Chapter Text
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You saw the glint of silver before they came to get you. Seven, no, Saeyoung was hunkered down, gripping his wound tightly after aggravating it typing, eyes screwed shut, when your eyes caught what he had hidden in the folds of his jacket. At first you were confused; If Saeyoung had had a gun all along why hadn't he used it to stop this situation before it all started? He had obviously been trained for dangerous situations, so it couldn't be that he didn't know how to fire one. The thought of anger crossed your mind too -How could he keep you all in danger like this when he had weapon?- But no, you trusted him. He had to have a reason. He wanted to keep you all safe, so if he wasn't using it he likely thought the risk was too high.
...You still wish he had told you.
"___, are you doing alright?"
Vanderwood's words shook you out of your thoughts. She- He? They seemed concerned, though only passingly towards you. With Saeyoung's blood on the floor and the three of you in a cell you weren't exactly hurt that their concerns were elsewhere.
You nodded.
"I'm fine, thank you. How is Saeyoung holding up?" You asked, glancing over at the boy in question.
"I can hear you, you know..." Saeyoung chuckled weakly, looking up for a moment and flashing a tense '707' smile. "How rude to talk about someone like they're not here~"
You tried your best to give him a smile back, but you could see from the way his eyes fell how hollow it rang even outside of your head.
"If this idiot is good at anything it's surviving ridiculous situations," Vanderwood cut in. "If we can get out of here and get him to a proper hospital he should come out with a scar at most."
You didn't miss that they didn't mention what would happen if you stayed.
Silence fell between the three of you, broken only by the occasional muffled hiss from Saeyoung. You quietly stood and went to sit by his side, resting your cheek on his uninjured shoulder blade. His good hand came up to rest on the side of your head, brushing gently against your skin. His eyes stared ahead vacantly, a look you knew meant that inside he was a million miles away. Thinking of escape? If Jumin would get the message and understand? His brother?
You could see his brother when you closed your eyes; could see him breaking the glass of your window, could feel his arm tighten across your windpipe. If it wasn't that it was the sound of bullets whizzing past you, one close enough to move the air against your cheek. You opened your eyes, only then realizing you had closed them in the first place. The sight in front of you wasnt much better. Your boyfriend, the person you had fallen so absolutely in love with over the course of a little over a week, hunched and bleeding in a cell. Your breathing was steady but you felt that you could hear your heartbeat in your ears. How long would it take him to die in a place like this? If the blood loss didn't get him, infection would surely set in without proper care. The sight of Vanderwood pacing in front of you seemed to be bleached out and colorless, even thought you knew you were seeing all of the colors. Would Saeyoung even have time to die of natural causes? For all you knew they were planning to...
You snapped yourself back into the present and turned your head to take in his scent. Breathing him in and feeling the warmth of his body against your cheek calmed you a little. You knew nothing would come from succumbing to your anxiety right now. The most important thing was to keep a level head until you were out and safe. Letting your emotions run wild in moments like this would just lead to bad decisions and dead bodies, one of which would probably be yours.
Your thoughts stuttered for a moment.
You glanced up at Saeyoung from under your eyelashes, seeing again his vacant stare.
The events of the past week flashed behind your eyes, Seven's face when his brother appeared in your apartment, Luciel's cold shoulder for days after, his frantic calls when you were away, and coming under fire, literally, from his agency after he had left.
You heard sounds of... something? Coming from the floor above. A person perhaps? Had your captor decided that it was time for a chat?
You glanced at Saeyoung again without moving. He didn't seem to have registered the noise yet.
A strange sense of worry bubbled up inside of you. Watching his blank stare you felt your thoughts keep repeating the same idea again and again.
You wrapped your arms around his middle, hugging him tightly. He tensed for a moment, then relaxed into your embrace with a small sigh.
The strange sound, mechanical you now realized, became louder as it got closer to your cell, and you saw both Saeyoung and Vanderwood look in the direction it was coming from intently. You withdrew your hands from around Saeyoung's waist, and followed their line of sight.
No one noticed you slipping the silver gun from his pocket into your own on your withdrawal.
"Meow!"
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Your knees ached as you were forced to kneel in front of the... throne you supposed. You had to stop an almost hysterical laugh from bubbling out of your throat. It was just, so cliche that it stood out like a bad movie. And yet it was sharply real.
You could see Saeran in the far corner, a look of manic glee in his over-wide eyes. You glanced over and saw that Saeyoung's eyes were similarly drawn to the white haired boy. You went to reach for his hand, but the cultist behind you tightened his grip on your shoulder painfully. You took it as a warning and instead pressed your hands into your jacket pockets. The feel of the cold metal of the gun against your fingers was both calming and nerve wracking. What had you been thinking taking this from Saeyoung?? He was the secret agent, not you.
Well, you had been thinking that Saeyoung had been emotionally unstable ever since Saeran’s reveal. You didn’t know that if in his state he would make good decisions about the firearm in his possession. Of course taking it from him produced a whole slew of new problems, namely that now you had a gun.
You knew how to use one in theory: Just turn off the safety, aim, and pull the trigger. But in reality you had never actually shot one, let alone held one in secret while being imprisoned and threatened in a cult that your supposed-to-be-dead predecessor was running.
