[Fic] Redefine: Part 19/21
Sep. 29th, 2009 01:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lotus_beautyTitle: Redefine
Author: LotusBeauty
Type: Multi-chapter
Rating: R to NC-17
Pairings: JaeChun, JaeHo, other ot5 stuff eventually
Genre: AU, fantasy, crossover, comedy/drama/emo
Summary: He was trying to keep me safe. I wished he was wrong, but he was right. (Sequel to Feel)
Notes: you know the drill. disastrous win, etc :)
Disclaimer: Not mine, never were, but a girl can dream through fiction.
For previous chapters, please refer to the main post HERE, which also has links for the previous arc.
19: Join Me in Death (mediafire)
Summer vacation? Hah. Training began immediately after the Lees arrived.
Jae had little time to think about his emotions at all after that. It wasn’t two days later that Rain observed the way everyone fought and had drawn up groups to work together out of both families and the werewolves. Out of fifteen vampires, ten wolves and one …human, they set up three groups of four and three groups of five. Each group ended up being headed by a vampire with at least one werewolf. The Lee family seemed uncertain at first, but were quickly convinced that Yunho’s pack wasn’t anything like their feral cousins. Their true shapeshifting nature put the family at ease and from then everything tended to work smoothly—as smoothly as anything could go with vampires and werewolves at least.
Jae ended up in the group headed by Changmin, with Aaron and Hyori as their teammates. It had him wondering if Yunho had suggested Aaron be with Jae to watch over him. That is until he found out Yunho and Micky were on the same team, and he felt a little jealous that they got to work together. Not that he minded working with Changmin and the other two. Their team was pretty solid after the first day practicing together and it was nice to have a medic on their team (he had a feeling that was Rain’s idea since he was the only human), but Jae did wish he could see the other two more often than just sparring against them. He wanted to spend time with them before their trek down to Seattle. At one point while resting after a session, he made a face at just how girly that thought sounded, but he had to admit it was true.
Yunho and Micky laughed from across the clearing and Changmin caught Jae’s eyes. Jae gave the smirking vampire a little pout.
“Wanna make them jealous?” he suggested as Jae could only laugh.
“Maybe later.” Jae winked as Changmin’s eyes danced mischievously.
Later found him in what had been converted into an armory in the Parks’ home. Jae was taking apart his guns for cleaning just after Kumi had quizzed him on knife fighting and rewarded him with a new dagger for his efforts. He glanced up at the dagger that lay in the middle of the table. He had a feeling she liked seeing him get more and more dangerous. She seemed to like guys who could handle themselves in any situation.
“Hey.”
Jae glanced up and nodded at Micky who was leaning on the doorway. “Hey, yourself,” he replied as he went back to his guns.
“How goes it?” the vampire asked as he wandered closer.
“Kumi gave me a dagger.” Jae gestured at it. “I think she might be a bad influence.”
“I think you might be right,” he replied with a smirk and sat on the edge of the table next to Jae. “You know, you never told me. Where’d you get the second gun?” Micky asked as he nodded at it.
“Oh,” Jae answered without thinking as he cleaned one. “Just something I had, you know, lying around.” He grinned as Micky laughed and shook his head. Jae then pointed at what was very obviously a katana in Micky’s hand. “Where’d you get that?”
“This?” Micky asked as he held it up. “Oh, just something I had, you know, lying around,” he replied smartly with raised eyebrows before he pushed off the table and wandered away. Jae could only chuckle and shake his head in amusement at the response. He had a feeling he knew just who gave it to Micky as the vampire wandered away.
As Jae was starting in on cleaning the second gun, Yunho wandered into the room and took up the spot Micky had occupied. “Hold out your hand.”
Jae did it automatically without looking, but turned to stare in surprise when he felt and saw Yunho slipping the onyx bracelet he’d given the wolf for Christmas onto his wrist. “But..why?”
Yunho smiled. “You gave me the necklace back for protection, so I want you to have this. Onyx is supposed to protect the person wearing it.” He then held the hand he’d slipped the bracelet over. “You know, in case something happens when we’re down there.”
Jae smiled softly and squeezed his lover’s hand. “Thank you.” He pulled Yunho’s hand closer and kissed the back of it. “We don’t have much longer left.”
“No, we don’t,” he agreed.
The chair scraped backward as Jae stood and let Yunho pull him into a tight hug. They’d been training so hard for this moment, knew it was coming and yet he didn’t want it to happen. It reminded him of reading an amazing book and not wanting to finish it so that it wouldn’t be over, or so that you wouldn’t see the bad ending you knew was coming. However this was going to end, Jae didn’t know, but he had a feeling he should plan for the worst.
“If I don’t make it back—”
“Don’t say that,” Yunho whispered fervently.
“Yunho.” Jae pulled back to lock their eyes. “I’m serious. If I don’t come back, you’re going to have to tell my dad something. And if I come back as a vampire, we’ll have to tell him something then too.”
Yunho opened his mouth to argue, but closed it and glanced away. He didn’t want to admit that Jae might be right.
“I don’t like it either, but it’s the truth,” Jae murmured and touched Yunho’s cheek as his lover nodded.
“Should we talk with the others?” Yunho asked. “They might know what we could say later.”
Jae nodded. “Let me finish up here.”
The two made their way up to Micky’s room to talk to him, but didn’t get any ideas from him. His family had died along with him. Junsu and Changmin also didn’t know what to tell them, as they were both lost and considered dead by their families to begin with. Heechul and Shiwon’s families thought they were dead as well, so they didn’t have any ideas. Jae didn’t want anyone to tell his father he was dead if they ended up turning him into a vampire. His father didn’t deserve to think he was dead because of that. Jae didn’t even know what he would tell his mother. Or should he say have someone else tell his mother—god this was making his head hurt.
“I think you’re planning too far ahead.”
Jae glanced up to see Rain walk into the room. “You sure?”
Rain sat next to him with a sigh. “We’ll figure it out if it happens. If being the keyword.”
Jae couldn’t help but smile at the stern look Rain was giving him. “Thanks.”
Later, Jae found Yunho talking to Hyori and asked to be taken home when they were finished. He had to make an appearance to his father at some point in time. The two said their goodbyes and Yunho drove Jae home. They would have one more day to pack before they left for Seattle. Time felt so slow, yet too fast. Jae wasn’t sure what to think or do anymore. Even the car ride was uncomfortable. Everything was silent and when they got to his home, Jae wished the ride had lasted longer.
When Yunho cut the engine, Jae blurted out, “Stay?”
Yunho glanced over. “Are you sure?”
“I don’t think dad will care at this point,” he murmured. “I just don’t want to be alone.”
Yunho sighed and after a moment, he patted Jae’s knee and opened his door to get out. Jae let out a sigh of relief and did the same. Once inside, Jae made them and his father a late snack before the two retired to his room together. They put on happy faces and Mr. Kim didn’t question when Yunho ended up staying the night as they decided on what Jae planned to bring when they left for Seattle. Halfway into it, Jae’s small headache blew up to throb through his entire skull and they gave up to retire to his bed. The throbbing dissipated as Yunho’s hands lightly rubbed his back to calm him. He had to admit, the lullaby Yunho sang softly in Korean might have helped too.
The next day they spent the morning trying to relax. A few hours in the afternoon were spent at the Park residence going over their strategy of infiltrating Jin’s various hideouts and housing dens for his underlings from Kumi’s information. If they couldn’t completely get information on where Jin was the first night, they would go in strong the second night and take the vampire down. Jae was confident in this plan. He knew that if they were careful, they could definitely do it in two nights. But even the most careful plans went to hell and he knew that from the last time they’d encountered Jin and Kame. Even so, Jae trusted all of his counterparts to play their roles and they trusted him to do the same. He couldn’t let them down.
Rain convinced everyone to use the evening to relax. Kumi relaxed by beating on every male vampire she could get to spar with her. Jae just rolled his eyes in amusement as he and Yunho decided to leave and relax at Yunho’s place. They stopped by Jae’s home so they could pick up his things and the rest of the ammo he had, and so he could say goodbye to his father. Mr. Kim seemed to know something was up and had hugged Jae tighter than he normally would. It only made Jae feel guilty, unable to tell him the real reason they were going to Seattle. When they finally arrived at Yunho’s place, Jae dropped his things just inside the door and moved to flop down on the couch.
