After he was loaded into the car, Jongho lost his vision when a blindfold was wrapped around his eyes.

No one spoke the entire car ride, showing just how many precautions the Pack was willing to take. There was no doubt about it, Jongho was being taken directly to Mercer.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

Fear coursed through his body with every beat of his heart, but one thing was for certain. He wouldn't do anything to betray his friends.

Not again.

He shouldn't have let his emotions take over. He was foolish and selfish. And now he was going to pay the price.

The drive didn't last very long, or it didn't feel like it did at least. Soon he was being yanked out of the car and led forward.

Jongho knew better than to struggle. There was no point, not when he was defenseless and alone.

Voices started to appear in all directions. None of them were clear enough for him to comprehend what they were saying, but he was being led through an area with a lot of Pack members.

"Where is he?" One of the men next to him said.

"In his study." A woman answered. "Hopefully this will make him a little happier."

Someone else scoffed. "We all know that won't be the case. He won't be happy until he gets what he wants."

"And he's willing to kill all of you in the process." Jongho chimed in, sensing unease in the air from the way they spoke.

"Shut up!" Someone backhanded him and his head snapped to the side. "You don't get to speak!"

"What did he mean by that?"

"Nothing, don't listen to him. You know he's one of the targets."

"Mercer wouldn't do that though, would he?"

"We all saw what he did to that one kid."

"Yeah, we heard it too."

Jongho knew they were talking about Wooyoung. Maybe he could use that too... "That could have been any of you."

Once again a hand made contact with Jongho's face. This time it split his lip. He licked it and cringed at as the taste of iron filled his mouth.

"Get him to Mercer. Now."

Someone grabbed his arm and yanked him forward. Jongho struggled to keep his feet under him and let it happen. He realized that he needed to be compliant to an extent, but he also knew now that not everyone here was fully trusting in their leader.

Every bit of information he could gain could be something that helped him and his team in their mission.

After several more minutes, they stopped walking and someone knocked on a door.

"Enter." Jongho was pulled forward once more. "You better have a good reason for interrupting me!"

"Forgive me, Sir, but we got one of them." The blindfold was ripped from Jongho's eyes and he blinked several times.

When he could focus, he looked straight ahead at the man who had ruined everything. And boy, he sure did look like and older version of Seonghwa.

"Yes. I know. You radioed it in." Mercer growled. "Stop wasting my time and leave!"

The men on either side of him flinched and bowed before leaving the room.

Jongho didn't move an inch, even though the way Mercer narrowed his eyes made Jongho want to never stop running. The man's eyes were pitch black, cold, and calculating. He absorbed everything he saw and sneered.

"So, I finally caught one of you." He paused for a moment, then narrowed his eyes. "Where is my son?"

Jongho scoffed. "Like you care."

"I'd watch yourself, boy." Mercer growled. "I'm guessing by now you know just how dangerous I am. You would do best not to anger me."

"And that's the exact reason why I know you won't hurt me, because you need me."

Mercer cocked an eyebrow, just like Seonghwa liked to do, and tapped his desk. "There's the fighting spirit I knew you had. It's worthless though. You're nothing but a pathetic, useless coward."

Jongho started to grind his teeth together. How had Mercer been able to speak the words bouncing around in his head? Did he really know them that well?

The thought of that scared Jongho almost more than anything else.

"Tell me where they are hiding!"

When Jongho remained silent, Mercer slammed his hand against the desk and stormed over. It was the first time Jongho moved. He backed away quickly until he was pressed against the door. Mercer towered over him and fisted his hair, yanking his head back and making him cry out.

"TELL ME!"

Jongho clamped his mouth shut and closed his eyes. He wouldn't give in. He had to stay strong. 

"FOOL!" Mercer released him and returned to his desk. "Get me my guards! There's one way we can make him talk. Get the lab set up."

.

.

.

.

Fear.

That's all Wooyoung could think about after realizing what was happening to Jongho. The very idea of seeing Mercer again... He couldn't stand it.

He stumbled out of the room and clutched at his chest, ignoring the others calling out for him.

His mind was racing.

Every beating. Every minute of torture. Everything... It was all coming back to him.

Why? Why now? He had known that he was going to have to face Mercer eventually, so why had it hit so suddenly?

Wooyoung continued fleeing, knowing the answer was because he was already in a weakened state of mind.

He wasn't strong enough...

Because he wasn't paying attention to his own body, Wooyoung tripped over his own feet and fell to his hands and knees. He felt sick...

"Wooyoung!" Yeosang dropped down next to him and placed a hand on his back. "Hey, breathe. Breathe!" He looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Where the hell did Seonghwa go?"

"N-No..." Wooyoung shook his head and started crawling forward. He couldn't let Seonghwa see him like this. He was supposed to be better than this.

"Wooyoung stop, please!" Yeosang slipped in front of him and placed his hands on both shoulders. "Wooyoung, listen to me. You need to breathe. Your heart is beating too fast right now."

The younger knew it was true. He could feel it beating all over his body, especially in his ears. All other sound started to fade and it was getting harder and harder for him to inhale.

He was weak. Worthless. Pathetic. Useless...

"N-No..." He whimpered again while pounding his fist against the floor. "L-Let me g-go..."

"Seonghwa!!" Yeosang yelled louder. "Youngie, you need to stop. Please."

"What's happening? What the hell happened out there?"

Wooyoung flinched at the new voice and pressed his forehead against the ground. He didn't want to be here right now...

"I don't know, we got back from looking for Jongho and he was mostly find during that."

