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Title: Acts of Insurrection (11/20)
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; Ten
Chapter Eleven
He can hear the grinding of his teeth as he stares at Jaejoong, anger a quick wick in his chest, the fan flaming higher when he sees the set of Jaejoong's jaw, feels Changmin's eyes heavy on his back.
"No," he says flatly, fingers curled into fists at his side. "That's not the way to go about this."
Jaejoong is adamant; has been, for the past twenty minutes. "There is no other way!" Every argument he gives drips with fanaticism--worse, with Jiexi's words, a mantra he's been swallowing only the Gods know for how many years. "We need you. It's the only way to get them back!"
Though the Empress is absent, he can't shake the feeling of her eyes on him, in his mind, reading his every thought. Maybe she's a witch. Maybe she's just insane. Her plan certainly is, and hell if he'll be a part of it.
"Jaejoong," he starts, trying to keep his voice even, trying not to take his anger at the woman out on his lover. "I know what I'm talking about. We don't have the manpower to do what she's asking. The Guard is too strong, too organized. The rebel faction isn't united enough to pull this off. We have to--"
"What?" Jaejoong spits, limp, dark hair hanging in his eyes, giving him a half-crazed look as he steps forward. "Wait and see? Ask the Guard nicely? Fucking leave them there? What's your brilliant plan?"
"I don't know!" he shouts, biting his lip because not having a plan doesn't make hers the right one. "This is lunacy. More of us will die and we'll do Junsu and Yoochun no good. We can't... we can't go out, guns blazing. They'll rip us to shreds." Then, voice softening, he tries again: "I know. I get it. I love them just as much as you do, but we can't--"
A hard shove to his shoulders interrupts the train of thought.
"You love them?" Jaejoong asks incredulously. "How the fuck do you expect me to believe that when you're willing to fucking leave them at the hands of your buddies! You don't give a shit, do you? You're just happy to leave them be, like they don't matter, like--"
He hits as hard as he can, body twisting with the force of his blow and he swore he'd never hurt them.
And then Changmin is grabbing Jaejoong around the waist, trying to keep the other man from returning the violence, teeth bared and bruise blossoming on his cheek. The shorter man's eyes are bloodshot and wet, anger etched into his features.
"Traitor," he hisses. "They're going to die because of you, they--" He's cut off as Changmin claps a strong hand over his mouth, jaw set.
"Enough. Fucking enough, Jaejoong."
The other man rages, tries to break free, but Yunho doesn't wait to serve as a pinata, even though the other man probably deserves a shot to even it out. Hell, he probably deserves hundreds of shots, hundreds of opportunities to hurt and make him pay.
He stumbles out of the room to the sound of Changmin hissing behind him and Jaejoong screaming and biting against the hand he holds against his lips. It's the sound of something dying and dimly, he thinks it may be himself.
***
It isn't long before teeth find purchase and if the other man were a rabid dog, maybe he'd have a better chance of scaring Changmin off. As it is, he simply grits his teeth past the pain as he feels the skin break, wrestling them onto the bed and trying to pin him down.
"Jaejoong," he growls, heartbreak equal with fury and heavy in his voice. "Stop it. Just stop."
The sound of hard, muffled sobs and the other goes limp against him, eyes squeezed shut. Changmin pulls his bleeding hand away, shifting until his hold is more comfort than containment. Jaejoong smacks a fist violently against his chest but is otherwise still, shoulders shaking.
"Why won't he do something?" he sobs. "Why won't he help-help me?"
Changmin holds him tighter, bone crushing hug not nearly enough to soothe his ache. "Jaejoong... baby..." He grits his teeth because he lacks answers, because there's no way to placate his lover without flat out lying. "All we've got is each other. You can't... we can't throw that away..."
"All he has is me!" Jaejoong nearly shouts back, choking on his own tears. "I swore I'd take care of him no matter what..."
Changmin takes a deep breath, shutting his eyes and stroking a hand through dark locks.
"He has all of us," he reminds the other man softly, his voice in quiet counterpoint. "Both of them, Jaejoong." The other man doesn't hear him, or doesn't want to hear him. Fingers press against his lips, coming away pink from diluted blood. He doesn't see that either. Instead, Jaejoong stares straight ahead, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"You don't know... how it was." He inhales breathlessly. "Before, on Elysia. He kept me safe and fed and--I'm letting him down."
Changmin exhales slowly. The other man is right--he doesn't know. Their respective pasts are still for the most part a mystery, lives too much in the here and now for the past to intervene.
"You aren't letting him down," he whispers, feeling his throat constrict. "We'll get them back. I promise you we will. They know that."
"How do you know?" Jaejoong protests almost quietly. "When you crashed here... when they left you..."
