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“Where do you think you’re going?” Hongjoong’s voice makes Yunho falter in his steps. Just for a moment, but he does stop, despite his mind screaming at him, urging him to move, save, he needs me—
Yunho doesn’t say anything, continuing his swift pace through the empty corridors. They feel suffocating like never before, the weight of solid ground and rocks squashing him down. With no sound of Mingi’s laugh echoing through the base, Yunho feels like he’s about to collapse under their pressure.
“Yunho!” Hongjoong’s voice takes on a stern undertone, the one Yunho can’t help but obey, years serving as his right hand forcing him to acknowledge his commander.
“They have him,” the words hurt Yunho’s throat as he utters them. “They have Mingi.”
“And you want to…what? Charge at a government facility with nothing but rage and a blaster?” Hongjoong arches his eyebrow, coming up to Yunho and regarding him with an unamused glance.
“What do you suggest then?” He doesn’t mean to snap, but the buzz of worry under his skin makes him feel like a twig ready to snap. “Do nothing?”
He hopes, he prays that Hongjoong will argue with him. Because if he asks Yunho to stay back, to wait while Mingi is out there, held hostage because Yunho couldn’t get to him in time…. Everything Yunho has believed in will break apart, and he’s not prepared to face that as well.
“No, Yunho,” Hongjoong’s eyes shine with sadness. “Of course not. I suggest we go with you.”
Oh.
They gather in a conference room. The atmosphere is tense, leaving no room for joking around and their usual antics. Even Wooyoung is keeping quiet, glued to San’s side and frequently glancing towards the line of their newest recruits. Yunho’s honestly surprised to see them, unsure whether involving someone so young in something that can end in disaster is reasonable. But when he voices his concern, one of the youngest ones, Yujun, looks at him with determination all over his usually soft-looking face and quietly assures him they’ll do anything to help Mingi.
It makes it even harder to hold back his tears, but Yunho lets out a shuddering breath and pulls himself together, unsure if he can afford any hope yet hoping anyway.
Their plan is simple. Grand entry, explosions and fire ablaze everywhere—Mingi would’ve loved to see that—chaos, Yunho and Yeosang sneaking in, more chaos, Yunho freeing Mingi, Yeosang leading them to the exit point, even grander exit to cover their tracks. The eagerness on their recruits’ faces promises nothing good to the guards, and with the ten of them helping, Hongjoong can thankfully focus more on the extraction. Neither he nor Seonghwa can show up there for obvious reasons, but they’ll be able to coordinate the entire operation.
Yunho knows nothing will go without a hitch, that at some point, they’ll have to improvise, and that the chance that someone will get hurt is high.
But he doesn’t care.
He was ready to blast his way into the facility all alone without a backup. And any of them can refuse to join the operation at any point.
No one does.
The tears are burning in the corners of Yunho’s eyes, but he keeps them at bay for now.
Like any other government facility in Sector 1, this one is located far from the prying eyes of citizens. It's a universal example of a standard undercover prison: scheduled patrols, watch towers, projector beams cutting through the darkness of the night in overlapping patterns, leaving too few blind spots, locked doors and closely watched air vents. If they had more time, Yunho and Yeosang could’ve come up with a way to sneak in and out without raising a fuss. Alas, not this time.
“Yunho,” Hongjoong calls him right before they're about to move out, leaving only Hongjoong and Seonghwa behind.
A lump lodges itself in Yunho’s throat, making it hard to breathe as he turns around, meeting Hongjoong's eyes. He knows what will come, the usual instruction, “If it’s not worth it, then retreat.” One rule that can never be broken because none of their missions is worth their lives.
A refusal is already burning on Yunho’s lips when Hongjoong says, “Bring Mingi back," and nods his goodbye at that.
Yunho’s eyelashes are wet when he steps outside, but he blames it on harsh desert winds.
The chaos their recruits cause is so distracting that even Yunho has a hard time concentrating. By the time he and Yeosang reach one of the emergency exits, the area around the facility is in complete disarray. Every alarm capable of ringing is blaring, explosions rattle the ground every few minutes or so, people run around, screaming, so lost they don’t pay any attention to them.
Inside the facility, the noise of alarms and explosions is muffed, and Yunho breathes out in relief, shaking his head slightly.
“This way,” Yeosang leads them forward, checking their progress on a small holo-projection of the map on his wrist.
It takes a lot from Yunho not to run towards the prison block. Haste makes waste, that he knows from experience. Running will affect his attentiveness, besides, it’s so easy to come across a stray patrol or a group of guards. Engaging in combat means one less chance to free Mingi, one less chance not to lose anyone. So he clenches his fists and forces himself to walk steadily, straining his ear for any upcoming threats.
They reach the prison level within twenty minutes or so. Judging by the way the walls of the building around them vibrate, the fun on the surface is far from being over.
Yeosang hacks into the system and downloads all the data before taking a shot at the computer terminal, melting it on the spot. They don’t have time to clean up the logs anyway.
“Row 9, cell 8,” Yeosang informs him, already connecting to another terminal, making the most out of their visit to the government’s controlled facility.
Yunho needs nothing more before sprinting to the staircase that spirals down, the big blocky letters marking the rows blurring in front of his eyes until he freezes in front of a giant "9".
“They seem to realize we’re here for business, so hurry up,” Hongjoong’s voice cracks with the static.
