~𝟮𝟰~

As we crept up to the warehouse, my brain and body wouldn't stay calm. My muscles were practically trembling from how tension-filled they were. My brain kept conjuring up not-so sweet images of what would happen if we didn't find him, or even worse ones if we did. As I stood next to Changbin right at the door of the warehouse, I swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump in my throat that felt like it was choking me. When I felt a tap on my shoulder, I knew it was time for me to take charge.

I leaned slightly forward, feeling on the door of the warehouse. It wouldn't budge. When I was sure there was no one on the other side, I jumped out and kicked it down, the boys fanning out and running past me into the building. I took off after them, catching up to Changbin. I informed the members over the comms of the storage spaces above us that could be used as vantage points, and of where there were rooms that he could be hiding in. Pretty soon, Changbin and I got to the door with the keypad, my stomach churning as I looked at the floor. A red stain was permanently set in the concrete. The blood of my former teammate, Rachel. All the blood was washed away by now, but the stain stayed, just like the memories. I took in a breath before turning back to Changbin.

"I'm going to open this door. Cover me?"

He nodded and I turned my back on him. My fingers fumbled, but my mind could remember the code clear as day. I tried to hurry, not wanting the same thing to happen to Changbin that happened to Rachel. I finally got it opened and turned around to find Changbin still standing. Relief washed over me, but it was short-lived as I heard a sound. I turned around; the room dark in front of me. Changbin handed me a flashlight. I held it up to the room and stepped inside. The beam of light cast by the flashlight caught something that looked like the tip of a man's dress shoe. It took all my strength not to pull away the flashlight and run out of the room. Then it took even more to force my wrist to turn and shine the light on the rest of the being in front of me. My hand trembled, but I managed to move the beam of light up, catching the figure in the light. I walked closer when I realised the person was dead. I circled around the body seated on a chair in the middle of the room. It wasn't him.

I scanned the entire room, but he wasn't there. I looked back down to the body, shining the light on the person's face. My eye caught a piece of plastic in the person's mouth. I gently took hold of it and pulled. A piece of paper was lodged inside the plastic. The plastic was stained red with the victim's blood, the gaping wound on his neck a clear indication why. I put the flashlight in my mouth and opened the plastic. I unfolded the little piece of paper. There were only a few black letters on it, but they sent chills through my body.

You're next, Ava.

Just as I read it, we heard a crash come from outside the room. A person ran past the door. I dropped the letter and followed Changbin after the person, but I almost stopped when I registered who it was. It was him. I slowed slightly when he dropped a letter, snatching it up in the run. I completely stopped when I read it.

You better choose: your team or me.

I felt my heart pull as it started fighting with my head. My head told me that I had to go after him, knowing that the boys could handle themselves. But my heart told me that losing them would be much worse than losing him. So I made up my mind and yelled after Changbin, making him stop and turn to me. I barely managed to yell that it was a trap before gunshots started raining down on us from all directions. We ducked behind a pile of metal crates.

"Are you all okay?" I heard Chan call out over the comms. The boys all replied yes, as did I.

"Ava, do you know a way out of here?" he asked.

I tried peeking past one of the crates. I managed to see the only two exits that I knew of; both of which were blocked. I cursed.

"Yes, but both the exits are blocked. The only other thing I can think of is the room Changbin and I were just in. It has a window, but it is about fifty meters from us and there isn't any cover besides the crates we're hiding behind."

Just as I finished, I felt Changbin tap me on my shoulder.

"Hang on, Chan. Changbin has an idea."

I looked over at him as he pointed up toward the top of the pile of crates.

"If I hoist you up, we might be able to push a few of the crates towards the room. Then we can run one at a time and cover each other."

"That could work."

I gave Chan a report of the plan, and even though he would initially rather have gotten shot than falling for the plan, he gave in. Changbin had noticed a ledge near the top of the pile large enough for me to stand on if he could get me up there. He knelt in front of me and interlaced his fingers. I stepped with one foot on his hands, jumping off the ground with the other as he started lifting, getting me high enough to grab the edge of the ledge. I hoisted myself up and got my footing. I stood on my tiptoes as I started sliding the one crate over towards the direction of the room before pushing it and letting it tumble to the ground with a loud, metallic thud. Then I pushed off two more. I peeked slightly past the crates I was standing behind to see if I got them close enough and surprisingly enough, I did. They were spaced out so that we could hide behind them and get to the door. I knelt down on the ledge I was on, getting ready to jump. When I did, I expected to land on my feet. Instead, I landed in Changbin's arms.

"Nice catch," I said as he set me down.

"So, who's going to make a run for it first?" I asked.

"You go. I'll cover you from back here."

I nodded and crept to the very edge of the pile of crates, looking back. He started counting down. On three I started sprinting, hearing gunshots go off behind me. I got to the crate unscathed. I quickly stood up and started shooting at the enemy, giving him a chance to run. We repeated this process until the both of us got into the room. I high-fived him as he got to me.

"Nice shooting. Now we just need to go save the others."