It doesn't need to be brought back to the present so Changmin shushes him softly, like he would a child. "We're not leaving them with the Guard. We wouldn't. Yunho wouldn't." He says it with the strength of conviction but it goes unheard.
"For so long," he starts, whisper soft and slurred as if with sleep. "For such a long time I had only him. Do you know what it is to feel your lover's hands in your hair, soothing away the hurt because some bastard pulled too hard and it's coming out in clumps? I'm all he has--had. He needs me. I need--"
And gods, Changmin aches for him, lead in his stomach. "I know. Shh, I know." He hides his own tears in Jaejoong's hair. "You're two halves of the same whole, anyone can see it. But we love him, Yunho and I. As much as you love Junsu and I swear to the gods, we'll bring them home."
Jaejoong goes quiet after a while, tears and sobs all drained out of him. He doesn't sleep, but he's lost the red, righteous anger that had him screaming all those accusations. He lies there and Changmin lies with him, at least until he can't. A cramp in his thigh, muscle jumping under the skin and he rolls out of bed.
Electronic digits on the bedside table spell the time. Scarcely twenty minutes since Yunho left them. Forty-eight hours less since they lost Junsu. Twenty, since they lost Yoochun.
He leans down to brush careful fingertips along Jaejoong's cheek, tucking a lock of hair behind he pale shell of his ear. "Try and sleep," he murmurs, ducking to press a kiss to his temple before stepping back and heading in the direction Yunho had gone. He can hear the distant sound of shower jets running and makes his way towards it, opening the door to the washroom quietly and feeling his heart lurch in his chest.
Yunho stands silent under the shower, face buried in his hands and shoulders shaking.
It's akin to seeing his parents in their bedroom. It's something that shakes him profoundly and unexplicably. Yunho is human. Yunho cries--has cried before. But never like this. Never with his whole body curving under the strain, never with the broken sounds of a dying man. He looks in pain, he looks, Changmin thinks, like Jaejoong only moments ago.
He sees them falling apart and doesn't know what to do, doesn't know how to fix them. Cowardice and the fear that if he cracks, there will be none left to bring Yoochun and Junsu back and Changmin backs out, sliding to his knees by the closed door and hoping no crewman will see him. He can't explain, or move. He wouldn't know where to go, anyway.
He stays like that for a long time, hunched over and arms wrapped around his stomach. Paralyzed. He isn't a leader. He can't hold them together on his own, not when he feels Junsu's absence with every breath, Yoochun's with every look at Jaejoong's hollowed features. He doesn't know how to make it right and as much as it pains him, Yunho doesn't either. They don't know where to begin.
The Emperess does.
In the end, there's no persuading to do, no arguing and fighting over what was said and what should have been said. Yunho comes out with his hair still wet, lingers and finally sits by his side. Their eyes never meet, their bodies don't touch, but somehow, Changmin knows.
"You'll lead us?" he asks, but he might as well be stating it.
"Yeah," Yunho sighs after a pause. "If there is no other way."
If there is no one else, he means and Changmin sees the future he predicts in front of him, ships ablaze and their fighters torn to pieces by plasma cannons. He blinks them away just as quickly. Yunho is strong. He won't let them down. Not even in the face of impossible odds.
Shoulders sinking with the weight of responsability he feels being placed on the man by his side, he stands up, offers his hand. "There is no other way." It takes repeating it a few times to make himself believe it. If he says it enough, maybe Yunho will, too.
***
Body heat in the small cell demands they stay close almost as much as comfort, silence hanging heavy between. Yoochun keeps his arms wrapped tight around Junsu, the other man's exhaustion getting the better part of him and Yoochun would wager he hasn't slept since taken. His own eyes rove the cell, searching for breaks, weaknesses. Something that could be used as a weapon, anything to give them the advantage.
There's no such sign, the bars around them flawless and new--either this bastard hasn't been at it long or he cleans up well after each run. From the professionalism, the ease he has in dealing with them as he would with cattle, Yoochun thinks it might be the latter.
A hard noise and the pressure-locking door slides open, the bounty hunter returning, but his smile absent. In return, he glances from one to the other almost ferally and Yoochun wonders, briefly, if he's foolish enough to try separating them. That's all he needs: a shot, a single shot.
But all he does is pull their clothes from behind his back, tossing them in their faces carelessly, waking Junsu with a start. "Morning, sunshine," comes the sly tone, a smirk set firmly in place. "Time to get up and at 'em. You have a big day."
"What do you want from us, you fuck?" Yoochun hisses in response, wishing for nothing less than to wring the man's throat with his bare hands.
All he gets in reply is a smile.
A unfamiliar, computerized voice rings through the craft's comsys: "This is the Acheron. Stand by for docking."
Their captor winces, nods towards their scattered clothes. "Get dressed. You want to make a memorable entrance, don't you?"
