Threats and Promises
Title: Threats and Promises (don't ask, I hate titling things)
Fandoms/Pairing: Boyfriend, miss A, 2NE1, DongHyun/Fei
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine, not true.
Summary: The negotiations were required. So was the rescue.
Notes: Yeah, this came pretty much from F.Cuz's "No1" mv. It was entirely too much fun to watch, and then I decided to find something to do with all of these ideas.
The pictures were current, because DongHyun had seen the subjects that morning. The only changes were the rips and blood on the shirts, the cut over JungMin's left eye, the dazed look in YoungMin's gaze. They'd definitely been worked over already. And knowing this guy's penchant for torture.... He looked back at the piece of paper that accompanied the pictures.
We'll release them to you if the negotiations are advantageous to us, the note read. If you don't show up, you'll get only their heads.
"Right," DongHyun muttered, and set the pictures down on the table again. "Release them dead." He had no illusions that he'd get them back alive. He couldn't even go after them, not with that threat.
"I'll go get them."
He looked up, slowly. "What?"
Fei's eyes sparked with the same fury he felt. "I'll go get them." She looked gorgeous, dressed to accompany him to the meeting in a skirt suit, looking every inch the business-like secretary.
"They'll wonder where you are."
"I'll send Bom. They'll never notice she's not me."
True. A missing secretary would be noted. These men, though, wouldn't notice that she wasn't his regular secretary. DongHyun clenched his teeth, stuck. He knew...
"You know I'm the best option you have," she said, stepping forward to touch his face, caressing his cheek, putting into words the thoughts she'd interrupted. "I won't go alone, and I'll keep you updated. They'll never know what hit them, and I'll get the boys back for you."
DongHyun sighed. "Yes, I know," he murmured. She'd trained with HyunSung and JungMin, and helped train the twins and MinWoo. She wanted them back and whole as much as he did. He pulled her close and kissed her. "Go. Find them and bring them back. I'll stall as long as I can."
Fei flashed a grin at him and left, already unbuttoning her blouse. 15 minutes later, Bom joined him, dressed just as impeccably. She handed him an earpiece, which he tucked into his left ear. "Hey, lover," Fei purred.
DongHyun smirked, then sobered. "Let's go."
The drive didn't take long, but long enough for Fei to check in and report that she'd found where they'd taken his boys. It was just a matter of time. The car stopped at an apartment building, something he'd come to expect from this guy, and he got out, turning to help Bom out as well. She straightened her blouse, tightened her grip on her laptop case, and followed him as he walked in the building. A large man gestured and he followed, down a smaller hallway to the business rooms few people knew about. Outside the conference room, the man patted him down while another stood by, sword in hand. No guns rule here - as long as the tenants didn't know it was happening, all was good - and DongHyun thought that was smart. And much quieter.
Which was why he'd trained all his in swords, too. But this man didn't need to know that. And he wouldn't find out, because the guard sent to make sure they had no weapons didn't look twice at Bom. A mistake DongHyun had counted on, or he wouldn't have brought her. She'd have killed both of these men without breaking a sweat if they'd touched her.
Keeping his cool had become DongHyun's trademark, but it came hard to him as the guard ushered him into the conference room, dominated by a long table. At the head of it, the man he'd come to see smiled widely, confidently, certain that he'd get what he wanted. "Welcome, Kim DongHyun-sshi," Choi Siwon said. "Can I get you a drink?"
"No, thank you," DongHyun said with a stiff bow. He'd never tried to hide how much he disliked Siwon, and had no reason to start now (and had precisely six reasons not to). He pulled out a chair for Bom, taking note of Siwon's grimace at the courtesy, and then sat down himself. "Where shall we start?"
Siwon smiled wider and took a seat himself. "At the beginning."
Which was just fine with DongHyun. He'd take all the time he could get.
"I'm downstairs from you," Fei murmured into the microphone on her wrist, and smirked. Really, this guy had no imagination. Slipping in the door, she found a hallway with two men in it, black trench coats (hold outs from the Matrix or something. Tacky) hiding the swords they took out as soon as they saw her. Same mentality as their boss, apparently, because neither of them expected her to fight them, and neither saw fit to raise an alarm. All the better.
She left them there and moved toward the closest open door; behind her, CL, Jia, Min, and Minji dragged the two out of sight and set up a temporary infirmary. Fei left them to it, going into that open door. Cruel, like this man and his people, showing his victims an avenue of escape while denying it to them. No less than three men stood between the bound, unarmed Minwoo and the door, all of them with swords. Two men - without the trench coats - looked ready to start on him.
