You Call Me Monster

Sehun paced the room quietly, his expensive shoes clicking neatly on the concrete floor. It had been over an hour since the last group left for Chul’s hideout, which meant they should be returning soon.

If they return.

The thought echoed accusingly in his mind even as he tried to suppress it. They’ll come back, he thought stubbornly. They always come back.

Not always.

Sehun stopped pacing, clenching his fists tightly. He looked up at the wall behind him where three guns hung in a place of honor - guns that no longer had owners. Kris had been the first, killed by another gang when a deal went badly wrong. Luhan was lost only months later after being captured and executed by Chul’s men. Tao had sacrificed himself to buy time for his team to escape, taken down by the police in a stand-off.

Sehun rarely allowed himself to linger over thoughts of fallen comrades, but tonight all of those old feelings came flooding back. Leading meant staying behind, staying safe, but each time it seemed that there were more ghosts to keep him company.

Losing someone under your command, in Sehun’s opinion, was the biggest failure a leader could endure. After losing three so close together Sehun had become overly cautious, striving to foresee every circumstance and account for every danger. As the minutes ticked by and still no one returned, he felt anxiety settle in the pit of his stomach and he began to pace again, faster and faster as his worry grew.

Maybe Chul knew. Maybe the whole thing was a trap from the beginning. I could’ve sent them to their deaths tonight.

He fought the urge to unbutton his shirt collar as he waited, determined to remain collected in front of his men, even if it was only a pretense. He thought about Nari and his fear worsened.

I told her not to go, he told himself. I warned her and she went anyway. I should’ve done more to keep her away from Chul, even if it meant locking her in a room until she saw reason.

A distant door slammed and Sehun snapped out of his thoughts, his pulse jumping as rapid footsteps approached. The door opened and Baekhyun and D.O spilled into the room, gasping for breath.

“Well?” Sehun asked quietly.

D.O straightened up slowly. “Chen and the others got past the guards and were with Chul when we saw them last. Suho and Lay found us just before the lights blew, but Chul’s men weren’t far behind. They stayed behind to hold them off to let Chanyeol and Nari get away.” He glanced around the room. “Where are they?” he asked.

“Not here,” Sehun replied crisply, turning away from them. They should’ve been here by now, that nagging voice whispered. Sehun squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before addressing his men again. “Get Baekhyun to bed and report back.”

Baekhyun had crumpled to the floor, leaning against the doorjamb. His shirt was unbuttoned halfway down his chest, and his sweaty hair was plastered to his forehead. D.O nodded once and hauled Baekhyun to his feet, supporting his thin frame easily. They left the room and Sehun resumed pacing. His hands were trembling, so he slid them into his pockets and mentally checked two names off of his list. Seven to go.

D.O soon returned and sat at the table, folding his arms as he watched Sehun wear a path into the floor. Neither of them spoke for some minutes, each trying to calculate how much time could pass before they should really worry.

The door banged again, but this time the footsteps were slow and stunted, as if each one required great effort. “Anybody here? I need help!” someone called. Sehun recognized Suho’s voice and hurried to meet him. Suho was supporting a nearly unconscious Lay, a slight trail of blood forming behind them.

“What happened?” Sehun asked, slipping Lay’s free arm around his shoulders.

“Guards burst into the room, must have been six or seven of them,” Suho rasped. “We managed to get away, but Lay took a bullet to the leg.”

D.O appeared and between the three of them they maneuvered Lay onto a couch in the next room. Lay groaned faintly as they propped his leg up. There was a bloody tourniquet tied around his thigh, which had probably saved his life. The bullet was embedded in his calf, having narrowly missed his kneecap. Sehun gave silent thanks for that and began prodding the wound, eliciting a scream from Lay.

“It’s not deep. I think we could get it out,” he said, straightening up again.

“Nari always tended gunshot wounds,” Suho interjected. “We should have her do it.”

“They haven’t showed up yet,” D.O murmured, giving him a look. Suho drew his breath in sharply. “They should’ve been back before us!” he hissed. “This…”

The door opened again and everyone’s heads snapped up. It was Xiumin, and he was alone.
“Where are the others?” D.O demanded.

“Captured,” Xiumin panted, leaning against the wall. He was soaking wet, a tiny puddle forming around his feet. Sehun felt his heart drop and he turned away to compose himself.

“Tell me,” he commanded.

“After Kai set off the smoke bombs we went to help Suho and Lay, but there were too many guards blocking us. We fought them off and ran down the corridor toward the loading bay. We made it outside just before it blew up. The explosion was huge and we knew the police would come, so we made a break for it on foot. We made it as far as the North Bank bridge before the police caught up. When he realized we were trapped, Kai pushed me into the water and let them take him. I swam to shore and stole a bike to get back here.”