“I hate waiting,” he grumbled into the cushion.
“Come on,” Yunho replied as his arms snaked under Jae’s body. The young man yelped as he was lifted into the air and thrown over his lover’s shoulder. He struggled and his squawks of indignation turned to laughter as Yunho carried him up the stairs before he threw Jae onto the bed. “Take off your shirt,” Yunho ordered as he pulled his own off.
Jae laughed. “Are you trying to seduce me? At a time like this?”
Yunho snorted. “You need to relax. Now, do you want my help or not?”
Jae bit his lip to keep the smile from taking over his lips and pulled his shirt off. Yunho was right, he really did need to relax and there was no better way than this. Minutes later found him on his stomach with Yunho’s hands pressing against his back, massaging away any trace of tension he could possibly have had.
“Thank you,” he grunted into the pillow.
“Sexy,” Yunho responded to make the young man chuckle.
“You sure this will relax me?” Jae asked, already knowing the answer.
“Fishing for attention?”
Jae smirked against the pillow. “You know me too well.”
“I do.”
Jae sighed as Yunho lay down atop him, the wolf’s warmth seeping into him. “Last night together.”
“You say that like it’s a death sentence.” Yunho gently kissed his shoulder.
“It could be,” Jae murmured as he felt his lover shift off of him. He turned onto his side to let his gaze fall on Yunho’s face. “We might die.”
“We might not.” Yunho touched his cheek. “We might be pleasantly surprised.”
“Which is why I plan for the worst,” Jae said as he gave a wry smile. “Surprise me.”
Yunho leaned forward and kissed him suddenly. Jae’s surprise wore off quickly as he melted into the kiss. He should be worried about their trip and confrontation; he should be worried about whether anyone would die, but right now, he just needed a distraction. Yunho’s hands were definitely doing the job roaming up and down his torso. So he would do the same for his lover.
It didn’t take long; soon everything else melted away as the two lost themselves in one another. Every touch, every kiss took away Jae’s worries and left him ignorant of the world.
Tonight, Yunho was his world.
~*~
“You look so serious.”
Jae’s gaze flicked over as he watched Micky approach Yunho.
The wolf glanced up at Micky from where he waited in the driver’s seat of a car, door open with his feet on the ground. “When do I not?”
“You have a point.” Micky smirked as Yunho chuckled and the vampire turned to Jae, who was leaning on the back passenger door next to them. “I have something for you.”
Jae quirked an eyebrow up. “But it’s not my birthday,” he teased deadpan.
“Humor me,” Micky told him and held out a set of folded papers.
Jae took the papers and unfolded them to see musical staffs. He frowned as he looked them over to find the music familiar. “This is my song.”
“Thought it was my song,” Micky said with a grin as Jae blushed. “Actually, I added lyrics for you. So now, it’s our song. Well, there’s still a few lines missing at the bridge. I was hoping someone could fill them in,” he hinted.
Jae exhaled in disbelief as he scanned over the lyrics. “I—I’ll see what I can do.” He looked up to the vampire’s eyes. “Thank you.”
Micky shook his head. “Thank you.”
Jae couldn’t stop himself. He pulled the vampire close for a tight hug and kissed him on the cheek. “We need to finish this.”
“We will,” Micky assured him with a squeeze. “We’ll finish it all.”
~*~
Jae expected the drive down to Seattle to be the longest of his life. It sure started out that way. To distract himself, Jae sat back in the back seat next to Yunho and closed his eyes. He quietly and carefully worked through his shielding exercises and took his time, wanting to waste as much time as possible. But his patience didn’t hold out for the whole ride. Whose would? When he got bored with his shielding techniques, Jae took to staring out the window. Finally, he got sick of the calming music Micky had automatically put on. Jae took out his iPod and hooked it up instead. If anything would calm him, it was the music that he wanted to listen to. He could almost feel the tension flee as he put on some loud music and everyone relaxed much more.
“You’re much smarter than me,” Micky told him and turned the volume up.
Jae scoffed and sat back, happy with his actions. He began to hum along to the music from time to time and at one point, Yunho began to sing with him. It was when Micky joined in that Jae was amazed just how well the three of them sounded together. Kumi seemed content to just sit and listen as the three of them filled the car with their voices. Jae wasn’t surprised when she finally joined the singing and he sat back as he wished their lives could go on like this forever—just driving and singing together. Sadly, he knew that wish could never come true.
Once they finally arrived in Seattle, Micky turned the music down as Kumi described all the locations she had set up as safe places for them. They couldn’t have a permanent place to set up, because if they did and Jin found it, they would be dead. Especially if the raid lasted more than one night. Their entire group parked their cars in random spots all over the Seattle area and met up at a hotel in the downtown district. They used the afternoon after arriving to tweak their attack with Kumi and the two contacts that had met with her. Once the meeting was over, the vampires told Jae and the wolves to sleep, since their attack would happen after sundown. Jae didn’t mind this at all, but he wondered just how much rest he would truly get.
When asked, Kumi suggested that the ammunition Jae couldn’t carry should be hidden at whatever haven they agreed to meet at after they retreated for the night. She had arranged three different safe areas for them to retreat to if things got out of hand or if anyone got hurt and needed attention. They seemed to be abandoned buildings and things of the like. As long as everyone around him was safe and they could take Jin down, Jae didn’t care where the hell his ammo was or where he was sleeping. He just wanted to get through this—alive.
“I asked for this,” Jae said reluctantly as he flopped down on the hotel bed.
“You did,” Yunho agreed and crawled onto the bed. “We all did. And we’ll be together the whole way through.”
Jae smiled. How did Yunho always know exactly what to say?
At least it made his nap content. It wasn’t long before he awoke to others quietly getting ready as he noticed the sun beginning to set from the way the light shone through the window. Jae caught the quiet red burn in Micky’s eyes when he glanced out the window. Determination stared out that window before Micky’s gaze turned to him.
The vampire smiled wryly and spoke gently to them, “Join me?”
The three of them watched the sunset together from the window as Jae slowly loaded his guns. It wasn’t long after the tip of the sun slipped below the horizon that everyone met up in the hallway and all gave each other silent looks for good luck. As the team leaders handed out some sort of phone walkie-talkies, Jae managed to hug everyone in the Park family except Changmin who was the head of his team. Yunho gave him a kiss, and Micky one to his cheek. Everyone broke apart as Jae, Aaron and Hyori fell in behind Changmin and they left from a different exit. It didn’t feel like a beginning, but an ending that would bring about a new beginning. Jae tried to convince himself of this, but all he could feel was sinking.
“If I could feel your emotions, I know yours would be seriously tangled from the look on your face,” Changmin commented when they were a few blocks away from the hotel.
“Then I think I’ll keep my shields up,” Jae replied with a wry smile.
“Anything I should know about?” the vampire asked.
“We’re outnumbered and I’m just worried that some of us might not come back,” he admitted quietly.
“Quite possible.” Changmin tapped his chin as they stopped on a street corner. Jae couldn’t tell if he was contemplating what he’d said or which way to cross.
“Should we do anything?” he asked.
“Our best,” Hyori told him with a smile and squeezed his shoulder. Aaron nodded and Jae felt a little better when he saw his friends backing him.
“Thanks.”
The evening passed quickly after sunset. Though Jae hadn’t been in Seattle but twice, he knew his way by street signs and visual cues by having learned the maps when they were planning their attack. They each had their missions and because Jin had a small floating court, Jae’s team as well as another were to take down a building that housed a set of Jin’s underlings. If they could take all of these vampires out, it would bring Jin’s court down significantly and he wouldn’t have as many reinforcements as he would like. Jae’s job in this was typical—shield them until it was obvious they were there, and then attack as well. At least he knew his power was useful and had potential to get even stronger.
Anna’s team—which consisted of her, Heechul, Shiwon, Simon and another wolf named Kris—went in first to catch the vampires off guard. Jae downed his drug as the other team prowled the hallways killing. They waited for the right moment and Changmin signaled them in to clean up anyone that might escape behind the other team. Jae was extremely glad for his enhanced senses. He and Changmin were the best for finding the stragglers that weren’t dead and putting them out of their misery. Jae had to watch himself though. He could steal their life force for himself, but he couldn’t get near the blood. Hyori watched him and he knew it, thankful that she would stop him if something happened. The cravings disturbed him, but he couldn’t help it. In this state, the blood actually smelled good.
