(no subject)
Title: Acts of Insurrection (10/20)
Authors: butterflyweb and nemesis_cry
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: OT5
Warning(s): violence, graphic sex, language
Summary: It's been six months since Changmin crashed on the remote planet known as Elysia. Five months since Yunho and Junsu found him. Four months since Jaejoong was shot by a man he and Yoochun both trusted. Now training as the Empress' men, former soldiers and former rebels have shed past allegiances in service of a common goal. But the tide is turning--and not in their favor.
Banner credit: luvmeanddespair
A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful feedback for the first part. We hope you enjoy this one!
Prequel: Acts of Contrition;
Acts of Insurrection: One; Two; Three; Four; Five; Six; Seven; Eight; Nine
Chapter Ten
"This is unacceptable!" she bellows and grown men cower in fear. Changmin watches it with no small amount of surprise and thinks of his mother; thinks of her hands on his shoulders when he sees Jiexi's on Jaejoong's. She lacks all maternal softness, but her voice is just as sharp. "Spies in our midst, kidnapping our brothers and friends!"
Yunho stands by her side, head lowered as if in mourning. He lets her do the talking, punching controls to show what little footage they have of the enemy, what little they know from what little they've seen. As the holo projector lights with the face of a man he's never met, he thinks of his Captain and the Empress, thinks they'd make a good, if strange couple. It's a sign of how dead he feels inside that the notion stirs no inkling of jealousy.
"Spies in our midst," she repeats, nodding towards the spinning, disembodied head. "This man came here looking for me. He infiltrated our world, our organization and manipulated us into giving him what he wanted."
Manipulated you, Changmin thinks, biting his lip when Jaejoong's vacant eyes meet his across the table. It's her fault. She told Junsu where to go, she walked straight into the trap and dragged them down with her.
He shuffles guiltily in his seat. Blaming Jiexi is easy. She's supposed to be above such normal, human mistakes. He knows the absurdity of his expectations and still he feels it's justified. She can't let them down; she's all they've got.
"Who is he?" he finds himself asking, finding that Jaejoong hasn't been looking at him at all but at the hologram.
For the first time in what feels like hours, he hears Yunho's gruff voice. "A bounty hunter. He slept at our inn under the Admiral's name, no doubt an alias. The cleaners found a scanner with our bio's. Surprisingly detailed too, not just hair and eye color, but blood type, medical history and family background."
"And when you say our, you mean..."
Yunho looks away, his voice low and dismissive when he finally answers: "Yours, mine. And Junsu's."
Changmin nods, understanding. A random run to make a nice profit from captured outlaws wouldn't have been nearly as specific, nor as planned as this. It would've been a game of finders keepers. This has Guard fingerprints all over it.
What would you know? Maybe the Guard has thrown its net to reel them back in. Maybe Jiexi was right.
***
They're stuck in quarters that have never seemed smaller, not even when there were five of them sharing the same bed, not even when there were three, before the wait for airborne repairs become too much for Yunho and Changmin. It presses down on him, walls closing in with every minute they spend in suspended animation until they can start scouring the quadrant for their missing crewmen. At least Jiexi hasn't ordered another landing. For that, they can be thankful. Which isn't to say they're wasting any less time with their engines down in Elysia's orbit.
Jaejoong bites his lip, forehead pressed against the cool, thick glass and feels impatience eat at him. He shouldn't have let Yoochun go alone. They shouldn't have split up.
The bedroom door slides open. He doesn't turn. He doesn't want to see his lovers and see in their faces the same helplessness he feels.
He registers the sound of the footfalls, too light to be Changmin or Yunho and straightens slightly, unmoving from the window even as his Empress comes to stand beside him. Her profile is sharp and regal, hardened by experience and determination. He feels her gaze slide to him, piercing in quality.
"You will have a chance to avenge your lovers, I promise you." Her lips barely move when she speaks, sounds silken smooth but not devoid of her usual coolness. A hand is laid on his shoulder in compensation.
He tries to will her strength into his body, pulling back to stare at his own hollow-eyed reflection. "He made a promise to me, Your Highness," he says quietly, his voice empty in his own ears. "That he would care for me, look after me." Jaejoong rests his hand flat on the glass, pressing down. "What have I done to honor that promise?"
"You can still honor it," she retorts, fingers slipping over the back of his shirt to stroke his neck. "You're a brave man, Jaejoong. And strong. I have faith that you'll do the right thing for our cause... and for him." She's suave but comforting, her presence an all too painful link to his lover's memory. But her hands are hers when they turn him away from the window to face her. "Sometimes I can't believe how much you've grown from that scared boy I met all those years ago."
