Expectations: Neither Friend, Nor Foe Part 6 of 7
Adventure Seven: Neither Friend, Nor Foe Part 6 of 7
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook, Various Other Pairings
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Angst, Adventure
Beta: unicornsinger
A/N: This story is inspired by Star Trek. The crew of the Expectations will be made up of members of DBSK and Super Junior. Instead of chapters the story will be broken up in adventures.
Summary: The crew encounters a mysterious stranger and everything changes. Life aboard the Star Ship Expectations will never be the same as secrets unfold, sacrifices are made, and lives hang in the balance.
Big thanks to all that comment!!!!
Prior Adventures
“Fire a warning shot over their bow,” Yunho ordered. He was standing in the center of the bridge, and his eyes were locked on the ship directly in front of the Expectations. It was the third ship the Expectations had hunted down. The first two ships had not transported Hyun Joong, nor did they have any information on the missing crewmembers.
“Sir, they are powering up their weapons,” Sungmin warned from the weapons console.
Yunho shook his head at the idiotic actions of the smaller ship. “Let them, Lieutenant Lee.”
“They are firing,” Sungmin alerted everybody. The weapons fire from the other ship bounced off the Expectation’s strong shielding, causing no damage.
“Lieutenant Lee, take out their shields,” Captain Yunho ordered.
“Yes, Sir,” Sungmin obeyed, and the phasers of the Expectations easily depleted the other ships shields.
“Captain, they are now trying to hail us,” Ensign Eunhyuk notified the bridge crew.
“About time they agreed to talk,” Junsu grumbled from his seat next to Eunhyuk. The Expectations had tried to hail the other ship multiple times before firing, and they had been ignored.
“Well, let’s hear what they have to say,” Yunho said as he his eyes remained locked on the screen in front of him.
The bridge’s front screen came to life, and a short, skinny man with long orange hair could be seen demanding, “What is the meaning behind this attack?”
“Sir, if I was attacking you…you would be dead now. I simple wish to ask you some questions,” Yunho told the captain of the smaller ship.
“And who the hell do you think you are?” the other captain demanded.
“I am Captain Jung Yunho of the Starship Expectations. I’m sorry if I have inconvenienced you, but I need some information. I would be very grateful if you would help me.”
“Well I don’t feel like helping you,” the other captain growled, full of arrogance.
“No, I didn’t think you would,” Yunho told the other captain as he tapped his insignia. “Lieutenant Donghae, beam the other captain directly to the bridge.”
Instantly the other captain was standing on the bridge in front of Yunho. The other captain’s arrogance immediately vanished as he tried to steady himself, having never encountered anything like the transporter beam before. “What kind of trickery is this?”
Yunho stepped up to the other, much shorter captain and explained, “It is how we transport ourselves. I am going to be honest with you. I can smash you and your ship like a bug, but I won’t.”
The other captain just stared up at Yunho, speechless.
Yunho turned to look at Jaejoong, who had been sitting in his counselor’s chair, and the Joong immediately stood up and walked over to stand by Yunho. “This is Jaejoong. I do wish for your cooperation, but I don’t require it to get what I want.”
“A Joong?” the other captain repeated, staring at Jaejoong in awe.
“Yes, a Joong. Recently the Warlord ZhouMi kidnapped my…our son, and another member of my crew. I want them back,” Yunho explained.
“Your son?” the other captain said surprised. “Nobody told me I was transporting a child.”
“What did they tell you?” Yunho asked, not correcting the other captain.
“That I was transporting grown men. I don’t transport children!”
“They are on Belara!” Jaejoong whispered, trying to control his expression as information filled his head. “He transported them to Belara…he was told they were valuable slaves. He dropped them off with one of ZhouMi’s main supporters. I’ve met the bastard before - his name is Mr. Egglemen. He’s a disgusting, vile human being, who leeches off everyone he meets.”
“Jaejoong, give the coordinates for that planet to Ensign Eunhyuk,” Yunho told his mate.
“I think I’m getting them,” Eunhyuk said with a weird frown as he felt Jaejoong filling his head up with the coordinates telepathically.
“Return this man back to his ship.” Yunho ordered. “Then maximum warp to Belara.”
+++++++++++++
Ryeowook walked into his office, looking for Heechul, but instead he found Jaejoong sitting in the dark on the floor, hugging his knees. “Jae, why are you sitting in the dark? What-”
“I’m hiding,” Jaejoong explained, interrupting the doctor.
“All the captain has to do is ask the computer where you are, and it will tell him,” Ryeowook pointed out as he went and stood in front of his friend.
“He won’t ask it. He doesn’t care where I am, or how I am feeling.”
“Computer, lights on,” Ryeowook ordered, and the lights immediately came on. “You know that isn’t true. He’s just upset right now.”
Jaejoong looked up at Ryeowook with a tear-stained face. “He will never forgive me. Never.”