When Jae sensed something behind and to his left, he strengthened his shields just in time. Three bullets hit the shield as the sound hit his ears and he was glad for having practiced so much so he could keep his team safe. Changmin moved to take the shooter out as Jae kept a separate shield around him to stop the rest of the bullets that were being fired—not that he needed it since he ended up avoiding all of the bullets using his own power to predict where the gunman would point. Jae used the energy he was lifting from the dying vampires around him to feed the shields he had going as Changmin took care of their attacker. He had to admit, this was much more convenient and useful than his own personal energy. He wondered how much of a reserve he could build up, or if he needed one at all. Once this was over, he might not need to do this ever again.
With a mental shrug, Jae abandoned the thought and followed Changmin’s signal down the corridor as their team joined in the fight. They made their way through the building with deadly efficiency and it wasn’t until they joined the first team that Jae realized just what he was trained for. It made him a little sad to see how many vampires (that had been people at one time) they’d killed. He’d been trained to kill—by Kumi. The thought nagged at him as they made sure the entire building was taken out, but he pushed the thought back of his mind as they joined Anna’s group, who was finishing up interrogating the vampires in charge of the building.
Changmin approached them as they dispatched their last victim. “Did you get a location?”
“A few,” Anna admitted as they came together. “We’ll have to confirm with the other groups out now, and hope for the best tomorrow.”
Changmin nodded and pulled out the new cell to speak into it. It sounded like Micky’s group needed a little help, so they all rallied to meet up at the building where Micky’s team was pinned down and worked their way up to meet them. When they arrived, Changmin pulled Jae aside to make sure his dose was still strong before they entered. Once they met Micky’s group, they understood the problem—multiple gunmen had pinned them down, and though Micky was fast, he knew he wouldn’t be fast enough to avoid all of the gunfire.
“Not a god?” Jae asked as he slipped into a spot next to Micky.
“Not yet,” the vampire flashed a grin. “Help a guy out?”
“You’re all set,” Jae promised, having already built a shield for this particular specification around the vampire.
“Wish me luck!” Micky captured Jae’s lips to steal a kiss before he jumped over the overturned furniture they were behind and rushed the defenders. Jae blinked at the thin air in front of him in shock as he felt the blood rush to his cheeks. He glanced up to see Yunho behind another barricade, frowning with a look of confusion. Jae shrugged in bewilderment and Yunho sighed and glanced past his barricade to see the gunfire had stopped and Micky had succeeded. Blushing furiously, Jae had a mind to not shield Micky in the future, but they needed his speed.
Yunho slipped through the makeshift defenses as others joined them, the wolf speaking with Micky. Jae figured he was having a few words with the vampire about what he’d just done. Jae peeked around the furniture to see the two glance down at him.
“I suppose you’re right,” Yunho admitted, a smirk trying to alight his lips as he fought it.
Micky just shrugged with his lopsided grin and Jae’s blush stayed in its place—they were talking about him. With a frustrated sigh, Jae joined everyone as they made their way further into the building. The conclusion was the same as the building they’d cleared earlier that night—many dead, all to find Jin’s main hideout. It seemed that Jin had been in the building when Micky’s team arrived, but had left before the team had made an impression on his vampires. Without a doubt, Jin would realize who and what had done this to his subordinates.
They’d almost gotten Jin, but there was always another night. With a little regret, everyone met up at the first safe house Kumi had arranged and relaxed before they had a meeting. Jae felt his dose wearing off as the first rays of sun barely hit the eastern horizon. He yawned as each of the six team leaders reported their findings and Kumi reported intelligence from her and Junghyun’s teams who were trying to find out where Jin’s court was floating. It seemed he had his fingers in quite a few things around the area and it was hard to pin down where he would be and when. Most likely he would be in a night club the next night, so they would start in those. But his guard would be up the next night, so it would be hard to tell. Kumi told them she’d have her moles sniffing out Jin’s court during the daytime to see where he would decide to be the safest. Meanwhile, they would rest.
Rain adjourned their meeting and Jae caught up to Kumi as she was leaving to meet her informants at the entrance.
“Hey,” he called and caught her arm. “Talk with me for a second?”
“What’s up?”
“You trained me for this,” he started out.
“Yes, of course.” She nodded and rested her hands on her hips.
“No, for this. This raid specifically.” Jae pointed at the ground as she glanced away. “You knew the Parks were going to attack, and you wanted me with them.”
Kumi fidgeted for a moment and played with her nails before she looked him in the eyes. “I wanted to give you the ability to prove that you weren’t useless or weak. I wanted to give you the chance to show your skills and prowess.”
“But, you knew I would see him again,” Jae replied and she nodded slowly. “Why?”
“Look,” she pulled him aside and caught his gaze with her own, serious. “I know you love Yunho. And I know you love Yoochun. You belong with them—both of them.” She put a hand up before he could protest. “Don’t ask me why. I can’t explain it. That’s just …how I feel about your situation.”
The quick kiss Micky had given him flashed in his mind and he tried not to think about it. “I…” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, feeling at his wit’s end. “I do love them both,” he admitted quietly.
“Then tell them,” she urged and waved her hands at him. “You have nothing to lose.”
“I might lose one, or both of them,” Jae and knew he was kidding himself by her reaction.
Kumi snorted very unladylike. “They’re both all for you. You’d never lose their love, Jaejoong. You know it,” she said as she tapped the spot on his chest over his heart. “If you don’t say anything, then you might lose them.” She gave him a stern look before she slipped away to meet her informants. He was glad the blush didn’t bloom on his face until she was gone. How did she manage to describe how he felt so perfectly?
With a sigh, Jae turned and dragged his fraying patience to the room where everyone had met and were winding down from their fights. He could see a few vampires and werewolves with injuries, but they seemed a bit superficial at this point. Junsu was dabbing at a knife slash on Tablo’s arm as Jae could hear Rain picking out volunteers to collect food and drink—heavy emphasis on drink—for those in the building. Jae leaned on a wall and watched as Rain informed them to make sure they weren’t followed back and saw Boa listening as she glanced at Tablo a few times. Jae himself glanced over to see Yunho and Aaron speaking with Heechul as Micky was talking with Changmin a few feet away from them. Jae’s eyes flicked to the ground before him as he felt his chest contract. With so many people telling him the same thing, he knew he should listen.
How would he tell someone he loved them, and that he also loved someone else?
How would he do it twice?
~*~
Jae grumbled as someone shook him awake and felt Yunho bury his face between his shoulder blades.
“Rise and shine sweethearts,” Micky teased quietly as Jae rubbed his face. He slipped out of Yunho’s arms and began to get dressed. Having cleaned up the night before, Jae didn’t mind wearing the same outfit again, as he’d be doing the same job, and getting the same kind of filth on him again. Tonight was the last night—or so they hoped. He listened as he put things on, overhearing that Kumi’s agents had been tracking Jin’s movements all day and that his location was narrowed down to a few areas. He was definitely on alert because of their attacks though, and had beefed up his personal security as well as having scouts all over. Jae smirked to himself as he heard Kumi explaining how angry Jin had gotten that he’d been attacked before his own plan was complete.
One of the phones chirped as one of Kumi’s informants told them Jin was calling for his entire force to assemble. They had to act quickly and everyone was thrown tasks as they hurried to get ready to move out. If they were fast enough, they would catch Jin off guard before he could get everything in order to come after them. They might even get Jin himself before all of his forces are around him. As Jae readied himself, the anxiousness made his blood sing in his veins. He’d been made ready for this moment and he wanted nothing more than to get going to have it over and done with. He might be good at fighting and killing now, but that didn’t mean he had to do this for the rest of his life. One more night, he told himself as Yunho helped him with straps. Just one more night and he could go home and live like normal.
He paused as he wondered if things would go back to normal. Could they? Would the Parks stay or would they leave again? Jae glanced around to see his friends getting ready and wondered if they would all make it back. He froze when he caught Micky’s gaze. He felt his chest contract when Micky immediately dropped whatever he was doing and came over to pull him into a hug. Jae hugged back as he realized just how transparent his gaze must have been. His heart jumped in shock when someone hugged him from behind and he realized it was Yunho. Jae had to smile at the fact that he was in a sandwich and when they all let go, he knew he was being silly.