No way. She attacked the man closest to her; he went down without a sound, but it still caught the eye of another guard. Still, it took barely any time to take care of those four, and she set her katana down to untie MinWoo. He stared at her like he didn't actually believe she was there. "Where's hyung?" he asked.
"He's buying me time," Fei said gently, and pulled him out of the chair. "He's fine. Negotiating. Did this bastard tell you anything?" She set him against her shoulder and picked up the sword again.
MinWoo swallowed. "He plans on killing hyung," he said. "As soon as he's done." He leaned heavily on her as they left the room.
Fei smirked. "He'll have a hard time of that," she said, handing him over to Minji to take back to their infirmary. She watched them go before raising her wrist to her lips. "Hear that, lover? He intends to kill you. MinWoo down, four to go."
The sound of leather hitting flesh led her to the next room, and she winced as one of the men punched HyunSung again, the sound echoing through the room. HyunSung stood against a section of chain link fence, his wrists in manacles up and away from his body. He looked like he barely kept on his feet. He didn't see her, of course, watching the two that worked on him, so he couldn't give her away to the guards. Only two this time, but then HyunSung had it harder to get out.
He didn't give her away, but something did because they all four - guards and torturers - turned to face her, swords in hand. They took a bit more time, but still didn't take her seriously. She snorted softly as the last one fell. Stupid people. Setting her sword against the section of fence, she searched shortly to find the keys to unlock HyunSung.
"How did you find us?" he asked, breathless, his words slurred through swollen lips.
"They sent pictures," Fei told him, carefully unlocking his first wrist. "Dara and Suzy figured out where you were from those." She unlocked his second, and hugged him gently. "Come on. I still have three of you to find."
"He's going to kill hyung," he murmured.
"So MinWoo said. He'll find it harder than he thinks." Moving so he could lean on her shoulder, she helped him out of the room, pausing to pick her sword up again. "I've warned him."
"Have you? That helps. Who's with him?"
"Bom."
His eyes widened as she transferred him to Jia's waiting shoulders. "She'll go ballistic if that man tries anything with her."
Fei smiled. "Exactly." She turned away, hearing that same slap of leather hitting flesh drawing her on - hoping it wasn't one of the twins, and then hoping it wasn't JungMin, either. But of the three.... "That's HyunSung," she murmured into her wristmic. "Three to go." She wished that there was a way he could get a message to her.
She ducked into an alcove when another of the trench-coated guards (with sunglasses, too, no less) walked past her and into the room. She followed, resting her sword at his throat before slicing it. He let out a gurgle just enough of a sound to alert the five in the room that something had happened, and they all turned. Behind them, JungMin looked like he could barely stand, using the manacles attached to the bar over him to keep himself up.
The first two were warm ups, she decided as three of them rushed her at once. Thankfully the last two didn't think about using JungMin against her, because that was about the only thing that would work.
This group gave her more of a work out. Maybe they'd been warned, but she didn't know and didn't really care. One by one they fell, and again, none of them thought to use JungMin against her, something she knew they'd start to do eventually. The last one collapsed, and Fei paused a moment, breathing.
"Fei-noona?"
JungMin was barely on his feet, and the cut over his eye looked worse than it had in the pictures. Considering how they'd hit him, it was more a surprise it hadn't grown more. "Hey, Min. How are you holding up?"
He laughed, a gasping thing not at all like his normal laugh. "Oh, you know," he murmured. "I'm on my feet."
She smiled and hugged him, pausing to catch her breath, then went on a search for the keys. "What did they tell you?" she asked as she unlocked one wrist.
"Have you heard they plan to kill hyung?"
"Yes. Did they say how?"
JungMin shook his head and nearly fell over, using his still-manacled wrist to keep on his feet. "No. Just that he plans on it, sometime today."
She paused in unlocking that second manacle. "Here?"
"I don't know. I think... probably."
She needed to hurry. Releasing him completely and taking his weight on her shoulders, she snatched up her sword again. "I hope most of his guards are on this floor. He'll find he has fewer that he expected."
CL met her in the hallway this time, and Fei handed JungMin over, turning away to the next doorway. "That's JungMin. Just the twins left," she murmured into her wristmic.