“Jae, that isn’t true. He is just hurt…he feels like a fool.”
Jaejoong shook his head frantically. “I never wanted him to feel that way…I just wanted to protect them. You tried to warn me, but I wouldn’t listen to you. I thought I could handle his anger, but I never dreamed he would wear one of those necklaces.”
“You are just upset right now. You did what you thought was best, and I bet you would do it again.”
“Of course, I am upset! Our bond is being blocked, and he hates me,” Jaejoong cried.
“No, he doesn’t. He loves you. He’s just upset, and he’s allowed to be upset.”
Jaejoong continued to shake his head. “I can’t stand it. I feel like I am dying on the inside.”
“Pull yourself together!” Ryeowook said firmer now, trying to get the Joong to snap out of it. “We are going to arrive at Belara any minute now. We are going to go down there and get our people back. And then you can focus on fixing your relationship with Yunho,” Ryeowook explained to his friend who looked like he had aged ten years in the past couple of days.
“I will never be able to fix it.”
“Yes, you can,” Ryeowook said, trying to encourage the distraught man.
“No, he’ll never forgive me,” a very troubled Jaejoong insisted.
“You are just emotional right now. Once we get Changmin back, everything will be better.”
“We won’t get Changmin back! We will never get Changmin back! Kyuhyun will be there, but Changmin won’t be!” Jaejoong cried as he reached up and pulled at his hair. “Changmin is lost forever!”
“What? Why are you saying this?” Ryeowook asked as fear filled him, as he suddenly realized Jaejoong knew more than he was saying.
“Kyuhyun will be returned to you. You two shall be reunited…he will love you as much today as he always has. When I first came aboard this ship…when you were assumed dead….his pain was overwhelming. I know you consider his sexual relationship with Sungmin as a huge betrayal, but you were always in his heart…filling it up. You were always the biggest, best part of him…even when he thought you were lost forever. But you weren’t lost forever…only Changmin is lost forever,” Jaejoong told Ryeowook as he tore handfuls of hair from his head and let it fall to the floor, and then reached up to tear out more.
Ryeowook knelt down beside Jaejoong and gently pulled the other man’s hands away from his hair. “Changmin will be there with Kyuhyun and Shindong, too.”
Jaejoong looked at Ryeowook and shook his head sadly. “No, they won’t be. Changmin was practically dead when he was loaded into that box.”
“Then he…he discovered his Joong blood…the strong, powerful blood…the blood he inherited from you, and he survived against all odds. We have to believe that.”
“He never found his Joong blood…if he had, the ship would have felt something. He wouldn’t have been able to control his new mental abilities…he never found any part of me,” Jaejoong tried to explain.
Ryeowook refused to listen to him. “No, you don’t know that. Changmin might have found his own way to control his abilities…you don’t know that he couldn’t.”
“I know,” Jaejoong assured him. “I know that ZhouMi’s people were going to pick up the one in blue, and the fat one.”
“You got that from the mind of the other captain?” Ryeowook asked surprised. “You didn’t tell the captain.”
“No,” Jaejoong whispered as he buried his head in his knees. “I can’t kill Yunho’s hope…I can’t…not yet. It’s all he has left.”
Ryeowook frowned and reached out and tilted Jaejoong head up ‘til he was looking the other man in the eye. “When we get to the planet, he’s going to find out. You will have to tell him then.”
“I am not going to planet…I won’t go there. I won’t be there when Yunho’s love for me is broken beyond repair,” Jaejoong cried and jerked away from Ryeowook. “I am not going to Belara.”
“You have to-”
Jaejoong shook his head frantically. “I won’t go. I refuse. I won’t be there when Yunho finds out. I won’t…I won’t see that look on his face. I won’t watch as his love for me completely dies.”
“You two are bonded forever; his love for you can’t die,” Ryeowook reminded the broken man.
Jaejoong let out a bitter laugh. “You don’t think so? His beloved Changmin will be dead…our son that I never even claimed…our son will be dead, and he will always blame me!”
“You don’t know that!” Ryeowook said firmly.
“If he isn’t dead…he’s a helpless mental mess, and at ZhouMi’s mercy. He will never be Yunho’s son again. Yunho will never forgive me! Yunho will never take that necklace off his neck! He will always blame me for losing Changmin! Always!” Jaejoong cried, trembling all over.
Ryeowook reached over and pulled the Joong into a hug. “That isn’t true. Changmin isn’t even born yet. You haven’t even given him Changmin yet. I know you fear time, but I don’t believe anything in life is absolute. I believe we can make our own fate.”
“I hope you are right…you don’t know how much I hope you are right,” Jaejoong told the doctor as he wept in his friend’s arms.
*********************
They materialized in front of a mansion that was four stories tall and spanned almost two hundred meters in width, during the early morning hours of that region of the planet.
