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Chapter Text

Harsh whispers flirted with the edges of Jeongguk’s consciousness.

“Just untie me for a few minutes so I can look at his back.  You won’t get any information out of him if it gets infected.  I won’t tell anyone.  I promise.”

An unknown voice grumbled back to Seokjin’s pleas.

Darkness returned.

***

A brief touch against his cheekbone.  The wetness of a teardrop falling against his hand.  One quiet whine that faded into the distance.

***

“I need you to be very quiet.  Do not open the door unless dad or I tell you it’s ok.”

There was an explosion down the street.  He could hear the neighbors that had him and his mother over for tea every Saturday afternoon shouting something outside.

“I’m scared.”

“I know.”  His mother pushed his teddy bear into his hands.  “I just need you to be brave for a little bit.  Then mommy will come back for you.”

***

“You’re hurting him.”

Even through the mental fog that muddled his thoughts and kept his eyes closed, Jeongguk could hear the rage in Taehyung’s voice.

“We weren’t looking for whatever it is you are doing here.”

Goosebumps rose unbidden on his skin.  He couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or the faint static electricity he felt in the air.

“Maybe not everything is about you.”

Awareness slipped from his grasp once more as Taehyung continued to berate someone unknown.  Jeongguk didn’t pity them.

***

“Mom?  Dad?  Can I come out now?”

***

Screams jolted Jeongguk awake like a bucket of ice water.  His heart felt like it would pound out of his chest at any moment.  He struggled to pull in even half a breath, slowly becoming aware of the dull pain at his back and the restrictions to his movement where his wrists and ankles were tied to the chair he was sitting in.

He flinched at the brief brush of someone else’s hair against his forehead.  Looking up, he met Yoongi’s bloodshot eyes closer than he was expecting.

“It wasn’t me screaming,” the engineer assured, his voice pitched low and quiet.  “I don’t know who it was.”

The rest of the room was empty.  It was a painfully bright white and the overhead lights buzzed like something out of one of those old action movies shot on grainy film.  Now that the screams had fallen silent, he couldn’t make out any other noise outside of the room.

“They keep rotating us around in different combinations, trying to find a pairing that will make us talk I guess,” Yoongi explained.  “I’ve only been in here a few minutes.  I think you were in here a while with Taehyung and Hoseok.  Were you awake for any of it?”

Jeongguk shook his head.

Before Yoongi could say another word, the door to their room swung open with a loud bang as it bounced off the wall.  The man that stood in the entryway was tall with a musculature that Jeongguk imagined couldn’t be built without chemical assistance.  Light glinted off the metal in his mouth as he smiled, stepping aside to allow another man with navy blue eyes and tattoos of thorns tracing up his neck to enter.

“It’s good to see you both awake finally.  I was afraid my little pet had broken you before we had a chance to talk.”

Small wireless sensors were placed on their temples.  Jeongguk focused on bringing his heart rate down to a stable level.  His one comfort was that the process did not seem new to Yoongi.

The man crouched down, his forearms resting on his thighs as he looked up at Jeongguk.  The muscle remained by the door with his arms crossed over his chest.  Jeongguk wanted to laugh at how ridiculous the entire situation appeared.

“Now, how about you make this easier on yourself and your friends and tell us what we want to know.”

Jeongguk couldn’t help the snort that escaped him.  He thought the action might frustrate their captors, but the eyes staring back at him remained calm as they flickered back and forth between him and Yoongi.

“Honestly, I don’t think you have anything to offer us.  You’re just some typical UU officers wandering off to explore things you don’t understand like always.  You’ll barely be missed.  The boss might be intrigued with you, but all that matters to me is you brought our little prodigal slave back to us.”

A sensor on the interrogator’s hip beeped as Jeongguk flinched.  The bindings at his wrist pinched as his body tried to fling itself out of the chair towards the man.

The man smirked at Jeongguk’s reaction.  “Ah, I see I’ve hit a nerve.”

His skin tingled with discomfort at the feel of a heavy hand settling against his knee even with the barrier of the thick fabric of his pants between them.  A small tattoo of Earth’s moon marked the skin between the knuckles at the base of the thumb and pointer finger.

“Don’t worry,” the man said with fake compassion in his voice.  “We’re taking good care of him.  We appreciate you looking after him for us.”

Another scream rang out suddenly from down the hall through the open door.  Jeongguk could make out Hoseok’s faint pleas beneath it.  Across from him, Yoongi’s face paled as he bit into his lower lip.

His hands twisted against the firm wood of the chair’s armrests.  The sensor beeped again as his heart rate elevated.

Yoongi glanced down at the sensor, his eyes calculating as he watched the shifting lights on the screen.

“Knowing the way you people work, you must have conducted some experiments on him.  You’d claim it was in his best interest.  You likely would tell him it was for his health to provide him with the best medical treatment possible while he was in pain.  But really, you just wanted to be able to add another planet and another population to your database to conquer.”

“That’s not true.”  Jeongguk’s voice was raw from disuse.  His throat burned with each syllable he forced out.

“Forgive me.  Not conquer this time, but provide membership to your little intergalactic peacekeeping organization.  Just ask the Malihini how well that worked out for them.”

Fury coursing through his veins did nothing to keep his mind focused.  He knew it was all part of the man’s interrogation strategy, to enrage him until he spilled the secrets they wanted.  Jeongguk grew even more angry knowing that it was working.

The man rocked back, sitting casually on the ground beside them as his smile grew.

“I was there for the Partition.  I had already completed my mandatory service, but I was happy to help with the cause.  I watched your ships come and go, saving the refugees who were running from the weapons you’d already provided us.  But I bet that was nothing new to you, Jeongguk.  Cheongug was your proving ground after all.”

A frenzy of conflicting emotions stilled Jeongguk where he sat.  There were few things he wanted more in that moment than to be able to reach out, wrap his hands around the man’s throat, and pull from him the information Jeongguk wanted rather than the other way around.  The sensor sat silent at the man’s waist as Jeongguk’s temper continued to rise.

“I never wanted to see the Gateway Arch!” Yoongi shouted, his cheeks bright red.

All the thoughts that had been agitating Jeongguk gave way to confusion as he looked up at his friend.  The engineer’s chest was heaving as he met Jeongguk’s gaze, the embarrassment clear in his eyes.  The sensor began to flash a rainbow of colors as it beeped frantically.

“What-”

“It was a lie.  When we talked about a group trip, it was the only thing I could think of in Missouri when what I really wanted to do was go see the Taylor Swift Museum.  But then Taehyung got really excited to see the Arch and we agreed on St. Louis and got lost and it turned into a whole thing.”

“But we ended up in Kansas City?  Why didn’t we go if that’s what you wanted to see all along?”

“Because then you’d know that’s where I wanted to go. I kept trying to trick one of you into suggesting we go there, but none of you fell for it.  And I couldn’t handle the teasing I would get from all of you if I brought it up myself!”

“So you bring it up now?”

Their Koloni captor’s sensor sparked briefly before falling silent, drawing both Jeongguk and Yoongi’s attention.

“As insightful as that was,” the man said disdainfully as he ripped the sensors from their temples, “I’ll need to get this repaired before we finish this conversation.”

Both interrogator and muscle left quickly, the door shutting with another bang behind them.

“What the hell was that about?” Jeongguk hissed.

“They treat those devices like magic lie detectors,” Yoongi explained.  “But they really just detect things like your blood pressure and breathing rate.  It can’t tell the difference between lying or anger or embarrassment.  I figured if we confused the machine enough, it would buy us some time for you to calm down.”

Looking down, Jeongguk for the first time saw the blood dripping down his wrists where he had pulled against his restraints.  Fresh pain bloomed on his back where he must have exacerbated his injuries there.  Tears he didn’t know had welled in his eyes dripped down his cheeks as he caught his breath.

“Thanks,” Jeongguk murmured.  “And, for the record, I would have been happy to go to the Taylor Swift museum with you.  I’ll always be there for you.”

“Even drunk in the back of the car?  Crying like a baby coming home from the bar?” Yoongi teased, knocking his forehead lightly against Jeongguk’s.

“You act like I haven’t dragged you out of a karaoke bar on Earth in the middle of you and Hoseok singing ‘Bad Blood,’” Jeongguk joked back.

He received a short smile in response.  Both their eyes closed at the shouting from outside that was growing in volume.

If they were going to get out of this, they needed to come up with a plan besides embarrassing each other with old memories.  And they probably didn’t have long to do it.

***

Jeongguk didn’t know how much time passed without any windows to allow him to track the sun through the sky.  Some previously unseen Koloni guards came into the room to take Yoongi away, leaving Jeongguk alone for an extended period.  He struggled to get comfortable on the hard wooden seat beneath him.

The door knocked against the wall as it swung open again, the same muscle and interrogator from before appearing with a tired looking Taehyung stumbling between them.

“Let’s try this again, shall we.”

“Aren’t you getting tired of this, Mr. Lee?” Taehyung grumbled, not fighting as they tied him to the chair Yoongi had previously occupied.  “What’s that old Earth saying? ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’”

“You sound confident that none of your colleagues have spilled any information thus far.”

“If they had, you’d be acting a lot more smug.  I mean, more than you already are.”

Taehyung winced briefly as the muscle tightened his arm restraints harder than was necessary.  The pale blue of his skin made him look more washed out than usual.  Despite the defiance in his eyes, Jeongguk could see the strain of tense muscles in his shoulders and the exhaustion that had settled in the dark circles beneath his eyes.

As the interrogator crouched down once more to look up at them, Jeongguk wondered what power play Mr. Lee was attempting.  The few interrogations Jeongguk had participated in through his career had involved standing above the prisoner to make them feel smaller.  This reminded him of a teacher kneeling beside his desk at school while he worked on an assignment.

“Well, Lieutenant Kim.  Maybe we’ll do this a little differently this time.  How about I share with you what we know?  Then we can help each other out.  I’ll even keep the lie detectors in their box as a show of good will.”

“We don’t need anything from you,” Taehyung snarled.

Accepting a slim datapad from the muscle at the door, Mr. Lee flicked through a few different files.  Jeongguk suspected they were meant to see them as he caught a glimpse of his own bloodied back, a dark underground cellar of some sort filled with terrified Malihini, a severed tattooed arm that had Jeongguk fighting back against his stomach’s urge to rebel, and, perhaps the most disturbing to him, large wings with dark feathers strung up on a wall like a trophy.

“Ah, here we go,” Mr. Lee mumbled casually, holding the datapad up for Jeongguk and Taehyung to see more clearly.  The image of a familiar looking signal was staring back at him.

A self-satisfied smirk reappeared on the man’s face.  “I’m sure you well versed in the details of the discovery of Cheongug thirty years ago, followed by the establishment of the scientific research station by the UU a few years later.  The official story of progress moving toward a permanent colony that was abruptly cut short by an attack from unknown forces is the fairy tale that helps you sleep at night.”

“Yeah,” Jeongguk reacted with a grunting laugh.  “My childhood trauma provides so much comfort.”

“Innocent scientists cut down in the prime of life protecting their beloved son?  Compared to the reality, I could almost argue the UU did you a kindness in letting you believe the fantasy.  Real life tends to be a bit more…complicated.”

He could see the way Taehyung’s body flinched briefly across from him.  His friend was trying to meet his eyes, but Jeongguk remained focused on their captor.

“Enlighten me then.  What do you think the reality is?”

“The United Universes announced the discovery of an unpopulated planet with a vibrant ecosystem perfectly ready to support their upcoming terraforming experiments right when they were about to run out of the funding provided from private ventures.  Pretty convenient, don’t you think?”

“Uninhabited planets are discovered all the time,” Taehyung argued.  “It wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary.”

“Most barely support bacteria within their soil.  They would take much more work to prepare to support colonization.  This is what made Cheongug the perfect petri dish.  The only problem was it wasn’t as empty as the UU reported it to be.”

Another flick of a finger revealed an image of a young child in a sterile white room with a puzzle on their lap and small dark wings visible over their shoulders.

“You see, gentlemen, Cheongug had long been a rest stop for Koloni traders.  I myself visited many times in my youth.  We were familiar with the small primitive population that lived in mountains.  We had no problem with the Cheonsa as long as they didn’t interfere in our operations.  Their little homing signals of whale song even became the basis for some of our classified military communications.  But that wouldn’t be in your cute little databases, I’m sure.”

