Chapter Text
Dawn is still an hour off. The car’s headlights bounce crazily off the rough terrain as Vincenzo pulls up to the black vehicle waiting for him. Scattered nighttime traffic passes in the distance. Nobody has followed him. Nobody knows: Choi Myeonghee is burning. Jang Hanseok is beyond dying. Vincenzo has succeeded. As the adrenaline recedes, it leaves a hollowness in its wake.
As he shuts off his engine, his friends the intelligence agents An Giseok and Cho Yeongun get out of their agency-issued ATV. The tense line of Cho’s shoulders is cast in a high contrast shadow by the headlamps. Vincenzo can't imagine their news is good. Nor does his own victory feel anything like joy.
“Is it done?” asks Cho. Beside him, An has his eyes trained on Vincenzo’s face, an unreadable glint to them.
Vincenzo nods. He has cut off all the heads of the monster Babel. Nothing will grow back. Agent Cho exhales into the silence.
The dread pooled in Vincenzo’s belly weighs heavy but does not threaten to overwhelm him. The years have taught the Consigliere: this too shall pass. But in his mind’s eye playing on repeat is Chayoung collapsing, eyes rolling back in her head. Hanseo’s lips turning gray as he coughs up blood, again and again. The war hadn’t felt so vicious until he had failed to protect them.
“How are they?” he asks, bracing for bad news.
“Miss Hong is stable, sleeping and even eating a bit. And Mister Nam called earlier to say Jang Hanseo recovered consciousness in the past hour.”
Relief expands rapidly in his chest; Vincenzo grabs agent An’s arm with more force than he intended. He had good hope for Chayoung. But not for Hanseo.
“Hanseo is awake? Is he stable?”
Hanseo had been so pale and still. There had been so much blood in his mouth after his brother had shot him.
Don’t call, had said Chayoung. Don’t call before you go.
“-out. You're not on anyone’s list as of today. And- Vincenzo? Are you alright?”
His eyes refocus on An. “I’m fine.”
“Listen. We’ve blacked you out. You’re beholden to the agency for a lifetime of favours, probably, but otherwise a free man.”
“I’m what?”
“We didn’t have time to discuss. You were still off radar, and the chief had to act fast to delete your charges before you would start popping up in systems across the world. It was now or never. Agents on your case have received an update that you were running undercover ops all along, and are to be left alone. We uh, we assumed you’d be alright with staying in touch with chief Tae for when he could use some help.”
Vincenzo stares at them both for a long time. Then he lets out a small whoosh of air. Agent An takes the opportunity to hop over and hug him shamelessly.
“I can stay,” he tells himself.
“You better,” replies agent Cho.
An Giseok thumps Vincenzo on the back, thump thump thump, and it fills up the hollowness with an emotion like a hot air balloon.