Yunho turned to look at his away team that consisted of Ryeowook, Junsu, Sungmin, and Kangin. “I guess we should knock,” Yunho said as he walked up the stairs to the mansion’s entrance.
Kangin took in the ostentatious mansion and grotesque statues that covered the landscape, and told Junsu and Ryeowook, “I can already tell the person who lives here is a real asshole.”
“I agree,” Ryeowook said as he and the rest of the team followed the captain up the porch stairs.
Yunho inhaled a deep breath and knocked on a massive door that felt like it was made out of pure rock. Yunho frowned when his knocking barely made a noise, “Maybe instead of knocking, we should try kicking it in.”
“Or we could just vaporize it,” Sungmin suggested pulling out his phaser.
Yunho smiled at Sungmin. “Excellent idea-”
Yunho was interrupted when the massive door opened and a small, petite man answered the door. “Good Morning, I am the butler for Mr. Egglemen. May I help you?”
“Yes, I need to speak to Mr. Egglemen,” Yunho told the man.
The butler smiled at Yunho and informed him, “I am sorry but the master is not taking visitors at this time.”
“That’s too bad,” Yunho said, walking past the butler into the house. “Because I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“Yunho never was a morning person. Yoochun and I used to play rock, paper, scissors to see who had the dubious task of waking him up at the academy,” Kangin said as he followed Yunho into the house.
Sungmin followed Kangin in and added, “And that was before he commanded a Starship that could wipe out a whole planet on his orders.”
Ryeowook smiled at the butler. “Yes, it’s probably best if you take us to your master.”
“I can not possibly wake the master…I can’t! He would be very angry!” the butler shrieked as if the mere thought terrified him.
Yunho frowned at the man’s reaction. “Blame it on me. I am going to see him one way or another, with or without your help. It would be far easier if you just pointed me in the right direction.”
“I can’t possibly!” the butler shrieked as four armed guards appeared after hearing the man’s shrieking.
The guards immediately fell to the ground as Sungmin and Kangin stunned them with their phasers, much to the butler’s shock. “Why…you shouldn’t do that,” the butler yelped.
“This is ridiculous! I don’t have time for this. Jaejoong is simple going to have to get his ass down here. We don’t have time for this!” Yunho griped. The Joong had angered and scared Yunho when he had gone into hysterics, refusing to accompany them to the planet.
“Captain,” Ryeowook said in a warning voice. “Until you take that necklace off, he isn’t going to be of any use to anyone.”
“I am not taking the necklace off,” Yunho told Ryeowook, and then turned to Sungmin.
“Sungmin, vaporize something.”
“Anything?” Sungmin asked excitedly, looking around the bottom floor of the obscene mansion.
“Preferably not living, but if the butler continues to refuse to take us to Mr. Egglemen, you can vaporize him next,” Yunho told the Security Chief in a deadpan voice.
Sungmin smiled and aimed for a statue that stood in the entry way of a naked woman fondling a snake and vaporized it.
The butler’s eyes widened in shock as the statue disappeared in front of his eyes. “If you follow me, I will take you directly to the master’s bedroom.”
“It was a tacky statue,” Junsu couldn’t help but point out as they all followed the butler up a long and winding staircase.
“That it was,” Kangin agreed as he followed behind the others with his phaser out and ready.
“So tell me have you heard anything about your master holding people prisoner for the Warlord ZhouMi?” Yunho asked the butler as they stepped off the stairs and started walking down a long hallway.
The butler shook his head. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”
“It’s a huge house to be so empty. Where is everybody?” Sungmin asked, his suspicions growing as they passed down the long hall, passing one empty room after another.
“The servants stay out of sight till the Master leaves to attend to his work, and his guests were sent home last night. The Master was not in a mood for company last night,” the butler explained.
Yunho shared a look with Sungmin and asked, “Does he not have family?”
“All the master’s wives have suffered most unfortunate accidents over the years, the master’s parents live far away, the master is not close with any of his siblings, and the master has no children he’ll claim,” the butler explained as he came to a halt before they turned down another hallway. “There are two guards outside the master’s bedroom at all times.”
Yunho nodded to Sungmin and the Security Chief went ahead of them, easily disposing of the two guards. The rest of them followed behind and stopped at the door where the two guards laid stunned on the floor.
Kangin reached for the door to open it, but he found it locked. “Do we knock?” Kangin asked Yunho.
“No,” Yunho ordered and Kangin immediately kicked the door open. The door swung open and the sight that they all took in stopped them in their tracks. All eyes were glued to the naked, beaten, young woman sitting on the floor at the end of the bed with her right hand shackled to the bed post above her.
“Sulli,” Ryeowook whispered in shock as he recognized the bruised and battered girl he had last seen on the planet where their shuttle had been stranded.
A fat man sat up in the huge bed and demanded, “What is the meaning of this?”