“If you knew so much about them, why didn't you tell the UU the planet was inhabited?” Taehyung asked.  His gaze was focused on the image of the child, eyes squinted as he studied them.

“We did.  They didn’t bother us, but they were a problem for the UU.”

A new image appeared, this time of a ruined town with houses burnt and still smoking.

“They fled into the caves after that.  The UU thought they’d completely destroyed their towns, and we didn’t think it necessary to inform them they were wrong.  I heard some rumors that one of the UU officers helped evacuate some children off planet, but you know how the gossip mill can be.  The UU needed the Cheonsa to not exist.  If the public found out about them, especially considering their history, it would have been a public relations disaster.”

“Their history?”  Jeongguk couldn’t help the swell of curiosity within him.  It was tempered slightly by the grin on Mr. Lee’s face.

“They weren’t always primitive.  They chose to live that way after having traveled the galaxy.  Far enough and early enough to a younger planet Earth to bring back some things that appealed to them and leaving behind some memories with a far less advanced human race.”

Jeongguk thought back to the paintings he’d seen on the cave wall.  The story he was being told could explain the similarities in that artwork and the cave paintings back on Earth.  It would also explain the whale song being the basis for their homing signal.  But he was certain if Earth’s first contact had happened centuries before it was reported in history, there would be some record of it.

On the screen in Mr. Lee’s hand was now an image of Jimin, his face easily recognizable even as he appeared to be ducking away from the camera.  But it was the massive white wings rising from his back that caught Jeongguk’s attention.  In that moment, he realized where he had seen them before.

“Angels,” Jeongguk whispered.  “They were angels.”

Mr. Lee’s smile only grew as Jeongguk’s heart sank.  “Yes.  And your parents died because the UU couldn’t let anyone find them.”

***

It had been a good day at school.  Jeongguk had been chosen to help his teacher with the science presentation at the front of the class, mixing liquids to create smoke.  They had even created a few bolts of miniature lightning.  He bounced into the house after quickly waving to the other neighborhood kids entering their own homes.

His mother sat at the kitchen table.  She was often waiting for him there when he got home, usually with a snack and a glass of milk.  But this time she sat with her face covered by her palms and her body unnaturally still.

“Mom?  Is everything alright?”

She wiped her eyes quickly, looking up to give him a bright smile.

“Of course, sweetheart.  Mommy’s just tired from a tough day at work.  Why don’t you tell me about your day?  I’m sure that will cheer me right up.”

Jeongguk did just that.  And, a few days later, she was gone.

***

Pain scorched through his throat even as Jeongguk attempted to suppress another scream.  Seokjin sat across from him, pulling at his restraints even as small droplets of blood dripped from his torn wrists.  The unhealed wounds in his back burned from whatever liquid was in the small shot glasses their captors were emptying along his shoulder blades.

In the corner of the room, Jimin sat crouched with his back to the wall and his hands tied in front of him.  Tears dripped down his face despite his silence.

There had been a brief respite from the torture, which was the only thing Jeongguk could describe it as, when he had been untied and brought into another room where Seokjin was singing an old repetitive children’s song at the top of his lungs.  The muscle at the door had a stern expression, but annoyance was quickly turning his face red.

Seokjin had seen all of their friends at one point or another since they’d been captured.  He’d said they were mostly whole with Namjoon seeming the most exhausted with bloodshot eyes and a weak voice.  The information the various Koloni criminals who held them were looking for seemed to vary widely depending on the interrogator.  One wanted to know if they’d discovered any untapped resources.  Another wanted to know what evidence they’d found of their movement of black market goods.  Mr. Lee seemed vaguely interested in whether the UU had a renewed interest in Cheongug, but he seemed mostly invested in doling out punishments when they didn’t speak.

“We know you tapped into communications between your starship and another UU vessel.  Were you just eavesdropping, or did you speak with them?” Mr. Lee asked calmly.  He spun a small test tube between his fingers, the bright blue liquid moving back and forth.

Pressing his lips together, Jeongguk winced as the unseen man behind him pressed rough fingers against the old bandages covering his wounds.  Seokjin’s eyes were wide as he looked at the man crouched beside them.  His eyes flickered briefly to the corner where Jimin had begun slowly rocking back and forth.

“Did you have reunification plans?  How long did you plan on being here?  Where is your rendezvous point?”

“What does any of this matter?” Seokjin asked.  “No matter what, they’ll come looking for us eventually.  And after all this, do you think they’ll just pick us up and let you go with a handshake?  How do you see this playing out?"

The too familiar smirk appeared on the man’s face.  “I think when we leave you out in the forest for your crew to pick you up, they will be so happy you’re not being returned in pieces that they will take you and run rather than wait around to find your little slave.”

Jimin whimpered.

“We’re not leaving without him,” Jeongguk rasped.

“It’s just some unfortunate circumstances for all of you, I’m afraid,” Mr. Lee said, his voice teasing as he didn’t even meet their eyes.  “He isn’t much more valuable than any other slave in our inventory.  But he made a bit of a show when he escaped.  We can’t let him give the others ideas about freedom.  We need to make an example of him.  It would have been much easier on him if he had just behaved.  He could be doing menial labor on a small independent outpost somewhere instead of becoming a test subject.  And on top of that, he just had to drag all of you down with him.”

Nearly falling to the ground with his chair, Jeongguk barely stabilized himself with his rapidly numbing feet as he startled at Jimin’s movement.  The other man bolted for the door with a speed they hadn’t seen from him before.  But he was stopped with a choking sound as the man at the door caught him around the throat.  Gasps gave way to almost silence as he was lifted from the ground with fingers pressing against his throat.  But, nearly as soon as it began, he was dropped to the ground.

He scrambled across the floor in desperation.  Jeongguk could see where his fingertips were torn and bloody as Jimin swung around the side of his chair, gripping tightly to one on Jeongguk’s legs as he caught his breath.

“The UU has always been too curious for their own good,” Mr. Lee explained.  He smiled as he reached out to brush his fingers over Jimin’s knuckles.  Jimin clenched his eyes shut but didn’t let go.  “They realized fairly quickly after taking this planet that there was an ancient connection between the Cheonsa and Earth.  It would have been best for them to just leave the Cheonsa to their new lives hidden in the caves, but they couldn’t leave well enough alone.  They needed to understand.  And they couldn’t do it without their civilian scientists.  They thought they could have them analyze the experiments the soldiers conducted and solve the mysteries without uncovering the truth.  It was an impossible goal from the beginning.”

“That’s why we were here.  My parents were involved because of their secondary research on mythological commonalities between civilizations.  The study on the electromagnetic field was just a cover.”

Looking down, Jeongguk met Jimin’s apologetic eyes.  He tried to give him a smile as a couple tears began to race down Jimin’s cheeks.  With the pain even that slight movement caused, he assumed it came across as more of a grimace than anything comforting.

The response from Mr. Lee was a noncommittal hum.

Much of the interrogations had gone along those lines.  The man would info dump until his captives became intrigued, but fall silent once Jeongguk or one of his crew mates responded with anything except providing information the Koloni wanted.

This was all mixed in with bouts of pain without pattern, leaving Jeongguk’s strained muscles trembling as he fought to keep himself whole.

“You probably don’t have as long as you think you do before our crew comes looking for us,” Seokjin said casually, breaking the silence.

“Oh?  And why would you think that?”

“Our shuttle may be a wreck, but it’s still sending out the automated short range distress signal.  I don’t know how long we’ve been here, but it can’t be more than a few hours until the Halazia passes overhead and picks up on it.  And even if it isn’t them, someone will come looking for us.  I can promise you that.”

For the first time, Mr. Lee’s eyes sharpened with anger.  He shot to his feet quickly and gripped tightly at Seokjin’s restrained wrists.

Seokjin met Jeongguk’s eyes over their captor’s shoulder.  Jeongguk couldn’t answer the silent question in the doctor’s gaze.  He was just as confused by the response.

But Mr. Lee didn’t say a word before turning sharply on his heel and leaving the room.

A relieved sigh escaped Jimin as he leant forward to rest his forehead against Jeongguk’s forearm.  The pain in his back abated briefly.  He embraced the rare moment of peace.

***

The new room was pitch dark.  Jeongguk couldn’t tell how large it was, but even his quiet throat clearing echoed around him.  He took deep slow breaths in an effort to calm his racing heart, the threats that maybe this room would teach him some respect continuing to echo in his head.

In the near vacuum of anything else to stimulate his senses, Jimin’s hand gripped tightly in his was the only thing grounding him.

He hadn’t seen Mr. Lee since the man had stormed out of the room following Seokjin’s taunts of their potential early rescue.  He hadn’t seen much of any of their captors until two men ripped him from his chair, dragging both him and Jimin out into the hallway with Seokjin’s shouts quickly fading behind them.

Jimin gave his hand a brief tug, pulling him backwards until he felt the handle of the door poke sharply into the small of his back.

“Have you been here before?” Jeongguk whispered before remembering he wouldn’t be able to see Jimin’s response.  “You can squeeze my hand once for ‘yes’ and twice for ‘no.’”

One sharp squeeze to his hand had Jeongguk flinching.

“Should I be worried?”

Another single tug.

In the distance, Jeongguk heard quiet shuffling.  Whatever it was was large despite the delicate movements that echoed through the darkness.

Pure darkness pulled Jeongguk’s other senses to the forefront.  Jimin’s hand felt weighted in his.  He could make out the sweaty palms and slight trembling as their fingers intertwined.  His own heavy breathing echoed in his head.  He was too aware of the pain where he’d bit into the tip of his tongue and the soreness in his throat that hadn’t eased since Mr. Lee had finally left them hours before.

Then there was also an unknown brush against his mind that he hadn’t felt before.

During his first Christmas in Busan after Cheongug, they’d lost power for an evening.  He was still slowly adjusting to life back on Earth.  The darkness had felt like it was closing in around him as he sat quietly in his room where he’d been reading.  The only thing that had been keeping the panic attack at bay was the gentle snoring of his grandparents’ terrier where she was curled up next to him on the bed.

Then his grandfather had come in, picking the both of them up to bring them into the living room.  Candles flickered warm golden light around the room.  His grandmother placed a warm mug of hot chocolate with little marshmallows floating on the top into his hands.  Tucked between his grandparents on the couch with the dog sitting on his lap, he’d felt safe.

That was what the telepathic touch felt like.

“Is that you?” Jeongguk whispered.  Calm remained settled over his mind even as the odd disembodied noises seemed to come closer.  Jimin squeezed his hand in an affirmative.

Slipping his hand out of Jeongguk’s, Jimin shifted until he was standing in front of him.  Jeongguk rested his hands lightly on the other’s hips so as not to lose him in the darkness.  Despite his firm stance, Jeongguk could still feel the nervous tension building up in Jimin’s muscles beneath his palms.

Foggy memories flitted through his mind’s eye.  There was blood and unimaginable pain in his back, light flickering off the sharp metal tools of his tormentors.  There was fire and a comforting touch to his cheek.  There were broken feathers scattered on the ground and then the relief of escape aboard the Mawang, until the monster followed him.

Twin bright red orange lights appeared suddenly ahead of them.  Fear rose up in his chest before the psychic touch quickly soothed it away.

That was, until a familiar growl sounded.  The same wet hot breath he’d felt on his toes as a child slid over his face and throat as the lights grew closer.

Jeongguk winced as overhead lighting quickly flickered on.  It wasn’t at full power, but it was enough to reveal the high ceilings of the large warehouse where they stood just inside the entrance, still with Jeongguk’s back against the door.

The creature prowled a few hundred feet away.  It had a long scaled body that moved like the large snakes Jeongguk saw at the zoo back home.  Large clawed feet scraped across the ground as it moved on short muscular legs.  Sharp teeth were visible where its wide mouth hung open slightly with the animal’s panting.  A blast of wind had Jeongguk stumbling as large webbed wings stretched out where they rose from between its shoulders.

He had never seen it before, but he was certain one of these creatures had been in his house the night he’d lost his parents.

Tears filled his eyes as he felt Jimin remembering this monster biting into one of his wings as it dragged him towards his captors.  There were later memories of the creature chasing him through the corridors of the Mawang to rip him away from people who had shown him rare kindness, fear making his heart pound as he didn’t know what had become of the crew.