“And you have no idea what happened to the others?” Sehun asked.

Xiumin shook his head. “It all happened so fast,” he said. He began removing his bedraggled tie. “Nari?”

D.O shook his head and Xiumin’s face fell. “I’ll change clothes and head down to the station to see what I can find out,” he volunteered, tossing his tie to the floor.

“No,” Sehun said sharply. Xiumin and D.O looked up in surprise.

“We have to assume that Chen, Chanyeol and Nari were arrested too,” he continued. “We have to wait until the smoke clears before we go poking around the station.”

“What did I miss?” Baekhyun yawned, shuffling into the room. He was wearing a white tee and boxer shorts, and his feet were bare.

“Kai and possibly the others were arrested tonight,” D.O snapped.

“What about Nari?” Baekhyun asked, peering over the edge of the couch at Lay.

“We don’t know. Probably in jail too,” Suho replied.

Baekhyun came around to the other side of the couch and examined Lay’s leg. “Lucky it missed his knee,” he said, echoing Sehun’s earlier thought. “Nari was teaching me how to do some of this. I could get the bullet out.”

“Absolutely not,” D.O said immediately. “You’re drunk! I saw you drink two-thirds of a bottle of whiskey not two hours ago!”

“Actually I poured most of it out,” Baekhyun retorted. “Did you really think I’d get drunk on this mission?”

“You’ve never had a problem with that before!”

“Enough!” Sehun shouted. “This isn’t helping anything. We have to work together to get out of this mess, and I will not stand for bickering!”

D.O crossed his arms angrily, but kept silent. Sehun looked at Baekhyun. “Are you sure you can do this?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Baekhyun extended his hand and it was perfectly steady. Sehun watched him for a few seconds, then gave a single nod. D.O let out a huff and left the room.

“Xiumin, get cleaned up and help Baekhyun with whatever he needs. Suho, with me.”

Xiumin and Baekhyun left the room and Sehun turned to Suho.

“Tomorrow I want you to find Chen’s contact in Chul’s network,” Sehun said in a low voice. “I don’t care what you do to him, just find out what happened to the others and where they were taken.”

“What do you intend to do?” Suho asked.

“Knock on a few doors, call in some favors,” Sehun replied evasively. “We’ll need help if we have to break them out of prison.”

“You’re going to plan a jailbreak?” Suho asked in disbelief.

“More like a bait and switch,” Sehun said. “We’ll talk more later,” he said as Xiumin came back with Nari’s tray of surgical instruments. Baekhyun followed, pulling on a pair of latex gloves. He knelt down by the couch and picked up a long metal pick.

“Xiu, hold the flashlight for me,” he whispered. Xiumin grabbed a small flashlight off of the tray and turned it on, holding it above Lay’s wound.

“Do you want something to bite down on?” he asked. Lay shook his head and gritted his teeth. “Just do it,” he growled.

“You’ll have to hold him down,” Baekhyun said grimly. Sehun put his hands on Lay’s shoulders while Suho held down his legs.

Baekhyun grasped Lay’s calf with one hand and inserted the pick into the wound. Lay immediately began thrashing around violently, forcing Sehun to put his full weight onto Lay’s upper body. Suho struggled to keep hold of Lay’s legs as Baekhyun continued probing for the bullet.

“Found it,” he announced, pulling the pick out. He grabbed something similar to forceps and dove back into the now freely bleeding hole. Lay screamed, his cries echoing throughout the room. He grabbed Sehun’s arm and clutched it tightly, his fingernails digging into Sehun’s skin through his sleeve. Finally Baekhyun pulled the bullet out and dropped it onto a tray. It seems so small to be the cause of such pain, Sehun thought to himself. Then again, it’s often the small things that end up hurting us the most.

Baekhyun selected a needle from the tray and deftly threaded it. After knotting the end, he began stitching up the gaping hole. Lay groaned loudly, but he didn’t writhe around. Baekhyun tied the stitches off and snipped the extra thread. “We’ll need to watch him during the night,” he said, wrapping Lay’s leg with a white bandage. “If he starts bleeding again or running a fever, things could get ugly.”

Sehun nodded. “I’ll take the first shift,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument. Baekhyun nodded and stood, stretching widely. He and the others filed out of the room and Sehun pulled a chair up to the couch. Lay had already fallen asleep, or maybe had passed out during the surgery. Sehun folded his hands, his mind churning as he watched his friend sleep.

What have I gotten us into?

Notes