Yunho looked up from the tortured girl to the man in the bed and frowned. “What the hell have you been doing to her?”
The man started scooting his fat body toward the side of the bed, wrapping a sheet around his naked body. “She is my property. I can do with her as I please.”
Kangin, who had not been able to take his eyes off the poor girl, pried his eyes away from her to look at the man and seethed, “Captain, permission to kill this son of a bitch.”
“Not, yet,” Yunho said as he stared at the man who was now standing. The man was a good foot shorter than Yunho. He was middle aged, bald, and as round as he was tall.
Ryeowook was now kneeling down in front of a very shocked Sulli, who just stared at him in disbelief. Junsu pulled a blanket free of the bed to cover her. Sungmin went to work ridding Sulli of the shackle that kept her chained to the bed.
Yunho’s walked up to the man and slammed his fist into the man’s face, sending the fat man toppling over. “You have more of my crew, and if you value your life you will tell me where they are now.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” the man denied as he looked up at Yunho from the floor as he held his now bloody face.
Yunho reached down, grabbed the man under his arm, and yanked him back up into a standing position. “Do you think you can lie to me? Are you under some misconception that you are important? You are nothing. Nothing! I will destroy everything you own, and leave you in worse condition than that poor girl, who you’ve been abusing.”
“I don’t know anything,” the man yelled at Yunho.
Yunho pushed the man backwards till he collided with a large window in the room, causing the window to crack. “That’s extremely unfortunate for you.”
Kangin was now beside the captain rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “Please let me loose on him.”
“Not until Jaejoong gets down here and reads every one of his secrets,” Yunho said, reaching for his insignia.
“Stop!” the man shouted. “Did you say Jaejoong? Please...not the Joong.”
Yunho’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t even want to know how some disgusting, vile pig like you knows my Jaejoong.”
“I merely knew him when he was with Lord ZhouMi,” the man explained quickly, sensing that Yunho was about to unleash on him.
Yunho grabbed the man tightly around the neck. “You mean you knew him when he was being held against his will, tortured, and abused by that monster. I will happily let him do whatever he pleases with you.”
“No, don’t! I will tell you everything,” Mr. Egglemen cried. “Your crew were here, but Lord ZhouMi’s men have already picked them up.”
“If you are lying to me, I will know.”
The man paled and added, “One of them died here. He was already injured when he got here….it wasn’t my fault!” The man’s words froze Yunho in place. The man explained further, “His wounds were fatal…there wasn’t anything we could do to help him.”
Ryeowook, who had been tending to Sulli stood up, and asked in a horrified whisper, “Where is his body? I need to see his body.”
“I…I…ha…had them toss it in the riv…river,” the man stuttered. The frozen, distant look on Yunho’s face scared him more than any of the earlier threats had. “I…I…diddn’t know any..anyone would come for him.”
“You tossed Changmin in the river,” Yunho whispered in a soft voice filled with so much pain, that Junsu gasped in the background.
“I had…my men to do it,” the man explained. “I didn’t know his name.”
Yunho let go of the man and stepped up to the window searching for the river…the river that held his friend, brother, son. Kangin grabbed the man, and tossed him back down to the floor, fighting the urge to kick him to death.
“Kangin, don’t,” Sungmin ordered sadly as Kangin lifted a leg to kick the man. “He still might have information about the others. We will have to bring him to Jaejoong.”
Kangin roared, unable to resist kicking the man once, “The fucker let Changmin die, and then he had his body tossed in the river like garbage.”
“I know…we can’t help Changmin now, but we can still save the others,” Sungmin pleaded slowly approaching Kangin, trying to control the other man’s rage.
Ryeowook had made his way to Yunho. Yunho, who was just staring out the window, his eyes transfixed on a river that ran not far in the distance. Ryeowook pushed his grief away and laid a comforting hand on Yunho’s arm. “Yunho, I’m so sorry.”
Yunho inhaled and exhaled and tried to find some control over his emotions which felt as if they were going to suffocate him at any moment. “I can’t leave Changmin in there…I can’t leave him in the river.”
“I know,” Ryeowook barely managed to get out.
Sulli, who had not spoken, climbed unsteadily to her feet. “I stopped them from throwing his body in the river.”
All eyes turned to the girl, who was barely able to stand. Her face was badly beaten, but she managed to tell them, “The groundskeeper told me he would bury him for me today. I didn’t want him to be in the river. He was all I had left of Earth.”
Junsu gently took Sulli’s arm, helping her maintain standing as the captain walked away from the window to face her. “Where is he now?”
“He is lying near the river bank…by the stables. I couldn’t let them put him in the river…he was still warm,” Sulli explained. “I couldn’t feel a pulse, and I don’t think he was breathing…but he was still so warm.”
Yunho’s eyes sparked alive, as hope suddenly filled him. Yunho was running from the room before the others knew what was happening.