At his side, Junsu stiffens ever so slightly.
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; Ten
Chapter Eleven
He can hear the grinding of his teeth as he stares at Jaejoong, anger a quick wick in his chest, the fan flaming higher when he sees the set of Jaejoong's jaw, feels Changmin's eyes heavy on his back.
"No," he says flatly, fingers curled into fists at his side. "That's not the way to go about this."
Jaejoong is adamant; has been, for the past twenty minutes. "There is no other way!" Every argument he gives drips with fanaticism--worse, with Jiexi's words, a mantra he's been swallowing only the Gods know for how many years. "We need you. It's the only way to get them back!"
Though the Empress is absent, he can't shake the feeling of her eyes on him, in his mind, reading his every thought. Maybe she's a witch. Maybe she's just insane. Her plan certainly is, and hell if he'll be a part of it.
"Jaejoong," he starts, trying to keep his voice even, trying not to take his anger at the woman out on his lover. "I know what I'm talking about. We don't have the manpower to do what she's asking. The Guard is too strong, too organized. The rebel faction isn't united enough to pull this off. We have to--"
"What?" Jaejoong spits, limp, dark hair hanging in his eyes, giving him a half-crazed look as he steps forward. "Wait and see? Ask the Guard nicely? Fucking leave them there? What's your brilliant plan?"
"I don't know!" he shouts, biting his lip because not having a plan doesn't make hers the right one. "This is lunacy. More of us will die and we'll do Junsu and Yoochun no good. We can't... we can't go out, guns blazing. They'll rip us to shreds." Then, voice softening, he tries again: "I know. I get it. I love them just as much as you do, but we can't--"
A hard shove to his shoulders interrupts the train of thought.
"You love them?" Jaejoong asks incredulously. "How the fuck do you expect me to believe that when you're willing to fucking leave them at the hands of your buddies! You don't give a shit, do you? You're just happy to leave them be, like they don't matter, like--"
He hits as hard as he can, body twisting with the force of his blow and he swore he'd never hurt them.
And then Changmin is grabbing Jaejoong around the waist, trying to keep the other man from returning the violence, teeth bared and bruise blossoming on his cheek. The shorter man's eyes are bloodshot and wet, anger etched into his features.
"Traitor," he hisses. "They're going to die because of you, they--" He's cut off as Changmin claps a strong hand over his mouth, jaw set.
"Enough. Fucking enough, Jaejoong."
The other man rages, tries to break free, but Yunho doesn't wait to serve as a pinata, even though the other man probably deserves a shot to even it out. Hell, he probably deserves hundreds of shots, hundreds of opportunities to hurt and make him pay.
He stumbles out of the room to the sound of Changmin hissing behind him and Jaejoong screaming and biting against the hand he holds against his lips. It's the sound of something dying and dimly, he thinks it may be himself.
***
It isn't long before teeth find purchase and if the other man were a rabid dog, maybe he'd have a better chance of scaring Changmin off. As it is, he simply grits his teeth past the pain as he feels the skin break, wrestling them onto the bed and trying to pin him down.
"Jaejoong," he growls, heartbreak equal with fury and heavy in his voice. "Stop it. Just stop."
The sound of hard, muffled sobs and the other goes limp against him, eyes squeezed shut. Changmin pulls his bleeding hand away, shifting until his hold is more comfort than containment. Jaejoong smacks a fist violently against his chest but is otherwise still, shoulders shaking.
"Why won't he do something?" he sobs. "Why won't he help-help me?"
Changmin holds him tighter, bone crushing hug not nearly enough to soothe his ache. "Jaejoong... baby..." He grits his teeth because he lacks answers, because there's no way to placate his lover without flat out lying. "All we've got is each other. You can't... we can't throw that away..."
"All he has is me!" Jaejoong nearly shouts back, choking on his own tears. "I swore I'd take care of him no matter what..."
Changmin takes a deep breath, shutting his eyes and stroking a hand through dark locks.
"He has all of us," he reminds the other man softly, his voice in quiet counterpoint. "Both of them, Jaejoong." The other man doesn't hear him, or doesn't want to hear him. Fingers press against his lips, coming away pink from diluted blood. He doesn't see that either. Instead, Jaejoong stares straight ahead, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"You don't know... how it was." He inhales breathlessly. "Before, on Elysia. He kept me safe and fed and--I'm letting him down."
Changmin exhales slowly. The other man is right--he doesn't know. Their respective pasts are still for the most part a mystery, lives too much in the here and now for the past to intervene.
"You aren't letting him down," he whispers, feeling his throat constrict. "We'll get them back. I promise you we will. They know that."
"How do you know?" Jaejoong protests almost quietly. "When you crashed here... when they left you..."
