[Fic] Same Kind of Different 26/30
May. 14th, 2011 12:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lotus_beautyTitle: Same Kind of Different
Author: LotusBeauty
Type: multi-chapter
Rating: R
Pairings: Yoochun/Jaejoong
Genre: AU, drama, fantasy, steampunk-ish, humor, angst, action, kitchen sink
Summary: In a world where a power called an attribute gives a person certain abilities, those with attributes are equally loved, hated and, well, normal. And just because people have attributes, doesn’t mean there isn’t crime, so Micky joins a bounty hunting team and finds while this is exactly what he was looking for, he might have found something else he didn’t know he needed. (previous chapters can be found HERE.)
Notes: contains world creation, fantasy elements, and just might have a bit of fun~ Profiles of characters can be found HERE :)
Disclaimer: Not mine, never were, but a girl can dream through fiction.
26: if it’s all my fault, will you still trust me?
Keita frowned at the stove. Stupid gas, it just wouldn’t start for him. He didn’t really want to fiddle with it or burn the kitchen down, but poking at it made him feel better.
“What’s the matter?” Sunny asked as she wandered in.
“Ah, I can’t get it to light,” he gestured at the metal monstrosity sheepishly. He’d never had a problem before, even with his mother’s finicky stove.
“Try again,” Sunny suggested, so Keita turned the knob. Sunny snapped her fingers and the gas was alight.
Keita smacked his forehead, feeling stupid. “Thanks.”
“No problem!” she told him with a grin.
“So, once we’re out of here, do you think it’ll be over?” he asked quietly as he moved pans around and reached for the food he planned to cook.
“Not by a long shot. I bet we’re gonna get to do some sneaky-peaky spying to get some more evidence on what’s really going on, then we can take down whoever is in charge of this kidnapping of innocent people and stealing their attributes.” She paused and hit the butt of her hand with a fist. “And we’ll get it done or there will be hell to pay.”
“Hell as in fiery inferno?” Keita teased.
“How did you guess?” she grinned before she reached over to grab his arm. “You want to put the butter in and melt it first, right.”
Keita stared at the ingredient in his hand, then at the pan that was warming and realized the step he’d missed. “So I do. Thanks!”
“And after that, time for some rest,” Sunny said finally with a nod.
“And make up for lost time,” he added quietly, wondering if he could let himself say something, just once.
“Hm?” Sunny leaned closer.
“I ..just…” Keita trailed off as he got caught by her eyes. He’d always liked her eyes. One might say that Boa and Sunny looked quite alike, same color hair and eyes, but Sunny’s eyes always had some spark in the, that Keita saw, and it made his heart pound and the words dry up in his mouth. He wanted to tell her…
Sunny finally lost her balance and fell against him and the stove. “Oops!” she said as he caught her and they realized she’d hit the knob, thus turning the gas off.
“Apparently my dinner wasn’t meant to be,” Keita joked as she giggled.
The moment was gone when crashing and yelling echoed from the front area of the cabin. “What the hell…?” He pushed the door open and stared in shock. Armed guards from the outpost were in the cabin, subduing the team in the front room as everyone tried to fight back. Keita couldn’t move as he watched a shorter man in black take off his gloves and touch Jaejoong’s neck, sending the young man to his knees as if he’d lost all energy, pale as a ghost.
This had to stop. The two took off up the hallway, but Keita skidded to a stop as Sunny hit his back. Three men in snow suits turned in their direction as Keita saw the rest of the team on their knees in the main room. They were outnumbered.
“RUN!” Yunho bellowed at him as he struggled against the man holding him, and Keita didn’t even think.
“Go!” He pushed at Sunny who was frozen, probably as torn as he was, but if they stayed, they would only get caught. The men started toward them as Keita put up a hand and put his attribute into his words. “Stop!” They froze, but he could see them struggling to grab their AA bats as others heard the commotion. “Run!” he snapped at Sunny, and he used his attribute to get her to do so, both turning tail to escape.
Keita grabbed Jiji, who had been hiding in the doorway of the room Jaejoong had, and he held the cat against his chest as they burst through the back entrance and ran. Jiji struggled against him and yowled, and Keita ignored his claws. What were a few scratches in exchange for escape? “We’ll find them, I promise,” he hissed at the cat as he ran, making for the tree line.
Jiji finally calmed as they hit the trees, and Keita let Sunny run on her own, only to watch as she slowed to hold out her hands and make multiple different trails in the snow with her attribute. Keita hoped it would work. The two plowed through the snow for as long as they could, not bothering to look back. When he finally did, Keita found no one following and slowed, hoping they’d made it.
“How far do your fake trails go?” he asked as they paused for a breather.
“Not far,” she answered and raised a hand to touch his arm. He immediately felt warm, the cold no longer biting at his skin. “Let’s keep going, we should try to find Boa and Changmin. They’d just left to get wood for the fire.”
Keita nodded, his mind jumping at the hope that their other two friends hadn’t been on their way back. Sunny took Jiji to keep him warm and the two took off at a jog in the direction they thought a nearby trail cut through. It took longer than expected, but soon enough, Keita blundered through a drift of snow and fell onto the trail.
He cursed as he sat up, checking his newly skinned elbow. Ow. He jumped, startled as a shadow appeared next to him, but sighed in relief when he realized who the owner was.