“Kangin, you stay here with her and this sorry piece of shit,” Sungmin ordered as the rest of them rushed after the captain.
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook, Various Other Pairings
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Angst, Adventure
Beta: unicornsinger
A/N: This story is inspired by Star Trek. The crew of the Expectations will be made up of members of DBSK and Super Junior. Instead of chapters the story will be broken up in adventures.
Summary: The crew encounters a mysterious stranger and everything changes. Life aboard the Star Ship Expectations will never be the same as secrets unfold, sacrifices are made, and lives hang in the balance.
Big thanks to all that comment!!!!
Prior Adventures
“Fire a warning shot over their bow,” Yunho ordered. He was standing in the center of the bridge, and his eyes were locked on the ship directly in front of the Expectations. It was the third ship the Expectations had hunted down. The first two ships had not transported Hyun Joong, nor did they have any information on the missing crewmembers.
“Sir, they are powering up their weapons,” Sungmin warned from the weapons console.
Yunho shook his head at the idiotic actions of the smaller ship. “Let them, Lieutenant Lee.”
“They are firing,” Sungmin alerted everybody. The weapons fire from the other ship bounced off the Expectation’s strong shielding, causing no damage.
“Lieutenant Lee, take out their shields,” Captain Yunho ordered.
“Yes, Sir,” Sungmin obeyed, and the phasers of the Expectations easily depleted the other ships shields.
“Captain, they are now trying to hail us,” Ensign Eunhyuk notified the bridge crew.
“About time they agreed to talk,” Junsu grumbled from his seat next to Eunhyuk. The Expectations had tried to hail the other ship multiple times before firing, and they had been ignored.
“Well, let’s hear what they have to say,” Yunho said as he his eyes remained locked on the screen in front of him.
The bridge’s front screen came to life, and a short, skinny man with long orange hair could be seen demanding, “What is the meaning behind this attack?”
“Sir, if I was attacking you…you would be dead now. I simple wish to ask you some questions,” Yunho told the captain of the smaller ship.
“And who the hell do you think you are?” the other captain demanded.
“I am Captain Jung Yunho of the Starship Expectations. I’m sorry if I have inconvenienced you, but I need some information. I would be very grateful if you would help me.”
“Well I don’t feel like helping you,” the other captain growled, full of arrogance.
“No, I didn’t think you would,” Yunho told the other captain as he tapped his insignia. “Lieutenant Donghae, beam the other captain directly to the bridge.”
Instantly the other captain was standing on the bridge in front of Yunho. The other captain’s arrogance immediately vanished as he tried to steady himself, having never encountered anything like the transporter beam before. “What kind of trickery is this?”
Yunho stepped up to the other, much shorter captain and explained, “It is how we transport ourselves. I am going to be honest with you. I can smash you and your ship like a bug, but I won’t.”
The other captain just stared up at Yunho, speechless.
Yunho turned to look at Jaejoong, who had been sitting in his counselor’s chair, and the Joong immediately stood up and walked over to stand by Yunho. “This is Jaejoong. I do wish for your cooperation, but I don’t require it to get what I want.”
“A Joong?” the other captain repeated, staring at Jaejoong in awe.
“Yes, a Joong. Recently the Warlord ZhouMi kidnapped my…our son, and another member of my crew. I want them back,” Yunho explained.
“Your son?” the other captain said surprised. “Nobody told me I was transporting a child.”
“What did they tell you?” Yunho asked, not correcting the other captain.
“That I was transporting grown men. I don’t transport children!”
“They are on Belara!” Jaejoong whispered, trying to control his expression as information filled his head. “He transported them to Belara…he was told they were valuable slaves. He dropped them off with one of ZhouMi’s main supporters. I’ve met the bastard before - his name is Mr. Egglemen. He’s a disgusting, vile human being, who leeches off everyone he meets.”
“Jaejoong, give the coordinates for that planet to Ensign Eunhyuk,” Yunho told his mate.
“I think I’m getting them,” Eunhyuk said with a weird frown as he felt Jaejoong filling his head up with the coordinates telepathically.
“Return this man back to his ship.” Yunho ordered. “Then maximum warp to Belara.”
+++++++++++++
Ryeowook walked into his office, looking for Heechul, but instead he found Jaejoong sitting in the dark on the floor, hugging his knees. “Jae, why are you sitting in the dark? What-”
“I’m hiding,” Jaejoong explained, interrupting the doctor.
“All the captain has to do is ask the computer where you are, and it will tell him,” Ryeowook pointed out as he went and stood in front of his friend.
“He won’t ask it. He doesn’t care where I am, or how I am feeling.”
“Computer, lights on,” Ryeowook ordered, and the lights immediately came on. “You know that isn’t true. He’s just upset right now.”
Jaejoong looked up at Ryeowook with a tear-stained face. “He will never forgive me. Never.”
“Jae, that isn’t true. He is just hurt…he feels like a fool.”