It doesn't need to be brought back to the present so Changmin shushes him softly, like he would a child. "We're not leaving them with the Guard. We wouldn't. Yunho wouldn't." He says it with the strength of conviction but it goes unheard.
"For so long," he starts, whisper soft and slurred as if with sleep. "For such a long time I had only him. Do you know what it is to feel your lover's hands in your hair, soothing away the hurt because some bastard pulled too hard and it's coming out in clumps? I'm all he has--had. He needs me. I need--"
And gods, Changmin aches for him, lead in his stomach. "I know. Shh, I know." He hides his own tears in Jaejoong's hair. "You're two halves of the same whole, anyone can see it. But we love him, Yunho and I. As much as you love Junsu and I swear to the gods, we'll bring them home."
Jaejoong goes quiet after a while, tears and sobs all drained out of him. He doesn't sleep, but he's lost the red, righteous anger that had him screaming all those accusations. He lies there and Changmin lies with him, at least until he can't. A cramp in his thigh, muscle jumping under the skin and he rolls out of bed.
Electronic digits on the bedside table spell the time. Scarcely twenty minutes since Yunho left them. Forty-eight hours less since they lost Junsu. Twenty, since they lost Yoochun.
He leans down to brush careful fingertips along Jaejoong's cheek, tucking a lock of hair behind he pale shell of his ear. "Try and sleep," he murmurs, ducking to press a kiss to his temple before stepping back and heading in the direction Yunho had gone. He can hear the distant sound of shower jets running and makes his way towards it, opening the door to the washroom quietly and feeling his heart lurch in his chest.
Yunho stands silent under the shower, face buried in his hands and shoulders shaking.
It's akin to seeing his parents in their bedroom. It's something that shakes him profoundly and unexplicably. Yunho is human. Yunho cries--has cried before. But never like this. Never with his whole body curving under the strain, never with the broken sounds of a dying man. He looks in pain, he looks, Changmin thinks, like Jaejoong only moments ago.
He sees them falling apart and doesn't know what to do, doesn't know how to fix them. Cowardice and the fear that if he cracks, there will be none left to bring Yoochun and Junsu back and Changmin backs out, sliding to his knees by the closed door and hoping no crewman will see him. He can't explain, or move. He wouldn't know where to go, anyway.
He stays like that for a long time, hunched over and arms wrapped around his stomach. Paralyzed. He isn't a leader. He can't hold them together on his own, not when he feels Junsu's absence with every breath, Yoochun's with every look at Jaejoong's hollowed features. He doesn't know how to make it right and as much as it pains him, Yunho doesn't either. They don't know where to begin.
The Emperess does.
In the end, there's no persuading to do, no arguing and fighting over what was said and what should have been said. Yunho comes out with his hair still wet, lingers and finally sits by his side. Their eyes never meet, their bodies don't touch, but somehow, Changmin knows.
"You'll lead us?" he asks, but he might as well be stating it.
"Yeah," Yunho sighs after a pause. "If there is no other way."
If there is no one else, he means and Changmin sees the future he predicts in front of him, ships ablaze and their fighters torn to pieces by plasma cannons. He blinks them away just as quickly. Yunho is strong. He won't let them down. Not even in the face of impossible odds.
Shoulders sinking with the weight of responsability he feels being placed on the man by his side, he stands up, offers his hand. "There is no other way." It takes repeating it a few times to make himself believe it. If he says it enough, maybe Yunho will, too.
***
Body heat in the small cell demands they stay close almost as much as comfort, silence hanging heavy between. Yoochun keeps his arms wrapped tight around Junsu, the other man's exhaustion getting the better part of him and Yoochun would wager he hasn't slept since taken. His own eyes rove the cell, searching for breaks, weaknesses. Something that could be used as a weapon, anything to give them the advantage.
There's no such sign, the bars around them flawless and new--either this bastard hasn't been at it long or he cleans up well after each run. From the professionalism, the ease he has in dealing with them as he would with cattle, Yoochun thinks it might be the latter.
A hard noise and the pressure-locking door slides open, the bounty hunter returning, but his smile absent. In return, he glances from one to the other almost ferally and Yoochun wonders, briefly, if he's foolish enough to try separating them. That's all he needs: a shot, a single shot.
But all he does is pull their clothes from behind his back, tossing them in their faces carelessly, waking Junsu with a start. "Morning, sunshine," comes the sly tone, a smirk set firmly in place. "Time to get up and at 'em. You have a big day."
"What do you want from us, you fuck?" Yoochun hisses in response, wishing for nothing less than to wring the man's throat with his bare hands.
All he gets in reply is a smile.
A unfamiliar, computerized voice rings through the craft's comsys: "This is the Acheron. Stand by for docking."
Their captor winces, nods towards their scattered clothes. "Get dressed. You want to make a memorable entrance, don't you?"
At his side, Junsu stiffens ever so slightly.