“Gods, Changmin.” He put a hand to his chest as Sunny slid down the drift.
“What happened?” Boa asked as she approached and took Jiji from Sunny.
“They found the cabin,” Keita told them as Changmin handed him a handkerchief for his arm. “We were the only two that got out, I think.”
“Oh, god,” Boa murmured. “We need to rescue them.”
Sunny shook her head. “It’s not that simple. It was an entire fleet of AO guards and they weren’t newbies.”
Changmin cursed. “Was Gackt there?”
Keita shook his head. “Not that I know of. I didn’t hear him anyway.”
“What about the man named Hyde?”
“I don’t know. What does he look like?”
“They told me he can drain power from other people—”
He nodded. “There was a man who touched Jaejoong, and he fell to his knees, like all the power was being taken from him.”
“That is his attribute,” Sunny said softly as they all looked to her. “That’s why he runs the drain devices and trains others to work them. I asked Micky about how they worked after we met Changmin, and what he told me scared me.” She shivered then. “He said Hyde’s attribute drains people when he touches them, leaving them powerless. The AA material, like the bats and cancelling cuffs, were inventions he worked on as well.”
“No wonder he’s so high up in the order,” Changmin muttered.
“We are definitely at a disadvantage,” Sunny added as she glanced around the clearing.
Boa shivered as Changmin went silent and looked around. “We need to find some shelter.”
“We need to find a place for you to get warm,” Keita told Boa as Sunny set a warming spell on her.
“You don’t need to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can take care of yourself, but now you’re caring for two,” Changmin reminded her as she glanced away. “There’s nothing wrong with a bit of special treatment now and then.”
“I don’t want to be treated differently. I want to fight like everyone else,” she retorted.
Keita shook his head and stepped forward to take her shoulders. “I know I haven’t been on the team long, and I know you’re capable of protecting yourself, but I worry about you, Boa. If you’re not careful, you might lose the one thing of him you still have.”
Boa looked away, then down at the ground as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I understand,” she replied quietly. “It doesn’t feel right sitting at home not doing anything though.”
“No one said you had to sit around and wait. Just stay calm and think before you act,” Keita urged and she nodded. He glanced to Sunny to see her acting as if she was pretending not to listen. Why do that? Keita stared at her until she finally glanced over and gave her a look as if to say ‘a little help here?’
“He’s right! We need to think this through and I’m sure we’ll be able to find and rescue everyone!” she said as she took one of Boa’s arms and pulled her away from Keita, leading her down the trail. Somehow, just the fact that she’d done exactly what he’d wanted without him saying a word made him feel just a little better. Now to worry about how their friends were faring.
Keita wondered what Micky was thinking.
~*~
At that moment, Micky was thinking about how much he wanted to stab things. Firstly—Hyde, the man who was now circling him. Hyde was taller than him for once, because Micky was on his knees, but that didn’t stop his murderous glare at the betrayal.
Hyde didn’t say anything as he inspected each one of them. No one else did either. Micky had learned long ago from Hyde that exchanging taunts was in bad form, and a waste of breath. His tips had always been helpful, but Micky wondered what other things he’d lied about.
“Six attribute users, three of them formerly of the Action Order and one a former prisoner, sir,” one of the guards told him with a salute.
Hyde nodded. “The other two?”
“A bounty hunter and a thief.” The guard caught a nasty glare from Jessica for that one.
“Only six?” Hyde asked.
“Two got away. We’ve searched the cabin, no others are hiding. Shall we go after the ones that escaped?”
“That’s not necessary,” he told the guard and the man saluted.
Micky let out a sigh of relief. The others—with hopefully the sense not to come back—were safe. He was glad Boa had been out getting firewood with Changmin, or else he might have killed someone to keep her from getting hurt.
“If you’d just done your job, none of this would have happened.”
Micky blinked when he realized the words were meant for him and looked up to see Hyde’s eyes on him. “What do you mean?”
“All you had to do was your job. Do the job, come back, report, and go on to the next. But no, you had to get attached, fall in love and leave. Idiot.” Micky flinched at the word, as if Hyde spat on him. “And the one time I truly counted on you.”
“But it’s not against the rules to leave if I do. It’s encouraged to leave if your feelings compromise the mission,” he replied, meeting the man’s gaze.
“No, but like I said, if you hadn’t gotten attached, none of this would have happened. I would have been satisfied by your report; you would have gone off to your next job. Then once the machine was ready, my men would have taken Jaejoong and extracted his attribute. He might have been a bit worse for wear, but I would have sent him home.” Hyde paused and leaned over to stare menacingly into his eyes. “And your friends would still be alive.”
Micky’s breath left him in shock. Would they really still be alive?
“Don’t listen to him!” Jaejoong cut in, but was backhanded by one of the guards and fell to his side.
“What did I tell you about hurting him?” With a growl of anger, Hyde grabbed the guard’s neck and Micky watched as Hyde drained his energy away. Micky’s eyes flicked to Jaejoong and he shook his head slightly. As much as he’d respected Hyde, the man’s attribute always scared the shit out of him.
Hyde threw the guard to the floor and returned to Micky. “Accept your fate, or you will join him.”
“Why?” Micky asked when Hyde turned away. “Why are you doing this? Why him? What are you going to do to him?”