Jimin took a few cautious steps forward, his hands held out in front of him in a placating gesture.  He ignored Jeongguk desperately attempting to grab onto the back of his tank top while keeping a hold of the locked door behind him.

“Jimin,” Jeongguk hissed out, flinching as reptilian eyes turned towards him almost lazily.  “Come back here.”

Nausea overwhelmed his senses as the animal burst forward, its wings flapping as it would rise briefly before its feet thumped against the tiled floor.  The noise immediately connected to the recent memory of running through the forest with Jimin’s wrist held tight in his hand.

The air felt charged with static electricity that had the hairs on Jeongguk’s arms raising.  Ahead of him the creature paused, its head cocked as it studied Jimin where he stood with his hands now held above his head.  He wanted to call for Jimin to come back to him, but the words wouldn’t come.

He didn’t know how they would make it out, but he knew he would feel better facing the end if he could hold Jimin in his arms.

Light was extinguished as quickly as it had come.  The angry roar echoed off the walls as the solid support of the door behind him disappeared.  He could barely comprehend what was happening as he tumbled backward into the hallway, his head knocking harshly against the ground.

***

“I think he’s waking up.”

“How can you tell?  He’s still just sweaty and pale with his eyes closed.”

“Yeah, but his eyes are moving more behind his eyelids.  See?”

There was a hard poke against Jeongguk’s brow bone.

“Shh.  Everyone back up and give him some space.”

Jeongguk winced as he opened his eyes, the light forming a halo behind Seokjin’s head where the doctor hovered over him.

“I’m starting to worry about all these hits to the head you’re getting,” Seokjin said quietly, his voice carrying a teasing lilt despite the concern evident in his eyes.  “Might knock something loose that you can’t get back.”

He raised himself up slightly, leaning on his elbows on the cold floor despite the pain in his back.  “Don’t worry.  I’ll let you run all the scans you want once we’re back on the ship.”

“See.  Being cooperative and volunteering to come to the sick bay on your own?  You’re already acting out of character.”

A warm palm cradled the back of Jeongguk’s right shoulder.  Looking up, he met Namjoon’s tired eyes.  His left eye was red with a burst blood vessel and his dark circles were so heavy he looked bruised.  A nearly imperceptable quirk of his lips passed for a comforting smile as his gaze quickly took in the totality of the damage to Jeongguk’s bruised body.

“It’s good to finally see you again.  I was getting worried.  The last I saw of you was when you were getting skewered on the beach,” the captain said.  He gave Jeongguk’s shoulder a weak squeeze before nearly collapsing as he leant back to sit on the floor.

“Technically he wasn’t skewered,” Taehyung corrected.  “Just scratched up a bit.”

“‘A bit’?  Tell that to my back.”

Allowing Seokjin to maneuver his body to get a better view of his back, Jeongguk finally took in the men gathered around him.  For the first time since their capture, the seven of them had been locked away together.  Hoseok was busy fussing over the makeshift sling cradling Yoongi’s left arm that seemed to have been made from the sleeves of the engineer’s jacket.  Jimin’s eyes were just barely open where his head was resting against Taehyung’s shoulder, his body curled against his side.

“So I guess they’ve given up on the divide and conquer approach?” Jeongguk asked, trying to keep his voice light and teasing as Seokjin’s fingertips over the bandages on his back gave off sparks of pain.

“I don’t know what you guys did, but you’ve got old Mr. Lee worked up about something,” Hoseok said with a laugh.  “Whenever the door opens we can hear him yelling at his underlings to get ready for something.”

“Jin only told him people would be coming for us eventually.  That couldn’t have been news to him.”

Hoseok shrugged.  “Maybe reality is finally setting in that this whole thing isn’t as organized as they like to pretend it is.  Fanatics tend to talk a big game until they run up against actual resistance.”

The lights overhead flickered.  Somewhere in another part of the building, Jeongguk could hear the familiar sounds of engines turning over as vehicles were started.  If he listened carefully, he could hear the grumbling of the dragon he had encountered with Jimin.  But he wasn’t sure if that was only from the remnants of fear haunting him.

“I think they really only wanted to steal Jimin back but couldn’t ignore the gift of six UU officers falling in their laps,” Namjoon said with a sigh.  “Their command structure seems messy, so they’re all pursuing their own interests.  It means they’re failing to work together and actually accomplish anything though.”

“The bad guys aren’t always evil geniuses.  Sometimes they’re just jerks who stumble into enough power to hurt people,” Taehyung responded.  He frowned as he hugged Jimin tight against him.

Beneath him as he lay back down, the chill from the floor felt soothing against his back that was warm from fighting off infection.  Jeongguk let his eyes close momentarily as his friends continued to talk quietly amongst each other.  He smiled as he felt Jimin’s hand slip into his.

A soft touch of Jimin’s mind against his own, which was growing more familiar each time, seemed to dampen the pains throughout his body.  He gave the hand in his a squeeze of thanks.

He tried not to move as he felt Jimin lay down beside him.  The other man tucked against his side, resting his head on his shoulder and wrapping an arm around his waist.  One of his ankles tangled against Jeongguk’s own.

They fit against each other perfectly.

The building around them shook with a sharp jolt.  Jeongguk could easily recognize the sound and feel of an explosion.

Pushing himself back to sitting, keeping one arm tight around Jimin, Jeongguk turned his head to face the closed door.  They could hear pounding footsteps in the hallway moving away from them.

“That didn’t sound good,” Namjoon murmured.

Another explosion sounded.  This one was closer.

Jimin’s hand gripped tightly to the front of his shirt.  His head was tilted as he also turned to face the door.

All seven of them startled where they sat when the door opened suddenly.  They hadn’t even heard anyone approach with the eruptions of noise that were now coming from seemingly every direction.

There had been a time when Jeongguk would have expected Jimin to cower from the stranger.  Maybe he would have even ducked down to hide behind Jeongguk.  But now he rose to his feet and stood tall in front of the intruder.

He even smiled.

The look seemed to unnerve the man despite his significant size advantage on the former slave.  He frowned, taking a sharp step forward in a failed attempt to intimidate.

Stepping around Jimin, the man grabbed Yoongi by the back of the shirt.  The engineer released a startled grunt but otherwise stayed silent as he kept his injured arm tucked tightly against his front.

“Get up and come with me.”

More men swarmed the room.  Jeongguk was tugged to his feet, the muscles in his back stretching painfully under his wounds.

“Tell him to stop smiling at me.”

Snapping his head around, Jeongguk found Jimin nearly nose to nose with one of their captors and a wide smile on his face.  He caught Jeongguk’s eyes as he looked to him and gave him a wink.

Before Jeongguk could say a word, there was a tight grip on his shoulder and he was being marched down the hallway.  He could hear his friends expressing varying levels of discontent behind him as he was shoved into a small dark room.  Then all he could hear was the faint rumbling of another explosion in the distance.

***

Beneath him, the hard flat surface that Jeongguk supposed was meant to function as a bed rattled from the tremors of yet another explosion that rocked the building.  He hadn’t seen any of their Koloni captors since he’d been tossed into the tiny holding cell.  The last he’d heard of his friends was Taehyung’s outraged shouting as he’d been locked in the room next to him.

Nerves rumbled in his stomach.  But he drew comfort from the confidence that had appeared on Jimin’s face from the moment the blasts had begun.

He already missed the light touches of the other man’s mind against his.

The pounding of hard soled boots past his door drew his attention.  He listened to the frantic crackling tones of the voices over the radio that faded into nothing as they ran down the hallway but was unable to make out any of the words being spoken.

There was a very quiet shuffling from the room to his left.  He could imagine Namjoon pacing his way around the edges of the room as he looked for any possible weakness in the structure he could exploit.  Yoongi still told stories of Namjoon’s constant escapes from a fifth floor classroom where they usually served detention after talking back to one of their history professors.  The weakness left behind by his weight pressing against one of the ceiling panels was exploited by other students for years until the administration caught on and had it repaired.

That particular instructor later turned out to be an insurrectionist, so there was little guilt amongst their friend group for the grief they’d given him over the years.

A loud thump from Namjoon’s room sent him sitting upright quickly.  He wasn’t sure if the faint murmurs he heard were his captain speaking to himself or something else.

Then the distinctive sound of a door slamming open across the hallway from him overpowered the quiet voice, followed by another door opening accompanied by Seokjin’s loud shout.

The world around him erupted with noise as his own door opened.  Someone in a set of dark armor stumbled into the room, still clinging to the door pull as they stared at Jeongguk where he was seated.  Both remained frozen where they were.

“I’m here to rescue you,” a muffled voice came through the helmet.

“Aren’t you a little short for a Stormtrooper?” Jeongguk asked.

The helmet was pulled off, revealing Chris’ wincing face.  “That’s not quite how it goes.  And how long have you been waiting to use that?”

“At least since those training exercises Chungha assigned us on Xiera a few months back.”

Now that the walls weren’t suppressing the sounds around him, Jeongguk could clearly make out the bickering between Changbin and Seokjin along with Namjoon’s concerned questions being answered by a calm Seungmin.  The explosions that had sounded muffled and distant now felt like a much more clear and present danger.

Chris moved forward to grab Jeongguk’s wrist and pull him to his feet.  “We need to get moving.  Sungie must nearly be out of his little handmade noise makers by now.”

“All that noise has been him?”

A quick flick of grease stained fingers had the visor of the man standing next to him supporting Yoongi’s weight sliding back into his helmet, revealing Minho’s bloodshot eyes.  “The idiot is circling the compound on the hover scooter my mom got him for his birthday.  He’s got the grenades on a time delay, so hopefully he’s staying one step ahead of everyone.”

“You saw the look in his eyes,” Changbin interrupted.  “This is the most fun he’s had all year.”

Only a few steps away, Jimin stood close to Felix, brushing his fingers lightly through the younger’s bright blue hair.  Felix was speaking in a quiet whisper that placed a soft smile on Jimin’s face as he listened.  As Felix reached out to briefly intertwine their fingers, Jeongguk’s heart leapt in momentary fear as he remembered what had happened the last time they’d met.

“He woke up not long after you guys left,” Chris explained.  The gentleness in his voice was a relief as Jeongguk realized the strain that had still characterized their friendship despite their conversation before he’d flown away from the Jamais Vu had disappeared.  “A lot of the tissue damage in his back is healed now.  Kai thinks Jimin’s energy signature pushed Felix into a healing state.”

“So it wasn’t an attack?”

Chris shook his head, lips quirked in an apologetic smile.  “No.  And I’m sorry I assumed the worst.”

“Guys?” Jisung’s voice sounded distorted over the communicator attached to Minho’s hip.  “I’m at the emergency exit out back.  Could you maybe move a little bit faster?”

“This way!” Changbin shouted.  His rifle was raised in front of him, his broad shoulders tense as he peeked around the corner.  Jeongguk’s eyes widened as he watched Hyunjin follow closely behind with a long sword held in each hand.

“Don’t ask,” Seungmin grumbled as he passed.

Looking around him, Jeongguk did a quick head count to confirm his full away team stood in the narrow hallway.  Taehyung gave him a tired smile as their eyes met.

Chris gave him a solid clap against his shoulder.  “We know where we’re going.  Can you cover the rear?”

“Sure,” Jeongguk agreed without a thought.  He accepted the laser handgun Jeongin pressed into his hand as he darted after their crew mates that were moving away around the corner.  Years of training had his hands moving quickly to check all the settings before raising his hands to keep it at the ready.  He walked backwards carefully, only sparing quick glances over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t about to bump into anything or anyone.

He kept his focus in front of him even as he heard gunfire at his back and a scream that followed what sounded like one of Hyunjin’s blades cleaving through armor.

Two of Taehyung’s fingers slipped into the belt loop at the small of his back, carefully guiding him through the curve of the hallway behind him.  He fired off a quick shot as one of the large Koloni foot soldiers appeared at the end of the hallway.  The man fell unconscious to the ground, his friends seemingly choosing the safety of staying hidden behind the wall.

His foot caught briefly on the outstretched leg of a man sitting against the wall, grumbling behind the gag in his mouth as he struggled to pull free of the rope binding his arms behind his back.  Jeongguk recognized him as the man who often stood guard at the door during his interrogation sessions.  The glare directed up at him held little weight in his position and Jeongguk let his feet accidentally kick against his ankle as he stepped over him.