Jaejoong shook his head frantically. “I never wanted him to feel that way…I just wanted to protect them. You tried to warn me, but I wouldn’t listen to you. I thought I could handle his anger, but I never dreamed he would wear one of those necklaces.”
“You are just upset right now. You did what you thought was best, and I bet you would do it again.”
“Of course, I am upset! Our bond is being blocked, and he hates me,” Jaejoong cried.
“No, he doesn’t. He loves you. He’s just upset, and he’s allowed to be upset.”
Jaejoong continued to shake his head. “I can’t stand it. I feel like I am dying on the inside.”
“Pull yourself together!” Ryeowook said firmer now, trying to get the Joong to snap out of it. “We are going to arrive at Belara any minute now. We are going to go down there and get our people back. And then you can focus on fixing your relationship with Yunho,” Ryeowook explained to his friend who looked like he had aged ten years in the past couple of days.
“I will never be able to fix it.”
“Yes, you can,” Ryeowook said, trying to encourage the distraught man.
“No, he’ll never forgive me,” a very troubled Jaejoong insisted.
“You are just emotional right now. Once we get Changmin back, everything will be better.”
“We won’t get Changmin back! We will never get Changmin back! Kyuhyun will be there, but Changmin won’t be!” Jaejoong cried as he reached up and pulled at his hair. “Changmin is lost forever!”
“What? Why are you saying this?” Ryeowook asked as fear filled him, as he suddenly realized Jaejoong knew more than he was saying.
“Kyuhyun will be returned to you. You two shall be reunited…he will love you as much today as he always has. When I first came aboard this ship…when you were assumed dead….his pain was overwhelming. I know you consider his sexual relationship with Sungmin as a huge betrayal, but you were always in his heart…filling it up. You were always the biggest, best part of him…even when he thought you were lost forever. But you weren’t lost forever…only Changmin is lost forever,” Jaejoong told Ryeowook as he tore handfuls of hair from his head and let it fall to the floor, and then reached up to tear out more.
Ryeowook knelt down beside Jaejoong and gently pulled the other man’s hands away from his hair. “Changmin will be there with Kyuhyun and Shindong, too.”
Jaejoong looked at Ryeowook and shook his head sadly. “No, they won’t be. Changmin was practically dead when he was loaded into that box.”
“Then he…he discovered his Joong blood…the strong, powerful blood…the blood he inherited from you, and he survived against all odds. We have to believe that.”
“He never found his Joong blood…if he had, the ship would have felt something. He wouldn’t have been able to control his new mental abilities…he never found any part of me,” Jaejoong tried to explain.
Ryeowook refused to listen to him. “No, you don’t know that. Changmin might have found his own way to control his abilities…you don’t know that he couldn’t.”
“I know,” Jaejoong assured him. “I know that ZhouMi’s people were going to pick up the one in blue, and the fat one.”
“You got that from the mind of the other captain?” Ryeowook asked surprised. “You didn’t tell the captain.”
“No,” Jaejoong whispered as he buried his head in his knees. “I can’t kill Yunho’s hope…I can’t…not yet. It’s all he has left.”
Ryeowook frowned and reached out and tilted Jaejoong head up ‘til he was looking the other man in the eye. “When we get to the planet, he’s going to find out. You will have to tell him then.”
“I am not going to planet…I won’t go there. I won’t be there when Yunho’s love for me is broken beyond repair,” Jaejoong cried and jerked away from Ryeowook. “I am not going to Belara.”
“You have to-”
Jaejoong shook his head frantically. “I won’t go. I refuse. I won’t be there when Yunho finds out. I won’t…I won’t see that look on his face. I won’t watch as his love for me completely dies.”
“You two are bonded forever; his love for you can’t die,” Ryeowook reminded the broken man.
Jaejoong let out a bitter laugh. “You don’t think so? His beloved Changmin will be dead…our son that I never even claimed…our son will be dead, and he will always blame me!”
“You don’t know that!” Ryeowook said firmly.
“If he isn’t dead…he’s a helpless mental mess, and at ZhouMi’s mercy. He will never be Yunho’s son again. Yunho will never forgive me! Yunho will never take that necklace off his neck! He will always blame me for losing Changmin! Always!” Jaejoong cried, trembling all over.
Ryeowook reached over and pulled the Joong into a hug. “That isn’t true. Changmin isn’t even born yet. You haven’t even given him Changmin yet. I know you fear time, but I don’t believe anything in life is absolute. I believe we can make our own fate.”
“I hope you are right…you don’t know how much I hope you are right,” Jaejoong told the doctor as he wept in his friend’s arms.
*********************
They materialized in front of a mansion that was four stories tall and spanned almost two hundred meters in width, during the early morning hours of that region of the planet.
Yunho turned to look at his away team that consisted of Ryeowook, Junsu, Sungmin, and Kangin. “I guess we should knock,” Yunho said as he walked up the stairs to the mansion’s entrance.