Fei caught sight of movement inside the next room while she was still outside, and dodged to the side. Three guards, two torturers or whatever their job title was, one barely-on-his-feet YoungMin. Free, though; it looked like they were moving him. Perfect.
She stepped into the doorway, her sword leading, and took one of them out. The two holding YoungMin dragged him backwards again, leaving her room to fight the other two. As soon as she turned from taking them down, the two holding YoungMin shoved him at her.
Fei barely managed to get her sword out of the way, catching him before swinging him around and down. One of the swords scraped across her shoulder, cutting the strap of her tank top. Not all the way through, thankfully, and she let YoungMin fall, out of harm's way. She twisted back to her feet, stabbing the idiot who'd cut her - given her the first cut in this madhouse - and his friend/partner/whatever.
She grounded the sword, balancing on it, and then went down to one knee, gasping for breath. It wasn't bad, but it hurt.
"I'm sorry," YoungMin murmured.
Fei smiled at him, then got to her feet and pulled him up. "For what?" she asked. "You look like you took the brunt of it before you even got here." When he wouldn't meet her eyes, she resolved to bring that up to DongHyun, but later. Just because YoungMin hadn't brought up KwangMin didn't mean he wasn't thinking about his younger brother. "Where were they taking you?"
"To where KwangMin is," YoungMin murmured. "Easier to break us, you know?"
She did. She also knew the twins didn't break that easy, no matter what anyone else thought. Possibly including them. "So they think," she murmured, "but they're using everyone against everyone else."
"They're going to kill hyung."
"They're going to try," Fei corrected him as Min took his slight weight. She turned away to the next doorway, hoping all this information came in time. "YoungMin," she murmured into her wristmic. "One more, and then we're out of here. Everyone's said he wants you dead. Watch yourself."
The next doorway opened to an empty room but for KwangMin, bound to a column in the middle at wrists and ankles. He looked worried and much less pounded on than the rest but for MinWoo, and Fei didn't question it. "Did you find YoungMin?" he asked, his voice quiet, his worry obvious.
She crossed the room to kneel in front of him. "Yes. He's fine," she said, trying to calm him. "Looking a bit rough, but awake and alive."
He nodded. "And hyung?"
"Buying time," she said. "He's fine, as far as I know."
"They...." His eyes widened. "Look out!"
Fei snatched up her sword and swung around, slicing up. The torturer went down without doing any damage, and she frowned. "Those guys don't go around alone," she murmured, and sliced through his bonds with the dead man's sword. Helping him to his feet, she walked him toward the door, and stepped out into the hallway to face five of the guards. "Oh, now you take me seriously," she muttered with a sigh, and propped KwangMin up against the wall. "Hang on a moment," she said to him, and turned to face the five men.
The next little while became a blur of motion as she tried to keep them from hurting her or him, taking out four of them. Turning to find the fifth, she saw only KwangMin - and the feet of the fifth guard sticking out of the doorway. He grinned at the expression on her face. "I couldn't let you have all the fun," he said as she slid under his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Tired," she admitted as she walked him toward the temporary infirmary.
"Hyung's going to go through the roof."
"Ah..." Fei lifted her wrist. "Got them all. We're on our way out."
"He knows this guy wants him dead?" KwangMin asked.
"Five times over," Fei said, and paused in the doorway. "Are we ready to go?"
DongHyun suddenly smiled and touched Bom's arm. "Excuse me," he said, interrupting Siwon as he went through the next point - the fourth in a list of five. "But... this isn't going to happen."
Bom snapped her computer shut and tucked it into the laptop bag at her side.
Siwon stopped mid-word. "Excuse me?"
"None of this is acceptable," DongHyun stated, and stood up. "The terms, kidnapping my people, nothing. I do not respond well to threats."
Siwon stood as well, all trace of joviality gone. "I do not issue threats. Your boys are dead."
DongHyun gathered the papers in front of him. "You no longer have them," he said. "And, I suspect you have a significantly smaller guard force." He tucked the papers into the folder he'd brought and handed them to Bom; she put them in with her laptop. "Do not try this again. And if you intend to kill me, it's best to just do it rather than to tell mine it'll happen. They don't take it well."
"You will regret this," Siwon said in low, even tones.
"I doubt it," DongHyun said, and held out his hand for the laptop case. He'd seen the man's glance at Bom, and had an idea of what he was thinking. She caught it, too, and willingly handed the case over. "Until the next time."