“See you two on the flipside?” he teased as Changmin beckoned.
“You know it.” Micky winked.
“We’ll beat you to him,” Yunho threatened.
“I might beg to differ,” Jae tossed back as he turned and jogged to his team, who were already setting off behind two other groups. He caught up quickly as he ran through their assignment in his head and they got going into the streets as the nighttime darkness took over. They were to hit another building where a group of vampires were living to keep them from coming to Jin’s aid should he need them. If they could get to the building before they were called to see their leader, that was one less group to oppose them in the main battle.
His and Anna’s team blew into the building as they had the night before, only their teams switched places. Following Changmin’s lead, his team took out as many vampires as possible and Jae forced his emotions numb as he went through the motions. The numbness made killing easier and he wondered if the others did the same thing.
There was a pocket of resistance on one of the last floors that took some time to get through, but when they finally got to the leaders, Changmin and Anna managed to question them without too much effort as the rest stood around as guards. Once the leaders were squeezed of all the information they could be, Changmin got rid of them and they moved on to another building at Kumi’s call.
“Damn,” Jae commented as they made their way out. “More?”
Changmin chuckled. “You have no idea how many he has under his thumb, do you?”
“I didn’t even think it was this many,” Jae replied as he shook his head. “So many dead.”
Changmin hummed as he nodded. “Selfish leader. He really doesn’t know how to lead the way Kame did, but he enjoys a large, obedient court. Seems to have spread himself thin with this many. It doesn’t seem like he wanted revenge as much as he wanted his own court. Someone must have taken over back in Japan.”
Jae just nodded and followed. Maybe he could learn more about this following and court thing in time.
They soon arrived to find that the vampires had tricked Kumi’s group into a corner, but Jae’s group—as well as Jae’s shields—freed them from it. Caught off guard by the reinforcements, Jin’s vampires were driven back and eventually overtaken by Kumi’s anger and speed in response to getting trapped. Jae glanced at his watch to see they’d been at it for almost five hours now. As Kumi’s group finally got a foothold and progressed, a voice chirped over the phone to tell everyone that Rain’s group had found Jin.
Changmin and Anna’s eyes caught and Jae knew what came next. Before he knew it, they were flying out of the building and down the street toward the area Jin had been spotted at. Rain’s group called for backup as they ran, knowing Jin had been waiting for an attack. They had to back up as much as they could so someone could break through the line and get to the leader. Jae was needed now more than ever. Once they reached the building, they slipped in one by one, threading their way through the corridors silently to take out anyone in their way with deadly efficiency. Jin’s little army might have been waiting for them, but they couldn’t defend if they hadn’t sensed anyone coming. Jae had to pat himself on the back for figuring out how to shield everyone separately as they kept moving. Finally, they hit the floor where Rain’s group was stopped and fighting a large group of Jin’s men trying to get their master out of the building.
Jae caught Changmin’s eyes. “This is going to be tricky.”
The vampire nodded and sent Anna’s team forward as he, Hyori and Aaron took up defensive positions around Jae. The young man let his eyes drop shut as he concentrated and built up complex shields around all of his friends fighting against the enemy. He reached forward and gripped the back of Changmin’s jacket as he gritted his teeth and held the shields. Changmin spoke code into his phone and Jae heard the shouts in the large room past their own get louder. Jae held on as he heard the fighting intensify before it began to slowly quiet. He heard the phone chirp that they were retreating and Changmin cursed quietly.
“Come on,” the vampire ordered as Jae dropped the shields, properly taking them all down before he moved. He stumbled as Hyori caught his arm and he felt his head spin. He needed to get into the room. Once inside, Jae tripped as his eyes darted around to find a vampire still dying. His eyes caught on two bodies near him and he fell to his knees next to them as his hands touched their backs, his body already taking in their life energy. His head spun even more with the invigorating feeling and Jae shook with need. He hated how this felt like a drug, but having the energy fill him felt so good. He had to force himself to cut off and sat back as he panted, resisting the urge to go for more.
“Better?” Hyori asked from his left as he nodded. “Be more careful,” she murmured as she touched his shoulder.
“I did say it was tricky,” he told her with a tired grin.
She chuckled as she stood. “You’re too ambitious for your own good.” She shook her head and walked away to her lover as Jae caught his breath.
That was when he noticed he was actually out of breath, and his senses were fading. He needed a new dose, and quick. But a rest would do him good. With a grunt, Jae stood to see Changmin speaking with Rain and Anna at the other end of the room, a few others listening with nods. Before he blinked, Rain’s group was gone, and Anna’s followed not seconds after.
“They’re going on ahead,” Changmin told him as he returned. “We’re to hold this floor in case anyone comes up behind as reinforcements,” he explained as Aaron and Hyori nodded.
“Good, because I need a recharge,” Jae replied with a grin.
“Take your dose and tell me when you’re good to go,” Changmin ordered and Jae nodded as the vampire turned to walk away.
Jae reached into his jacket to pull out another dose and stopped suddenly as his hand refused to close around the vial. He wondered why he couldn’t move, why his lungs wouldn’t work, and why the hell there was a blade sticking out of his chest. Another vampire stopped in front of him and sneered.
“Human,” it snarled quietly and Jae stumbled forward into the vampire as he was pushed and the blade was pulled out from behind. No—it couldn’t… how did they… there had to be…
The vampire pushed him away as pain bloomed in his chest and he fell to his knees, trying to breathe as his lungs refused to cooperate. He grabbed his chest as he saw the blood dripping onto the ground in front of him—all over his hand. Breathe!!!—his mind screamed at his lungs that would only take short breaths of air. His arm shook and gave out beneath him as he hit the concrete floor and heard Changmin screaming from behind him. It was Aaron that reached him first as he rolled onto his back. His fingers gripped at the wolf’s fur as he saw himself stain the fur with blood and gasped for air.
Hyori ran over and skidded on her knees to stop against Jae’s left side and he writhed with a whimper as it intensified the pain, but he tried to ignore it and concentrate on getting some air. She said something into the walkie-talkie about Rain before she tried to calm him. How was he supposed to be calm when someone had stabbed him through the chest with a sword? Someone asked through the device who was down and Hyori growled as she grabbed it again.
“Jaejoong is down!” Hyori snapped. “I need Rain and backup to cover us!! It’ll be okay Jaejoong.” She touched his forehead gently as she threw the walkie-talkie at Changmin who caught it deftly before he turned his back on them to watch for any attackers. Jae’s eyes didn’t miss the ones who had attacked him dead at Changmin’s feet. He knew his friend had already taken revenge—by the bloody dagger in his friend’s hand.
He was distracted by Hyori pulling his jacket open to rip his shirt open as well. A whimper escaped him as she inspected the wound and shushed him, telling him everything would be fine. Nothing would be fine—nothing would ever be fine again and he knew it. He could feel his life slipping away and the cold seeping into him.
“I’m—going to die,” he choked out as something warm slid down his chin. He knew it was blood, the metallic taste coating his mouth as he coughed.
“Stop it!” she snapped at him, tears threatening to escape her eyes. “I’m not going to let you die!” She cursed at the wound and was about to cover it when Rain arrived, Micky and Yunho hot at his heels.
Rain couldn’t even form words as he knelt on Jae’s other side. “All the way through.”
“Way too much blood,” Hyori answered as her voice wavered.
Micky knelt next to Rain and pulled his jacket off to slip it under Jae’s head as the young man started to feel reality fading in and out. He let out a whimper and grabbed at Micky’s hand to feel it squeeze his.
“Getting cold,” he managed, knowing he was about to pass out from loss of blood. And after that, he knew exactly what was so near. “Micky…”
“No. You’re not going to die,” the vampire told him confidently and looked to Rain.
The elder vampire looked torn for a moment before he finally pulled out his dagger and held it to his arm. “Jaejoong?” the vampire called to pull his gaze up. “Jaejoong, do you accept?”
Jae stared at the one thing that caught his attention in the haze of pain as he struggled to breathe—through the window, the shine from the moonlight reflected on the blade—and knew his answer had come long ago.
“Yes.”