Kangin took in the ostentatious mansion and grotesque statues that covered the landscape, and told Junsu and Ryeowook, “I can already tell the person who lives here is a real asshole.”
“I agree,” Ryeowook said as he and the rest of the team followed the captain up the porch stairs.
Yunho inhaled a deep breath and knocked on a massive door that felt like it was made out of pure rock. Yunho frowned when his knocking barely made a noise, “Maybe instead of knocking, we should try kicking it in.”
“Or we could just vaporize it,” Sungmin suggested pulling out his phaser.
Yunho smiled at Sungmin. “Excellent idea-”
Yunho was interrupted when the massive door opened and a small, petite man answered the door. “Good Morning, I am the butler for Mr. Egglemen. May I help you?”
“Yes, I need to speak to Mr. Egglemen,” Yunho told the man.
The butler smiled at Yunho and informed him, “I am sorry but the master is not taking visitors at this time.”
“That’s too bad,” Yunho said, walking past the butler into the house. “Because I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“Yunho never was a morning person. Yoochun and I used to play rock, paper, scissors to see who had the dubious task of waking him up at the academy,” Kangin said as he followed Yunho into the house.
Sungmin followed Kangin in and added, “And that was before he commanded a Starship that could wipe out a whole planet on his orders.”
Ryeowook smiled at the butler. “Yes, it’s probably best if you take us to your master.”
“I can not possibly wake the master…I can’t! He would be very angry!” the butler shrieked as if the mere thought terrified him.
Yunho frowned at the man’s reaction. “Blame it on me. I am going to see him one way or another, with or without your help. It would be far easier if you just pointed me in the right direction.”
“I can’t possibly!” the butler shrieked as four armed guards appeared after hearing the man’s shrieking.
The guards immediately fell to the ground as Sungmin and Kangin stunned them with their phasers, much to the butler’s shock. “Why…you shouldn’t do that,” the butler yelped.
“This is ridiculous! I don’t have time for this. Jaejoong is simple going to have to get his ass down here. We don’t have time for this!” Yunho griped. The Joong had angered and scared Yunho when he had gone into hysterics, refusing to accompany them to the planet.
“Captain,” Ryeowook said in a warning voice. “Until you take that necklace off, he isn’t going to be of any use to anyone.”
“I am not taking the necklace off,” Yunho told Ryeowook, and then turned to Sungmin.
“Sungmin, vaporize something.”
“Anything?” Sungmin asked excitedly, looking around the bottom floor of the obscene mansion.
“Preferably not living, but if the butler continues to refuse to take us to Mr. Egglemen, you can vaporize him next,” Yunho told the Security Chief in a deadpan voice.
Sungmin smiled and aimed for a statue that stood in the entry way of a naked woman fondling a snake and vaporized it.
The butler’s eyes widened in shock as the statue disappeared in front of his eyes. “If you follow me, I will take you directly to the master’s bedroom.”
“It was a tacky statue,” Junsu couldn’t help but point out as they all followed the butler up a long and winding staircase.
“That it was,” Kangin agreed as he followed behind the others with his phaser out and ready.
“So tell me have you heard anything about your master holding people prisoner for the Warlord ZhouMi?” Yunho asked the butler as they stepped off the stairs and started walking down a long hallway.
The butler shook his head. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”
“It’s a huge house to be so empty. Where is everybody?” Sungmin asked, his suspicions growing as they passed down the long hall, passing one empty room after another.
“The servants stay out of sight till the Master leaves to attend to his work, and his guests were sent home last night. The Master was not in a mood for company last night,” the butler explained.
Yunho shared a look with Sungmin and asked, “Does he not have family?”
“All the master’s wives have suffered most unfortunate accidents over the years, the master’s parents live far away, the master is not close with any of his siblings, and the master has no children he’ll claim,” the butler explained as he came to a halt before they turned down another hallway. “There are two guards outside the master’s bedroom at all times.”
Yunho nodded to Sungmin and the Security Chief went ahead of them, easily disposing of the two guards. The rest of them followed behind and stopped at the door where the two guards laid stunned on the floor.
Kangin reached for the door to open it, but he found it locked. “Do we knock?” Kangin asked Yunho.
“No,” Yunho ordered and Kangin immediately kicked the door open. The door swung open and the sight that they all took in stopped them in their tracks. All eyes were glued to the naked, beaten, young woman sitting on the floor at the end of the bed with her right hand shackled to the bed post above her.
“Sulli,” Ryeowook whispered in shock as he recognized the bruised and battered girl he had last seen on the planet where their shuttle had been stranded.
A fat man sat up in the huge bed and demanded, “What is the meaning of this?”
Yunho looked up from the tortured girl to the man in the bed and frowned. “What the hell have you been doing to her?”