The sun was bright when Jeongguk stepped outside.  His eyes watered briefly as he squinted to adjust to natural light for the first time in days.  He wasn’t even sure exactly how long they had been inside.

Strained rumbling from an old engine overpowered the noise of nature around him.  Jisung sat behind the wheel of the long pickup truck, the lower part of his face covered in soot and an oversized pair of goggles covering his eyes.  His bright white teeth stood out as he smiled at them.

“Let’s get going, yeah?” Minho yelled as he leaned out the passenger’s side window.  “We don’t exactly have any high powered weapons, so it would probably be safest for us to reach the forest before they can launch any shuttles.”

Jeongguk raced up to the bed of the truck, hopping on quickly like he would his cousin’s back home.  He steadied himself on Taehyung’s shoulder as he reached back to pull the tailgate up behind him.

“Good to go!” Chris shouted, pounding a palm against the truck’s roof.  He gripped the back of the panel of lights atop the truck as he faced backwards with his rifle.  Wobbling briefly as Jisung took off, he quickly found his feet as Jeongin wrapped his arms around one of his legs.

The chaotic sounds of the Koloni compound faded quickly as they sped away.  They bumped along the old dirt road, the metal of the bed painful against Jeongguk’s tailbone.

“What are you even doing here?  Protocol doesn’t have you investigating for another forty eight hours at least,” Namjoon pointed out.  His voice was raised to be heard over the noise but still calm as ever.

“Chungha was already worried that we hadn’t heard from you, even though your shuttle sent the automatic all clear message,” Chris answered.  His eyes stayed focused on the rising smoke behind them.  “Then Felix got a private back channel communication from Rear Admiral Choi encouraging us to leave Segye for an exploratory mission to Cheongug.”

“Why would he do that?”

Felix shrugged.  “Something his brother said that he didn’t want to risk putting in writing.  He didn’t even want headquarters to know he was saying anything.  That’s why he messaged me directly I’m assuming.”

“He could have warned us about the turrets though,” Changbin shouted.  His remaining grumbling was lost to the wind.

“It’s probably what destroyed your shuttle,” Chris explained.  “The Hewa’s seem to have established a pretty significant missile defense system.  We barely avoided it when we came in.  Took some creative maneuvers on Jisung’s part.”

“But your shuttle is intact?  We’ll be able to leave?” Yoongi asked.  His face was turning slightly green as the truck swerved to avoid a ditch, his injured arm clutched to his chest.

A wince on Chris’ face didn’t bode well for them.  “Technically?  But we’ll need help making it to atmo in one piece.  Like I said, we barely avoided their weaponry to come get you guys.”

The truck came to a sudden stop when they reached the tree line.  Momentum had Jeongguk knocking into Taehyung’s side, both of the tumbling over onto Jimin’s lap.

Through the foliage, Jeongguk could just barely make out the bright shine of the shuttle’s hull.  He’d barely raised himself up to his knees before Jisung was racing out of the truck into the forest.  Minho followed more sedately, the sigh visible in the movement of his shoulders.

A few kicks from Jeongguk’s booted foot to the rusty tailgate had it falling open.  Sliding to the ground, his body reminding him of its aches and pains as he feet hit the soil.  He pushed the pain aside, turning back to help his crew mates off the truck.

The throbbing hurt in his back as his wounds pulled was worth the smile on Jimin’s face as Jeongguk firmly gripped his waist to help him down.  To his left, he barely caught sight of Seungmin smacking away Changbin’s teasing hands as he exited the truck bed.

Birds chirped around them, unaware of the bedlam occurring nearby.  If Jeongguk focused on their songs and the feel of Jimin slipping his hand in his, he could almost pretend to be as cluelessly cheerful as them.  Like his grandmother had said back in their kitchen in Busan, everything seemed a little brighter with Jimin next to him.

Relief flooded his veins as he stepped into the shuttle.  Jisung’s hands were flying over the control panel as Yoongi sat next to him, running through the preflight reports quickly despite having the use of only one hand.  Sliding into the already crowded cockpit, Jeongguk watched over Jisung’s shoulder as he activated the communications array.

“Come on,” Changbin murmured beside him.  He leaned forward, watching the static on the screen as the engineers continued to prep the shuttle for flight.

Static crackled through the shuttle as the audio feed came to life.

“Shuttle Smeraldo?  This is the Halazia.  I’m sorry, but your connection is a little muddled.”  Even with the poor reception, the communication officer’s voice came through loud and clear.

“San!  Please tell me you’re near Cheongug,” Changbin shouted.  Jeongguk held his breath as the silence stretched.

“We’re actually about to pass over head on our way to the Adhara Outpost on Segye.  But last I heard you were in the middle of a diplomatic crisis over there?”

“It’s kind of a long story,” Chris interrupted.  “But we’re at the tail end of a rescue mission to bring our captain and some of our crew mates back to the Jamais Vu and find ourselves a little stuck.”

Another paused followed, this one broken by San’s static filled laughter.  “I cannot wait to tell Wooyoung that Changbin lost his captain on a criminal controlled planet.  And then got himself stranded in an attempt to rescue him.  He’ll never let you live it down.”

“That’s not what happened!” Changbin yelled, nearly toppling over Jeongguk’s shoulder towards the shuttle’s main control panel.  “They were on an away mission!  And we’re not stranded!”

“Then what do you mean by ‘stuck?’”

“There’s a weapons system controlled by the Hewas ready to try knock us out of the sky the second we try to leave.  You’ve got far more firepower than us currently, so we could use some support taking out the main turrets,” Chris explained.

The grating white noise of the poor connection hurt Jeongguk’s ears as it bounced around the interior of the shuttle.  It nearly overwhelmed the sounds of his crew mates moving around behind him, but not enough to completely drown out Felix’s stern voice or Jimin’s heavy breathing.  He glanced over his shoulder quickly to see the others slipping off their stolen armor.  A shift of the fabric of Felix’s shirt momentarily revealed the scars on his back and the small set of tattooed wings between his shoulder blades.

“We’re en route to your location,” San confirmed, pulling Jeongguk’s attention back to the cockpit.  Relief flowed quickly through his veins.  “Technically we’d be required to receive approval from headquarters for a diversion like this, but you’re lucky Hongjoong is more of a ‘ask forgiveness, not permission’ type of captain.”

“That’s probably why it’s still just the eight of you on that little freighter when every other ship in the fleet is taking on expanded responsibilities,” Namjoon teased as he clapped a firm hand on Jeongguk’s shoulder.

“I’ll take that as progress.  Last time you called us glorified pirates.”

“I called you privateers.  Because that’s what you are.”

“Close enough.  Jongho’s on his way to the weapons bay.  I’ll send you the all clear when we’re in position.”

The audio connection shut down abruptly with a sharp click.

Around him, his crew mates moved about quickly.  Hyunjin tugged down on a lever with both hands, the back door to the shuttle closing slowly behind him.  Hoseok moved quickly from seat to seat, checking everyone’s safety belts as they found their spots.  Seokjin was fussing over a bleeding wound on Minho’s arm that the teacher was insisting was fine.

Jeongguk picked the open seat to Jimin’s left.  He adjusted his safety belt as he buckled in, leaning forward slightly to avoid contact with his damaged back.  Felix met his eyes sympathetically from Jimin’s other side.    It was a struggle to suppress his frown when he noticed Jimin’s fingers intertwined with Felix’s.

“I think he remembers me from when we were little,” Felix whispered, his eyes flashing between a lavender and soft blue.  “I still can’t remember anything, but his telepathic touch feels familiar.  And he’s pushed through a few short memories of me as a kid making mischief.”

As he looked closer, the shuttle rumbling as Jisung turned the engine on, Jeongguk could see the strain in Felix’s hand as he clung to Jimin’s and the soothing circles Jimin was making with his thumb.

The confidence Jimin had grown into the past few days was something to behold.  He watched as he silently soothed the normally unruffled Felix whose eyes were wide as he looked through the cockpit window at the Cheongug forest surrounding them.  They exchanged words with only their eyes as the shuttle shook once more.  Jimin brushed a stray bit of blue hair out of Felix’s eyes.  He expected it to spark jealousy in the pit of his belly, but it only made his heart feel soft.

“We’re right above you,” San’s voice came through the cabin, much clearer now that it was a short range communication.  “Jongho will blast any missile coming your way, but stay on a straight trajectory so he doesn’t accidentally knick you.”

A sharp yell from Jisung, followed by Minho’s quiet scolding, preceded the shuttle rising into the air with a jolt.  Felix gasped and gripped tightly to Chris and Jimin’s hands on each side of him.  His lips pressed tightly together as his eyes clenched shut, his only movement being quick nods of his head as he listened to what Chris was whispering into his ear.

Jimin took hold of Jeongguk’s hand.  He teasingly knocked the back of his hand against Felix’s with a smile before turning to watch the stars coming closer through the cockpit window.

The muffled blasts of the Halazia destroying any of the weapons attempting to bring them back down to the planet came from behind them as they quickly left Cheongug behind.

Conflicting feelings of triumph at leaving behind the monsters of his youth and the fond memories of his last days with his parents sat uncomfortably in his sternum.  He let his eyes drift shut, focusing instead on the joyful way Jimin bounced Jeongguk’s hand against his thigh.  His breathing evened out as Namjoon’s mellow voice spoke over the communicator, someone describing their docking procedure for when they reached the Halazia.

Everything was ok.

They were safe.

***

“Honey?  Is everything alright?”

Jeongguk turned away from the dancing colors of the night sky to where his mother stood just one step out of the house into their backyard.  She had a blanket around her shoulders and a steaming mug in each hand.  Jeongguk could see his father in the kitchen window, swinging his hips to the music playing as he washed the dishes in the sink.

Biting sternly into his bottom lip, he couldn’t stop a few tears from escaping.

“Oh, sweetheart.  What’s the matter?”

“I don’t want you to go.”

His mother sat down beside him and placed the warm mug of hot chocolate in his cold hands.  She rested an arm around his slim shoulders, lightly knocking her forehead against his.

“It’s just a short research trip.  We’ll only be gone one night.  And aren’t you excited for your first sleepover?  You’ve been chattering all week about the new video game system Dong-min has.”

“But he said where you’re going there are monsters!  I don’t want them to eat you.”

“Darling,” his mother sighed.  She looked up at the aurora above them.  “Anywhere you go in life, there’s a chance you’ll run into monsters in some form or another.  But your father and I will be there together to keep each other safe, along with the rest of our team.  And checking on these caves might allow us to help people.  Isn’t that the most important thing?”

“Help who?  What could be so important about some dirty old caves?”

Her eyes were sad as she brushed her fingers through his hair.  “I’ll tell you more when you’re older.  But just know there are mothers out there who need help taking care of their precious babies, and I would hope if I needed help protecting you that they would do the same for me.”

Wind whipped through their backyard, sending a shiver through Jeongguk’s body even as his drink kept his hands warm.  He looked up to the sky to try to find where Manu was hiding behind the shifting colors.

She pressed a teasing finger against his cheek.  “You know how important it is to help people when we can.  Isn’t that why you want to be a UU officer when you grow up?”

“But I don’t want to lose you.”

With his eyes tightly shut, he could still feel the kiss she pressed to the top of his head.  “What do I always tell you?  A mother’s love cannot be erased.  I will always be by your side as long as there are stars in the sky.  We’re a matching pair, you and I.”

“I love you, mom.”

“I love you too sweetheart.  Always.”

***

The back door to the shuttle opened painfully slowly and with a groaning noise that left Jeongguk worried if they’d be able to close it again.  The shuttle bay of the Halazia was much smaller than the Jamais Vu and it took him a moment to adjust to the low level of lighting they seemed to maintain in that part of the ship.

A short ways away, Captain Kim Hongjoong stood with his arms crossed.  He was wearing safety glasses and some sort of harness.  Knowing how small the crew was, Jeongguk wouldn’t be surprised if they’d caught him in the middle of making some sort of repairs or upgrades despite their impending arrival.  He would feel nerves at the stern expression on the captain's face if he couldn’t also make out the shadow of a smile tugging at the corner of the his lips.

