately excluded him from the report but D.O obviously won’t let it go so easily.

‘We have to wait until Lay wakes up but from what I saw…’

He explained what he thought. D.O’s wide eyes went wider as hope and doubt battled for dominance in them. ‘Is that possible?’

‘Lay can tell you better.’ Luhan shrugged, unwilling to give false hope. ‘But I seem to remember reading that somewhere…’

The smile that broke on D.O’s face made him hurriedly add, ‘It was a long time ago! Don’t pin your hopes on it.’

D.O nodded but he looked much more relaxed as he turned back to his vigil. ‘Go back inside, catch some sleep. I’ll take the first shift.’

‘I’ll stay.’ Baekhyun volunteered, pulling Kai off the wall. ‘Go on inside.’

Luhan nodded. ‘Get me in three.’

‘Four.’ D.O modified, waving over his shoulder. ‘Baek, come on.’

Waving them away, Baekhyun joined D.O in the vigil as Kai and Luhan trudged back inside. Sehun was in the living room of their temporary quarters, speaking into Suho’s cellphone.

‘I know!’ He was talking with much more patience and politeness than he normally used so it wasn’t hard to figure out who it was. He caught Luhan’s eye and mouthed, ‘Help me!’

Luhan extended his hand, taking the phone from him. ‘Hello Angel.’ He began but her panicked voice interrupted him. ‘Where’s Suho? What’s wrong with him?’

The mate’s link, he marveled. Of course she was worried. ‘Angel, please calm down and hear me out!’

‘I… is he okay?’ Her voice was small and obviously on the edge of tears.

‘Yes.’ Luhan assured her. ‘He got a little scratched up but he’s fine now, I promise.’

There were no sounds for a few moment, then the smallest sniff told him she was crying. ‘I swear…’ he began again but she let out a wobbly laugh. ‘I believe you… I’m just relieved.’

‘He’ll call you soon as he wakes up, okay?’

‘Okay. Thanks… bye.’

‘Bye.’

Luhan hung up and stared at the cellphone. Suddenly, he was missing Mei very much. He wondered what time it was in her country but her words echoed in his head. Call me whenever.

If there ever was a time when he needed to hear her voice, to be comforted by her, it was now.

He dialed her number.

……………………

A/N

Yeah... sorry for not updating yesterday, got caught up in stuff... so, anyway... this chapter marks the end of this rather angsty section... sort of. But when they get back, we're gonna go back to the university and then, you know, the regular craziness. Also... this entire story started right before Kris's departure, so the scenes in here are sort of how I picked on EXO's reactions - and of course, my own feelings... I hope you guys will enjoy it. The story is still OT12 but we won't be seeing much of Kris until later, okay? Anyway, do comment - I'd really like to know what you guys think :) Thanks for reading 

Bye