~𝟯𝟳~

I paced nervously in front of Commander Della Valle's door, just like the first time I was there. The two boys sat peacefully on the chairs spaced out against the wall. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts; the night Han got shot, what we would say to the commander, whether or not we'd get jurisdiction to go after my previous commander.

I practically had a mini heart attack when the door suddenly opened and the same thin woman from before came out. She adjusted her glasses and glared at me, before motioning for the boys to follow her. They waited for me to go through the door before following, and I bowed my head slightly at them as a silent thank you. We all gathered in Commander Della Valle's office and the woman closed the door. Commander Della Valle was going through papers when we all went to stand in front of his desk.

"At ease, agents," he told us, and we all took a seat on the chairs in front of his desk. I started fidgeting with my fingers.

"Now, what is it that you three so desperately had to tell me?" he asked. He sounded irritated.

Chan looked at me before speaking. I took a deep breath.

"Well, Sir, Ava's previous commander is after her. He has tried to kill her and the rest of the team on multiple occasions. He has sent her death threats. A few days ago, she got a USB-drive from him. She was instructed to go through the information and then drop the USB off somewhere. Today, she got the place and time of where to deliver the USB. We all went with her to try to catch her commander and bring him in. He escaped. We managed to get a tracker in the USB-drive, but according to the tracker, he has gone over the border. We need your jurisdiction to go fetch him, Sir. That is why we're here."

The whole time Chan explained the story, Commander Della Valle stared off into space, not paying any attention. It bugged me, but I kept quiet.

"Is that it? Is that the whole story?"

I shared a look out of the corner of my eye with Lee Know.

"Yes, Sir. It's the whole story," Chan assured, but I could sense he was confused by the commander's agitation.

"Okay, good. You have my jurisdiction. I will have my secretary send you the form with my signature. Was that all?"

I furrowed my brows but pulled myself together again when the commander looked at me.

"Yes, Sir," Chan said. The commander dismissed us with a certain disdain in his voice. I just reached the door when he called my name.

"Agent Noyes. I have something to discuss with you. In private."

I swore under my breath and looked at Chan and Lee Know. They gave me confused looks, but I just shrugged. They left, leaving me alone in the office. I slowly walked back over to the desk and moved to take a seat.

"Stand up, Agent Noyes. I didn't say you were at ease."

I jumped upright, puffing my chest, and looking straight ahead like they taught us in training. The commander walked out from behind his desk, coming to stand right in front of me. I didn't make eye contact, but I knew he could see the fear and uncertainty in my eyes.

"I'm starting to think you weren't the best addition to the team. You seem to only be causing them problems."

"Sir-"

"Did I say you could speak?"

I swallowed hard, dropping my head. He gripped my chin roughly, tilting my face up and leaning in even closer. I tried to pull away, but his grip was too tight.

"If I hear anything about you causing trouble again - and I mean anything - I'll personally remove you from the dorms and I'll make sure you never have a career other than mopping floors for the rest of your life. Is that clear?"

I tried to answer, but my voice was gone. I hesitated and he yanked my face closer to his again, gripping even harder. My hands came up to claw at his arm, but he just held on tighter.

"I asked, is that clear, Agent Noyes?"

I finally got back my voice, answering a small, trembling "Yes Sir". He let go of my face and dismissed me. I practically ran out of the office, slamming the door shut behind me. Both the boys came over, uttering words of concern and comfort. I just moved away from them, trying to hide the bruises on my face. Lee Know reached out to me, but I smacked his hand away. When I did, my eyes snapped up, expecting to see anger or disappointment in his gaze. Instead, all I saw was concern. He took a step closer to me, leaning down to be at eye level with me. He reached his hand out to take mine, and when I didn't pull away, laced his fingers with mine.

"What happened in there?" he asked, voice soft and gentle.

"I... I don't know."

He nodded slightly at me before straightening up and squeezing my hand. The whole walk to the car, he didn't let go of my hand. It calmed my racing heart and swirling thoughts. He insisted to sit next to me in the back seat, even though I told him he didn't have to. I sat next to the window, him next to the opposite window. I could feel his gaze fall on me every now and then as I stared out of the window. After a while, my eyes felt heavy, the little sleep of the previous nights catching up to me. I leaned my head against the glass, letting the gentle hum of the car lull me to sleep.

(Third person, Lee Know's perspective)

By the time they got to the dorms, Ava was fast asleep on Lee Know's shoulder. He wasn't exactly sure what to do. He didn't want to carry Ava inside and risk scaring her if she woke up. Luckily, Ava woke up when the car stopped. She slowly sat upright and rubbed her eyes. Lee Know gently touched her shoulder.

"Sleep well?" he asked with a small smile. She nodded tiredly.

He helped her out of the car. Just as they walked over the threshold, Chan's phone went off with a message. Lee Know looked over Chan's shoulder to see the form for their jurisdiction.

"Thank goodness," Chan said. He seemed to loosen up. Lee Know caught sight of Ava walking up the stairs and followed. He got to her door only to see her hugging Hyunjin. He felt a pull in his heart. Something he had felt before. And didn't ever want to feel again. He walked past her door, going into his room. He closed the door behind him, leaning against it.

"At least she has someone to talk to," he told himself.

(First person, Ava's perspective)

As I got to my room, Hyunjin was just walking past Chan and Lee Know's door. He must have seen the distressed look in my eyes or the bruises on my face. He came over to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, leading me into my room. I just snapped, spilling what had happened and how I didn't trust the commander. For once, no tears spilled over my cheeks.