I found the window and kicked it open. I quietly climbed out, Changbin following suit. Right around the corner of the window we climbed out of, two guards stood, and my eyes went wide when I noticed the badges on their belts and the company weapons they held. They're agents, I mouthed at Changbin. He just nodded and took my place at the edge of the corner. He timed it perfectly, so they were both turned away when he attacked. I thought he would shoot them. Instead he just hit the one with the grip of his gun over the head, effectively knocking him out. The other one only realised what was happening when Changbin already had him in a chokehold, rendering him unconscious, but not dead. He pulled some cable ties out of his back pocket and bound their wrists and ankles before motioning it was safe for me to come closer. He had a smirk on his face.

"No wonder you like getting your hands dirty. If I was that good at it, I would like it too."

He laughed.

"They don't call me the brawn of the group for nothing."

We sneaked around the warehouse, somehow getting to the front entrance without getting seen. Two more guards stood there. I saw Changbin motion to me that we should attack together. I waited for him to count to three before attacking. I disarmed the guy nearest to me and managed to kick him in the windpipe, knocking his air out. I wrestled him down to the ground just as Changbin handed me cable ties, his intended target already out like a light and bound. I smiled sheepishly and bound the guy still gasping on the ground. We pushed open the entrance, and my eyes immediately fell on Lee Know, Hyunjin and Felix, all three of which sat behind a pile of crates near us. When they heard the door open and saw us, their eyes lit up. Changbin and I started shooting up at the enemies as they ran out towards us. They ducked behind the wall, us following. When Changbin saw me leaning out past the wall to get a better look at what was going on inside, he took my shoulder.

"I'm sure Chan Hyung's fine. He'll be here just now."

"But what if he doesn't know the entrances are clear again? What if he's trapped in there and can't get to the entrances?"

"He'll be fine. This is Chan Hyung we're talking about," Hyunjin added, panting heavily.

"I can't just leave him in there. Come on Changbin. He told you to protect me, but what if he needs protecting now?"

"Exactly. Chan Hyung told me to protect you. And if that means dragging your screaming form back up to the van to keep you from going back in there, then that is what I'll do."

"Please. Just let me help him. I promise I'll come back."

"You know you can't make that promise, but if it makes you happy, I'm willing to go in with you if Changbin allows it," I heard Lee Know say, making me look over at him. His chest rose and fell quite quickly, but it was starting to slow down. My eyes caught the marks on his face that I had fixed up just a few hours prior. His hairline was lined with droplets of sweat.

"Don't give her ideas, Hyung. I have orders to keep her safe."

"I can do that just as well as you can. We both know that. I'm just trying to get the team back home and get Ava to stay calm. But if you'd rather drag her away kicking and screaming, by all means go right ahead."

Lee Know had come to stand right in front of Changbin, his slightly taller form making him look more intimidating.

"Okay, fine. But if she gets hurt, I'm holding you personally responsible for it, Hyung."

"Nothing will happen, right Ava?"

I nodded. He shot me a tiny smirk, the first one in almost a week. I gladly accepted it, but I was not getting distracted. I squared my shoulders and turned back to the door, the shooting inside sounding at the same pace my heart was hammering against my chest. I felt Lee Know tap on my shoulder, signalling he was ready. I counted down in my head before making a beeline for the nearest cover.

I slipped into the cover from the crates with Lee Know right behind me in a nick of time. I looked over to my side and saw Chan hiding not too far away from us. I got on my haunches and crept towards him, looking back every now and again to make sure Lee Know was behind me. I sat down next to Chan, making him jump. As soon as he saw my face, he didn't look happy.

"What are you doing here? And why isn't Changbin with you?" he asked.

"I came to save you, but Lee Know is here too."

"Why did you come back in? I thought you and Changbin got out."

"We did. And then we got Lee Know, Felix and Hyunjin out. But you were nowhere to be seen and I was worried."

His gaze visibly softened at this, but it quickly regained its fury, this time it was just turned onto the enemies.

"Let's get out of here so we can get these suckers."

I smiled at his answer, getting back on my haunches, and following Lee Know back the way we came. When we got to the corner of the crates, the distance to the door seemed twice as far as when we came in. I gulped. I looked at the boys, them nodding at me. We knew what we had to do. Chan and I stood up and started shooting just as Lee Know started running. Then Chan did the same for me. When it was his turn, both Lee Know and I leaned out from behind the wall and started shooting, giving Chan a chance to escape. When we all were out, I practically sunk to the floor. We all smiled in victory before the boys pulled me up and into a group hug. We all went back up to the van. When I peeked in through the door, Jeongin and Seungmin practically jumped out of the chairs to come hug us. I found it adorable.

"We watched the whole thing, but for some reason we couldn't hear you guys through our comms. There must have been a signal interference. We were so worried," Jeongin babbled.

"Any injuries?" Seungmin asked, his eyes scanning us all. We assured him we were all fine. As Chan started speaking to them, I looked over at Changbin. I walked to him, waiting for him to finish speaking to Felix before clearing my throat to grab his attention.

"I'm sorry I disobeyed you."

"It's okay. I'm actually glad you did because I was worried about Chan Hyung too. But next time, I'll actually follow through with my threats, so be warned."

I giggled as he said the last sentence, his smile confirming his joke. As I looked over at the rest of the boys, my eyes caught Lee Know smiling at something Chan had said. Seeing him smile after so long made my own lips curl up, making me realise how much I missed his smile. But then my brain glitched, morphing his face into the one person I didn't ever want to see again. And it took all my power to push it away, but my demons were wide awake. And they wouldn't settle down any time soon.