“Guests arriving in two,” Yeosang adds to that.
“Doors,” Yunho murmurs in his earpiece, halting in front of cell number 8.
The lock buzzes, the red dot blinking to green, and Yunho wastes no time yanking the door open. Mingi is sitting in the far corner of the cell, hunched into himself, pressing his knees to his chest protectively. He looks up right away, his expression guarded. The cell is dark and with the only source of light being the lamps in the corridor behind Yunho’s back, it takes Mingi a moment to recognize him.
“Yuyu,” he exhales, trying to leap to his feet but swaying to the side, his knees buckling.
Yunho doesn’t let him fall, darting forward just in time to catch Mingi. His body is shivering in Yunho’s hold, and up close, Yunho can spot all the scratches and bruises peeking out through the cuts and holes on Mingi’s clothes.
“I’m here, Mingi, I’m here,” Yunho whispers feverishly.
A lone tear slides down his cheek, getting lost in the tangled mess of Mingi’s hair.
“Incoming,” Yeosang’s voice cuts through the haze of sheer relief that seems to overwhelm Yunho.
“Got it,” Yunho replies, helping Mingi sit down before activating his gloves, nanobots pouring over his hands, forming a thin silver layer over them and then extending into sharp claws.
The first guard stumbling through the entry to the cell gets his blaster cut into two pieces even before he realizes what’s going on and then gets his ass kicked. The second one follows his example, coming in unprepared and getting his ass handed to him. The third guard prefers to keep his distance, his shots, messy as they are, ricocheting loudly across the cell. He’s soon joined by the fourth man clad in a black uniform. Scoffing, Yunho makes a sweeping motion, releasing the silver claws. Whirling in the air, they thrust towards the two guards, burrowing themselves in their unprotected necks.
Not sparing them a glance, Yunho rushes back to Mingi’s side, crouching in front of him and caressing his cheek gently, “Hey, are you okay?”
“Y-yeah,” Mingi stammers, his eyes unfocused. Sluggishly, he reaches out, and Yunho catches his hand, squeezing it lightly.
“Can you move?”
“I…guess?” He tries to stand up and, after a few weak attempts, finally finds balance, although heavily leaning on Yunho.
“Hey, don’t leave a guy hanging,” Yeosang calls for them just as Yunho helps Mingi put in a spare earpiece and connect to their communication channel.
“I got him,” Yunho exhales, his eyes not leaving Mingi’s face even for a moment.
Even if Yeosang spots just how relieved he sounds, he doesn’t comment on it, focusing on more pressing matters, “Great, I uploaded the exit route into your chip, Jongho and San will wait for you there. Hope you haven’t smashed the bracelet yet.”
“It happened only once,” Yunho grumbles, checking the map. The route is much shorter than the one they took to get here and mostly doesn’t require going up the stairs, painstakingly crafted to accommodate Mingi’s weakened state.
Another tear leaves a wet track on Yunho’s cheek.
He knows that his friends, his family are the best, but sometimes it hits him out of nowhere.
They leave the prison block through the utility rooms, navigating their way between bulky tubes, tangles of wires, and haphazardly stacked crates. Mingi does his best to go as fast as he can, but whatever they dragged him with hasn’t run its course yet, and the space around them is too cramped for Yunho to carry him.
However, albeit slowly, they reach the exit door. It’s hidden behind a pile of boxes, and once Yunho clears them out, it’s obvious why it's less guarded and that they need more than just a code to unlock it.
“That’s just great,” Yunho sighs, looking at the thick chains looping a few times through the door handle and connected to the walls with heavy bolts.
“You don’t have a laser on you, right?” Yunho asks Mingi half-jokingly, glancing around for any sort of instrument to pry the door open.
“N-no,” Mingi blinks confusedly and then pats himself over as if searching for a hidden laser gun. Not finding any, he purses his lips in a pout, lifting sorrowful eyes at Yunho, “No, I don’t.”
He loves him so much it hurts.
“It’s okay, we’ll come up with something,” Yunho assures him, his hold on Mingi’s waist tightening as he walks them closer to the wall to help Mingi lean against it.
“What is it? Why are you still inside?” Hongjoong’s worried voice comes through the earpiece.
“Got a bit of a complication,” Yunho replies.
“How serious is it?”
“Well, unless you have a portable laser that can cut through the door. The lock looks old but not rusty, and the chains are so thick even Jongho would’ve had trouble with them.”
“Hold on for a moment,” Hongjoong says after a short pause. He comes back in less than a minute, sounding clearly frustrated, “No one has a laser gun on them.”
Well, it was worth a shot.
“Not even Yechan?” He asks with a bitter smile.
“Not this time,” Hongjoong sighs.
This time. Their recruits are truly something else.
“Hey,” Mingi calls for him quietly, and Yunho’s attention snaps to him immediately. “What about nanobots?”
“Huh?” Yunho blinks, confused.
“You have nanobots on your hands. Use them to enforce your grip and tear the chains apart.”
That’s…actually something Yunho can do.
“Yunho?” Hongjoong can barely conceal hope in his voice. “Kiss Mingi for me.”
“Hey, kiss your boyfriend and leave mine to me,” Yunho snarks back but still does exactly as told—gives Mingi a kiss.
A short one. They still need to get the fuck out of here.