He turned back to Micky, his eyes narrowed. “Did you listen to what I said? It’s his attribute I want, not him. I don’t have any perverse need for him like those idiot brothers I hired so long ago. Though he is pretty.” Hyde touched Jaejoong’s face, but his heart wasn’t in it, and Jaejoong just narrowed his eyes in response. Hyde moved to Micky and crouched down before him. “I sent you because you were trustworthy and reliable. I wanted to know the extent of his powers, which exceeded my predictions by more than I could have hoped. You just got in the way.”
“Then why did you send the threats? And Gackt?” Micky demanded, hurt as he remembered everything they went through.
Hyde sneered as he stood. “Gackt? He does have a flair for the dramatic, and he thinks of his enemies as toys, the fool, but I use him because I trust him. When you managed to escape with Jaejoong, I decided to finally take the situation into my own hands, which is why I’m here now.”
In a backwards sort of way, Micky was glad it was Hyde and not Gackt. At least their deaths would be swift and painless.
“Dwell on what I’ve told you as you’re moved.” He stopped before Micky and pulled his gloves on. “You should know, even better than I, how much regret hides inside your heart.”
Micky felt the pang in his chest as he was pulled to his feet. If he had left when he was supposed to—if he had left without giving in to his feelings—would Rain and Yoseob really still be alive? Had he unintentionally put an end to their lives? Guilt built up in his mind, weighing him down as the guards dragged them all outside and onto a truck, where they were bound tightly over the cancelling cuffs they all wore and gagged before a hood went over each team member’s head.
He could hear Jessica fight and scream as they forced her down and shoved the hood over her head. Micky cried as he heard her give up, one of the most painful sounds he’d ever heard. He knew how much she hated to be bound or held prisoner. Even without his attribute, he could hear her hyperventilating.
“Yunho?” she tried quietly.
“You forgot her gag,” one of the guards said.
There was movement and Jessica began to screech again, begging them not to put the gag on her.
“Leave her be,” Hyde’s voice cut through the struggle. “Put the bounty hunter beside her.”
A hand touched Micky’s shoulder and Hyde whispered in his ear. “You were one of my best pupils. Look at what your hard work has produced.” The hood came off and across from him he saw Jessica curled up against Yunho. There were wet spots on the cloth over Jessica’s face and Micky knew.
“At least I can make your ride there comfortable,” Hyde added as he walked away and Micky noticed Jaejoong sitting next to him, no gag, but blindfolded. A sight he never wanted to see was supposed to make him comfortable? Hyde had a twisted sense of humor. Nonetheless, Micky was glad to be next to Jaejoong, but he had to close his eyes. Could he pretend this wasn’t happening? Could he go back and make a different decision? The tears crept down his cheeks as he scooted closer to lean against him. Jaejoong’s head rested against his with a sigh of resignation.
This is all my fault.
~***~
The train ride had been awful. Yunho tried to sleep for most of it, but they’d been thrown into a baggage car, and the hard wood floor hadn’t been the most comfortable in his life. Especially with the bouncing and rocking movements.
After the train, everyone had been blindfolded and when they were taken off, Yunho found himself in a cell with Jessica. For a moment, he thought it wouldn’t be so bad, but he knew there had to be a catch.
Yunho watched as Jessica tugged on the chains that were connected to the cuffs that bound her wrists. She grunted with effort, trying a few more times before she gave up and slumped down on her knees. It hurt to watch her give up. He wanted to hug her, comfort her—anything—but he couldn’t. Each of them had been cuffed and connected to chains their ends were three feet apart. They could see one another, and talk, but they couldn’t touch.
“How long do you think we’ll be in here?” she asked finally, the chain clinking quietly as she toyed with it.
“Long enough for them to think they’ve tortured us enough.” Yunho shrugged. “At least they’ll feed us.”
“They had to on the train, but here too? How do you know that?”
“I asked Micky to tell me about the AO when he asked to join our team. He was more than willing, talking about how good the AO was, how he enjoyed travelling to find and help people.” Yunho smiled to himself. “He was like the poster boy, out to convert people, but not really. He just believed in what he was doing. He liked it. He really liked finding and helping people overcome things. But I think when he found us, he found out what he really loved—and not just Jaejoong.”
“I know that feeling,” Jessica murmured and Yunho felt his heart warm. “At least they let us sit together on the truck and the train.”
Yunho smiled wryly. What he wouldn’t give to be able to wipe away her tears.
~*~
“So.” Junho looked up at his twin.
“So,” Junsu answered as he inspected the cuffs on his wrists.
“Are you glad Changmin isn’t here?”
“Are you glad Boa isn’t here?”
Junho glanced away. “You would notice that.”
Junsu snorted. “I’m your twin, I’m supposed to notice things like that.”
“Point taken.”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“I wish Changmin were here. He’d find some technical way out,” Junsu said as his eyes wandered the room.
It was an interesting room, made of the metal infused with the AA material, so clearly, they couldn’t use their attributes. To add insult to injury (so to speak) they were chained to opposite sides of the wall. They had of course tested the reach and found that they could almost get to one another, but were about three feet short. Junho thought it a perverse sort of torture. Junsu found it funny and claimed he didn’t want to sit near his brother. The truth was probably the opposite.
“Yeah. I do wish Boa were here.”
Junsu laughed. “What would she do?”
“Claw her way out.”