~***~
a/n: sorry that was so long :/ had lots to put into one part. also sorry if there are any mistakes. i didn't get to edit it the way i wanted to so, hope you like~
Interlude
Author: LotusBeauty
Type: Multi-chapter
Rating: R to NC-17
Pairings: JaeChun, JaeHo, other ot5 stuff eventually
Genre: AU, fantasy, crossover, comedy/drama/emo
Summary: He was trying to keep me safe. I wished he was wrong, but he was right. (Sequel to Feel)
Notes: you know the drill. disastrous win, etc :)
Disclaimer: Not mine, never were, but a girl can dream through fiction.
For previous chapters, please refer to the main post HERE, which also has links for the previous arc.
19: Join Me in Death (mediafire)
Summer vacation? Hah. Training began immediately after the Lees arrived.
Jae had little time to think about his emotions at all after that. It wasn’t two days later that Rain observed the way everyone fought and had drawn up groups to work together out of both families and the werewolves. Out of fifteen vampires, ten wolves and one …human, they set up three groups of four and three groups of five. Each group ended up being headed by a vampire with at least one werewolf. The Lee family seemed uncertain at first, but were quickly convinced that Yunho’s pack wasn’t anything like their feral cousins. Their true shapeshifting nature put the family at ease and from then everything tended to work smoothly—as smoothly as anything could go with vampires and werewolves at least.
Jae ended up in the group headed by Changmin, with Aaron and Hyori as their teammates. It had him wondering if Yunho had suggested Aaron be with Jae to watch over him. That is until he found out Yunho and Micky were on the same team, and he felt a little jealous that they got to work together. Not that he minded working with Changmin and the other two. Their team was pretty solid after the first day practicing together and it was nice to have a medic on their team (he had a feeling that was Rain’s idea since he was the only human), but Jae did wish he could see the other two more often than just sparring against them. He wanted to spend time with them before their trek down to Seattle. At one point while resting after a session, he made a face at just how girly that thought sounded, but he had to admit it was true.
Yunho and Micky laughed from across the clearing and Changmin caught Jae’s eyes. Jae gave the smirking vampire a little pout.
“Wanna make them jealous?” he suggested as Jae could only laugh.
“Maybe later.” Jae winked as Changmin’s eyes danced mischievously.
Later found him in what had been converted into an armory in the Parks’ home. Jae was taking apart his guns for cleaning just after Kumi had quizzed him on knife fighting and rewarded him with a new dagger for his efforts. He glanced up at the dagger that lay in the middle of the table. He had a feeling she liked seeing him get more and more dangerous. She seemed to like guys who could handle themselves in any situation.
“Hey.”
Jae glanced up and nodded at Micky who was leaning on the doorway. “Hey, yourself,” he replied as he went back to his guns.
“How goes it?” the vampire asked as he wandered closer.
“Kumi gave me a dagger.” Jae gestured at it. “I think she might be a bad influence.”
“I think you might be right,” he replied with a smirk and sat on the edge of the table next to Jae. “You know, you never told me. Where’d you get the second gun?” Micky asked as he nodded at it.
“Oh,” Jae answered without thinking as he cleaned one. “Just something I had, you know, lying around.” He grinned as Micky laughed and shook his head. Jae then pointed at what was very obviously a katana in Micky’s hand. “Where’d you get that?”
“This?” Micky asked as he held it up. “Oh, just something I had, you know, lying around,” he replied smartly with raised eyebrows before he pushed off the table and wandered away. Jae could only chuckle and shake his head in amusement at the response. He had a feeling he knew just who gave it to Micky as the vampire wandered away.
As Jae was starting in on cleaning the second gun, Yunho wandered into the room and took up the spot Micky had occupied. “Hold out your hand.”
Jae did it automatically without looking, but turned to stare in surprise when he felt and saw Yunho slipping the onyx bracelet he’d given the wolf for Christmas onto his wrist. “But..why?”
Yunho smiled. “You gave me the necklace back for protection, so I want you to have this. Onyx is supposed to protect the person wearing it.” He then held the hand he’d slipped the bracelet over. “You know, in case something happens when we’re down there.”
Jae smiled softly and squeezed his lover’s hand. “Thank you.” He pulled Yunho’s hand closer and kissed the back of it. “We don’t have much longer left.”
“No, we don’t,” he agreed.
The chair scraped backward as Jae stood and let Yunho pull him into a tight hug. They’d been training so hard for this moment, knew it was coming and yet he didn’t want it to happen. It reminded him of reading an amazing book and not wanting to finish it so that it wouldn’t be over, or so that you wouldn’t see the bad ending you knew was coming. However this was going to end, Jae didn’t know, but he had a feeling he should plan for the worst.
“If I don’t make it back—”
“Don’t say that,” Yunho whispered fervently.
“Yunho.” Jae pulled back to lock their eyes. “I’m serious. If I don’t come back, you’re going to have to tell my dad something. And if I come back as a vampire, we’ll have to tell him something then too.”
Yunho opened his mouth to argue, but closed it and glanced away. He didn’t want to admit that Jae might be right.
“I don’t like it either, but it’s the truth,” Jae murmured and touched Yunho’s cheek as his lover nodded.
“Should we talk with the others?” Yunho asked. “They might know what we could say later.”
Jae nodded. “Let me finish up here.”
The two made their way up to Micky’s room to talk to him, but didn’t get any ideas from him. His family had died along with him. Junsu and Changmin also didn’t know what to tell them, as they were both lost and considered dead by their families to begin with. Heechul and Shiwon’s families thought they were dead as well, so they didn’t have any ideas. Jae didn’t want anyone to tell his father he was dead if they ended up turning him into a vampire. His father didn’t deserve to think he was dead because of that. Jae didn’t even know what he would tell his mother. Or should he say have someone else tell his mother—god this was making his head hurt.
“I think you’re planning too far ahead.”
Jae glanced up to see Rain walk into the room. “You sure?”
Rain sat next to him with a sigh. “We’ll figure it out if it happens. If being the keyword.”
Jae couldn’t help but smile at the stern look Rain was giving him. “Thanks.”
Later, Jae found Yunho talking to Hyori and asked to be taken home when they were finished. He had to make an appearance to his father at some point in time. The two said their goodbyes and Yunho drove Jae home. They would have one more day to pack before they left for Seattle. Time felt so slow, yet too fast. Jae wasn’t sure what to think or do anymore. Even the car ride was uncomfortable. Everything was silent and when they got to his home, Jae wished the ride had lasted longer.
When Yunho cut the engine, Jae blurted out, “Stay?”
Yunho glanced over. “Are you sure?”
“I don’t think dad will care at this point,” he murmured. “I just don’t want to be alone.”
Yunho sighed and after a moment, he patted Jae’s knee and opened his door to get out. Jae let out a sigh of relief and did the same. Once inside, Jae made them and his father a late snack before the two retired to his room together. They put on happy faces and Mr. Kim didn’t question when Yunho ended up staying the night as they decided on what Jae planned to bring when they left for Seattle. Halfway into it, Jae’s small headache blew up to throb through his entire skull and they gave up to retire to his bed. The throbbing dissipated as Yunho’s hands lightly rubbed his back to calm him. He had to admit, the lullaby Yunho sang softly in Korean might have helped too.
The next day they spent the morning trying to relax. A few hours in the afternoon were spent at the Park residence going over their strategy of infiltrating Jin’s various hideouts and housing dens for his underlings from Kumi’s information. If they couldn’t completely get information on where Jin was the first night, they would go in strong the second night and take the vampire down. Jae was confident in this plan. He knew that if they were careful, they could definitely do it in two nights. But even the most careful plans went to hell and he knew that from the last time they’d encountered Jin and Kame. Even so, Jae trusted all of his counterparts to play their roles and they trusted him to do the same. He couldn’t let them down.
Rain convinced everyone to use the evening to relax. Kumi relaxed by beating on every male vampire she could get to spar with her. Jae just rolled his eyes in amusement as he and Yunho decided to leave and relax at Yunho’s place. They stopped by Jae’s home so they could pick up his things and the rest of the ammo he had, and so he could say goodbye to his father. Mr. Kim seemed to know something was up and had hugged Jae tighter than he normally would. It only made Jae feel guilty, unable to tell him the real reason they were going to Seattle. When they finally arrived at Yunho’s place, Jae dropped his things just inside the door and moved to flop down on the couch.
