Suho dragged a hand through his hair, worry causing a throbbing ache to develop in his head, right behind his eyes. He shut them, squeezing the bridge of his nose.

'Is he okay?' Baekhyun sounded worried and Suho couldn’t blame him. Lay was in a worse condition than he'd been even back on EXO planet.

The black spots Mei had been sporting, Abyss's darkness infecting her human body… they were lucky Tao had managed to control his powers enough to stop the infection from spreading or she might've ended up in the same condition as the other Evil's victims. But Lay had paid a high price for it – he was sick, fever high and the black spots now on his own body. As far as Suho knew, Evil or the Abyss's darkness was not lethal for the Legends and that was the only assurity he could give Baekhyun.

The Legend was obviously dissatisfied with his answer but there literally wasn't anything any of them could do. Eyeing the unconscious guy again, Baekhyun went outside. Raina, who'd been worriedly hovering around, immediately took his vacated seat and took hold of Lay's hand. Suho made her let go and stand up.

'I don't know but it can be contagious and I'd rather not take any risks.'

She sighed at that but nodded and went outside. Suho looked around the room, filled to the capacity with unconscious people – Kyra, Chen, Lay and Mei. Luhan and Kai were sleeping in their own room and Suho expected them to wake up soon.

Shutting the door quietly behind him, he headed back to the living room. Tiffany and Raina were there, huddled together on a sofa while the Legends hovered around them. Sehun hadn’t let Tiffany see Mei or Kai while Lay had been working, so now she was quizzing her friend.

Suho gestured for Baekhyun, Sehun, Tao and Chanyeol – since Xiumin had gone to bring Lily and Angel with him – to gather around. He really wanted to know what had happened with Sehun and Tiffany, get an idea about Evil's work this time around.

When Sehun got to the part about the burning flesh, all of them stiffened. 'I'm sure it was Kris.' Sehun muttered, not looking at Chanyeol – they all knew the Legend wasn't feeling too friendly about his Shadow these days.

'I see.' Suho didn't know what to make of this – had Kris shown up because he'd gotten Luhan's message? Why had he gone to Sehun instead? Or had he been keeping an eye on them all this time? If so, why hadn't he shown himself?

He shook his head, dislodging these thoughts. These were questions they had no answers to, so better to focus on the ones they could handle. Like what Luhan had done.

'I always thought it was a myth…' Baekhyun muttered, shuddering a little as he recalled Luhan's primal form. 'You didn’t see it,' he told a bug-eyed Sehun, 'but he was even worse than D.O. I'm honestly surprised Kai went so near him, we weren't able to move ahead at all.'

'Well, its Mei…' They nodded in agreement. 'He definitely teleported.' Baekhyun looked at Suho, 'I think he took Kai's power in desperation.'

'Do you think Kai will have his powers when he wakes up?' Chanyeol, obviously thinking about what Kris had done to him, asked.

Suho certainly hoped so. They were in enough trouble as it was without adding yet another Legend to their ever-increasing list of people who'd lost their powers.

'I don’t know.' He shook his head, his head beginning to ache harder. Everything was beginning to crash down – there was no doubt now that Evil knew about the mates, which meant that all of the girls were in danger; whether they were claimed or not would make no difference to Evil. So he couldn't even suggest that they let Kyra and Raina go until they settled everything. And he'd have to make sure none of their families were targeted either as a means to get to them. 

His head throbbed even more.

Just then, the main door opened and the scent of his mate assailed his nostrils. It was like a refreshing breath of air, a pain-reliever, a soothing odor that somehow settled his nerves. He turned around with a smile and met Angel halfway, pulling her into his arms and burying his head in her hair.

Now that she was here, he felt like he could handle all this and a lot more.

………………………….

They decided to wait until everyone would be able to participate in the discussion, so any questions they had could be properly answered. They were safe as long as they were in the HQs which Suho had taken special pains to fortify against Evil and his minions. Since it was so late and they were all exhausted by the night's ordeal, he told them all to get rest. Tomorrow would be a hectic day and they'd all need their energies to deal with it.

Angel was feeling a bit guilty for sneaking out at night, having climbed down from her window so she could come here but seeing him like this, looking so drained and worried, she thought she'd made the right decision. When Suho slumped into the sofa beside her, having sent everyone else off, she scooted closer to him and pulled his head in her lap.