Standing behind him was who Jeongguk assumed to be Seonghwa based on the pink hair that was framing the strong features of his face and dark purple eyes that shimmered even in the dim starlight.  The complicated combination of fabrics and cutouts of the top the doctor wore Jeongguk could vaguely recognize as having pulled elements from traditional Koloni attire and were very different from the standard issue scrubs most medical officers were issued on UU starships.  His exposed right cybernetic arm drew Jeongguk’s attention as the other man rested his hands on his hips with a frown under the new arrivals’ scrutiny.  The lights flashed pink and purple as Jeongguk watched.

“Welcome aboard the Halazia everyone!  Advanced apologies for the mess.  We weren’t expecting any company for another few weeks, and we just dealt with some complications at the Boseog Outpost,” Hongjoong explained, his arms wide in greeting.  As they approached, Jeongguk was startled to find the Estron to be smaller than he expected based on the strong personality that had always shown through the stories Chris would share about the other.

“Heads up!”

Namjoon took a quick step back from where he had been exiting the shuttle when a small metal plate crashed to the ground in front of him with a clatter.  Looking up, Jeongguk saw a large shadowed figure dangling from the ceiling in a harness with safety goggles on his face and an old fashioned blowtorch in his hands.

“Sorry!  It just slipped!”

An angry looking Oegyein darted past Jeongguk to snatch the offending piece of metal from the ground, waving it about as he shouted.  “Song Mingi, how many times do I have to remind you to lock these things into place before you seal them?”

“But it’s such a pain to get the magnets out after!”

“Not as much of a pain as decapitation.”

“Yeosang-”

“Magnets!  No excuses.”

“Like I said,” Hongjoong continued with a grimace, “my apologies.  We’re still making repairs.  But getting you all to Segye won’t be an issue.  Might just take a little longer.”

A quick brush of Yoongi’s shoulder against his arm had Jeongguk stumbling briefly.  The engineer passed by him quickly, Jisung only a step behind.

“We’d be happy to lend some extra hands.  It’s the least we could do,” Yoongi offered.

“I’m sure Yeosang would appreciate the help.”

“Me too!” Mingi shouted from where he continued to dangle.  The human swung his legs back and forth in his harness.  “Maybe start with tossing me some of those magnets over there?”

Aside from the dimmed lighting, the Halazia was more worn than any other ship Jeongguk had been on in the fleet.  It made sense as it was an old freighter that had been converted for military operations during The War before it was bought at auction by Hongjoong.  Chris had made implications about the hidden storage features of the ship that the UU turned a blind eye to in exchange for valuable counterintelligence activities conducted by the crew.  Where the Jamais Vu was sleek and shiny, the Halazia was broken in but sturdy.

Imagining the faces of Ambassador Suursaadik and the Tulnukasian delegation if they had been forced to travel on the Halazia in place of the Jamais Vu brought a smile the Jeongguk’s face.

“So, how has business been for you?” Namjoon asked.  Jeongguk gave a quick glance back over his shoulder at his crew mates in the shuttle bay.  He received an exasperated smile from Chris before the other went back to his visible head count and note taking on his datapad.  Jimin was happily standing with his arms full of stabilizing magnets that he would toss one at a time to Mingi high above his head.

Jeongguk followed quickly after his captain into the ship’s interior hallways.

“Do you really want to know?” Hongjoong answered with a laugh.  “Plausible deniability and all that.”

“But you mentioned troubles at the Boseog Outpost.  It’s possible it overlaps with the activities of the Hewa crime family we’re investigating.”

An amused snort just over his left shoulder had Jeongguk jumping in surprise.  He hadn’t even heard Seonghwa coming up behind him.

“We avoid crossing paths with them at all costs for…personal reasons,” the doctor explained, his voice even and quiet.  “But we did have an interesting interaction with Ambassador Rahu from Tulnukas.  The newly elected Tulnukasian leadership was displeased with some of his stances and resorted to blackmail to have him temporarily replaced until they could find a more permanent solution.  Once you reconnect to the UU database you’ll see the warrant for Ambassador Suursaadik’s arrest.”

“That’s amazing,” Jeongguk breathed out.  He looked up and met Hongjoong’s amused eyes.  “We already knew he was an asshole, but you can’t exactly arrest him for that.”

“If only.  But terroristic threats against a government official definitely carry a prison sentence,” the captain said.

Before he even realized it, the hallway opened up into the small bridge.  It was simple with two workstations at the back with the combined captain’s and pilot’s station at the front beneath the large window that encompassed nearly the entire front wall of the ship.  Hongjoong slipped comfortably in his seat, opening up the navigation display as Seonghwa leaned against the edge of the workstation with crossed arms.

“It should take around thirty-six hours to get to Segye,” Hongjoong said.  His fingers moved quickly over the workstation in front of him.  “Sorry we’re still running a little slow, but we’ll get you there in one piece.  That’s what matters most.  Plus, I heard the prince’s family arranged a marriage with a woman from a high ranking family at court, so Jihyo’s off the hook from becoming his sixth wife.”

“Fifth,” Seonghwa corrected.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.  His last wife, number four, is from Honua.  It was big news back home.”

“Ah.”

Jeongguk peered over Hongjoong’s shoulder as the captain and doctor conversed, watching Cheongug become smaller and smaller in the rear view display as the Halazia moved away.

“Thank you again.  We really appreciate the rescue.”  Namjoon’s voice interrupted Jeongguk’s focus as he dropped into what he assumed was San’s seat at the communications station.

“Not a problem.  In fact, you probably made Jongho’s entire month.  He doesn’t get to run the weapon’s bay by hand against land based projectiles very often.  Better than any of his video games.  I could hear his hollering all the way from the bridge,” Hongjoong answered with a laugh.  “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Uncertainty filled Jeongguk when he met Namjoon’s eyes.  “Not sure yet.  But I hope so.”

One more sweep of his fingers across the workstation had the autopilot reactivated and Hongjoong rose to his feet.  He touched his palm briefly against Seonghwa’s waist, giving the doctor a quick squeeze before moving past him to exit the bridge.

“We don’t exactly have guest quarters on board.  We’re bunked up two a room as it is.  But we’ve got enough bedrolls to make the shuttle bay comfortable enough for you for two nights,” Hongjoong explained.  Jeongguk could already hear the loud conversations of their gathered crews echoing down the hallway as he and Namjoon followed the captain.

“That will be perfect.  Thank you.”

“Your captain is so polite,” Hongjoong teased.  “I’d almost forgotten what manners sound like in a voice beside Hwa’s.”

The shuttle bay turned out to be the kind of controlled chaos that reminded him of group activities from his Academy days.  Mingi still hung from the ceiling where he had been joined by Jisung.  Changbin and Jongho were pulling vacuum sealed bedrolls out of a wall compartment, speaking loudly in Indegen as they moved around one another.  Felix and Seungmin were carefully unfolding the bedrolls as they were inflated, Minho and Jeongin carrying each one to the location Felix pointed towards.

“You dyed your hair.”

Turning, Jeongguk nearly bumped into Hyunjin where he was looking at Hongjoong’s split black and white hair with a suspicious gaze.  Hongjoong gave the teacher a slight bow of his head.

“Had a mission on Graha a little while back, and the Videsi still aren’t exactly welcoming to Estron like us.  Had to hide the orange and it turns out Seonghwa likes it, so I’m sticking with it for a bit.”

“It looks good.”

“Thanks!”

Jeongguk moved away and accepted one end of the compressed bedroll Taehyung was struggling to carry.  His friend smiled at him through gritted teeth.

Dropping the bedroll to the floor, Jeongguk made a quick check of the space around him to confirm they had at least one sleeping area per body.  There appeared to be, but it was hard to count the spaces on the messy side where Hoseok was play wrestling with Yoongi over the fitted bedsheets.

“I was talking to Yunho,” Taehyung whispered, his head twitching quickly to indicate the towering Estron with dark blue hair who was helping Mingi and Jisung make their way back down to the floor.  “He makes up the entire science department here by the way.  But he offered to take a look at the scans we have of Jimin and Felix and compare them with some of his more classified data.  Maybe then Jin can come up with a treatment for their back pain or help Jimin with his mutism.”

“You think he’ll be able to find something?”

Taehyung shrugged.  “Couldn’t hurt to give it a try.  And with how much more expressive Jimin is becoming, maybe he’ll be able to provide some answers too.”

A stack of bedsheets dropped into his arms.  Jeongguk nearly tipped over from the weight and caught the smirk on Minho’s face as the other passed him by.

He ignored the thoughtful look on Taehyung’s face as he made the beds quickly and efficiently.  It was a fight against his own brain not to question the amount of bedding an eight person crew already had on hand.  Despite his nature, he’d learned early on sometimes it was better not to know everything the counterintelligence crews got up to in the darker corners of the galaxy.

Bright overhead lighting flickered on with a brief crackle of electricity that had Jeongguk freezing in place.  Looking up, he found Wooyoung standing in the entrance of the shuttle bay, his hand still on the light switch.

“We have guests,” the intelligence agent whined.  “It won’t kill the generator to let them have light in one room for a little bit.”

“It’s standard practice to reduce power to non life support systems after you almost break your ship in two.  Besides, I thought you liked the mood lighting,” Hongjoong teased back.  He reached out, barely missing giving Wooyoung a sharp pinch to his cheek when the other tucked himself under Seonghwa’s arm.

“Tell your boyfriend to stop being mean to me.”

The doctor sighed, looking down fondly at his brother before giving him a one armed hug.  “He isn’t mean to you.  You’re just annoying sometimes.”

Jeongguk chuckled at Wooyoung’s dramatic gasp before turning back to his task.  He fell to his backside on the floor when being confronted with Taehyung’s stern gaze less than an inch from his face.

“What’s your problem?”

Taehyung scrunched his nose in annoyance.  “With the whole kidnapping and torture situation, we were never able to talk about what happened on the beach.”

“You mean how that creature ripped my back apart?”

“No.  Don’t be purposefully obtuse.”

“It’s not purposeful.”

The science officer sighed.  “Unfortunately, I believe that.”

He gave his friend a light shove to his shoulder, frowning when the other didn’t fall.  Instead Taehyung leaned in closer to sit beside him with their knees lightly knocking together.

“I meant the kiss.”

“It’s not a big deal-”

“Jimin went from being unable to communicate with us to choosing to kiss you.  How can you say that’s not a big deal?”

Looking back behind him, he spotted where Jimin was sitting cross legged on one bed learning some sort of finger counting game from Felix and Hoseok.  He knew his friend was right.  He’d accepted his crush early on.  Jeongguk doubted any of him crew mates weren’t aware of it.  But that didn’t mean he was willing to admit that out loud right then.

“I know how I feel about it,” Jeongguk said, as much as he was willing to give voice to at the moment.  “But he’s been through so much.  I don’t want to pressure him.”

“Shouldn’t that be his decision to make?” Taehyung asked.

Jimin’s delighted laughter echoed through the shuttle bay, making Jeongguk snap his head around to look.  It was the loudest he’d ever heard the other.

“I’m just saying,” Taehyung whispered, “I don’t want you to talk yourself out of the best thing that might ever happen to you before you can even try.”

A small hand patted him on the shoulder.  He looked up to see Jimin, his hands pointing to the remaining bedsheets before turning them palms up impatiently.  Jeongguk passed along half the stack with a smile.

He would talk to Jimin.  Just not right then.

***

The kitchenette was small, much smaller than the mess hall on the Jamais Vu.  Jeongguk wasn’t even sure the entire crew of the Halazia could fit around the circular table placed beneath the window.  But for the moment, with a hot cup of coffee and the only noise being a few quiet early morning conversations in other nearby rooms, it was perfect.

Stars were bright as the ship moved slowly through space.  If he looked carefully, Jeongguk thought he could make out Segye growing larger in the distance.

“Don’t tell me you’re drinking that black.”

Seonghwa stood in the doorway in a pair of loose pajamas beneath a short thin robe that had HJ embroidered on the chest.  His pink hair was messily tied back in a half ponytail, the natural silver white roots peeking through in places.  The lights from his cybernetic arm shone through the fabric.  He held himself in a regal way that had Jeongguk struggling to hold his gaze at times.

“It’s fine.”  Jeongguk winced when the liquid hit his tongue.

There was a short rattle through the table as Seonghwa dropped the jar of sugar at its center.  “I would have left a warning if I knew someone would be up this early.  Hongjoong set the coffee maker last night, and he likes it as bitter as his mother.”

Coffee spilled over the rim of his mug as Jeongguk snorted, dropping the spoon full of sugar quicker than he’d planned.

“I take it you don’t get along?’