~*~
“When I joined the AO, I couldn’t do everything myself because I was rising in the ranks of the order. Even now, I’m much too busy. Gackt helped and did most of the dirty work until those who thought like me weren’t scared to approve the kind of experiments I was doing ,” Hyde told them as the guards clapped the cuffs around their wrists. “You two are getting special treatment and will be first, once I have the damn machine calibrated properly. You are the most troublesome and worthwhile. I want to make sure your procedure is over and done with before anything else can happen. Your friends will follow.”
Sweet of him to let them get it over and done with as soon as possible, Micky thought to himself. Jaejoong just stared at the floor, and Micky figured he’d resigned himself to the situation.
“Why put us together?”
Hyde just smirked as the guards told him they were secure, and they left the cell.
Jaejoong and Micky had just sat and stared at one another for a little while after the guards left. After that, Jaejoong tinkered with the cuffs for a little while before giving up. There was nothing to do but wait. Micky found it interesting that neither of them panicked or anything of the sort. Keeping calm would keep them out of trouble. Or at least he hoped.
“Do you really think it was your fault?”
Micky looked up at him, then glanced away. “No, but he had a point.” He heard Jaejoong’s sigh and hoped he wasn’t going to get some sort of rare lecture from his lover.
“I’m glad you taught me to live.” Jaejoong’s voice echoed in the room, and Micky felt his chest go tight at the words and the feeling in them. “I wouldn’t have been able to learn and feel all I have without your constant annoying presence.”
Micky snorted. “I am rather annoying, aren’t I?”
“Let’s use that to our advantage.”
So they played a word game. Afterward, they moved on to a gesture game. Once they got tired of that, they split off for a little while as Micky inspected the room, and Jaejoong did exercises out of boredom. The sound of the moving chains eased Micky’s apprehensiveness, but it was weird to only hear what was in the room, and at such a normal level. It made him wonder if he should wear something with the AA material—and then he remembered he wouldn’t have his attribute after this ordeal.
Finally, Micky gave up trying to find any weaknesses in the walls and went back to sitting as close to Jaejoong as possible. It was then he noticed Jaejoong’s position on the floor and an idea floated into his mind. Jaejoong just blinked at him and Micky had a feeling he had a rather interesting expression on his face.
“Come here,” he gestured and Jaejoong crawled across the floor. “Lay on your back,” he said and saw Jaejoong’s eyes light up when he realized what Micky was doing. They lay with their backs on the floor, heads toward one another as they situated themselves. The top of Micky’s head touched Jaejoong’s shoulder and he had to smile at himself for the idea. Jaejoong chuckled in amusement as Micky nuzzled him upside down. It was much better than not being able to be near one another at all.
“Do you think they use this as a test?” Jaejoong asked.
“Pretty messed up test if you ask me, but I wouldn’t put it past them to use it to figure out the demeanor of their captives.
“Hmm.” Jaejoong nodded in agreement.
“But we passed.” Micky mirrored Jaejoong’s grin and felt rather proud of himself.
“When I was kidnapped, I kept wondering…” Jaejoong trailed off, like he’d changed his mind about what he was going to say.
“Wondering?” Micky prompted, now curious.
“Wondering if our relationship really had been worth it if I was just going to end up dying.”
Micky went still, surprised by the admission considering their earlier conversation. “And?”
Jaejoong turned his head to look at him, and then leaned closer to kiss him. His smile afterward made Micky’s heart jump in his chest.
“I don’t know why I was expecting an explanation with words.” Micky chuckled.
“You know better than that.”
“I do.”
~***~
this part went longer than expected so... i had to cut some and make another part. 30 is a nice round number. i may go back to 29 depending on how things work out! i apologize having been so long, i've been making uchiwa for the upcoming jyj concert, and ended up having to do a long work stint to get the days off @__@;
Part 27
Author: LotusBeauty
Type: multi-chapter
Rating: R
Pairings: Yoochun/Jaejoong
Genre: AU, drama, fantasy, steampunk-ish, humor, angst, action, kitchen sink
Summary: In a world where a power called an attribute gives a person certain abilities, those with attributes are equally loved, hated and, well, normal. And just because people have attributes, doesn’t mean there isn’t crime, so Micky joins a bounty hunting team and finds while this is exactly what he was looking for, he might have found something else he didn’t know he needed. (previous chapters can be found HERE.)
Notes: contains world creation, fantasy elements, and just might have a bit of fun~ Profiles of characters can be found HERE :)
Disclaimer: Not mine, never were, but a girl can dream through fiction.
26: if it’s all my fault, will you still trust me?
Keita frowned at the stove. Stupid gas, it just wouldn’t start for him. He didn’t really want to fiddle with it or burn the kitchen down, but poking at it made him feel better.
“What’s the matter?” Sunny asked as she wandered in.
“Ah, I can’t get it to light,” he gestured at the metal monstrosity sheepishly. He’d never had a problem before, even with his mother’s finicky stove.
“Try again,” Sunny suggested, so Keita turned the knob. Sunny snapped her fingers and the gas was alight.
Keita smacked his forehead, feeling stupid. “Thanks.”
“No problem!” she told him with a grin.
“So, once we’re out of here, do you think it’ll be over?” he asked quietly as he moved pans around and reached for the food he planned to cook.
“Not by a long shot. I bet we’re gonna get to do some sneaky-peaky spying to get some more evidence on what’s really going on, then we can take down whoever is in charge of this kidnapping of innocent people and stealing their attributes.” She paused and hit the butt of her hand with a fist. “And we’ll get it done or there will be hell to pay.”