He stepped back from the table to give himself room if one of the guards moved, but they didn't. Which only meant someone else was waiting for him outside. He led the way out, but as soon as he reached the door, the men moved. One of them reached for Bom, possibly to get her out of the way, Donghyun wasn't sure. He only caught it out of the corner of his eye, turning as her knife snapped into her hand and she stabbed. The man stared at her, eyes wide, as he collapsed.
Bom didn't hesitate. She turned and threw the knife past DongHyun to the other guard who had nearly reached him. He went down with the knife in his throat. DongHyun bowed mockingly to Siwon without mentioning the stunned look on his face, opened the door, and smiled.
Fei smiled back at him, sword held lightly to her side, the two guards down behind her. "Hello, lover," she said.
"Nicely done," DongHyun said. "The others?"
"On their way back," Fei said, falling into step next to him after picking up one of the guard's swords. She handed it back to Bom.
"Thank you," Bom murmured.
They got outside without problems, and climbed in the car waiting for them. On the way back, Fei reported the whole incident in a tone that concerned DongHyun. He'd only been able to find a couple of cuts on her, neither of them deep, and he could see her exhaustion. But something had happened, he just didn't know what. And finding out would have to wait a bit.
Bom took the laptop case in with her. "I'll give these to Dara to look over," she said.
"Thank you," DongHyun said, and bowed to her. He owed her his life yet again. She bowed back and left the hallway, still holding the sword Fei had given her.
Min came in from the hallway and smiled. "Oppa, they won't settle down until they know you're not dead," she said, her lips twitching.
DongHyun brushed Fei's arm before taking her elbow. "Come with me," he said, and they followed Min to the infirmary.
The pictures had obviously been taken early in their captivity, but it seemed HyunSung and JungMin had gotten the worst of it after they'd been taken. DongHyun thought he might know why. They'd left YoungMin alone, and DongHyun could guess why he'd taken so much abuse before the pictures....
He turned Fei over to Jia to get her cuts cared for, and went around to talk to his 'boys', checking in on them and letting them see he was fine.
They had things to tell him, he could see it, but none of them wanted to talk to him with everyone else around. He could understand that, too, and would make sure that he had added them into his schedule over the next couple of days. For the three youngest, at least, this was new. Even if they'd been warned, experiencing it first hand was very different.
He stopped to talk to Jia a moment when he noticed Fei had gone. "They say they're okay," he said.
She smiled. "They are, for the most part. I'll keep YoungMin here for a while; he was pretty dazed when Unni brought him to us. They know what to look for, so if one of them starts to exhibit symptoms of concussion, someone will see it and say something."
DongHyun nodded and smiled. "You know you'll have KwangMin, too," he said.
She grinned at him. "Yes, I know," she said. "Heaven help us when one of them falls in love with someone."
DongHyun nodded. "It'll be interesting," he said. "Thank you, Jia."
"You're welcome," she said, and bowed. He returned the bow and left the room to go and find Fei.
She sat on their shared bed, hands clasped on her knees and head down. He shrugged out of his suit coat and lay it over the chair, then sat next to her. "Hey," he said. "What's wrong?"
She took a deep breath and looked up at him, then leaned against him. He hugged her, careful of the cuts on her back and arm. "It was close," she said finally. "They threw YoungMin at me, and he almost... I almost killed him."
DongHyun closed his eyes and held her close to him a moment. "I bet that scared you," he said gently.
"I'm not sure he knows how close he came to getting impaled," she said.
That didn't address what he'd said. "Maybe it's best he doesn't," DongHyun said.
Fei looked at him and smiled tremulously, but her eyes didn't meet his. "It wouldn't have been that close if it had been you."
DongHyun shook his head. "I can't say that," he said. "Those men were good at what they did. They may have counted on your distraction so you wouldn't get your sword out of the way. They may have guessed you'd swing no matter who came at you. But you didn't. You kept him alive, he's fine and going to be snapping at KwangMin to leave him alone soon enough. You brought them all back, safe and sound. Thank you," he said, and then kissed her. "And thank you, for bringing yourself back, safe and sound."
"I'm cut," she said. "Not that sound."
"Good enough," DongHyun said. "I don't expect perfection, from you, or me, or anyone else. Just your best."
Fei's eyes met his for the first time since he'd come in the room, and he smiled. She smiled back, and this time she leaned in and kissed him. "You know," she murmured, her fingers deft on his tie, "you should take this off."
He laughed. "You seem to be doing a good job on your own," he said as she pulled the tie from his collar and dropped it on the floor.