The man started scooting his fat body toward the side of the bed, wrapping a sheet around his naked body. “She is my property. I can do with her as I please.”
Kangin, who had not been able to take his eyes off the poor girl, pried his eyes away from her to look at the man and seethed, “Captain, permission to kill this son of a bitch.”
“Not, yet,” Yunho said as he stared at the man who was now standing. The man was a good foot shorter than Yunho. He was middle aged, bald, and as round as he was tall.
Ryeowook was now kneeling down in front of a very shocked Sulli, who just stared at him in disbelief. Junsu pulled a blanket free of the bed to cover her. Sungmin went to work ridding Sulli of the shackle that kept her chained to the bed.
Yunho’s walked up to the man and slammed his fist into the man’s face, sending the fat man toppling over. “You have more of my crew, and if you value your life you will tell me where they are now.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” the man denied as he looked up at Yunho from the floor as he held his now bloody face.
Yunho reached down, grabbed the man under his arm, and yanked him back up into a standing position. “Do you think you can lie to me? Are you under some misconception that you are important? You are nothing. Nothing! I will destroy everything you own, and leave you in worse condition than that poor girl, who you’ve been abusing.”
“I don’t know anything,” the man yelled at Yunho.
Yunho pushed the man backwards till he collided with a large window in the room, causing the window to crack. “That’s extremely unfortunate for you.”
Kangin was now beside the captain rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “Please let me loose on him.”
“Not until Jaejoong gets down here and reads every one of his secrets,” Yunho said, reaching for his insignia.
“Stop!” the man shouted. “Did you say Jaejoong? Please...not the Joong.”
Yunho’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t even want to know how some disgusting, vile pig like you knows my Jaejoong.”
“I merely knew him when he was with Lord ZhouMi,” the man explained quickly, sensing that Yunho was about to unleash on him.
Yunho grabbed the man tightly around the neck. “You mean you knew him when he was being held against his will, tortured, and abused by that monster. I will happily let him do whatever he pleases with you.”
“No, don’t! I will tell you everything,” Mr. Egglemen cried. “Your crew were here, but Lord ZhouMi’s men have already picked them up.”
“If you are lying to me, I will know.”
The man paled and added, “One of them died here. He was already injured when he got here….it wasn’t my fault!” The man’s words froze Yunho in place. The man explained further, “His wounds were fatal…there wasn’t anything we could do to help him.”
Ryeowook, who had been tending to Sulli stood up, and asked in a horrified whisper, “Where is his body? I need to see his body.”
“I…I…ha…had them toss it in the riv…river,” the man stuttered. The frozen, distant look on Yunho’s face scared him more than any of the earlier threats had. “I…I…diddn’t know any..anyone would come for him.”
“You tossed Changmin in the river,” Yunho whispered in a soft voice filled with so much pain, that Junsu gasped in the background.
“I had…my men to do it,” the man explained. “I didn’t know his name.”
Yunho let go of the man and stepped up to the window searching for the river…the river that held his friend, brother, son. Kangin grabbed the man, and tossed him back down to the floor, fighting the urge to kick him to death.
“Kangin, don’t,” Sungmin ordered sadly as Kangin lifted a leg to kick the man. “He still might have information about the others. We will have to bring him to Jaejoong.”
Kangin roared, unable to resist kicking the man once, “The fucker let Changmin die, and then he had his body tossed in the river like garbage.”
“I know…we can’t help Changmin now, but we can still save the others,” Sungmin pleaded slowly approaching Kangin, trying to control the other man’s rage.
Ryeowook had made his way to Yunho. Yunho, who was just staring out the window, his eyes transfixed on a river that ran not far in the distance. Ryeowook pushed his grief away and laid a comforting hand on Yunho’s arm. “Yunho, I’m so sorry.”
Yunho inhaled and exhaled and tried to find some control over his emotions which felt as if they were going to suffocate him at any moment. “I can’t leave Changmin in there…I can’t leave him in the river.”
“I know,” Ryeowook barely managed to get out.
Sulli, who had not spoken, climbed unsteadily to her feet. “I stopped them from throwing his body in the river.”
All eyes turned to the girl, who was barely able to stand. Her face was badly beaten, but she managed to tell them, “The groundskeeper told me he would bury him for me today. I didn’t want him to be in the river. He was all I had left of Earth.”
Junsu gently took Sulli’s arm, helping her maintain standing as the captain walked away from the window to face her. “Where is he now?”
“He is lying near the river bank…by the stables. I couldn’t let them put him in the river…he was still warm,” Sulli explained. “I couldn’t feel a pulse, and I don’t think he was breathing…but he was still so warm.”
Yunho’s eyes sparked alive, as hope suddenly filled him. Yunho was running from the room before the others knew what was happening.
“Kangin, you stay here with her and this sorry piece of shit,” Sungmin ordered as the rest of them rushed after the captain.