When I finished my rant, I sighed and he brought me into a tight hug, wrapping his arms securely around my shoulders. I just stood there in his embrace. We stood there for a while until we heard Chan calling from downstairs. He gently took my shoulders, rubbing his thumbs over them. Then we headed downstairs. As we got there, I noticed Lee Know's attention was fully immersed in following along with what Chan was telling him. Usually he would look at me when I entered the room, or at least acknowledge my presence. He's probably just busy, I thought to myself.

"Okay, now that everyone's here, we got jurisdiction to go get Ava's previous commander. Now, I thinks it's best if we go out toni-"

"Tomorrow."

All the boys looked at me when I chipped in, even Lee Know. I suddenly felt insecure.

"I just think that you all need rest before I drag you along on another mission concerning something I did. I don't want any of you to get hurt on a mission that wasn't really as important as you all make it seem."

The boys all gave me confused looks. Hyunjin took my shoulders and led me away from the group.

"We all want to do this. We aren't doing this because of something you did. We're doing this because we want you to feel safe. And we'll make sure you do. Even if it means getting a few less hours of sleep."

I smiled at his thoughtful comment before re-joining the group. I gave Chan an apologetic look, but he just shook his head at me as if to say that it was okay.

"Okay, so this thing is going down today. Is everyone okay with that?"

When no one spoke, Chan continued.

"Okay then. I want us to get geared-up and going as soon as possible. It is quite far to the place the tracker stopped. So the sooner we get going, the sooner we'll get there and the sooner we can catch this sucker."

The boys all cheered at that, but I just stayed quiet. Please just let them all stay safe, I pleaded with no one in particular.

...

After a long, tiring drive we finally got to where we were supposed to go. It seemed to be a hotel, but it was completely deserted. Great, another deserted building, I thought to myself. We all hid behind a wall near the entrance to the hotel, gearing up and getting ready. I had strapped on the belt with my holster attached and just stood at the edge of the wall, watching the building. I flinched when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I turned to find Hyunjin there.

"Oh, it's you," I said.

"Yeah. You ready for this?" he asked.

"Not necessarily."

"Everything will be fine. Then we'll have caught him, and this mess will finally be over. Then you can sleep slightly more easily."

He smiled and held my gun out towards me to take. I reached my hand out but hesitated. Commander Della Valle's words ran through my head. I'll personally remove you from the dorms and I'll make sure you never have a career other than mopping floors for the rest of your life. I closed my hesitating hand into a fist and moved to drop it to my side when Hyunjin caught it. He slipped my gun into its holster with his other hand. My eyes snapped towards his hand, and my muscles subconsciously tightened. Hyunjin probably noticed because he gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

"Why are you so worried about this mission? Is there a reason you're willing to tell me?"

As he asked it, he looked so curious. It glinted in his eyes, drawing more attention to them than usual. I sighed.

"I guess I'm just afraid you guys are going to get hurt. I mean, this whole thing is partially my fault. We all know that. If I had just read the fine print on the contract or... Anyway, I just don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me."

He nodded slightly, as if in understanding when we heard Chan call us over. He gave my hand one more quick squeeze before letting go and joining the group with me.

"One more mission and this piece of scum will be behind bars. Is everyone ready?" Chan asked, putting his hand face-down in the middle of the group. We all placed our hands in the middle on top of his, like an unspoken answer to his question.

"Alright. Let's do this."

We all broke off and started following to the building. When we entered, people scattered in every direction. Hyunjin had loaded his rifle with tranquilizers, so we could catch all the accomplices and still focus on the big fish we had to catch. He started shooting every accomplice in sight. They would all run for about a second longer before the effects of the drug kicked in and they crumpled to the ground. We got to the stairs of the building and headed up slowly. There were only three floors in the building. It was so quiet; I could hear all of our breathing along with our leather boots slowly climbing the staircase.

Just as Chan peeked past the wall next to the top of the stairs, a chair flew his way. It crashed on the ground just next to him, setting off my adrenaline. I didn't think, I just started running to the top of the stairs. I found only my previous commander running down the hall and took off after him. I heard footsteps next to me, making me look over. Chan held my pace, staying next to me in the hallway. My commander busted through a door, and I could see him slow down. It was a dead end, a part of the building that was under construction. The dust hung thick in the air. Chan and I got into the room and stopped, making my commander look at us.

"Nowhere to run. It's over."

He stuck his hand into his coat, but Chan and I both pulled our weapons on him before he could grab anything. The rest of the boys started gathering behind us, training their guns on him along with us. He slowly took his hand out of his coat and held it up along with the other one.

"Interlace your fingers behind your head and get on the ground," I heard Chan say to him.

He surprisingly did what we told him, albeit slowly. Chan and I lowered our weapons, the rest keeping theirs up. Chan looked at me and held up a pair of handcuffs.

"You want to do the honours?" he asked. I nodded and took the cuffs from him.

I walked over to my commander still on the ground and knelt next to him. Just as I took hold of his wrists and brought them to rest on his back, I felt him twist his legs and move his body. He tried pulling his wrists from my grip. I quickly got up, stepping with my boot on the back of his head, pressing his face deeper into the dust. He made a strangled noise, and I pressed down harder.

"Try that again. I dare you," I hissed at him.

I bent down and took hold of his wrists again, holding them more firmly this time. I put on his cuffs and tightened them a bit more than necessary. He protested, but I just turned a blind eye. I took hold of his bound wrists and the back of his shirt, hoisting him up onto his feet and turning to the boys. They all gave me smirks. I just flicked a piece of hair off of my forehead before walking past them out the door.

---------------

A/N

with the holiday season coming up, i've been feeling a little down lately. so i just wanted to let you guys know that if you are feeling down as well, or just need someone to talk to, i'm here to listen. you guys are welcome to comment or to spam my conversations if you need to talk.

anyway, ava was being a bit of a badass this chapter, but i wonder what will happen now that her previous commander has been caught... hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and i'll see you guys again next week :)