“Hell as in fiery inferno?” Keita teased.
“How did you guess?” she grinned before she reached over to grab his arm. “You want to put the butter in and melt it first, right.”
Keita stared at the ingredient in his hand, then at the pan that was warming and realized the step he’d missed. “So I do. Thanks!”
“And after that, time for some rest,” Sunny said finally with a nod.
“And make up for lost time,” he added quietly, wondering if he could let himself say something, just once.
“Hm?” Sunny leaned closer.
“I ..just…” Keita trailed off as he got caught by her eyes. He’d always liked her eyes. One might say that Boa and Sunny looked quite alike, same color hair and eyes, but Sunny’s eyes always had some spark in the, that Keita saw, and it made his heart pound and the words dry up in his mouth. He wanted to tell her…
Sunny finally lost her balance and fell against him and the stove. “Oops!” she said as he caught her and they realized she’d hit the knob, thus turning the gas off.
“Apparently my dinner wasn’t meant to be,” Keita joked as she giggled.
The moment was gone when crashing and yelling echoed from the front area of the cabin. “What the hell…?” He pushed the door open and stared in shock. Armed guards from the outpost were in the cabin, subduing the team in the front room as everyone tried to fight back. Keita couldn’t move as he watched a shorter man in black take off his gloves and touch Jaejoong’s neck, sending the young man to his knees as if he’d lost all energy, pale as a ghost.
This had to stop. The two took off up the hallway, but Keita skidded to a stop as Sunny hit his back. Three men in snow suits turned in their direction as Keita saw the rest of the team on their knees in the main room. They were outnumbered.
“RUN!” Yunho bellowed at him as he struggled against the man holding him, and Keita didn’t even think.
“Go!” He pushed at Sunny who was frozen, probably as torn as he was, but if they stayed, they would only get caught. The men started toward them as Keita put up a hand and put his attribute into his words. “Stop!” They froze, but he could see them struggling to grab their AA bats as others heard the commotion. “Run!” he snapped at Sunny, and he used his attribute to get her to do so, both turning tail to escape.
Keita grabbed Jiji, who had been hiding in the doorway of the room Jaejoong had, and he held the cat against his chest as they burst through the back entrance and ran. Jiji struggled against him and yowled, and Keita ignored his claws. What were a few scratches in exchange for escape? “We’ll find them, I promise,” he hissed at the cat as he ran, making for the tree line.
Jiji finally calmed as they hit the trees, and Keita let Sunny run on her own, only to watch as she slowed to hold out her hands and make multiple different trails in the snow with her attribute. Keita hoped it would work. The two plowed through the snow for as long as they could, not bothering to look back. When he finally did, Keita found no one following and slowed, hoping they’d made it.
“How far do your fake trails go?” he asked as they paused for a breather.
“Not far,” she answered and raised a hand to touch his arm. He immediately felt warm, the cold no longer biting at his skin. “Let’s keep going, we should try to find Boa and Changmin. They’d just left to get wood for the fire.”
Keita nodded, his mind jumping at the hope that their other two friends hadn’t been on their way back. Sunny took Jiji to keep him warm and the two took off at a jog in the direction they thought a nearby trail cut through. It took longer than expected, but soon enough, Keita blundered through a drift of snow and fell onto the trail.
He cursed as he sat up, checking his newly skinned elbow. Ow. He jumped, startled as a shadow appeared next to him, but sighed in relief when he realized who the owner was.
“Gods, Changmin.” He put a hand to his chest as Sunny slid down the drift.
“What happened?” Boa asked as she approached and took Jiji from Sunny.
“They found the cabin,” Keita told them as Changmin handed him a handkerchief for his arm. “We were the only two that got out, I think.”
“Oh, god,” Boa murmured. “We need to rescue them.”
Sunny shook her head. “It’s not that simple. It was an entire fleet of AO guards and they weren’t newbies.”
Changmin cursed. “Was Gackt there?”
Keita shook his head. “Not that I know of. I didn’t hear him anyway.”
“What about the man named Hyde?”
“I don’t know. What does he look like?”
“They told me he can drain power from other people—”
He nodded. “There was a man who touched Jaejoong, and he fell to his knees, like all the power was being taken from him.”
“That is his attribute,” Sunny said softly as they all looked to her. “That’s why he runs the drain devices and trains others to work them. I asked Micky about how they worked after we met Changmin, and what he told me scared me.” She shivered then. “He said Hyde’s attribute drains people when he touches them, leaving them powerless. The AA material, like the bats and cancelling cuffs, were inventions he worked on as well.”
“No wonder he’s so high up in the order,” Changmin muttered.
“We are definitely at a disadvantage,” Sunny added as she glanced around the clearing.
Boa shivered as Changmin went silent and looked around. “We need to find some shelter.”
“We need to find a place for you to get warm,” Keita told Boa as Sunny set a warming spell on her.
“You don’t need to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can take care of yourself, but now you’re caring for two,” Changmin reminded her as she glanced away. “There’s nothing wrong with a bit of special treatment now and then.”
“I don’t want to be treated differently. I want to fight like everyone else,” she retorted.
Keita shook his head and stepped forward to take her shoulders. “I know I haven’t been on the team long, and I know you’re capable of protecting yourself, but I worry about you, Boa. If you’re not careful, you might lose the one thing of him you still have.”