“I hate waiting,” he grumbled into the cushion.
“Come on,” Yunho replied as his arms snaked under Jae’s body. The young man yelped as he was lifted into the air and thrown over his lover’s shoulder. He struggled and his squawks of indignation turned to laughter as Yunho carried him up the stairs before he threw Jae onto the bed. “Take off your shirt,” Yunho ordered as he pulled his own off.
Jae laughed. “Are you trying to seduce me? At a time like this?”
Yunho snorted. “You need to relax. Now, do you want my help or not?”
Jae bit his lip to keep the smile from taking over his lips and pulled his shirt off. Yunho was right, he really did need to relax and there was no better way than this. Minutes later found him on his stomach with Yunho’s hands pressing against his back, massaging away any trace of tension he could possibly have had.
“Thank you,” he grunted into the pillow.
“Sexy,” Yunho responded to make the young man chuckle.
“You sure this will relax me?” Jae asked, already knowing the answer.
“Fishing for attention?”
Jae smirked against the pillow. “You know me too well.”
“I do.”
Jae sighed as Yunho lay down atop him, the wolf’s warmth seeping into him. “Last night together.”
“You say that like it’s a death sentence.” Yunho gently kissed his shoulder.
“It could be,” Jae murmured as he felt his lover shift off of him. He turned onto his side to let his gaze fall on Yunho’s face. “We might die.”
“We might not.” Yunho touched his cheek. “We might be pleasantly surprised.”
“Which is why I plan for the worst,” Jae said as he gave a wry smile. “Surprise me.”
Yunho leaned forward and kissed him suddenly. Jae’s surprise wore off quickly as he melted into the kiss. He should be worried about their trip and confrontation; he should be worried about whether anyone would die, but right now, he just needed a distraction. Yunho’s hands were definitely doing the job roaming up and down his torso. So he would do the same for his lover.
It didn’t take long; soon everything else melted away as the two lost themselves in one another. Every touch, every kiss took away Jae’s worries and left him ignorant of the world.
Tonight, Yunho was his world.
~*~
“You look so serious.”
Jae’s gaze flicked over as he watched Micky approach Yunho.
The wolf glanced up at Micky from where he waited in the driver’s seat of a car, door open with his feet on the ground. “When do I not?”
“You have a point.” Micky smirked as Yunho chuckled and the vampire turned to Jae, who was leaning on the back passenger door next to them. “I have something for you.”
Jae quirked an eyebrow up. “But it’s not my birthday,” he teased deadpan.
“Humor me,” Micky told him and held out a set of folded papers.
Jae took the papers and unfolded them to see musical staffs. He frowned as he looked them over to find the music familiar. “This is my song.”
“Thought it was my song,” Micky said with a grin as Jae blushed. “Actually, I added lyrics for you. So now, it’s our song. Well, there’s still a few lines missing at the bridge. I was hoping someone could fill them in,” he hinted.
Jae exhaled in disbelief as he scanned over the lyrics. “I—I’ll see what I can do.” He looked up to the vampire’s eyes. “Thank you.”
Micky shook his head. “Thank you.”
Jae couldn’t stop himself. He pulled the vampire close for a tight hug and kissed him on the cheek. “We need to finish this.”
“We will,” Micky assured him with a squeeze. “We’ll finish it all.”
~*~
Jae expected the drive down to Seattle to be the longest of his life. It sure started out that way. To distract himself, Jae sat back in the back seat next to Yunho and closed his eyes. He quietly and carefully worked through his shielding exercises and took his time, wanting to waste as much time as possible. But his patience didn’t hold out for the whole ride. Whose would? When he got bored with his shielding techniques, Jae took to staring out the window. Finally, he got sick of the calming music Micky had automatically put on. Jae took out his iPod and hooked it up instead. If anything would calm him, it was the music that he wanted to listen to. He could almost feel the tension flee as he put on some loud music and everyone relaxed much more.
“You’re much smarter than me,” Micky told him and turned the volume up.
Jae scoffed and sat back, happy with his actions. He began to hum along to the music from time to time and at one point, Yunho began to sing with him. It was when Micky joined in that Jae was amazed just how well the three of them sounded together. Kumi seemed content to just sit and listen as the three of them filled the car with their voices. Jae wasn’t surprised when she finally joined the singing and he sat back as he wished their lives could go on like this forever—just driving and singing together. Sadly, he knew that wish could never come true.
Once they finally arrived in Seattle, Micky turned the music down as Kumi described all the locations she had set up as safe places for them. They couldn’t have a permanent place to set up, because if they did and Jin found it, they would be dead. Especially if the raid lasted more than one night. Their entire group parked their cars in random spots all over the Seattle area and met up at a hotel in the downtown district. They used the afternoon after arriving to tweak their attack with Kumi and the two contacts that had met with her. Once the meeting was over, the vampires told Jae and the wolves to sleep, since their attack would happen after sundown. Jae didn’t mind this at all, but he wondered just how much rest he would truly get.
When asked, Kumi suggested that the ammunition Jae couldn’t carry should be hidden at whatever haven they agreed to meet at after they retreated for the night. She had arranged three different safe areas for them to retreat to if things got out of hand or if anyone got hurt and needed attention. They seemed to be abandoned buildings and things of the like. As long as everyone around him was safe and they could take Jin down, Jae didn’t care where the hell his ammo was or where he was sleeping. He just wanted to get through this—alive.
“I asked for this,” Jae said reluctantly as he flopped down on the hotel bed.
“You did,” Yunho agreed and crawled onto the bed. “We all did. And we’ll be together the whole way through.”
Jae smiled. How did Yunho always know exactly what to say?
At least it made his nap content. It wasn’t long before he awoke to others quietly getting ready as he noticed the sun beginning to set from the way the light shone through the window. Jae caught the quiet red burn in Micky’s eyes when he glanced out the window. Determination stared out that window before Micky’s gaze turned to him.
The vampire smiled wryly and spoke gently to them, “Join me?”
The three of them watched the sunset together from the window as Jae slowly loaded his guns. It wasn’t long after the tip of the sun slipped below the horizon that everyone met up in the hallway and all gave each other silent looks for good luck. As the team leaders handed out some sort of phone walkie-talkies, Jae managed to hug everyone in the Park family except Changmin who was the head of his team. Yunho gave him a kiss, and Micky one to his cheek. Everyone broke apart as Jae, Aaron and Hyori fell in behind Changmin and they left from a different exit. It didn’t feel like a beginning, but an ending that would bring about a new beginning. Jae tried to convince himself of this, but all he could feel was sinking.
“If I could feel your emotions, I know yours would be seriously tangled from the look on your face,” Changmin commented when they were a few blocks away from the hotel.
“Then I think I’ll keep my shields up,” Jae replied with a wry smile.
“Anything I should know about?” the vampire asked.
“We’re outnumbered and I’m just worried that some of us might not come back,” he admitted quietly.
“Quite possible.” Changmin tapped his chin as they stopped on a street corner. Jae couldn’t tell if he was contemplating what he’d said or which way to cross.
“Should we do anything?” he asked.
“Our best,” Hyori told him with a smile and squeezed his shoulder. Aaron nodded and Jae felt a little better when he saw his friends backing him.
“Thanks.”
The evening passed quickly after sunset. Though Jae hadn’t been in Seattle but twice, he knew his way by street signs and visual cues by having learned the maps when they were planning their attack. They each had their missions and because Jin had a small floating court, Jae’s team as well as another were to take down a building that housed a set of Jin’s underlings. If they could take all of these vampires out, it would bring Jin’s court down significantly and he wouldn’t have as many reinforcements as he would like. Jae’s job in this was typical—shield them until it was obvious they were there, and then attack as well. At least he knew his power was useful and had potential to get even stronger.
Anna’s team—which consisted of her, Heechul, Shiwon, Simon and another wolf named Kris—went in first to catch the vampires off guard. Jae downed his drug as the other team prowled the hallways killing. They waited for the right moment and Changmin signaled them in to clean up anyone that might escape behind the other team. Jae was extremely glad for his enhanced senses. He and Changmin were the best for finding the stragglers that weren’t dead and putting them out of their misery. Jae had to watch himself though. He could steal their life force for himself, but he couldn’t get near the blood. Hyori watched him and he knew it, thankful that she would stop him if something happened. The cravings disturbed him, but he couldn’t help it. In this state, the blood actually smelled good.
