Kyuhyun isn’t woken up in the most pleasant way that morning, to say the least. He’s yanked out of semi-consciousness by aggressive shaking and an urgent, “Come on, get up!”

Groggily, he opens his eyes, and can just make out Eunhyuk’s form (why does it always seem to be him?)...and the glowing digits of the clock.

“What the hell? It’s four o’clock in the━”

“There was a raid. Get changed and talk to Donghae; I have to get Yesung,” the other man says in a rush, and he’s out the door before Kyuhyun can get another word in.

This had better be important.

Kyuhyun swings his legs off the side of the bed and heaves his body into a standing position, stifling a yawn with one hand. If he’s lucky, in a few minutes he’ll be so overly-tired that it will mask the exhaustion. For now, though, it’s a small miracle that when he gets dressed and pulls on his shoes, he only almost-falls a grand total of three times. Not bad for someone running on so few hours of sleep. That being said, he won’t be sad if this is the last 4 a.m. wake-up call he has the pleasure of experiencing.

Donghae is the first person he sees in the main room, but certainly not the only one. The majority of the Resistance members are rushing around, making sure they’re armed and properly equipped ━ though equipped for what, Kyuhyun doesn’t know, which brings him back to why he’s here in the first place…

“What’s going on?” Kyuhyun asks the brunet standing in front of him. “Eunhyuk said there was a raid, but he told me to talk to you.”

Donghae looks up from the rifle he’s loading, and the look in his eyes immediately makes Kyuhyun think: Bad news. Really bad news. “It’s not just another raid,” the elder of the two corrects. “It was on Henry and Zhou Mi’s cluster.”

A feeling of foreboding shoots up Kyuhyun’s spine. “Did they get out?”

“Henry’s in hiding, but he sent a message that he’s safe for now. We’re going to pick him up as soon as we secure the Cluster.”

“What about Zhou Mi?”

The expression on Kyuhyun’s face must be a dead giveaway, because Donghae’s eyes soften. (Honestly, he’s much more perceptive than the others seem to give him credit for.) “He just moved to a different Cluster. Don’t worry, Kyu, he’s okay.”

Kyuhyun lets out a breath, relief making him feel a little weak in the knees.

“Is everyone ready?” Leeteuk strides into the room, eyes flickering over each member as he takes a head count. “We’re just missing━”

“We’re here, we’re here,” Eunhyuk interrupts, coming from the hallway with Yesung in tow.

“Good. Eunhyuk, Kangin, take your teams to the Cluster as fast as you can. If there’s only a few Drones who stayed, take them out and secure the area. If there’s too many...just make sure to get Henry out. Beyond that, use your own judgement.”

“Understood,” Kangin acknowledges with a nod.

Eunhyuk, however, frowns. “You’re not coming along for something this important?”

“Shadow and Boom Squad can handle it. And besides, Heechul and I need to have a talk with Shindong about intel breaches. Those two shouldn’t have been targets.” Leeteuk turns as if to leave, but he stops mid-step and looks at all of them seriously.

“Whatever you decide to do, come back safely.”

~*~

It’s strange, Kyuhyun thinks, how without the shop and usual bravado, Henry seems smaller. Not physically, per say ━though he does look a bit shorter than Kyuhyun remembers━ but in the less confident way he holds himself, the way his personality no longer fills up a room. He looks as lost as Kyuhyun had a week ago, for much of the same reason: his life as he knows it is over.

“What am I supposed to do?” Henry asks after thanking the Resistance members for coming to get him. The two squads had started the search for his hiding place rather quickly after finding no traces of Drones in the Cluster. All that remains is the death and destruction that follows in their wake.

“They ransacked everything,” Henry continues, almost on the brink of tears. “Mi could just find work for another merchant in a different Cluster, but me? The defunct shopkeeper? I’ve got nothing to my name now except a failed business venture and no way to get you supplies!”

Eunhyuk rests a reassuring hand on the younger’s shoulder, saying, “Don’t ever think you’re worthless, Henry; you’re the only reason we’re still here. There’s always a place for you in the Resistance, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we’d be honored to have you officially join.”

From even what little Kyuhyun knows, the offer is more than deserved.

Everyone’s initial concern after Henry returns with them to the Bunker seems to collectively be whether or not he would suffer an emotional breakdown from the sudden change. This, surprisingly enough, doesn’t turn out to be the case (though Kyuhyun suspects Ryeowook’s constant optimistic presence is more than a little influential). Instead, the only issue is brought to Kyuhyun’s attention a mere two days later by none other than Heechul.

“Kyuhyun, you have to help me stop this,” the Strategist tells him with an expression that just screams ‘I am 200 percent done with this ’.

“Stop...what, exactly?”

“The madness. Eunhae apparently semi-adopted Henry and developed this domestic parenting-complex, and Sungmin won’t stop complaining to me about how Ryeowook won’t stop complaining to him about little Henry enjoying getting babied by someone who isn’t him. Spoiler alert: it’s the jealousy talking.”

There should probably be another clause added to the fine print of the metaphorical membership contract. Warning: members may have to occasionally resolve relationship crises including but not limited to refusal to own up to one’s feelings, baseless jealousy, and...mothering instincts.

“And you think I can help?”

“Sungmin refused to get involved himself because of some...non-intervention agreement you two have going on? I have no idea why the hell you thought that was a good idea in the first place, but please just tell Sungmin that he’s allowed to fix this mess before I start getting wrinkles.”