A palm rests on his cheek. "Such a fighter, then. Still are."
He swallows hard, eyes meeting hers. "We owe you our lives." It's rote, by now, but he means it no less.
She smiles grimly, hand falling from his cheek even as her eyes fix him in place. "And I owe you my protection. Those bastards have stolen from us for the last time, Jaejoong. They've crossed the line and it's time to fight back. For real."
"Your Highness...?" He frowns, not understanding even as he agrees with her. He always agrees with her. She knows best.
Kind eyes turn cold as shards of ice. "There's never been a war visited upon those sons of bitches. They've never seen our numbers, never felt our wrath. We're an army, Jaejoong, and it's time we acted like one." Her grip tightens on his shoulder. "You want him back? You want revenge visited on those bastards for daring to take your lover from you?"
He nods numbly, teeth sinking into his lip from the force of his hate, his loss.
Jiexi moves close, her eyes holding him in place. "He saved you all those years ago. Put his faith in me to protect you. Save him now."
"Yes," he finds himself saying, mouth working independently of his mind. He can't imagine the extent of her proposition, the magnitude of what she wants to accomplish, but if she says it's time, it's doable, then he believes her, body and soul. He knows Yoochun would have. "Yes. I'll do anything."
His Empress stands on tiptoe, lips against his ear. "Persuade Yunho to fight for me."
***
He wakes surrounded by unfamiliarity.
He can feel it in the cold of the metal floor beneath him, in the chill, regulated air of a ship--in his own aches and pain. It's cause enough to open his eyes slowly, to survey his environment before making sudden movements. He knows enough to know that. Slit eyes scan the small space until they settle on a familiar form, startling him out of his facade.
"Junsu?"
Cold palms touch his cheeks, his shoulder. "Yes. Yes, I'm here." Relief is audible, just as the scratch in the other man's voice, as if he's been screaming. "Thank the Gods you're awake!"
He doesn't think the Gods are responsible for much these days, but he takes comfort in the touch, letting himself be pulled upright and into a crushing embrace. "You okay?" he breathes, voice muffled in the other man's shoulder. It isn't until he feels bare skin under his lips that he realizes they're both naked.
"What the fuck?" he hisses, holding Junsu tight and peering out through the bars. "What's going on? Do you know who they are?"
He feels the shake of Junsu's head against his neck. "No. I've only seen one man... he's a bounty hunter." His voice shakes but he doesn't cry. "He took our clothes..."
Yoochun's fingers dig into Junsu's skin with the force of his embrace, mind whirling as he tries to take in the information. Bounty hunter. Who'd send a---fuck. Holy fucking hell. The Guard. They know where they are. Panic flares in Yoochun's stomach but he keeps it down, bites it back for Junsu's sake. The other man already looks like he's been through hell, he doesn't need to worry over him now.
"The others..they're looking for you. Looking for us. It'll be alright." He kisses his shoulder, pulling back to meet Junsu's eyes stubbornly. "You aren't alone and we'll figure a way out of this."
The door slides open abruptly, a voice ringing out from the darkness. "I knew it! Are you two a couple? That's very sweet."
Junsu lets him go, fists tightening at his sides. "You fuck, what do you want? I'm going to fucking kill you, I'll..." It's the first time Yoochun hears such raw fury from the younger man, the first time he's glad to hear it.
A condescending laugh and a man appears in the doorway, tall and willowy, blasters strapped to his hips and thigh. Hair painted a deep scarlet, he looks like one of the whores from the South City. Yoochun tells him so, teeth bared.
"You wound me," comes the laughing reply as the man plays with the light switch. He gets bored easily, stomping his foot on the ground like a child. "I suppose it's normal that you're so angry. Shall I leave you two lovebirds to fuck in peace and quiet?" He grins, leaning his forehead against the metal bars of their cage. His eyes rove, as if he's in a zoo and they're just animals. "Or should I stay and watch?"
The words have Yoochun stumbling to his feet, moving forward on unsteady legs, uncaring of his nudity. "You're going to regret this," he hisses. "Trust me."
White teeth are bared in a grimace. "Cute. That's so cute. Very knight in shinning armor of you." The man shrugs, eyes sliding from his eyes to his lips and sighing. "I'll take the hint and leave, then, if you're going to be so possessive."
The door slides and locks behind him.