Boa looked away, then down at the ground as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I understand,” she replied quietly. “It doesn’t feel right sitting at home not doing anything though.”
“No one said you had to sit around and wait. Just stay calm and think before you act,” Keita urged and she nodded. He glanced to Sunny to see her acting as if she was pretending not to listen. Why do that? Keita stared at her until she finally glanced over and gave her a look as if to say ‘a little help here?’
“He’s right! We need to think this through and I’m sure we’ll be able to find and rescue everyone!” she said as she took one of Boa’s arms and pulled her away from Keita, leading her down the trail. Somehow, just the fact that she’d done exactly what he’d wanted without him saying a word made him feel just a little better. Now to worry about how their friends were faring.
Keita wondered what Micky was thinking.
~*~
At that moment, Micky was thinking about how much he wanted to stab things. Firstly—Hyde, the man who was now circling him. Hyde was taller than him for once, because Micky was on his knees, but that didn’t stop his murderous glare at the betrayal.
Hyde didn’t say anything as he inspected each one of them. No one else did either. Micky had learned long ago from Hyde that exchanging taunts was in bad form, and a waste of breath. His tips had always been helpful, but Micky wondered what other things he’d lied about.
“Six attribute users, three of them formerly of the Action Order and one a former prisoner, sir,” one of the guards told him with a salute.
Hyde nodded. “The other two?”
“A bounty hunter and a thief.” The guard caught a nasty glare from Jessica for that one.
“Only six?” Hyde asked.
“Two got away. We’ve searched the cabin, no others are hiding. Shall we go after the ones that escaped?”
“That’s not necessary,” he told the guard and the man saluted.
Micky let out a sigh of relief. The others—with hopefully the sense not to come back—were safe. He was glad Boa had been out getting firewood with Changmin, or else he might have killed someone to keep her from getting hurt.
“If you’d just done your job, none of this would have happened.”
Micky blinked when he realized the words were meant for him and looked up to see Hyde’s eyes on him. “What do you mean?”
“All you had to do was your job. Do the job, come back, report, and go on to the next. But no, you had to get attached, fall in love and leave. Idiot.” Micky flinched at the word, as if Hyde spat on him. “And the one time I truly counted on you.”
“But it’s not against the rules to leave if I do. It’s encouraged to leave if your feelings compromise the mission,” he replied, meeting the man’s gaze.
“No, but like I said, if you hadn’t gotten attached, none of this would have happened. I would have been satisfied by your report; you would have gone off to your next job. Then once the machine was ready, my men would have taken Jaejoong and extracted his attribute. He might have been a bit worse for wear, but I would have sent him home.” Hyde paused and leaned over to stare menacingly into his eyes. “And your friends would still be alive.”
Micky’s breath left him in shock. Would they really still be alive?
“Don’t listen to him!” Jaejoong cut in, but was backhanded by one of the guards and fell to his side.
“What did I tell you about hurting him?” With a growl of anger, Hyde grabbed the guard’s neck and Micky watched as Hyde drained his energy away. Micky’s eyes flicked to Jaejoong and he shook his head slightly. As much as he’d respected Hyde, the man’s attribute always scared the shit out of him.
Hyde threw the guard to the floor and returned to Micky. “Accept your fate, or you will join him.”
“Why?” Micky asked when Hyde turned away. “Why are you doing this? Why him? What are you going to do to him?”
He turned back to Micky, his eyes narrowed. “Did you listen to what I said? It’s his attribute I want, not him. I don’t have any perverse need for him like those idiot brothers I hired so long ago. Though he is pretty.” Hyde touched Jaejoong’s face, but his heart wasn’t in it, and Jaejoong just narrowed his eyes in response. Hyde moved to Micky and crouched down before him. “I sent you because you were trustworthy and reliable. I wanted to know the extent of his powers, which exceeded my predictions by more than I could have hoped. You just got in the way.”
“Then why did you send the threats? And Gackt?” Micky demanded, hurt as he remembered everything they went through.
Hyde sneered as he stood. “Gackt? He does have a flair for the dramatic, and he thinks of his enemies as toys, the fool, but I use him because I trust him. When you managed to escape with Jaejoong, I decided to finally take the situation into my own hands, which is why I’m here now.”
In a backwards sort of way, Micky was glad it was Hyde and not Gackt. At least their deaths would be swift and painless.
“Dwell on what I’ve told you as you’re moved.” He stopped before Micky and pulled his gloves on. “You should know, even better than I, how much regret hides inside your heart.”
Micky felt the pang in his chest as he was pulled to his feet. If he had left when he was supposed to—if he had left without giving in to his feelings—would Rain and Yoseob really still be alive? Had he unintentionally put an end to their lives? Guilt built up in his mind, weighing him down as the guards dragged them all outside and onto a truck, where they were bound tightly over the cancelling cuffs they all wore and gagged before a hood went over each team member’s head.
He could hear Jessica fight and scream as they forced her down and shoved the hood over her head. Micky cried as he heard her give up, one of the most painful sounds he’d ever heard. He knew how much she hated to be bound or held prisoner. Even without his attribute, he could hear her hyperventilating.
“Yunho?” she tried quietly.
“You forgot her gag,” one of the guards said.