Fandoms/Pairing: Boyfriend, miss A, 2NE1, DongHyun/Fei
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine, not true.
Summary: The negotiations were required. So was the rescue.
Notes: Yeah, this came pretty much from F.Cuz's "No1" mv. It was entirely too much fun to watch, and then I decided to find something to do with all of these ideas.
The pictures were current, because DongHyun had seen the subjects that morning. The only changes were the rips and blood on the shirts, the cut over JungMin's left eye, the dazed look in YoungMin's gaze. They'd definitely been worked over already. And knowing this guy's penchant for torture.... He looked back at the piece of paper that accompanied the pictures.
We'll release them to you if the negotiations are advantageous to us, the note read. If you don't show up, you'll get only their heads.
"Right," DongHyun muttered, and set the pictures down on the table again. "Release them dead." He had no illusions that he'd get them back alive. He couldn't even go after them, not with that threat.
"I'll go get them."
He looked up, slowly. "What?"
Fei's eyes sparked with the same fury he felt. "I'll go get them." She looked gorgeous, dressed to accompany him to the meeting in a skirt suit, looking every inch the business-like secretary.
"They'll wonder where you are."
"I'll send Bom. They'll never notice she's not me."
True. A missing secretary would be noted. These men, though, wouldn't notice that she wasn't his regular secretary. DongHyun clenched his teeth, stuck. He knew...
"You know I'm the best option you have," she said, stepping forward to touch his face, caressing his cheek, putting into words the thoughts she'd interrupted. "I won't go alone, and I'll keep you updated. They'll never know what hit them, and I'll get the boys back for you."
DongHyun sighed. "Yes, I know," he murmured. She'd trained with HyunSung and JungMin, and helped train the twins and MinWoo. She wanted them back and whole as much as he did. He pulled her close and kissed her. "Go. Find them and bring them back. I'll stall as long as I can."
Fei flashed a grin at him and left, already unbuttoning her blouse. 15 minutes later, Bom joined him, dressed just as impeccably. She handed him an earpiece, which he tucked into his left ear. "Hey, lover," Fei purred.
DongHyun smirked, then sobered. "Let's go."
The drive didn't take long, but long enough for Fei to check in and report that she'd found where they'd taken his boys. It was just a matter of time. The car stopped at an apartment building, something he'd come to expect from this guy, and he got out, turning to help Bom out as well. She straightened her blouse, tightened her grip on her laptop case, and followed him as he walked in the building. A large man gestured and he followed, down a smaller hallway to the business rooms few people knew about. Outside the conference room, the man patted him down while another stood by, sword in hand. No guns rule here - as long as the tenants didn't know it was happening, all was good - and DongHyun thought that was smart. And much quieter.
Which was why he'd trained all his in swords, too. But this man didn't need to know that. And he wouldn't find out, because the guard sent to make sure they had no weapons didn't look twice at Bom. A mistake DongHyun had counted on, or he wouldn't have brought her. She'd have killed both of these men without breaking a sweat if they'd touched her.
Keeping his cool had become DongHyun's trademark, but it came hard to him as the guard ushered him into the conference room, dominated by a long table. At the head of it, the man he'd come to see smiled widely, confidently, certain that he'd get what he wanted. "Welcome, Kim DongHyun-sshi," Choi Siwon said. "Can I get you a drink?"
"No, thank you," DongHyun said with a stiff bow. He'd never tried to hide how much he disliked Siwon, and had no reason to start now (and had precisely six reasons not to). He pulled out a chair for Bom, taking note of Siwon's grimace at the courtesy, and then sat down himself. "Where shall we start?"
Siwon smiled wider and took a seat himself. "At the beginning."
Which was just fine with DongHyun. He'd take all the time he could get.
"I'm downstairs from you," Fei murmured into the microphone on her wrist, and smirked. Really, this guy had no imagination. Slipping in the door, she found a hallway with two men in it, black trench coats (hold outs from the Matrix or something. Tacky) hiding the swords they took out as soon as they saw her. Same mentality as their boss, apparently, because neither of them expected her to fight them, and neither saw fit to raise an alarm. All the better.
She left them there and moved toward the closest open door; behind her, CL, Jia, Min, and Minji dragged the two out of sight and set up a temporary infirmary. Fei left them to it, going into that open door. Cruel, like this man and his people, showing his victims an avenue of escape while denying it to them. No less than three men stood between the bound, unarmed Minwoo and the door, all of them with swords. Two men - without the trench coats - looked ready to start on him.