His bloodshot eyes flew open in surprise, then slid slowly close again as she softly massaged his scalp, humming a soft lullaby. He smiled fondly, shifting so he was more securely in place. She smiled too, and dropped a kiss on his forehead. He put a hand behind her head, stopping her from backing up as he opened his eyes, looking directly into hers. 'I love you, Angel.' He told her seriously.

She blushed a little, unable to break eye-contact. 'I love you too, Suho.' She whispered back. Pulling her hands, which were cupping his face, to his lips, he placed soft kisses on her palms before sitting up and drawing her in to his chest.

She rested her head against him, breathing deeply and relaxing to the rhythm of his heartbeat. His fingers buried in her hair, holding her protectively as he leaned against the back of the sofa. Stretching his legs to rest on the coffee table, he rested his head back and let out a heavy sigh. She knew what he was going to say before he said it and it made her heart race.

'Angel…' he began, fingers tracing patterns against her neck and shoulder, 'marry me.'

She snuggled deeper against him, suppressing the delight boiling through her. 'Okay.' She replied nonchalantly.

He stiffened, then backed up to stare down at her, 'Really?'

She smiled sweetly at him. 'Really.'

He frowned. 'Just like that? You're not going to think about it?'

'What's to think about?' She stared up, pouting.

'It's dangerous to stay with me.' He muttered, turning his face away. She felt irritation rise inside of her. 'So?'

'So?' He turned back, annoyed. 'What do you mean, so? You can die!'

'I can die in a lot of ways,' She told him, 'that don't involve Evil. I think we've been through this before.'

He opened his mouth to say something else – probably to object some more – but she stalled him,

'I'm not going to leave you.' She told him firmly, 'Not that I have a choice now but even if I did, I won't let you go. You're stuck with me, so deal with it.' She finished with a huff, angrily withdrawing from his delectably-warm-and-too-comfortable embrace.

'Angel...' he grabbed her hand, sounding contrite. She didn't look at him, even though he turned her around so she could face him. 'Baby…'

He sighed, cupping her face and brushing his thumbs to caress her cheeks. 'I'm sorry… I just… I don't want to draw you into this mess anymore but there's nothing I can do. Things are getting worse and you're stuck with me and…'

He frowned, frustration clear on his face, '… heck, I'm even proposing you so you can be safer, moving in with me.'

She smiled despite herself. So like him to think like that. 'You wouldn’t have proposed me otherwise?' she asked.

'Wha- of course, I would've.' He looked at her indignantly, 'and I would've made it romantic and…'

She leaned forward, placing kiss on his cheek. 'That's sweet but I really don't mind.'

'But…' He whined, sounding like he would pout. She giggled – he could be such a baby at times.

'And,' she looped her arms around his neck, tilting her head and smiling, 'we can always redo it after things settle down.'

He stared at her for a second, looking like he wanted to hold on to his grouchiness but then sighed, a soft smile forming on his lips as his arms wrapped around her waist. 'Okay,' he murmured softly, 'that's a promise.'

They stared at each other for a while, smiling foolishly, before Angel rose up to kiss his lips. 'Congratulations…' she told his chest, feeling like steam was coming out of her head, 'on your engagement.'

He laughed a little, hugging her close. 'Congratulations to you too.'  He lifted her hand, kissing her fingers. 'I promise I'll make you happy.'

They started giggling like crazy, before Suho suddenly stood up, sweeping her up in his arms. She almost screamed, burying her head in his neck to muffle the sound. 'Suho!'

'I think,' Suho began in a mock-serous tone, eyeing her naughtily, 'that this momentous occasion calls for a celebration.'

She squealed again as he took off towards his room in a full run, intent on his 'celebration'.

……………………………

'That was sweet.' Lily commented after the couple had run off. Xiumin didn't say anything, withdrawing his arms braced by her sides, staring after where Suho and Angel had disappeared.

Lily had been drying her hair after that long, intense shower – she still blushed, thinking about it – when Xiumin called her. Given that she'd been occupied by thoughts of their activities right before he'd run off, leaving her on the edge and frustrated, she was a little miffed.