"What do you mean mostly?"

"I- It's not my place. But he was fine! But then we followed the camera footage and, and, and he m-mentioned Mercer..."

"Fuck. Get out of the way."

Wooyoung whimpered and tried to press himself closer to the wall hoping to melt into it.

A new pair of hands started to gently caress his arms and shoulders, even up onto his neck, trying to coax him into raising his head. "Woo. Woo, please look at me."

The voice was trying to hard to sooth him. It washed over him and made his blood run faster.

But it was still too hard for him to breath properly. He feared making the voice angry or disappointing it. Punishment was sure to follow...

Several voices started talking around him. Each one was muffled and impossible to understand. And they started to get softer the more he started to sink into nothingness.

Suddenly, two arms wrapped around him and spun his body around to cradle him in a gentle embrace. He felt the world sway around him while a gentle warmth surrounded him.

"Stay with me. I've got you." The voice said. That sweet, gentle voice.

Wooyoung could feel his breathing slowing a little bit as he nuzzled into the person holding him. His chest still ached, but he wasn't trying to fight anything.

He let himself be stripped of his clothes at one point and cried out when hot water surrounded his limbs. Millions of little bubbles kissed his skin, working in a therapeutic way to calm him down even more.

"That's it. That's it."

Slowly, Wooyoung opened his eyes and looked up to see Seonghwa's worried face staring down at him. He'd known it was Seonghwa all along, but for whatever reason his mind was just now registering it fully. "Hwa?"

"I'm here." Seonghwa tried to smile at him while lifting a wet hand up to rub his cheek. "Are you ok?"

Wooyoung closed his eyes once more and took a few slow, deep breaths.

"When we got to fight my father, you're going to stay here."

"What?!" Wooyoung pushed himself away from Seonghwa's chest and walked backward in the large, sunken hot tub Hongjoong had in the incredibly random spa room he had shown them while mumbling something about wanting to be prepared for anything. None of them had used it before, but Seonghwa must have know it would help him relax. "No, you need me!"

"Not if this is going to happen just at the thought of him. And I understand. He did horrible things to you, it makes sene that you'd never want to see him again."

"Of course I want to see him. I want to be the one to slice his throat!" Wooyoung's voice echoed around the room. He instantly regretted his words when a flash of pain crossed Seonghwa's eyes, but that didn't change the truth behind them. "You can't leave me behind."

"And what if this happens again in the middle of a fight?" Seonghwa's eyes grew hard and he crossed his arms. "Are you just going to collapse and lay there while we have to go around you and continue fighting? Or are we supposed to stop everything to help you?"

Wooyoung's mouth opened and he shook his head a little. "So you really do think of me that way, don't you? That I'm weak?"

"No, Woo, that's no-"

"Well then why don't you just go back to San! He's so much better than me and stronger than me! I bet he won't let you down!" Wooyoung spun around, sloshing water over the side, and moved to climb out of the tub when Seonghwa grabbed his elbow.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Wooyoung wouldn't turn around to look at him. He couldn't bring himself to form the words that were floating around in his mind.

"Why would you say something like that? Wooyoung, answer me." He said with a harsh tone.

"Because I've been invisible since he's been injured! I saw the way you ran to his side earlier, and the way you looked at him. I'm not stupid!"

Seonghwa released his elbow and let his hand fall beneath the surface of the water, but the cold glare didn't leave his eyes when Wooyoung finally looked at him again. At least, not for a couple of seconds. The longer they looked at each other, the sadder Seonghwa started to become. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was doing that. I just wanted to make sure he was ok."

"And I get that. But... I spent years watching you two together..."

"It was never right though. I think we were both using that as a way to escape our current live. Please, Woo, you have to believe me." Seonghwa reached out for him again and Wooyoung allowed himself to be pulled back into Seonghwa's lap. "I... I lo-"

"I don't want to be alone anymore... And seeing that today..."

"I'm sorry." The older whispered again, lifting a hand up to cup Wooyoung's cheek. "I wasn't thinking. Wooyoung, I want you to listen to me carefully." He leaned forward to press their foreheads together. "I wasn't complete until I found you. I realize that now. Well, I did when we were together the other day. I never meant to hurt you, but I need you to talk to me when you start to go down the path you did today, ok? I never truly meant we'd leave you behind, but I am worried about what will happen when you come face to face with my father again."

"I am too." Wooyoung admitted. "But if I have you by my side, I know I can be strong."

"And I will always, always, be by your side." Seonghwa tilted his head just enough so their lips could brush together in a soft, intimate kiss. "I'm sorry I hurt you today."

"I'm sorry I freaked out like that."

Seonghwa sighed and shook his head. "I'm just glad you're ok. Wooyoung. I love you."

Wooyoung froze and stared at Seonghwa with an open mouth. "What did you just say?"

"It's true. I know it is. Seeing you like that today, I was terrified about what was happening to you. I love you Wooyoung, and I always will." A crooked smile crossed Seonghwa's face. "Mingi was right, about everything. My soul has been searching for you. And I promise you this. We will defeat my father. Together. He will never be able to hurt you again. I will protect you, no matter what."

"H-Hwa." Wooyoung threw his arms around Seonghwa's neck and squeezed as hard as he could. "I l-love you too."

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise." The older whispered.

With each beat of his heart, Wooyoung knew it was true. He shouldn't have doubted. And he also knew that Mercer would be taken down. They would find Jongho and defeat their enemy.

Then maybe, just maybe, they could finally be at peace.

Together.