“Last time we were on DDaear, she invited Joong’s ex-girlfriend to his birthday dinner and refused to acknowledge that Wooyoung and I were even in the room.  She would interrupt whenever Joong said the word ‘boyfriend’ to explain it was just convenient situation until he had time to settle down.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah,” Seonghwa sighed, his face relaxing as he took a sip from his steaming mug of tea.  “At least his dad likes me.  We usually just skip straight to his house for the holidays now.”

They sat quietly at the table as they sipped at their drinks.  Jeongguk didn’t know Seonghwa beyond their meeting the previous day.  He was surprised to find Wooyoung’s older brother to be so calm, even if every so often he would still catch the same mischievous glint in his eye.  Despite overlapping during Wooyoung’s brief stint at the Academy, he’d never met the spy through classes or mutual friends.  There had been plenty of stories over the years from Yeonjun and Changbin about various adventures they’d found themselves caught up in on shared time off.  He’d heard rumors from people who didn’t know Wooyoung as well about the bullying the other had received due to being the only Koloni student in the school as well as the rumor that he’d dropped out to follow his best friend Yeosang in joining a pirate crew.  There was likely a kernel of truth to all of it but, as it often was, it was also likely much more complicated.

“You’re from Honua, right?” Jeongguk asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

“I am.”

“Is that why you didn’t attend the Academy?”

Seonghwa set his cup down with a sigh.  He kept his hands on the warm ceramic, continuing to stare down into the liquid rather than meeting Jeongguk’s eyes.  But, strangely, Jeongguk didn’t feel as if he was being avoided.  “I left home to escape one military.  I wasn’t exactly eager to hop right into another one.”

“But Wooyoung was?”

“A lot of serious questions for a stranger so early in the morning.”  The smile on Seonghwa’s face gentled his scolding tone.

Jeongguk blushed from embarrassment.  “I’m sorry.  I’ve never met a Koloni before this week, and I guess after everything I’m just trying to make sense of things.  And when I’m trying to make sense of things, I’m told I can often stick my nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Shadows hid the emotions on Seonghwa’s face, but Jeongguk could still see the way his shoulders had fallen as he hunched over his mug.

“Wooyoung’s my half brother.  Same dad, different moms,” Seonghwa whispered.  “Dad had an affair while stationed off planet and brought Wooyoung back with him.  I was too young to remember, but I can imagine how it went.  My mom left pretty quickly after that.  I mostly raised Wooyoung on my own while our dad was working.”

“The draft had been around since before I was born.  I’d always expected to have to serve at some point.  But then they lowered the enlistment age and removed a lot of the exemptions, which meant not only would I need to enlist almost immediately but also Wooyoung, who’s only half Koloni, would be required to enlist too.  Add to that what I’d overhead my dad saying about the early plans for the Partition, and I knew we had to leave.”

Lights flickered on in the hallway as the crew and temporary passengers all began to rise for the day.  It allowed Jeongguk to see the barest hint of tears in the twinkle of Seonghwa’s eyes as he heard Wooyoung and Changbin’s loud laughter echo down the hallway.

“How did you get away?”

“My dad was strict,” Seonghwa said hesitantly.  He turned to look out the window by their table, the starlight matching his glittering eyes.  “No matter how rebellious we acted, it never crossed his mind that we could betray him.  Plus we lived on a military base with multiple levels of security at every exit.  But we made it out through one of the underground tunnels to meet with some Malihini traders we’d gotten to know over the years.  They got us to Earth where we applied for asylum.  And that was that.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

Seonghwa smirked, lifting his cybernetic arm in front of him briefly.  “Had to leave one thing behind.  It sucks too.  I had this incredible sleeve of Manu my friend had done.”

The image of a severed arm on Mr. Lee’s screen with a tattoo of the goddess reaching to the stars returned from the back of Jeongguk’s mind at Seonghwa’s words.  If he looked for it, he could make out the same bridge of their captor’s nose and the same cut of his jaw looking back at him from across the table.  But, where Mr. Lee’s eyes held rage and disdain, Seonghwa’s were only kind.

“My parents went to Cheongug ‘officially’ to research the electromagnetic field that surrounded the planet, but their real passion was the interconnectivity of mythology through the universe.  Some of my clearest memories of my mother are her telling me the story of Manu in our backyard,” Jeongguk whispered.  He was startled to look up and find Seonghwa’s eyes meeting his.

“My dad would get so annoyed that I’d tell Wooyoung bedtime stories using Malihini names like my nanny had taught me growing up.  We share the same ancestors and mythology, it’s just that we use different names.  Eventually I was doing it mostly to make him angry,” Seonghwa said with a quiet laugh.  He looked briefly over his shoulder at the sound of feet stampeding down the hallway in the other direction towards the guest bathroom.  “I’d always felt connected to Manu with how her parents wanted her locked away until she would be useful.  There were moments I thought my only escape would be through death like her.”

Jeongguk’s head shot back up from where he’d been taking a sip of his coffee at Seonghwa’s words.  “What do you mean death?”

A sad smile answered him as he picked through his memories and found only happily ever afters falling from his mother’s mouth.  A child’s imagination filled with a beautiful princess and loving parents and joyous adventure suddenly fell under a dark fog.

“The version off worlders know is usually that the gods gifted her with wings because her parents couldn’t see they were smothering her, so she found joy in the heavens and made the stars.  What I grew up with was her parents knowingly imprisoned her, ripping her wings and letting her wither away.  The gods freed her soul and allowed her spirit a freedom in death that she never had in life.  She left behind stars to give hope to those who suffered like she had.”

“That’s awful,” Jeongguk couldn’t help but whine.  “Why is that a children’s story?”

“Is it worse than poison apples, wolves dressed as grandmothers, or a merchant selling his daughter for a rose?” Seonghwa chastised.  “Instead of thinking of it as a tragedy, isn’t it a comfort that someone who felt so much pain could still be kind enough to create something as beautiful as the stars just so others wouldn’t feel lonely?”

Jeongguk sat quietly, letting Seonghwa’s words wash over him.  He couldn’t help but think of when they’d found Jimin on the Mawang.  He’d been bloodied but still so willing to trust them.  Even when he could barely express himself, he was so quick to reach out with a soothing touch.

A hand lightly touched his shoulder.  Jeongguk startled, seeing Seonghwa had risen and stepped past him to deposit his empty mug into the dishwasher.

“The best myths are the ones that teach you something you didn’t already know.  Otherwise it’s just another silly story,” Seonghwa said gently.  “There is a time and place for both, but the first kind are my favorite.”

Laughter quickly filled the empty room as Hoseok dashed through the doorway with still damp hair, followed closely by Minho carrying Jisung on his back and Jongho gesticulating widely as he tried to put space between himself and Wooyoung’s puckered lips.  Seonghwa accepted a loud kiss on the cheek from his brother before leaving the kitchenette, sparing Jeongguk a small smile before disappearing from sight.

He focused on the stars outside the window as his friends continued with their morning.

***

Segye was warm when they landed.  The humidity had Jeongguk’s shirt sticking uncomfortably to his back.  The sun was nearly blinding where it reflected off the towering skyscrapers made of glass in the capital of Ilgwang.  Taehyung’s expression was blissful as he turned his face up towards the sky, eyes shut as he let his home sun warm his face for the first time in a long while.

Sitting at the bottom of the ramp extending from the back of the Halazia, sucking on a bright blue sugary popsicle Yoongi had handed to him, Jeongguk waited for his friends to finish making their arrangements to leave.  Juice dripped down his hands as the snack melted quickly in the summer air.  Checking to make sure no one was watching, he quickly licked the back of his hand clean.

Chris had long since disappeared into the crowds of the afternoon markets in front of them, Felix’s hand in his and shouting promises to meet back up once he made sure Jihyo and her situation with the crown prince was settled.  Jisung had chased after in a rush with some nonsense excuse and had left a confused Minho behind with Hyunjin guiding him along to find some lunch.

“Well that’s completely unnecessary.”

Jeongguk turned at the sound of Changbin’s voice, his eyes landing immediately on a shirtless San carrying cargo boxes past him off the ship.

“I strongly disagree,” Wooyoung pushed back, along with a shove to Changbin’s shoulder.  “Nothing’s stopping you from showing off a little muscle, you know.”

“How have you gotten even hornier now that you’re married?” Changbin asked, ignoring his friend’s thinly veiled suggestion.  “Isn’t it supposed to be the opposite?”

“Trust me, married sex is so much better than-” Wooyoung fell silent quickly with a grunt as San tossed him easily over one shoulder on his way back up the ramp.  He giggled as he reached down to grab at his husband’s waist as they disappeared into the shuttle bay.

Unable to make out the grumbled words beneath Changbin’s breath, Jeongguk returned the wave the other security officer gave as he followed Seungmin and Jeongin in the same direction their other crew mates had left.

Metal clanged briefly beneath him as Jimin sat down beside him with a heavy sigh.  Sweat was dripping down his face after the exertion of helping carry some cargo off the ship for San.  He was breathing heavily, but he was smiling when he lifted his head to look at Jeongguk next to him.  His eyes quickly turned to focus on the melting popsicle in Jeongguk’s hand.

Passing the popsicle over, Jeongguk fought to sit still as Jimin took a few cautious licks.  His back, now carefully bandaged and treated by Seokjin’s experienced hands and Seonghwa’s well stocked supplies, felt sore with how stiffly he was sitting.  When he forced his eyes away from the way Jimin’s eyes shut with delight as he took small bites from the cold treat, he looked up to see Choi Min-ho’s smirk.

“Admiral!”

“Lieutenant Jeon.  I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you and your crew have made it here in one piece,” Rear Admiral Choi said, reaching out a hand to help Jeongguk stand.  “Do you think you and Jimin could spare me a few moments of your time?  I promise to have you back quickly.”

Taehyung gave him a pat on the shoulder as he passed to head up the ramp.  “Don’t worry.  I’ll let Joon know.”

Wiping his hands on his pants, Jimin stood and gave a cheeky smile before intertwining his fingers with Jeongguk’s.  They followed the Admiral away from the ship, carefully weaving their way between shoppers and sellers loudly advertising their homemade goods.  Even though the Admiral was dressed casually in his loose khaki pants, white tee, and brown leather jacket, he stood out amongst the crowd with his height and purposeful confident walk.  He gave kind smiles to the shopkeepers who stood in the doorways of their stores, trying to entice shoppers in from the street market, but didn’t pause.

Jeongguk nearly stumbled onto the brick pavement when Jimin gave him a sharp tug to follow the Admiral where he turned down a narrow alleyway between buildings.  He carefully sidestepped a chef tossing a bag of garbage into a dumpster, frowning at the smell.

It was a surprise when the alley opened into a large well kept park.  It reminded Jeongguk of a lot of the parks back on Earth with the paved walkways, open areas of grass, and tall trees providing shade.  There were only a few groups of people around with most of the city either at the market or preparing for holiday evening gatherings in a few hours.  But he scrambled to try to take Jimin’s hand back when the other pulled away and raced towards a lone figure that was rising from a bench.

Momentum from Jimin leaping into the man’s arms nearly sent them both tumbling down before the other man widened his stance.  He wrapped both his arms around Jimin’s waist, carefully depositing him back onto the ground.

His face was familiar, but Jeongguk couldn’t place him.

“That’s my brother, Taemin,” Min-ho explained as he took a few steps back to stand alongside a stunned Jeongguk.  “I can’t remember if you two have ever met.”

Jeongguk shook his head.  “I think we’ve attended some of the same functions, but we’ve never been formally introduced.”

Joy was evident on Jimin’s face even from a distance.  His hands were moving quickly, but from the way Taemin’s eyes stayed focused on Jimin’s face, Jeongguk assumed they were communicating in a more silent manner.

“Did I ever tell you about my father, Lieutenant?” Min-ho asked.  He kept his gaze forward on his brother, his arms crossed comfortably across his chest.

Jeongguk shook his head again, confused by the shift in conversation.

“He was a Commodore when he received an assignment on Cheongug,” Min-ho explained.  He didn’t flinch or turn his head when Jeongguk turned sharply to face him at the mention of the planet he’d just escaped.  “It had been framed to him as a mission to push back against local terroristic threats, but it became clear to him quickly that they were meant to clear away the previously unknown native population.  The things he saw that day haunted him for the rest of his life and his refusal to take part cost him his career.  He did what he could, accepting children from desperate parents and hiding them in the small storage compartments of his shuttle.  That’s how we ended up with Taemin.”