There was movement and Jessica began to screech again, begging them not to put the gag on her.
“Leave her be,” Hyde’s voice cut through the struggle. “Put the bounty hunter beside her.”
A hand touched Micky’s shoulder and Hyde whispered in his ear. “You were one of my best pupils. Look at what your hard work has produced.” The hood came off and across from him he saw Jessica curled up against Yunho. There were wet spots on the cloth over Jessica’s face and Micky knew.
“At least I can make your ride there comfortable,” Hyde added as he walked away and Micky noticed Jaejoong sitting next to him, no gag, but blindfolded. A sight he never wanted to see was supposed to make him comfortable? Hyde had a twisted sense of humor. Nonetheless, Micky was glad to be next to Jaejoong, but he had to close his eyes. Could he pretend this wasn’t happening? Could he go back and make a different decision? The tears crept down his cheeks as he scooted closer to lean against him. Jaejoong’s head rested against his with a sigh of resignation.
This is all my fault.
~***~
The train ride had been awful. Yunho tried to sleep for most of it, but they’d been thrown into a baggage car, and the hard wood floor hadn’t been the most comfortable in his life. Especially with the bouncing and rocking movements.
After the train, everyone had been blindfolded and when they were taken off, Yunho found himself in a cell with Jessica. For a moment, he thought it wouldn’t be so bad, but he knew there had to be a catch.
Yunho watched as Jessica tugged on the chains that were connected to the cuffs that bound her wrists. She grunted with effort, trying a few more times before she gave up and slumped down on her knees. It hurt to watch her give up. He wanted to hug her, comfort her—anything—but he couldn’t. Each of them had been cuffed and connected to chains their ends were three feet apart. They could see one another, and talk, but they couldn’t touch.
“How long do you think we’ll be in here?” she asked finally, the chain clinking quietly as she toyed with it.
“Long enough for them to think they’ve tortured us enough.” Yunho shrugged. “At least they’ll feed us.”
“They had to on the train, but here too? How do you know that?”
“I asked Micky to tell me about the AO when he asked to join our team. He was more than willing, talking about how good the AO was, how he enjoyed travelling to find and help people.” Yunho smiled to himself. “He was like the poster boy, out to convert people, but not really. He just believed in what he was doing. He liked it. He really liked finding and helping people overcome things. But I think when he found us, he found out what he really loved—and not just Jaejoong.”
“I know that feeling,” Jessica murmured and Yunho felt his heart warm. “At least they let us sit together on the truck and the train.”
Yunho smiled wryly. What he wouldn’t give to be able to wipe away her tears.
~*~
“So.” Junho looked up at his twin.
“So,” Junsu answered as he inspected the cuffs on his wrists.
“Are you glad Changmin isn’t here?”
“Are you glad Boa isn’t here?”
Junho glanced away. “You would notice that.”
Junsu snorted. “I’m your twin, I’m supposed to notice things like that.”
“Point taken.”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“I wish Changmin were here. He’d find some technical way out,” Junsu said as his eyes wandered the room.
It was an interesting room, made of the metal infused with the AA material, so clearly, they couldn’t use their attributes. To add insult to injury (so to speak) they were chained to opposite sides of the wall. They had of course tested the reach and found that they could almost get to one another, but were about three feet short. Junho thought it a perverse sort of torture. Junsu found it funny and claimed he didn’t want to sit near his brother. The truth was probably the opposite.
“Yeah. I do wish Boa were here.”
Junsu laughed. “What would she do?”
“Claw her way out.”
~*~
“When I joined the AO, I couldn’t do everything myself because I was rising in the ranks of the order. Even now, I’m much too busy. Gackt helped and did most of the dirty work until those who thought like me weren’t scared to approve the kind of experiments I was doing ,” Hyde told them as the guards clapped the cuffs around their wrists. “You two are getting special treatment and will be first, once I have the damn machine calibrated properly. You are the most troublesome and worthwhile. I want to make sure your procedure is over and done with before anything else can happen. Your friends will follow.”
Sweet of him to let them get it over and done with as soon as possible, Micky thought to himself. Jaejoong just stared at the floor, and Micky figured he’d resigned himself to the situation.
“Why put us together?”
Hyde just smirked as the guards told him they were secure, and they left the cell.
Jaejoong and Micky had just sat and stared at one another for a little while after the guards left. After that, Jaejoong tinkered with the cuffs for a little while before giving up. There was nothing to do but wait. Micky found it interesting that neither of them panicked or anything of the sort. Keeping calm would keep them out of trouble. Or at least he hoped.
“Do you really think it was your fault?”
Micky looked up at him, then glanced away. “No, but he had a point.” He heard Jaejoong’s sigh and hoped he wasn’t going to get some sort of rare lecture from his lover.
“I’m glad you taught me to live.” Jaejoong’s voice echoed in the room, and Micky felt his chest go tight at the words and the feeling in them. “I wouldn’t have been able to learn and feel all I have without your constant annoying presence.”
Micky snorted. “I am rather annoying, aren’t I?”
“Let’s use that to our advantage.”
So they played a word game. Afterward, they moved on to a gesture game. Once they got tired of that, they split off for a little while as Micky inspected the room, and Jaejoong did exercises out of boredom. The sound of the moving chains eased Micky’s apprehensiveness, but it was weird to only hear what was in the room, and at such a normal level. It made him wonder if he should wear something with the AA material—and then he remembered he wouldn’t have his attribute after this ordeal.