It was all you could do to keep your whole body from shaking as Rika climbed the steps to her throne and took a seat.
She began monologue-ing, talking about making people happy and bringing her followers to paradise. One look at Saeran and the dungeons downstairs told you that her ‘paradise’ wasn’t something you wanted to experience. She said she was bringing happiness to her followers… Had you ever seen Saeran happy once, even since his return here? He seemed more manic and unpredictable than ever. And the way she talked to him, looked at him, it was more like she was treating him like a tool than a person. From the way they were arguing in front of the three of you, she saw him as a broken tool at that. Even V, who everyone claimed that she had loved desperately, she treated like an unwanted stain on the bottom of her shoe.
You looked away from Rika and turned your focus to V. He seemed to be almost cowering in the corner, completely subservient to Rika. You knew he thought he was on your side, he had tried to convince her not to do anything to the three of you, but he refused to take any action against what she was doing. He had been letting her hurt people, or at the very least Saeran, for years. Hair doesn’t just turn white on its own and people don’t break like that if they’re in a healthy environment. And he had known and watched her do this for years on some deluded hope that his unconditional love would save her. And look where that had gotten all of you.
You hoped his eyes burned every day of his… No. No you couldn’t let yourself hate him… If it had been you in his shoes and Saeyoung in Rika’s you too would have… you would have…
You would have snapped his damn neck.
The Saeyoung you knew would never forgive you if you let him hurt people like this, if you let him live his life as a monster.
You heard a hissing gasp next to you as your thoughts spiraled with anger burning in your veins. The sound jolted you enough that your blood cooled. You turned to look at it source and saw Saeyoung with his hands in his pockets, staring at Rika blankly, eyes wide with terror.
Ah.
He had noticed he was missing a certain metal implement.
You watched him and could practically see the gears in his head turning, eyes widening further, and suddenly he was staring right at you, honey-gold eyes piercing into your own. He knew.
You tried to give him an apologetic look but your attempt was cut short by Rika calling for him. The cultist in charge of him pushed him towards the throne and he stumbled forwards a few steps, a hand coming up to hold his wound again.
You didn’t like the look Rika was giving him. She was talking about inducting the three of you and you felt cold, sharp fear begin to settle in your gut. You were running out of time.
It was time for you to stop sitting around.
“Rika!”
The room fell quiet as she glared down at you. You gulped. You hadn't meant to be that loud.
You took a few small steps forwards so that you were standing next to Saeyoung. The cultist behind you didn’t stop you so either Rika was allowing it or they just figured you were too weak to be a threat. Their loss.
“R-Rika, please,” you tried again, quieter this time, “I’ve been working on gathering people for the party you used to host, and I’ve seen how happy it makes people! Why is this the better option? Please help me understand!”
You knew why she was doing this. She was sick and should have gotten severe help a long time ago. But for now you needed her talking. You needed time.
She glared down at you with those cold, dead eyes that no-one from the RFA had ever mentioned to you.
“I’m supposed to believe that you want to understand now? Pathetic. You won't be able to understand until after you have properly joined us.”
You lowered your eyes and bowed your head slightly.
“Please Rika. Can’t you at least tell me why you left the RFA without telling anyone about this? Didn’t you want your friends to join you in paradise?”
You could feel Saeyoung’s eyes boring into your back, but you refused to step back.
Rika scoffed.
“I brought it up to some in the beginning, before I had a clear idea of what I had to do. They couldn’t understand. Their eyes were clouded by the way things have always been. They were too accepting of the pain people cause each other every day. But I intend to get them eventually, just like Luciel here.”
“You said he would not be allowed in paradise!” You heard Saeran scream in protest.
“Will someone just shut him up?” Rika sighed in disinterest.
A few of the cultists moved towards Saeran, but before you could even blink Saeyoung was rushing between his twin and the followers.
“No! I won’t let you hurt my brother ever again!” He yelled, shielding Saeran with his body as best he could.
The cultists advanced on them without even a second thought.
“What are you doing? I’ll kill you! I don’t want anything from you you filthy traitor!!” Saeran screeched at Saeyoung, seemingly torn between advancing on his brother and shrinking away from the other cultists. Saeyoung stiffened, but didn't move from in front of his brother. You could see the pain those words caused him in every line of his face.
You whipped your head around to stare at Rika again, hoping that somehow she would stop this, come to her senses, something!
She stood in front of her gilded throne watching the situation unfold in front of her with absolute disinterest.
She didn’t give a single fuck about the hurt she was causing to anyone in this room.
Something inside you snapped, and suddenly you were seeing red.
How DARE she.
You moved towards her and her disinterested gaze turned to you, an eyebrow raising ever so slightly.
You shouted her name in fury as you finally reached into your pocket and pulled out the gun, flicking the safety off.
This monster in front of you needed to, deserved to die for everything she had done to Saeyoung, Saeran, V, everyone in this room, and no doubt countless others.
You looked her straight in the eye and took aim.
You could see the others beginning to react to what was happening out of the corner of your eye, and could hear V beginning to shout at you, terrified.
You lowered your eyes and pulled the trigger.