No way. She attacked the man closest to her; he went down without a sound, but it still caught the eye of another guard. Still, it took barely any time to take care of those four, and she set her katana down to untie MinWoo. He stared at her like he didn't actually believe she was there. "Where's hyung?" he asked.
"He's buying me time," Fei said gently, and pulled him out of the chair. "He's fine. Negotiating. Did this bastard tell you anything?" She set him against her shoulder and picked up the sword again.
MinWoo swallowed. "He plans on killing hyung," he said. "As soon as he's done." He leaned heavily on her as they left the room.
Fei smirked. "He'll have a hard time of that," she said, handing him over to Minji to take back to their infirmary. She watched them go before raising her wrist to her lips. "Hear that, lover? He intends to kill you. MinWoo down, four to go."
The sound of leather hitting flesh led her to the next room, and she winced as one of the men punched HyunSung again, the sound echoing through the room. HyunSung stood against a section of chain link fence, his wrists in manacles up and away from his body. He looked like he barely kept on his feet. He didn't see her, of course, watching the two that worked on him, so he couldn't give her away to the guards. Only two this time, but then HyunSung had it harder to get out.
He didn't give her away, but something did because they all four - guards and torturers - turned to face her, swords in hand. They took a bit more time, but still didn't take her seriously. She snorted softly as the last one fell. Stupid people. Setting her sword against the section of fence, she searched shortly to find the keys to unlock HyunSung.
"How did you find us?" he asked, breathless, his words slurred through swollen lips.
"They sent pictures," Fei told him, carefully unlocking his first wrist. "Dara and Suzy figured out where you were from those." She unlocked his second, and hugged him gently. "Come on. I still have three of you to find."
"He's going to kill hyung," he murmured.
"So MinWoo said. He'll find it harder than he thinks." Moving so he could lean on her shoulder, she helped him out of the room, pausing to pick her sword up again. "I've warned him."
"Have you? That helps. Who's with him?"
"Bom."
His eyes widened as she transferred him to Jia's waiting shoulders. "She'll go ballistic if that man tries anything with her."
Fei smiled. "Exactly." She turned away, hearing that same slap of leather hitting flesh drawing her on - hoping it wasn't one of the twins, and then hoping it wasn't JungMin, either. But of the three.... "That's HyunSung," she murmured into her wristmic. "Three to go." She wished that there was a way he could get a message to her.
She ducked into an alcove when another of the trench-coated guards (with sunglasses, too, no less) walked past her and into the room. She followed, resting her sword at his throat before slicing it. He let out a gurgle just enough of a sound to alert the five in the room that something had happened, and they all turned. Behind them, JungMin looked like he could barely stand, using the manacles attached to the bar over him to keep himself up.
The first two were warm ups, she decided as three of them rushed her at once. Thankfully the last two didn't think about using JungMin against her, because that was about the only thing that would work.
This group gave her more of a work out. Maybe they'd been warned, but she didn't know and didn't really care. One by one they fell, and again, none of them thought to use JungMin against her, something she knew they'd start to do eventually. The last one collapsed, and Fei paused a moment, breathing.
"Fei-noona?"
JungMin was barely on his feet, and the cut over his eye looked worse than it had in the pictures. Considering how they'd hit him, it was more a surprise it hadn't grown more. "Hey, Min. How are you holding up?"
He laughed, a gasping thing not at all like his normal laugh. "Oh, you know," he murmured. "I'm on my feet."
She smiled and hugged him, pausing to catch her breath, then went on a search for the keys. "What did they tell you?" she asked as she unlocked one wrist.
"Have you heard they plan to kill hyung?"
"Yes. Did they say how?"
JungMin shook his head and nearly fell over, using his still-manacled wrist to keep on his feet. "No. Just that he plans on it, sometime today."
She paused in unlocking that second manacle. "Here?"
"I don't know. I think... probably."
She needed to hurry. Releasing him completely and taking his weight on her shoulders, she snatched up her sword again. "I hope most of his guards are on this floor. He'll find he has fewer that he expected."
CL met her in the hallway this time, and Fei handed JungMin over, turning away to the next doorway. "That's JungMin. Just the twins left," she murmured into her wristmic.
Fei caught sight of movement inside the next room while she was still outside, and dodged to the side. Three guards, two torturers or whatever their job title was, one barely-on-his-feet YoungMin. Free, though; it looked like they were moving him. Perfect.