When Jae sensed something behind and to his left, he strengthened his shields just in time. Three bullets hit the shield as the sound hit his ears and he was glad for having practiced so much so he could keep his team safe. Changmin moved to take the shooter out as Jae kept a separate shield around him to stop the rest of the bullets that were being fired—not that he needed it since he ended up avoiding all of the bullets using his own power to predict where the gunman would point. Jae used the energy he was lifting from the dying vampires around him to feed the shields he had going as Changmin took care of their attacker. He had to admit, this was much more convenient and useful than his own personal energy. He wondered how much of a reserve he could build up, or if he needed one at all. Once this was over, he might not need to do this ever again.
With a mental shrug, Jae abandoned the thought and followed Changmin’s signal down the corridor as their team joined in the fight. They made their way through the building with deadly efficiency and it wasn’t until they joined the first team that Jae realized just what he was trained for. It made him a little sad to see how many vampires (that had been people at one time) they’d killed. He’d been trained to kill—by Kumi. The thought nagged at him as they made sure the entire building was taken out, but he pushed the thought back of his mind as they joined Anna’s group, who was finishing up interrogating the vampires in charge of the building.
Changmin approached them as they dispatched their last victim. “Did you get a location?”
“A few,” Anna admitted as they came together. “We’ll have to confirm with the other groups out now, and hope for the best tomorrow.”
Changmin nodded and pulled out the new cell to speak into it. It sounded like Micky’s group needed a little help, so they all rallied to meet up at the building where Micky’s team was pinned down and worked their way up to meet them. When they arrived, Changmin pulled Jae aside to make sure his dose was still strong before they entered. Once they met Micky’s group, they understood the problem—multiple gunmen had pinned them down, and though Micky was fast, he knew he wouldn’t be fast enough to avoid all of the gunfire.
“Not a god?” Jae asked as he slipped into a spot next to Micky.
“Not yet,” the vampire flashed a grin. “Help a guy out?”
“You’re all set,” Jae promised, having already built a shield for this particular specification around the vampire.
“Wish me luck!” Micky captured Jae’s lips to steal a kiss before he jumped over the overturned furniture they were behind and rushed the defenders. Jae blinked at the thin air in front of him in shock as he felt the blood rush to his cheeks. He glanced up to see Yunho behind another barricade, frowning with a look of confusion. Jae shrugged in bewilderment and Yunho sighed and glanced past his barricade to see the gunfire had stopped and Micky had succeeded. Blushing furiously, Jae had a mind to not shield Micky in the future, but they needed his speed.
Yunho slipped through the makeshift defenses as others joined them, the wolf speaking with Micky. Jae figured he was having a few words with the vampire about what he’d just done. Jae peeked around the furniture to see the two glance down at him.
“I suppose you’re right,” Yunho admitted, a smirk trying to alight his lips as he fought it.
Micky just shrugged with his lopsided grin and Jae’s blush stayed in its place—they were talking about him. With a frustrated sigh, Jae joined everyone as they made their way further into the building. The conclusion was the same as the building they’d cleared earlier that night—many dead, all to find Jin’s main hideout. It seemed that Jin had been in the building when Micky’s team arrived, but had left before the team had made an impression on his vampires. Without a doubt, Jin would realize who and what had done this to his subordinates.
They’d almost gotten Jin, but there was always another night. With a little regret, everyone met up at the first safe house Kumi had arranged and relaxed before they had a meeting. Jae felt his dose wearing off as the first rays of sun barely hit the eastern horizon. He yawned as each of the six team leaders reported their findings and Kumi reported intelligence from her and Junghyun’s teams who were trying to find out where Jin’s court was floating. It seemed he had his fingers in quite a few things around the area and it was hard to pin down where he would be and when. Most likely he would be in a night club the next night, so they would start in those. But his guard would be up the next night, so it would be hard to tell. Kumi told them she’d have her moles sniffing out Jin’s court during the daytime to see where he would decide to be the safest. Meanwhile, they would rest.
Rain adjourned their meeting and Jae caught up to Kumi as she was leaving to meet her informants at the entrance.
“Hey,” he called and caught her arm. “Talk with me for a second?”
“What’s up?”
“You trained me for this,” he started out.
“Yes, of course.” She nodded and rested her hands on her hips.
“No, for this. This raid specifically.” Jae pointed at the ground as she glanced away. “You knew the Parks were going to attack, and you wanted me with them.”
Kumi fidgeted for a moment and played with her nails before she looked him in the eyes. “I wanted to give you the ability to prove that you weren’t useless or weak. I wanted to give you the chance to show your skills and prowess.”
“But, you knew I would see him again,” Jae replied and she nodded slowly. “Why?”
“Look,” she pulled him aside and caught his gaze with her own, serious. “I know you love Yunho. And I know you love Yoochun. You belong with them—both of them.” She put a hand up before he could protest. “Don’t ask me why. I can’t explain it. That’s just …how I feel about your situation.”
The quick kiss Micky had given him flashed in his mind and he tried not to think about it. “I…” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, feeling at his wit’s end. “I do love them both,” he admitted quietly.
“Then tell them,” she urged and waved her hands at him. “You have nothing to lose.”
“I might lose one, or both of them,” Jae and knew he was kidding himself by her reaction.
Kumi snorted very unladylike. “They’re both all for you. You’d never lose their love, Jaejoong. You know it,” she said as she tapped the spot on his chest over his heart. “If you don’t say anything, then you might lose them.” She gave him a stern look before she slipped away to meet her informants. He was glad the blush didn’t bloom on his face until she was gone. How did she manage to describe how he felt so perfectly?
With a sigh, Jae turned and dragged his fraying patience to the room where everyone had met and were winding down from their fights. He could see a few vampires and werewolves with injuries, but they seemed a bit superficial at this point. Junsu was dabbing at a knife slash on Tablo’s arm as Jae could hear Rain picking out volunteers to collect food and drink—heavy emphasis on drink—for those in the building. Jae leaned on a wall and watched as Rain informed them to make sure they weren’t followed back and saw Boa listening as she glanced at Tablo a few times. Jae himself glanced over to see Yunho and Aaron speaking with Heechul as Micky was talking with Changmin a few feet away from them. Jae’s eyes flicked to the ground before him as he felt his chest contract. With so many people telling him the same thing, he knew he should listen.
How would he tell someone he loved them, and that he also loved someone else?
How would he do it twice?
~*~
Jae grumbled as someone shook him awake and felt Yunho bury his face between his shoulder blades.
“Rise and shine sweethearts,” Micky teased quietly as Jae rubbed his face. He slipped out of Yunho’s arms and began to get dressed. Having cleaned up the night before, Jae didn’t mind wearing the same outfit again, as he’d be doing the same job, and getting the same kind of filth on him again. Tonight was the last night—or so they hoped. He listened as he put things on, overhearing that Kumi’s agents had been tracking Jin’s movements all day and that his location was narrowed down to a few areas. He was definitely on alert because of their attacks though, and had beefed up his personal security as well as having scouts all over. Jae smirked to himself as he heard Kumi explaining how angry Jin had gotten that he’d been attacked before his own plan was complete.
One of the phones chirped as one of Kumi’s informants told them Jin was calling for his entire force to assemble. They had to act quickly and everyone was thrown tasks as they hurried to get ready to move out. If they were fast enough, they would catch Jin off guard before he could get everything in order to come after them. They might even get Jin himself before all of his forces are around him. As Jae readied himself, the anxiousness made his blood sing in his veins. He’d been made ready for this moment and he wanted nothing more than to get going to have it over and done with. He might be good at fighting and killing now, but that didn’t mean he had to do this for the rest of his life. One more night, he told himself as Yunho helped him with straps. Just one more night and he could go home and live like normal.
He paused as he wondered if things would go back to normal. Could they? Would the Parks stay or would they leave again? Jae glanced around to see his friends getting ready and wondered if they would all make it back. He froze when he caught Micky’s gaze. He felt his chest contract when Micky immediately dropped whatever he was doing and came over to pull him into a hug. Jae hugged back as he realized just how transparent his gaze must have been. His heart jumped in shock when someone hugged him from behind and he realized it was Yunho. Jae had to smile at the fact that he was in a sandwich and when they all let go, he knew he was being silly.