“Mr. Lee, one of the men who kidnapped us, he mentioned a UU officer evacuating children off planet.  That was your dad?”

There was pride on Min-ho’s face when he finally turned to face Jeongguk.  “It was.  It always confused me how people he had served with in his career spoke of him so admiringly when they found out I was his son, because as long as I could remember he’d been a stay at home dad while my mom served on starships.  But, even from an early age, they’d told me how important it was to keep quiet about how Taemin had come into our lives.  I needed to treat him like anyone else would treat a younger brother.  It wasn’t hard, because that’s what he is in every sense.”

Keeping quiet, Jeongguk took a moment to process everything he was learning.  Jimin was still nearly bouncing on his feet as Taemin spoke to him.

“Felix mentioned Taemin was the reason you sent them to come find us?” Jeongguk asked.  He couldn’t keep the smile from his face when Jimin moved forward to wrap Taemin in another tight hug.

“I haven’t had a chance to read all your reports yet, so I don’t know everything that happened on Cheongug.  But whatever it was, suddenly Taemin was able to sense some of what was going on with Jimin.  He couldn’t communicate, but he could tell something was very wrong.”

“Are you saying the Cheonsa have telepathic connections that can reach across long distances like that?  But if that’s true, then why didn’t Felix know on his own?”

A small line formed between Min-ho’s eyes from his furrowed brow.  “From what Taemin said, not everyone has the same connection.  But his and Jimin’s mothers had been close and he could remember sitting with him when Jimin was a baby.  He imagines some sort of latent connection had been formed then that reconnected when Jimin was in danger.”

As time went on, it amazed Jeongguk how the universe moved around Jimin to bring him to safety.  He prayed to those powers that the final landing spot the stars found suitable for their favorite son would be in Jeongguk’s arms.

“Unfortunately due to Koloni activity on Cheongug, the Cheonsa haven’t lived there for years.  Jimin was likely only ever on the planet in adulthood when he was being transported on the black market.”  Min-ho frowned, turning back to face his brother.  “It will take some time, but I should be able to find some information on where he’s been in some of the classified databases.”

“Is that why you contacted Felix the way you did?”

Min-ho sighed.  “Yes.  Ki-bum’s been working to investigate corruption within the UU, and we think there are at least a few high ranking officials using UU resources to profit off the black market.  While I had my suspicions that Jimin could be Cheonsa, my involvement in those investigations unfortunately meant I couldn’t discuss that with you.”

“And is that why they targeted the shuttle on the Jamais Vu?”

“That’s our working theory,” Min-ho grumbled as he slipped his hands into his pockets.  “The second shuttle you found to have been rewired was actually meant to bring passengers to the Diamond Sky, but was rerouted to the Jamais Vu at the last minute.  It’s very possible that Ki-bum was the true target, but don’t tell him that.  He’ll get a big head.  Well…bigger.”

A high pitched giggle to his left distracted Jeongguk from Min-ho’s rueful smile.  He stumbled on his feet when Jimin gave his arm a sharp tug, forcing him to turn in his direction.  His eyes shone a bright green that Jeongguk hadn’t seen since before Cheongug.  There was a similar color reflected in Taemin’s eyes.

When he was a child and had been home sick from school, Jeongguk was usually stuck on the couch in his pajamas watching whatever his grandmother felt like watching while he was meant to be getting rest.  Sometimes it was a game show and other times it was her k-drama of the moment.  But, oftentimes, it was classic romantic comedies.

They didn’t appeal to him much at that age.  For years, he only felt a fond connection to his grandmother through them.  But, as he got older and romance began to mean something less abstract, he would every so often let himself drift into fantasies of meeting his soulmate.  There would be singing birds and the sun would be shining and his heart would race as he felt like bursting out into song.  Maybe he would even hear bells when he saw them for the first time.

The Segye summer afternoon was calm as could be in the park where they stood.  There weren’t any odd bursts of magic.

But, looking into Jimin’s eyes, he felt like his heart was recognizing Jimin as his person.  There was an opportunity there in the butterflies Jimin’s existence conjured in his stomach.  And, like Chris had said, it was up to him to choose spend each day loving Jimin.

“Hi, I’m Taemin.”

Jeongguk accepted the hand Taemin held out in his direction, giving him a firm shake.  “I’m Jeongguk.  It’s good to finally meet you.”

“Min-ho and Jonghyun have always spoken very highly of you.”

His heart skipped a beat at the familiar name and the feel of Jimin’s arm wrapping around his waist.  “And you.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone as proud of their brother as Min-ho.”

“Ok, enough of the love fest,” Min-ho teased.  He dropped an arm around Taemin’s shoulders, giving his brother a tight squeeze that had the younger scrunching his nose briefly in annoyance.  “I promised Jinki we’d meet him for a late lunch.  I’ll see you for the welcome back dinner on the Jamais Vu?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

The two brothers headed across the park.  Jeongguk stood, listening to their teasing and watching the way they lightly tussled with each other as they made their way down the barely paved pathway.

Turning his head just a bit, he looked down into Jimin’s shining blue eyes.

“We should get back to the Halazia.  I think Taehyung wanted to take you shopping before we have to report back to the Jamais Vu.”

Jimin agreed with a nod, his eyes squeezing shut and shoulders reaching for his ears when Jeongguk pressed a kiss to his forehead.  They moved slowly back the way they came through the shops and street musicians and market stalls.  Jeongguk let his steps slow when Jimin would be distracted by the brightly colored wares being pushed in their direction as they passed.  He happily handed over a few coins to one merchant in exchange to a tiny teddy bear like plush that Jimin accepted as though it were a precious jewel.  Soon enough, they turned a corner to find Namjoon speaking with Hongjoong at the base of the Halazia’s exit ramp.  Next to him, Taehyung and Seokjin were making a quick check of the contents of their backpacks before slinging them over their shoulders.

“Thank you again,” Namjoon said earnestly, shaking Hongjoong’s hand.  “I don’t know what we would have done without you.”

“We were happy to do it!  Feel free to call us if you ever find yourselves in a tight spot again.  We’re always happy to help,” the other captain answered.  He kept his focus looking upward at Namjoon, easily sidestepping a giggling Wooyoung as he raced down the ramp past him with Mingi hot on his heels.

“Seonghwa!  Tell your brother to behave!” San shouted back towards the ship.  He stopped alongside them at the base of the ramp, still sweaty and with a white towel hanging from his neck.

The doctor gave San a satisfied smirk where he stood at the shuttle bay’s entrance.  “Not my problem.  He was born to me.  You chose to get that tattoo on your thigh.  He’s your problem now.”

Warm chapped lips pressing against his knuckles gave Jeongguk a start, turning to catch Jimin’s brief cheerful smirk.  He took in the people around him, from Taehyung with his arm looped through Namjoon’s as he rested his head against his shoulder to Hongjoong looking up the ramp at Seonghwa like there was no one else around.

His life was full of love, but now it was time for his own love story to take off.

***

There was a sense of relief that settled over Jeongguk seeing the Jamais Vu once again so full of life and joy.  The welcome back dinner, which Jeongguk had already been suspicious of as they had never held one before, turned out to be a surprise engagement party to congratulate Jisung and Minho.

Yeonjun was racing around the reception hall, making sure the heating plates at the buffet were properly secured and ordering Soobin around to make adjustments to the decorations.  He would pause every so often to scold Beomgyu and Taehyun at their table where they were meant to be folding napkins but were getting distracted sneaking bites of the cookies Felix had baked.  Kai was quick to join in their shenanigans, asking Yeonjun questions to draw him away while the others would gather more snacks.

It had been a surprise to Jeongguk when he returned to the Jamais Vu and learned that Hoseok would be joining Soobin on the permanent on board diplomatic corps.  Soobin seemed relieved to have the more experienced ambassador joining him as support even though he would still be running the department he’d created.

No one had said anything explicitly yet, but Jeongguk assumed the change had to do with the reason Hoseok had moved into Yoongi’s quarters.

Grateful that he had set down his tray of drinks before Kai’s high pitched laughter blasted into his right ear, Jeongguk gripped the back of an empty seat to avoid the nurse running past him with Bahiyyih’s hand held tight in his.  The siblings disappeared quickly behind the swinging kitchen door.  He wasn’t sure what they were up to, but he didn’t hear any crashing pots following them.

Expecting Yeonjun’s scolding voice, Jeongguk turned and instead caught the morale officer tucked up against Soobin in an empty corner.  Their whispered conversation couldn’t be heard, but from the way Yeonjun cradled Soobin’s jaw in his hands and they stood close enough for their lips to brush with each word, Jeongguk knew it was a personal moment.  He turned away as Yeonjun leaned up for a kiss.

The table behind him, which was incidentally the closest to the bar, seemed to have been commandeered by Hwasa judging by the number of drinks in front of her and how she’d kicked her legs up to control two additional seats.  Chungha sat next to her, organizing her gathered drinks amongst the empty seats as she half read the new incoming bulletins on her datapad.  The two women bickered good-naturedly when Hwasa snatched the datapad from her friend’s hand.

“Do you know when Minho and Jisung are due back?” Taehyung asked.  “A surprise party is kind of pointless without the guests of honor."

“I told the computer to notify me when each member of my department returns to the ship,” Jihyo answered.  Her eyes were wide and bright as she took a sip from the sweaty beer bottle that had been dangling from her fingers.  “I can’t believe Sungie finally worked up the nerve.  He’s been talking about marrying Minho practically since the day they met.”

“Yeah, he went to my parents’ jeweler on Segye over a year ago.  I think hearing Chris’ plans to propose to Felix were what finally kicked his butt in gear.”

Jeongguk left the glasses of water on the table, moving to the other side of the room where Yeji and Changbin were stringing small paper stars together.  The metallic paper from which the stars were made sparkled even in the low romantic lighting Yeonjun had set.

“You guys need any help?” he offered.

Yeji shook her head from side to side.  “It would be helpful if you took Changbin to finish setting up the other tables instead.  He keeps stabbing the stars through the wrong sides.”

“What does it matter as long as they end up on the string?”

“But they’re not ending up on the string.  That’s the problem.”

Grabbing Changbin by his left arm before the two could continue to argue, Jeongguk returned Yeji’s grateful smile before pulling the other security officer away.

“I can’t help that my fingers are bigger than hers,” Changbin grumbled.

“You know she’s particular about her projects,” Jeongguk reassured, even though he knew Yeji was more laid back than anything.  “Just let her finish it how she wants to.”

Easily taking the table that Seungmin and Jeongin were struggling with between the two of them, Changbin smiled widely as he carried it to the last remaining empty spot in the hall.  He quickly hooked four chairs on his arms, lifting them with bicep curls as he snuck up alongside Hyunjin.  The teacher only rolled his eyes at him before returning to where he was smoothing out a tablecloth.  But he couldn’t suppress a small secret smile when Changbin abandoned the chairs to wrap his arms around his waist from behind instead.

On the stage at the front of the room where the Tulnukasian delegation had sat last time Jeongguk had been in the reception hall, Ji-eun stood with an oversized datapad cradled in front of her waving her stylus through the air.  He could see lights on the far side of the hall change in brightness and color with each move of her fingers.  Each adjustment was noted on her datapad before she turned her attention in another direction.  She spared Jeongguk a smile when she caught his eyes before returning to her tasks.

“Jeongguk?  You mind helping me with these?” Seokjin asked, dragging a cart full of steaming dishes as he walked carefully backwards.

“What is all this?”

“Yeonjun asked if I could make a couple Earth dishes that I knew Minho liked.”

Looking at at least a dozen dishes between the three levels of the cart, Jeongguk raised a disbelieving brow at the doctor.

“I may have gone a little overboard,” the doctor admitted.  “But, in my defense, Minho’s a really good cook.  Sue me if I wanted to impress him a little.”

The two of them were able to move the cart easily over to empty side of the buffet table.  Jeongguk took a step back, knowing better to get in between Seokjin and the arrangement he had already planned in his head.  Instead he turned his attention a few tables away to where Hoseok and Yoongi were quietly talking.  The engineer’s arm was still in a sling, but the healthy glow had returned to his cheeks.