But she'd taken the call because she couldn't blame him for emergencies in good conscience. Also because she wanted to hear his voice, feeling unreasonably lonely in her apartment. His request had been a bit surprising but she'd agreed.

So she'd packed an overnight bag, enough for a few days like he'd asked, and had waited for him to show up. They'd picked Angel – who, to her surprise, had sneaked out from the window, climbing down with unexpected agility – and arrived to a very somber mansion. Usually his brothers' place was the hub of activity but everyone seemed a bit subdued and Suho had only requested that they wait until Luhan and the rest woke up before he gave an explanation.

She had no idea what was going on but it must've concerned her as well or Xiumin wouldn't have called her. Plus she sensed Xiumin wanted her to stay near him. So, she was staying with him.

She wanted to get water from the kitchen, so she'd been going there when she'd seen the couple and not wanting to disturb them, she'd turned. She would've gone back except Xiumin had sneaked up on her and silenced her surprised squeak with his mouth.

He started assaulting her neck, making her want to moan and she pushed at his chest. 'What if they hear us?' she hissed.

He smirked at her. 'Better keep quiet then.'

She really, really wanted to pull at his hair because how was she supposed to do that when he was taking such pains to make sure she did not remain quiet? But then, Suho's words carried over. 'Angel… marry me.'

They stiffened, realizing they were eavesdropping on something a lot more private than they'd anticipated and Xiumin backed up, so she could slide out. However, the ensuing argument held them in place. Some of Angel's statements confused Lily – what was this evil she was referring too? – but she assumed this was one of those things Suho and the rest meant to explain the next day. So she only gave a safe comment. 

Xiumin finally quit his staring to look at her and the look in his eyes made her grit her teeth. He was not doing this to her again, not twice in the same night. So she hooked her fingers in the loops of his pants, not letting him back off.

'Lily?' He asked, a bit surprised. Usually he was the one insisting they take things as far as they could go, often landing them in risky situations.

Well, she could be excused.

After that first time, they'd played around a lot – or rather, he'd played around with her a lot – but hadn't gone all the way and all that build-up was beginning to take its toll, driving her a little bit crazy.

 And he wasn’t helping matters any, wearing that leather jacket, flashing his abs around, hair spiked like that and generally being all rough and manly.

Like she said, she could be excused.

She attacked his lips with enthusiasm, pulling him close until he was bracing his arms around her once again. They were both breathing hard when she let up, weak and a bit dizzy due to the lack of air. His fingers traced over her lips.

'Someone's impatient.' He muttered teasingly.

She glared at him, making him laugh. He lowered his head, capturing her lips again and kissed her languidly. His hands roamed around freely, making her arch into him and she let out an embarrassingly loud cry when he bit her neck. He put a palm up to cover as he continued his sensual assaults and she was squirming in impatience, eager for him when the sounds of hurried footsteps and loud whispers made them part with a gasp.

He leaned forward, blocking the view – somehow her shirt can come undone – and glanced around. No one was there but he decided to take things somewhere more private.

He had her against the door in less than a second, much more impatient in the privacy of his own room and then, it all began again. He enough that she was ready to cry – and maybe she did but she'd never admit it – before finally laying her down and covering her body with his own.

'You sure?' he asked her tenderly, poised.

She rolled her eyes, frustration getting the best of her, 'I think we can skip the formalities, can't we, Minnie?'

He arched a brow at the nickname. 'You asked for it, babe.'

He swallowed her cries as he moved, taking her higher and higher and catching her when she fell.

He cradled her head against him afterwards, catching their breaths – or well, he was because she'd fallen asleep, exhausted. He smiled at her disheveled state and pulled the covers up, tucking her in properly, then leaned his head against the headboard, sighing.

He hadn't meant to take things so far but she was irresistible.

Suho's words had made him realize how much danger he put Lily in, dragging her into a war that had nothing do with her. Unlike Angel, though, she wasn't bound to him so…

The beast howled in protest inside him at even considering such a thing but he pushed it away. He needed to think rationally, think about what was the best of her. Not now, perhaps, but soon. She would agree with him, pragmatic as she was.

Decided, he turned and tucked her head underneath his chin, wrapping his arms around her as he ignored the ache in his heart. He would cherish tonight as a sweet memory to hold on to after she was gone.

…………………………….