Yoochun falls to his knees on the cold ground.
Authors: butterflyweb and nemesis_cry
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: OT5
Warning(s): violence, graphic sex, language
Summary: It's been six months since Changmin crashed on the remote planet known as Elysia. Five months since Yunho and Junsu found him. Four months since Jaejoong was shot by a man he and Yoochun both trusted. Now training as the Empress' men, former soldiers and former rebels have shed past allegiances in service of a common goal. But the tide is turning--and not in their favor.
Banner credit: luvmeanddespair
A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful feedback for the first part. We hope you enjoy this one!
Prequel: Acts of Contrition;
Acts of Insurrection: One; Two; Three; Four; Five; Six; Seven; Eight; Nine
Chapter Ten
"This is unacceptable!" she bellows and grown men cower in fear. Changmin watches it with no small amount of surprise and thinks of his mother; thinks of her hands on his shoulders when he sees Jiexi's on Jaejoong's. She lacks all maternal softness, but her voice is just as sharp. "Spies in our midst, kidnapping our brothers and friends!"
Yunho stands by her side, head lowered as if in mourning. He lets her do the talking, punching controls to show what little footage they have of the enemy, what little they know from what little they've seen. As the holo projector lights with the face of a man he's never met, he thinks of his Captain and the Empress, thinks they'd make a good, if strange couple. It's a sign of how dead he feels inside that the notion stirs no inkling of jealousy.
"Spies in our midst," she repeats, nodding towards the spinning, disembodied head. "This man came here looking for me. He infiltrated our world, our organization and manipulated us into giving him what he wanted."
Manipulated you, Changmin thinks, biting his lip when Jaejoong's vacant eyes meet his across the table. It's her fault. She told Junsu where to go, she walked straight into the trap and dragged them down with her.
He shuffles guiltily in his seat. Blaming Jiexi is easy. She's supposed to be above such normal, human mistakes. He knows the absurdity of his expectations and still he feels it's justified. She can't let them down; she's all they've got.
"Who is he?" he finds himself asking, finding that Jaejoong hasn't been looking at him at all but at the hologram.
For the first time in what feels like hours, he hears Yunho's gruff voice. "A bounty hunter. He slept at our inn under the Admiral's name, no doubt an alias. The cleaners found a scanner with our bio's. Surprisingly detailed too, not just hair and eye color, but blood type, medical history and family background."
"And when you say our, you mean..."
Yunho looks away, his voice low and dismissive when he finally answers: "Yours, mine. And Junsu's."
Changmin nods, understanding. A random run to make a nice profit from captured outlaws wouldn't have been nearly as specific, nor as planned as this. It would've been a game of finders keepers. This has Guard fingerprints all over it.
What would you know? Maybe the Guard has thrown its net to reel them back in. Maybe Jiexi was right.
***
They're stuck in quarters that have never seemed smaller, not even when there were five of them sharing the same bed, not even when there were three, before the wait for airborne repairs become too much for Yunho and Changmin. It presses down on him, walls closing in with every minute they spend in suspended animation until they can start scouring the quadrant for their missing crewmen. At least Jiexi hasn't ordered another landing. For that, they can be thankful. Which isn't to say they're wasting any less time with their engines down in Elysia's orbit.
Jaejoong bites his lip, forehead pressed against the cool, thick glass and feels impatience eat at him. He shouldn't have let Yoochun go alone. They shouldn't have split up.
The bedroom door slides open. He doesn't turn. He doesn't want to see his lovers and see in their faces the same helplessness he feels.
He registers the sound of the footfalls, too light to be Changmin or Yunho and straightens slightly, unmoving from the window even as his Empress comes to stand beside him. Her profile is sharp and regal, hardened by experience and determination. He feels her gaze slide to him, piercing in quality.
"You will have a chance to avenge your lovers, I promise you." Her lips barely move when she speaks, sounds silken smooth but not devoid of her usual coolness. A hand is laid on his shoulder in compensation.
He tries to will her strength into his body, pulling back to stare at his own hollow-eyed reflection. "He made a promise to me, Your Highness," he says quietly, his voice empty in his own ears. "That he would care for me, look after me." Jaejoong rests his hand flat on the glass, pressing down. "What have I done to honor that promise?"
"You can still honor it," she retorts, fingers slipping over the back of his shirt to stroke his neck. "You're a brave man, Jaejoong. And strong. I have faith that you'll do the right thing for our cause... and for him." She's suave but comforting, her presence an all too painful link to his lover's memory. But her hands are hers when they turn him away from the window to face her. "Sometimes I can't believe how much you've grown from that scared boy I met all those years ago."