She stepped into the doorway, her sword leading, and took one of them out. The two holding YoungMin dragged him backwards again, leaving her room to fight the other two. As soon as she turned from taking them down, the two holding YoungMin shoved him at her.
Fei barely managed to get her sword out of the way, catching him before swinging him around and down. One of the swords scraped across her shoulder, cutting the strap of her tank top. Not all the way through, thankfully, and she let YoungMin fall, out of harm's way. She twisted back to her feet, stabbing the idiot who'd cut her - given her the first cut in this madhouse - and his friend/partner/whatever.
She grounded the sword, balancing on it, and then went down to one knee, gasping for breath. It wasn't bad, but it hurt.
"I'm sorry," YoungMin murmured.
Fei smiled at him, then got to her feet and pulled him up. "For what?" she asked. "You look like you took the brunt of it before you even got here." When he wouldn't meet her eyes, she resolved to bring that up to DongHyun, but later. Just because YoungMin hadn't brought up KwangMin didn't mean he wasn't thinking about his younger brother. "Where were they taking you?"
"To where KwangMin is," YoungMin murmured. "Easier to break us, you know?"
She did. She also knew the twins didn't break that easy, no matter what anyone else thought. Possibly including them. "So they think," she murmured, "but they're using everyone against everyone else."
"They're going to kill hyung."
"They're going to try," Fei corrected him as Min took his slight weight. She turned away to the next doorway, hoping all this information came in time. "YoungMin," she murmured into her wristmic. "One more, and then we're out of here. Everyone's said he wants you dead. Watch yourself."
The next doorway opened to an empty room but for KwangMin, bound to a column in the middle at wrists and ankles. He looked worried and much less pounded on than the rest but for MinWoo, and Fei didn't question it. "Did you find YoungMin?" he asked, his voice quiet, his worry obvious.
She crossed the room to kneel in front of him. "Yes. He's fine," she said, trying to calm him. "Looking a bit rough, but awake and alive."
He nodded. "And hyung?"
"Buying time," she said. "He's fine, as far as I know."
"They...." His eyes widened. "Look out!"
Fei snatched up her sword and swung around, slicing up. The torturer went down without doing any damage, and she frowned. "Those guys don't go around alone," she murmured, and sliced through his bonds with the dead man's sword. Helping him to his feet, she walked him toward the door, and stepped out into the hallway to face five of the guards. "Oh, now you take me seriously," she muttered with a sigh, and propped KwangMin up against the wall. "Hang on a moment," she said to him, and turned to face the five men.
The next little while became a blur of motion as she tried to keep them from hurting her or him, taking out four of them. Turning to find the fifth, she saw only KwangMin - and the feet of the fifth guard sticking out of the doorway. He grinned at the expression on her face. "I couldn't let you have all the fun," he said as she slid under his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Tired," she admitted as she walked him toward the temporary infirmary.
"Hyung's going to go through the roof."
"Ah..." Fei lifted her wrist. "Got them all. We're on our way out."
"He knows this guy wants him dead?" KwangMin asked.
"Five times over," Fei said, and paused in the doorway. "Are we ready to go?"
DongHyun suddenly smiled and touched Bom's arm. "Excuse me," he said, interrupting Siwon as he went through the next point - the fourth in a list of five. "But... this isn't going to happen."
Bom snapped her computer shut and tucked it into the laptop bag at her side.
Siwon stopped mid-word. "Excuse me?"
"None of this is acceptable," DongHyun stated, and stood up. "The terms, kidnapping my people, nothing. I do not respond well to threats."
Siwon stood as well, all trace of joviality gone. "I do not issue threats. Your boys are dead."
DongHyun gathered the papers in front of him. "You no longer have them," he said. "And, I suspect you have a significantly smaller guard force." He tucked the papers into the folder he'd brought and handed them to Bom; she put them in with her laptop. "Do not try this again. And if you intend to kill me, it's best to just do it rather than to tell mine it'll happen. They don't take it well."
"You will regret this," Siwon said in low, even tones.
"I doubt it," DongHyun said, and held out his hand for the laptop case. He'd seen the man's glance at Bom, and had an idea of what he was thinking. She caught it, too, and willingly handed the case over. "Until the next time."