“Do you know what happened with the two of them?” Jeongguk whispered.  At Seokjin’s confused look, he tilted his chin slightly to indicate their friends.

“You didn’t hear it from me,” Seokjin began, “But I heard from Taehyung who heard from Joon who heard from Soobin that Hoseok applied for a permanent on board position after Yoongi asked him if he would be willing to stay with him rather than move on to his next assignment.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  I know it’s been on Yoongi’s mind for a while, but he always thought it would be too selfish to ask.”

“What changed his mind?”

Seokjin paused, holding a plate of noodles carefully with his oven mitts.  Jeongguk quickly maneuvered a spare trivet to the open spot between the kimchi stew and a beef dish, allowing Seokjin to set the plate down.

“Honestly?  I think everything that happened on Cheongug.  We’re all dealing with it in different ways, but I think it told Yoongi not to leave anything for tomorrow that you can do today.”

Both turned as the kitchen door swung open, revealing a sheepish Namjoon.

“Uh, Jin?  If you’re not too busy, we have a bit of, uh, a burning situation with the skewers,” the captain mumbled, avoiding their eyes as he spoke.

“On my way, captain,” Seokjin answered with a silly salute.

Alone once again, Jeongguk took in the state of the reception hall.  The tables and their settings were complete, Yeji was hanging her final strand of star decorations, and the buffet table was filled to capacity with food.  Yeonjun was adjusting the congratulatory banner, precariously balanced on his tip toes atop his short ladder with Soobin keeping a firm hold of his hips.

In the far corner of the hall that was mostly shadowed, Jeongguk could make out where the crew of the Halazia sat on the ground in a circle.  Unable to turn down the chance to celebrate and have some free delicious food, Hongjoong and his crew had quickly taken up Namjoon’s offer to join them while waiting for the parts they needed to repair their ship.  They appeared to be playing some sort of drinking game that was going very poorly for San based on how bright red his cheeks were becoming.  After he took another shot, he grasped tighter to Wooyoung who sat in front of him in the vee of his legs, hiding his face between his shoulder blades.

Yunho was sharing some story, his arms waving about but somehow miraculously not spilling a drop of his drink.  He did nearly knock Mingi in the face before the engineer caught his wrist, earning a startled squawk from Yunho when the engineer snuck a sip of his drink.  Yeosang clapped along with their antics, tipping over to rest his head on Jongho's thigh.  Even across the room, Jeongguk could see the way the move lit a blush along Jongho’s cheekbones beneath his tattoos.

Through it all, Seonghwa sat quietly with his legs crossed at the ankle in front of him and his head tilted to the left to rest on Hongjoong’s shoulder, his hand comfortably settled on the captain’s thigh.  His hair had returned to its natural silver since Jeongguk had last seen him a few days prior.  It blended neatly with the white hair on the side of Hongjoong’s head.  The captain pressed a quick kiss to the top of Seonghwa’s head, his eyes never leaving Yunho as he continued his anecdote.

There was a brief pang of longing in Jeongguk’s heart as he thought of sharing the kind of soft comfortable love that Hongjoong and Seonghwa shared that only came with time.

The opening of the door to the reception hall had everyone freezing in a silent panic until Rear Admiral Choi appeared with a smile and his hands held up in mock surrender.  Jinki walked alongside him, shaking his shaggy bangs out of his eyes as he continued to converse with Min-ho as they entered the room.

Close behind they were followed by Taemin, whose full attention was on Jimin as he held onto his friend with one hand while gesturing with the other.  As Jimin practically bounced alongside him, Taemin spotted Jeongguk as he surveyed the room.  He whispered something into Jimin’s ear, giving the other a nudge in Jeongguk’s direction as he turned to follow his brother.

Jimin was by Jeongguk’s side in an instant.  He eagerly wrapped his arms around his neck, tucking nose against Jeongguk’s cheek so tightly that he could feel Jimin’s smile against his face.  Jeongguk wrapped his arms around Jimin’s slim waist, letting his own eyes fall shut as he stole a quick kiss.

“After we get back to Earth, I have a lot of time off saved,” Jeongguk whispered.  They were close enough to one another that his lips brushed against Jimin’s earlobe as he spoke.  “If you’re open to it, there’s someplace I’d really like to take you.”

He felt Jimin’s nod and the way his smile grew.

There was a burst of noise and Jeongguk looked over Jimin’s shoulder to see Chris and Felix burst through the door.

“They’re coming!” Felix shouted, waving his arms about.  “Everyone hide!”

Jeongguk tugged on Jimin’s hand, guiding him to hide behind the nearest table.  They nearly toppled over as Taehyung slid in some attempt of a diving roll, knocking into Jimin’s side as he hid along with them.  The lights shut off and left the entire room pitch black except for the light of the stars coming through the windows.

There was a momentary burst of light as the door opened and closed.

“Are you sure the dinner is in here?” Jeongguk could hear Minho ask quietly.

“I’m positive,” Jisung answered.  “Besides, I can smell the food.”

“But-”

The lights snapped on and everyone burst from their hiding places, causing Jisung to fall to the ground with a shriek.

“SURPRISE!”

***

His childhood stars, completely unobstructed by any thick protective shields or even the bright lights of the city, stretched overhead as far as Jeongguk could see.  The storm from the day before had moved on quickly, leaving crisp clear skies behind.  He laid back on the patio of his grandparents’ backyard with a chilled glass of soju by his fingertips.  His lips still burned from his grandmother’s homemade kimchi.

There had been a few changes to the backyard since the last time he had visited.  There was a small bench his cousins had gifted that sat beneath the pine tree that had already been tall when his grandfather had bought the house.  It allowed anyone to sit by the small bird feeder and watch the local sparrows and flycatchers stop by for a quick bite.

At the base of the tree was a small stone marker with his parents’ names on it.  There was another tombstone at the nearby cemetery marking an empty grave, but this was where his family came to pray when it was time to honor his mother and father.  They would have preferred the familiar comfort of home anyway.

The vegetable garden remained in the back corner by the fence.  But, for now, it was filled with brightly colored flowers and the herbs his grandmother proudly cut fresh for her cooking.

“I’m happy you and your friend stopped by for a visit,” Jeongguk’s grandfather said.  He moved a bit more slowly than before, leaning on his cane to sit alongside Jeongguk on the patio steps.

“Me too.”

Behind them in the house, Jeongguk could hear the splashing sounds of his grandmother and Jimin doing the dishes after the large meal they had shared.  He’d never brought someone home before, and his grandfather said that his grandmother had been sending him all over town the past few days on errands to make sure everything was perfect for their visit.

It was slightly embarrassing how eagerly his grandmother had pushed him aside to take Jimin’s face in her hands when they’d arrived, but it was worth it to see the way Jimin melted into the maternal touch.

“You mentioned he is from Cheongug?”

Jeongguk frowned, turning at the emotion he heard in his grandfather’s voice.  But his face was as calm as ever.

“He is, but he hasn’t lived there in a long time.  We’re still learning about everything he went through, but his memory is starting to come back in bits and pieces.”

“It’s a good thing you found him then.”

The quiet of the night was interrupted by the grumbling of the neighbors’ pickup truck as their son attempted to sneak back into the house past curfew.  Jeongguk and his grandfather shared a knowing smile.

“Your grandmother and I were lucky.  You were always such a good kid.”

“Or maybe I was just really good at sneaking around.”

His grandfather cuffed him around the back of the head.  “You’re a smart kid, but even you couldn’t get around our security system.”

It had been a few years since Jeongguk had made it back to Busan.  Usually his grandparents would travel to meet him at his place in the States for the holidays since he was typically in some sort of on call situation for his time off.  As nice as it was to host his grandparents in his home and watch the fireworks over the water, there was nothing like being back in Korea.

That afternoon he had taken Jimin to all the places that held fond memories from his childhood.  They’d gone hiking by the river, dipping their bare feet in the cold water.  They’d stopped for instant noodles at the convenience store he used to buy snacks from on his way home from school.  Jimin had been especially excited to sit on the swings at the playground down the street from his aunt and uncle’s house.  But the best part had been sitting on the beach just holding hands as they listened to the waves crash against the shore.

“You should bring the whole gang next time,” his grandfather offered, unknowingly interrupting his reminiscing.  “Your grandmother would love to see everyone again.  Especially Taehyung.  And you could rent a beach house or something so us old folks aren’t ‘cramping your style.’”

“I think we’ll be back around this way in a few months for annual maintenance.  I’ll see what everyone’s plans are.”

Jimin’s loud bright laughter that Jeongguk was very quickly falling in love with came from the kitchen, along with his grandmother’s softer more mellow chuckles.

“I hope you see this thing with Jimin as long term, because I think your grandmother is already in love with him.”

“I can’t blame her,” Jeongguk teased.  “He’s an angel.”

There was the sound of nails clacking against wood before Jeongguk found his grandparents’ newly adopted small black mutt crawling into his lap.  He happily scratched her behind the ears, giving her back a couple pats before she settled her head on his knee with a sigh.

“Once upon a time, that would have scared you.”

“It would have,” Jeongguk admitted.  “But I’ve been through a lot the last few years.  I’ve met a lot of new people who each see the universe a little differently.  I think I’ve tried to teach myself to embrace the good things that are right in front of me rather than think about how it could all fall apart.  Plus, therapy helps a lot.  Not that I’ll admit that to Beomgyu.”

“Never let your therapist know how much you need them.  That’s when they’ll up your bill,” his grandfather said, nodding wisely with a hint of a smile on his face.

The sliding back door opened with a quiet squeak that had been there ever since Jeongguk was a boy.  He didn’t move as he heard Jimin’s footsteps, softened by the padded slippers he’d borrowed.

“I’ll let you boys have some time alone,” his grandfather said.  Jimin moved quickly to help him to his feet.

His grandfather gave Jimin’s shoulder a squeeze before ruffling his hair.  “Thank you, son.  Now don’t let Jeongguk get you into too much trouble.”

Jimin shook his head, a smile of his own of his face.  The smile only brightened as the dog bounced up from Jeongguk’s lap, bumping into Jimin’s legs as she followed his grandfather into the house.

Sitting next to Jeongguk on the patio, close enough for their hips to be touching, Jimin reached over to steal a sip of soju.  It made his lips taste sweet when he leaned down to give Jeongguk a kiss.

“Thanks for coming home with me.  I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see you here.”

With a few quick gestures, Jimin brushed aside the thanks with a grin.  He adjusted himself on the steps next to Jeongguk, pushing Jeongguk’s shoulder to make him rest back against the patio again.  He slotted himself easily into Jeongguk’s side, his head settling above Jeongguk’s heart.

They lay still with the only sound being the classic music from inside the house.  Jeongguk knew if he turned around, he would see his grandparents slow dancing in the kitchen.

Taking one of Jimin’s hands, he guided it up to trace along the constellations he could see above them.  He ran their fingers along Virgo and Golae before making their way down to Medve and Rajo.  He pointed out the North Star, explaining how it had been a guiding light for humanity throughout all of history.  He talked about how he would spend hours in this same backyard with his parents, learning all the stories behind the constellations.  He paused when their hands reached Manu.

“My mom always talked about Manu like a magical fairytale,” Jeongguk whispered.  “Seonghwa’s version was much more tragic, but I think he’s right.  The pain we suffer doesn’t have to define who we are.  We can choose instead to be kind.  I think that’s a lesson my mother would have wanted to teach me when I was older.”

He was surprised when Jimin pulled at his hands, dragging him to his feet and forcing him to stumble alongside him until they stood at the base of the pine tree.  It placed them just out of sight of the kitchen window.

Jimin pulled him in close, wrapping his arms around his neck.  He brushed his fingers through the hair at the back of Jeongguk’s head.  He could feel the way Jimin’s heart was racing in his chest and the way his breath had quickened slightly.  He didn’t press, instead rubbing his hand in soothing strokes up and down Jimin’s back between his shoulder blades while his other hand settled on Jimin’s hipbone.

Moments stretched as they continued to wait together.  Jeongguk had never felt more at home.

Then, cheeks brushing against one another, Jimin leaned close to bring his mouth close to Jeongguk’s ear.  For the first time, Jeongguk heard his soft melodic voice.

“I love you.”

***

Be my darling, my darling, the two of us

Gently, reached out our hands

Be my darling, my darling, and placed them

On matching stars, in the diamond sky

- “Diamond Sky” (translation) by Shinee