A palm rests on his cheek. "Such a fighter, then. Still are."
He swallows hard, eyes meeting hers. "We owe you our lives." It's rote, by now, but he means it no less.
She smiles grimly, hand falling from his cheek even as her eyes fix him in place. "And I owe you my protection. Those bastards have stolen from us for the last time, Jaejoong. They've crossed the line and it's time to fight back. For real."
"Your Highness...?" He frowns, not understanding even as he agrees with her. He always agrees with her. She knows best.
Kind eyes turn cold as shards of ice. "There's never been a war visited upon those sons of bitches. They've never seen our numbers, never felt our wrath. We're an army, Jaejoong, and it's time we acted like one." Her grip tightens on his shoulder. "You want him back? You want revenge visited on those bastards for daring to take your lover from you?"
He nods numbly, teeth sinking into his lip from the force of his hate, his loss.
Jiexi moves close, her eyes holding him in place. "He saved you all those years ago. Put his faith in me to protect you. Save him now."
"Yes," he finds himself saying, mouth working independently of his mind. He can't imagine the extent of her proposition, the magnitude of what she wants to accomplish, but if she says it's time, it's doable, then he believes her, body and soul. He knows Yoochun would have. "Yes. I'll do anything."
His Empress stands on tiptoe, lips against his ear. "Persuade Yunho to fight for me."
***
He wakes surrounded by unfamiliarity.
He can feel it in the cold of the metal floor beneath him, in the chill, regulated air of a ship--in his own aches and pain. It's cause enough to open his eyes slowly, to survey his environment before making sudden movements. He knows enough to know that. Slit eyes scan the small space until they settle on a familiar form, startling him out of his facade.
"Junsu?"
Cold palms touch his cheeks, his shoulder. "Yes. Yes, I'm here." Relief is audible, just as the scratch in the other man's voice, as if he's been screaming. "Thank the Gods you're awake!"
He doesn't think the Gods are responsible for much these days, but he takes comfort in the touch, letting himself be pulled upright and into a crushing embrace. "You okay?" he breathes, voice muffled in the other man's shoulder. It isn't until he feels bare skin under his lips that he realizes they're both naked.
"What the fuck?" he hisses, holding Junsu tight and peering out through the bars. "What's going on? Do you know who they are?"
He feels the shake of Junsu's head against his neck. "No. I've only seen one man... he's a bounty hunter." His voice shakes but he doesn't cry. "He took our clothes..."
Yoochun's fingers dig into Junsu's skin with the force of his embrace, mind whirling as he tries to take in the information. Bounty hunter. Who'd send a---fuck. Holy fucking hell. The Guard. They know where they are. Panic flares in Yoochun's stomach but he keeps it down, bites it back for Junsu's sake. The other man already looks like he's been through hell, he doesn't need to worry over him now.
"The others..they're looking for you. Looking for us. It'll be alright." He kisses his shoulder, pulling back to meet Junsu's eyes stubbornly. "You aren't alone and we'll figure a way out of this."
The door slides open abruptly, a voice ringing out from the darkness. "I knew it! Are you two a couple? That's very sweet."
Junsu lets him go, fists tightening at his sides. "You fuck, what do you want? I'm going to fucking kill you, I'll..." It's the first time Yoochun hears such raw fury from the younger man, the first time he's glad to hear it.
A condescending laugh and a man appears in the doorway, tall and willowy, blasters strapped to his hips and thigh. Hair painted a deep scarlet, he looks like one of the whores from the South City. Yoochun tells him so, teeth bared.
"You wound me," comes the laughing reply as the man plays with the light switch. He gets bored easily, stomping his foot on the ground like a child. "I suppose it's normal that you're so angry. Shall I leave you two lovebirds to fuck in peace and quiet?" He grins, leaning his forehead against the metal bars of their cage. His eyes rove, as if he's in a zoo and they're just animals. "Or should I stay and watch?"
The words have Yoochun stumbling to his feet, moving forward on unsteady legs, uncaring of his nudity. "You're going to regret this," he hisses. "Trust me."
White teeth are bared in a grimace. "Cute. That's so cute. Very knight in shinning armor of you." The man shrugs, eyes sliding from his eyes to his lips and sighing. "I'll take the hint and leave, then, if you're going to be so possessive."
The door slides and locks behind him.
Yoochun falls to his knees on the cold ground.