“See you two on the flipside?” he teased as Changmin beckoned.
“You know it.” Micky winked.
“We’ll beat you to him,” Yunho threatened.
“I might beg to differ,” Jae tossed back as he turned and jogged to his team, who were already setting off behind two other groups. He caught up quickly as he ran through their assignment in his head and they got going into the streets as the nighttime darkness took over. They were to hit another building where a group of vampires were living to keep them from coming to Jin’s aid should he need them. If they could get to the building before they were called to see their leader, that was one less group to oppose them in the main battle.
His and Anna’s team blew into the building as they had the night before, only their teams switched places. Following Changmin’s lead, his team took out as many vampires as possible and Jae forced his emotions numb as he went through the motions. The numbness made killing easier and he wondered if the others did the same thing.
There was a pocket of resistance on one of the last floors that took some time to get through, but when they finally got to the leaders, Changmin and Anna managed to question them without too much effort as the rest stood around as guards. Once the leaders were squeezed of all the information they could be, Changmin got rid of them and they moved on to another building at Kumi’s call.
“Damn,” Jae commented as they made their way out. “More?”
Changmin chuckled. “You have no idea how many he has under his thumb, do you?”
“I didn’t even think it was this many,” Jae replied as he shook his head. “So many dead.”
Changmin hummed as he nodded. “Selfish leader. He really doesn’t know how to lead the way Kame did, but he enjoys a large, obedient court. Seems to have spread himself thin with this many. It doesn’t seem like he wanted revenge as much as he wanted his own court. Someone must have taken over back in Japan.”
Jae just nodded and followed. Maybe he could learn more about this following and court thing in time.
They soon arrived to find that the vampires had tricked Kumi’s group into a corner, but Jae’s group—as well as Jae’s shields—freed them from it. Caught off guard by the reinforcements, Jin’s vampires were driven back and eventually overtaken by Kumi’s anger and speed in response to getting trapped. Jae glanced at his watch to see they’d been at it for almost five hours now. As Kumi’s group finally got a foothold and progressed, a voice chirped over the phone to tell everyone that Rain’s group had found Jin.
Changmin and Anna’s eyes caught and Jae knew what came next. Before he knew it, they were flying out of the building and down the street toward the area Jin had been spotted at. Rain’s group called for backup as they ran, knowing Jin had been waiting for an attack. They had to back up as much as they could so someone could break through the line and get to the leader. Jae was needed now more than ever. Once they reached the building, they slipped in one by one, threading their way through the corridors silently to take out anyone in their way with deadly efficiency. Jin’s little army might have been waiting for them, but they couldn’t defend if they hadn’t sensed anyone coming. Jae had to pat himself on the back for figuring out how to shield everyone separately as they kept moving. Finally, they hit the floor where Rain’s group was stopped and fighting a large group of Jin’s men trying to get their master out of the building.
Jae caught Changmin’s eyes. “This is going to be tricky.”
The vampire nodded and sent Anna’s team forward as he, Hyori and Aaron took up defensive positions around Jae. The young man let his eyes drop shut as he concentrated and built up complex shields around all of his friends fighting against the enemy. He reached forward and gripped the back of Changmin’s jacket as he gritted his teeth and held the shields. Changmin spoke code into his phone and Jae heard the shouts in the large room past their own get louder. Jae held on as he heard the fighting intensify before it began to slowly quiet. He heard the phone chirp that they were retreating and Changmin cursed quietly.
“Come on,” the vampire ordered as Jae dropped the shields, properly taking them all down before he moved. He stumbled as Hyori caught his arm and he felt his head spin. He needed to get into the room. Once inside, Jae tripped as his eyes darted around to find a vampire still dying. His eyes caught on two bodies near him and he fell to his knees next to them as his hands touched their backs, his body already taking in their life energy. His head spun even more with the invigorating feeling and Jae shook with need. He hated how this felt like a drug, but having the energy fill him felt so good. He had to force himself to cut off and sat back as he panted, resisting the urge to go for more.
“Better?” Hyori asked from his left as he nodded. “Be more careful,” she murmured as she touched his shoulder.
“I did say it was tricky,” he told her with a tired grin.
She chuckled as she stood. “You’re too ambitious for your own good.” She shook her head and walked away to her lover as Jae caught his breath.
That was when he noticed he was actually out of breath, and his senses were fading. He needed a new dose, and quick. But a rest would do him good. With a grunt, Jae stood to see Changmin speaking with Rain and Anna at the other end of the room, a few others listening with nods. Before he blinked, Rain’s group was gone, and Anna’s followed not seconds after.
“They’re going on ahead,” Changmin told him as he returned. “We’re to hold this floor in case anyone comes up behind as reinforcements,” he explained as Aaron and Hyori nodded.
“Good, because I need a recharge,” Jae replied with a grin.
“Take your dose and tell me when you’re good to go,” Changmin ordered and Jae nodded as the vampire turned to walk away.
Jae reached into his jacket to pull out another dose and stopped suddenly as his hand refused to close around the vial. He wondered why he couldn’t move, why his lungs wouldn’t work, and why the hell there was a blade sticking out of his chest. Another vampire stopped in front of him and sneered.
“Human,” it snarled quietly and Jae stumbled forward into the vampire as he was pushed and the blade was pulled out from behind. No—it couldn’t… how did they… there had to be…
The vampire pushed him away as pain bloomed in his chest and he fell to his knees, trying to breathe as his lungs refused to cooperate. He grabbed his chest as he saw the blood dripping onto the ground in front of him—all over his hand. Breathe!!!—his mind screamed at his lungs that would only take short breaths of air. His arm shook and gave out beneath him as he hit the concrete floor and heard Changmin screaming from behind him. It was Aaron that reached him first as he rolled onto his back. His fingers gripped at the wolf’s fur as he saw himself stain the fur with blood and gasped for air.
Hyori ran over and skidded on her knees to stop against Jae’s left side and he writhed with a whimper as it intensified the pain, but he tried to ignore it and concentrate on getting some air. She said something into the walkie-talkie about Rain before she tried to calm him. How was he supposed to be calm when someone had stabbed him through the chest with a sword? Someone asked through the device who was down and Hyori growled as she grabbed it again.
“Jaejoong is down!” Hyori snapped. “I need Rain and backup to cover us!! It’ll be okay Jaejoong.” She touched his forehead gently as she threw the walkie-talkie at Changmin who caught it deftly before he turned his back on them to watch for any attackers. Jae’s eyes didn’t miss the ones who had attacked him dead at Changmin’s feet. He knew his friend had already taken revenge—by the bloody dagger in his friend’s hand.
He was distracted by Hyori pulling his jacket open to rip his shirt open as well. A whimper escaped him as she inspected the wound and shushed him, telling him everything would be fine. Nothing would be fine—nothing would ever be fine again and he knew it. He could feel his life slipping away and the cold seeping into him.
“I’m—going to die,” he choked out as something warm slid down his chin. He knew it was blood, the metallic taste coating his mouth as he coughed.
“Stop it!” she snapped at him, tears threatening to escape her eyes. “I’m not going to let you die!” She cursed at the wound and was about to cover it when Rain arrived, Micky and Yunho hot at his heels.
Rain couldn’t even form words as he knelt on Jae’s other side. “All the way through.”
“Way too much blood,” Hyori answered as her voice wavered.
Micky knelt next to Rain and pulled his jacket off to slip it under Jae’s head as the young man started to feel reality fading in and out. He let out a whimper and grabbed at Micky’s hand to feel it squeeze his.
“Getting cold,” he managed, knowing he was about to pass out from loss of blood. And after that, he knew exactly what was so near. “Micky…”
“No. You’re not going to die,” the vampire told him confidently and looked to Rain.
The elder vampire looked torn for a moment before he finally pulled out his dagger and held it to his arm. “Jaejoong?” the vampire called to pull his gaze up. “Jaejoong, do you accept?”
Jae stared at the one thing that caught his attention in the haze of pain as he struggled to breathe—through the window, the shine from the moonlight reflected on the blade—and knew his answer had come long ago.
“Yes.”
~***~
a/n: sorry that was so long :/ had lots to put into one part. also sorry if there are any mistakes. i didn't get to edit it the way i wanted to so, hope you like~
Interlude