He stepped back from the table to give himself room if one of the guards moved, but they didn't. Which only meant someone else was waiting for him outside. He led the way out, but as soon as he reached the door, the men moved. One of them reached for Bom, possibly to get her out of the way, Donghyun wasn't sure. He only caught it out of the corner of his eye, turning as her knife snapped into her hand and she stabbed. The man stared at her, eyes wide, as he collapsed.
Bom didn't hesitate. She turned and threw the knife past DongHyun to the other guard who had nearly reached him. He went down with the knife in his throat. DongHyun bowed mockingly to Siwon without mentioning the stunned look on his face, opened the door, and smiled.
Fei smiled back at him, sword held lightly to her side, the two guards down behind her. "Hello, lover," she said.
"Nicely done," DongHyun said. "The others?"
"On their way back," Fei said, falling into step next to him after picking up one of the guard's swords. She handed it back to Bom.
"Thank you," Bom murmured.
They got outside without problems, and climbed in the car waiting for them. On the way back, Fei reported the whole incident in a tone that concerned DongHyun. He'd only been able to find a couple of cuts on her, neither of them deep, and he could see her exhaustion. But something had happened, he just didn't know what. And finding out would have to wait a bit.
Bom took the laptop case in with her. "I'll give these to Dara to look over," she said.
"Thank you," DongHyun said, and bowed to her. He owed her his life yet again. She bowed back and left the hallway, still holding the sword Fei had given her.
Min came in from the hallway and smiled. "Oppa, they won't settle down until they know you're not dead," she said, her lips twitching.
DongHyun brushed Fei's arm before taking her elbow. "Come with me," he said, and they followed Min to the infirmary.
The pictures had obviously been taken early in their captivity, but it seemed HyunSung and JungMin had gotten the worst of it after they'd been taken. DongHyun thought he might know why. They'd left YoungMin alone, and DongHyun could guess why he'd taken so much abuse before the pictures....
He turned Fei over to Jia to get her cuts cared for, and went around to talk to his 'boys', checking in on them and letting them see he was fine.
They had things to tell him, he could see it, but none of them wanted to talk to him with everyone else around. He could understand that, too, and would make sure that he had added them into his schedule over the next couple of days. For the three youngest, at least, this was new. Even if they'd been warned, experiencing it first hand was very different.
He stopped to talk to Jia a moment when he noticed Fei had gone. "They say they're okay," he said.
She smiled. "They are, for the most part. I'll keep YoungMin here for a while; he was pretty dazed when Unni brought him to us. They know what to look for, so if one of them starts to exhibit symptoms of concussion, someone will see it and say something."
DongHyun nodded and smiled. "You know you'll have KwangMin, too," he said.
She grinned at him. "Yes, I know," she said. "Heaven help us when one of them falls in love with someone."
DongHyun nodded. "It'll be interesting," he said. "Thank you, Jia."
"You're welcome," she said, and bowed. He returned the bow and left the room to go and find Fei.
She sat on their shared bed, hands clasped on her knees and head down. He shrugged out of his suit coat and lay it over the chair, then sat next to her. "Hey," he said. "What's wrong?"
She took a deep breath and looked up at him, then leaned against him. He hugged her, careful of the cuts on her back and arm. "It was close," she said finally. "They threw YoungMin at me, and he almost... I almost killed him."
DongHyun closed his eyes and held her close to him a moment. "I bet that scared you," he said gently.
"I'm not sure he knows how close he came to getting impaled," she said.
That didn't address what he'd said. "Maybe it's best he doesn't," DongHyun said.
Fei looked at him and smiled tremulously, but her eyes didn't meet his. "It wouldn't have been that close if it had been you."
DongHyun shook his head. "I can't say that," he said. "Those men were good at what they did. They may have counted on your distraction so you wouldn't get your sword out of the way. They may have guessed you'd swing no matter who came at you. But you didn't. You kept him alive, he's fine and going to be snapping at KwangMin to leave him alone soon enough. You brought them all back, safe and sound. Thank you," he said, and then kissed her. "And thank you, for bringing yourself back, safe and sound."
"I'm cut," she said. "Not that sound."
"Good enough," DongHyun said. "I don't expect perfection, from you, or me, or anyone else. Just your best."
Fei's eyes met his for the first time since he'd come in the room, and he smiled. She smiled back, and this time she leaned in and kissed him. "You know," she murmured, her fingers deft on his tie, "you should take this off."
He laughed. "You seem to be doing a good job on your own," he said as she pulled the tie from his collar and dropped it on the floor.