“It might be too late for that; if I look right there on your face…”

“My dearest Kyuhyunnie, I think I need to make one thing perfectly clear. Just because I slept with you does not mean I’ll hesitate for a second to kill you. Painfully.”

~*~

“Did you see the look on her face when Henry started to haggle?”

“Priceless. This kid is seriously a genius.” Heechul claps the newly-official Resistance member on the back, who practically beams from all the praise being thrown his way.

Context, Kyuhyun supposes, is probably important here.

Boom and Shadow Squad, plus Henry, had gone to back up Heechul while he’d negotiated a trade agreement with a willing merchant. No one could replace Henry, but it’s still vital that the Resistance maintains a consistent supplier of weapons and ammunition. The two squads were there in case the meeting was a setup, but the merchant had been true to her word ━ and the real star of the show had turned out to be Henry. He’d been brought along because of his experience in the circle of Cluster-based merchants, and he hadn’t disappointed; with his help, Heechul had secured an agreement that was almost as good as their previous setup had been.

Eager to tell the others, the group had made it back to the Bunker in near-record time, and the congratulatory chatter persists while Eunhyuk kneels down to press his thumb against the keypad.

Kyuhyun sees the smile fall from his team leader’s face.

“Whose turn was it to seal the entrance?” Eunhyuk asks, cutting off the others’ conversation. “Because whoever you were, you forgot.”

A heavy silence falls over the group, but before anyone can confess, Heechul interrupts. “The last thing we need is to start pointing fingers at each other. Let’s just agree to never let this happen again. Got it?”

The rest seem to accept the Strategist’s judgement, if some a bit more uneasily than others, and Kyuhyun follows closely behind them as they descend into the heart of the Bunker. Eunhyuk goes last, making a very deliberate show of re-arming the system; Kyuhyun is just glad that he himself wasn’t the one to have forgotten, because he had a feeling the other man would have his head on a platter, their newly-forged friendship aside.

The moment Kyuhyun steps into the main room, he knows something isn’t right. And judging by the way Sungmin stops in his tracks, he isn’t the only one.

“Wait,” Sungmin murmurs quietly, fingers skimming over the firearm holstered at his waist. “I don’t like this. The rest of you feel it too, don’t you?”

Heechul nods. “It’s too quiet. And the air is…”

“It smells like gunpowder,” Kangin finishes for him.

“Well, .”

“We should spread out,” Siwon speaks up, keeping his voice down. “Find out who, if anyone, got it.”

“Works for me.” Heechul gives a short jerk of his head toward Eunhyuk. “Take Kyuhyun and check the basement. Make sure Shindong’s okay.”

“Fine, but━”

“Donghae can stay here with Henry. I’m sure you can manage to be separated for a few minutes.”

Eunhyuk rolls his eyes. “Not what I was going to ask, but forget it.” It would be more convincing, Kyuhyun thinks, if his ears hadn’t flamed red out of embarrassment at getting caught.

“Siwon, Kangin, Yesung,” Heechul continues, “you’re in charge of this floor. Sungmin and I will go upstairs. Everyone be back here in ten minutes, or I’m assuming you’re in trouble. Now, get a move on.”

The group wastes no time in splitting up. With hardly a sound, they scatter, leaving Donghae and Henry to watch the entrance. Kyuhyun draws his sidearm, clicks the safety off, and follows Eunhyuk’s lead down the basement stairs. It’s almost unfair; the Shadow Squad leader was so silent, he could be a ghost, but Kyuhyun has to gingerly place his every footfall to avoid giving away their presence.

Eunhyuk suddenly grips Kyuhyun’s arm, breaking the latter’s concentration, and gestures between the two of them. It takes a moment for the message to get across, but then Kyuhyun understands. He presses his back against the other man’s as they go into the room, giving them near-360 degree visibility. If there really is someone here, they shouldn’t be able to sneak up on the two.

Without warning, a shape rushes out of the darkness, letting out an angry shout. Kyuhyun is just about to fire when Eunhyuk’s yell of “Donghee, it’s us!” makes all three of them freeze.

A lot of different things happen in the next few moments. Footsteps pound on the floor above as the rest of the members run to see the source of the commotion. The adrenaline stops pumping through Kyuhyun’s veins enough for him to recognize Shindong’s face. Eunhyuk puts away his gun and gives the other man a worried look, asking, “What’s going on?”

The others appear on the stairs, their tense expressions relaxing when they see Shindong and no imminent danger.

“Finally,” Heechul says, relieved. “I was really starting to worry, you know. Now we’re just missing Teuk and Ryeowook.”

“They’re gone.”

Eunhyuk looks at Shindong like he’s grown two heads. “Gone? What’s that supposed to mean?”

The other man looks the most miserable Kyuhyun has ever seen him. “The Capital police must have been zeroing in on us for a few days now. When they were finally able to get into the Bunker, they took Leeteuk and Ryeowook, but...all I could think to do was hide. There were too many of them, and all of you needed to know what happened.”

“You did the right thing, Donghee,” Heechul says, giving him a meaningful look.

Henry isn’t nearly as calm as his seniors. “Oh my god,” he says to no one in particular. “That could have been me. That should have been me. I could be protecting him ━I mean, them━ right now.”

Donghae is at his side in an instant, drawing the younger man close. “There’s nothing to feel guilty about, Henry; it wasn’t your fault.”

But the rest of the Resistance members aren’t focused on that exchange. They look at Shindong in silence, varying degrees of mounting panic on their faces, until Heechul asks the question that weighs on all of their minds.

“Where did they take them?”

“That’s the thing…” Shindong shakes his head, looking absolutely defeated. “I don’t know.”