Finally, Micky gave up trying to find any weaknesses in the walls and went back to sitting as close to Jaejoong as possible. It was then he noticed Jaejoong’s position on the floor and an idea floated into his mind. Jaejoong just blinked at him and Micky had a feeling he had a rather interesting expression on his face.
“Come here,” he gestured and Jaejoong crawled across the floor. “Lay on your back,” he said and saw Jaejoong’s eyes light up when he realized what Micky was doing. They lay with their backs on the floor, heads toward one another as they situated themselves. The top of Micky’s head touched Jaejoong’s shoulder and he had to smile at himself for the idea. Jaejoong chuckled in amusement as Micky nuzzled him upside down. It was much better than not being able to be near one another at all.
“Do you think they use this as a test?” Jaejoong asked.
“Pretty messed up test if you ask me, but I wouldn’t put it past them to use it to figure out the demeanor of their captives.
“Hmm.” Jaejoong nodded in agreement.
“But we passed.” Micky mirrored Jaejoong’s grin and felt rather proud of himself.
“When I was kidnapped, I kept wondering…” Jaejoong trailed off, like he’d changed his mind about what he was going to say.
“Wondering?” Micky prompted, now curious.
“Wondering if our relationship really had been worth it if I was just going to end up dying.”
Micky went still, surprised by the admission considering their earlier conversation. “And?”
Jaejoong turned his head to look at him, and then leaned closer to kiss him. His smile afterward made Micky’s heart jump in his chest.
“I don’t know why I was expecting an explanation with words.” Micky chuckled.
“You know better than that.”
“I do.”
~***~
this part went longer than expected so... i had to cut some and make another part. 30 is a nice round number. i may go back to 29 depending on how things work out! i apologize having been so long, i've been making uchiwa for the upcoming jyj concert, and ended up having to do a long work stint to get the days off @__@;
Part 27
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 08:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 06:19 pm (UTC)/sigh this chap broke my heart TT Hyde! I HATE YOU! Take the damn attribute and let them live! don't hurt anyone, i don't want another one dying here :((
Keita likes Sunny <33 Junho likes BoA <33 that's nice!
no subject
Date: 2011-06-02 05:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-02 07:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 08:52 am (UTC)damn stupid ao agents, leave the bounty hunters alone!!
yay! an extra chapter longer~ ^^
no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 11:01 am (UTC)30 is a nice round number like you said and we're one happy group of readers!
anyway...goodness...everything is so fast and just >> I hate HYDE so much now...he must've been a bit crazy...*sobs* and to know that he's been planning it from the start and had been using Micky all along...I feel bad for Micky..it hurts so much to think that he did any of it and I'm just glad Jaejoong is there to commfort him.
p/s: make a big uchiwa! Uchiwa is the easiest thing to raise in a concert and dance around with rofl!
no subject
Date: 2011-06-02 05:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 11:31 am (UTC)And you're back!!!! I kept refreshing your page to see if I'd missed any updates! =P Glad to see you back! *^^*
no subject
Date: 2011-06-02 05:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 01:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-02 05:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 02:10 pm (UTC)I'm starting to wonder if they all would get out alive TT or even get to keep their attributes. But even if they do escape will they be on the run forever? Hiding from AO? I'm thinking too much :p
I'll leave it to the author xD *nervous*
no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 02:34 pm (UTC)kgjnslkgjnl
/kicks hyde
oooh you're going to one of the jyj concerts? which one? :o
no subject
Date: 2011-06-02 05:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 03:08 pm (UTC)see ... this is cliff *points*
this is me at the edge of the cliff *gestures*
and that *points beyond the cliff, over the abyss of death* ... that is your story, and god damn it I want to jump and get it.
*runs in circles screaming*
no subject
Date: 2011-06-02 05:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 04:32 pm (UTC)And just when I thought things will become calmer...bang this happens. Well maybe I should have known the grand finale was coming up
no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 04:40 pm (UTC)At least Boa, Min, Keita, Sunny and JiJi escaped, now they need to find a way to save the others. Perhaps they should attempt contacting Tiffany and Yoochun's bro. They are gonna need all the help they can get if they are going to save the other's BEFORE Hyde succeeds in draining them all of their attribute!
no subject
Date: 2011-05-14 08:37 pm (UTC)Yay for an extra chapter! ^^
no subject
Date: 2011-05-15 02:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-16 05:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-16 07:16 am (UTC)it`s so sweet..
no subject
Date: 2011-05-19 02:43 pm (UTC)it's amazing how u cld turn the most intense moment
into a rather romantic jaechun moment.
i love it!
no subject
Date: 2011-05-20 06:45 am (UTC)i know i shouldn't be doing that ranting here in this chapter but i had to repress freaking out and force myself to read all 26 chapters first...
*huffs*
why do these things happen to them? why them? why gackt & hyde? will they ever get out of this mess? how will keita, sunny, boa & changmin come up with a plan to get them all out & put an end to hyde's greed? will kyuhyun come into the picture? will heechul, hyukjae, taemin & hangeng help? wait. tiff & yoohwan & jiyong weren't caught right?
so... now what?
TT^TT i want to know so bad... so i really hope you can update soon!!!
no subject
Date: 2011-05-20 06:46 am (UTC)my hat goes off to you~^^