Charlie looked around and was in a room that seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place what it was or where she was at. She was lying on a bed that wasn't the one she had fallen asleep on and everything was... dark. She pushed herself onto her elbows, about to get up when a shadow figure lorded over her.
She was pinned and couldn't move as the shadow had grabbed hold of her wrists. She tried to wiggle free, but the figure was bigger and stronger. She gasped in fear, and as the air entered her lungs, she could smell the familiar scent of stale cigarettes and cheap cologne. She knew this figure... somehow.

The panic started rising as she opened her mouth to scream but no sound passed her lips. She tried to move again, but her body refused. Her heart raced and she felt like she couldn't breathe as she closed her eyes, trying to shut out whatever was happening.

Charlie opened her eyes, gasping for breath as she sat up, back in her familiar room. She heard someone stir beside her and looked over to find Ryder still sound asleep. Bringing her knees to her chest, she took a couple deep breathes to try to calm her racing heart.

It was just a dream, she told herself over and over again. Her mind wandered to the guy she met a couple days ago, Jungkook. She grit her teeth and she thought about how she let him go, frustrated at herself for being so stupid... but she couldn't deny the impact the interaction had, his words still echoing in her head.

Even though she couldn't remember much about him, Jungkook felt familiar, and she could tell just by looking into his eyes that he was being honest with her that night. She couldn't make sense of the situation and wondered why she felt such a strong pull towards him. Why did she have this urge to want to tell him about her dream, her nightmare? Why did she want to feel his warm embrace when she didn't even know him?

"Charlie?" a tired voice called her name, causing her to turn around as she saw Ryder pushing himself up to a sitting position before reaching out to her.

"Why are you up?"

She wanted to tell him, but for some reason it didn't feel right. The two of them were close physically, but not emotionally in any way. She tried to recall how they first met and how they went from colleagues to... this, but her memory was still hazy and a lot of things from her past were unclear. It felt like she was trying to complete a 1000 piece puzzle with only a small fraction of the pieces in her possession.

"Just couldn't sleep," she lied as she gave him a half-hearted smile. Ryder moved towards her and started to lightly kiss her bare shoulder before trailing his lips up her neck.

"Need some help getting back to sleep?" he teased as a hand snaked around her waist, bringing her closer to him.

Charlie never really felt anything too intense when Ryder kissed her, but he always knew what he was doing. The warmth of his lips did relax her a little as she leaned back into his touch, trying once again to remember how they had gotten here.

"Ryder?" she called.

"Hmm?" he hummed a response, his head still buried in her neck as his lips continued to kiss her soft skin.

"How did we meet again?" she inquired. Her gaze was locked on the patterned blanket in front of her but when she felt him pull away, her focus shifted as she turned to look at him. The look on his face was a mix of confusion and slight annoyance.

"You've asked me this before," he sighed, tiredly rubbing his eyes as he fell back onto his pillow and let out a small groan. She felt stupid for asking again, but she had all these questions after meeting Jungkook and wanted some clarity.

"I know, but I can't seem to remember," she mumbled, gaze shifting to the blanket once more as she mindlessly traced the patterns, waiting for Ryder to say something.

He sighed before sitting up, leaning against the headboard as Charlie sat up as well, meeting his gaze.

"You were working here and I was a kid in need of a family. Your mother found me living on the streets and brought me here. I was trained and we were soon paired together," he started, pausing momentarily before clearing his throat, his eyes shifting for a split second to the dull color of the walls before returning to Charlie.

Even though it was subtle, it was something that Charlie noticed, the small action lingering in her thoughts as he resumed talking.

"Then we went out one night to relax since it had been a shitty day and our mission had been a bust. We had a lot to drink and one thing led to another... and that's how we got here," he concluded.

Something about what Ryder said just didn't sit right with her, but she couldn't figure out why. Charlie felt his touch on her waist as he pulled her into his lap, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Now, how about we get back to relaxing?" he suggested, his lips roughly kissing her neck.

"Not tonight," she muttered, shrugging him off before she stood up from the bed, grabbing a sweatshirt and pulling it over herself.

"Where are you going?" he asked, clearly frustrated with the situation.

"Just to grab some water and something to eat, I'll be back soon." She didn't wait for a response as she left her room and headed to the kitchen, where she grabbed a glass and filled it with water.

She placed it on the counter, the glass still full as she stared off into the distance. Her mind was going to places she didn't understand and it was becoming frustrating. She shut her eyes, feeling a small ache forming as she leaned onto the counter for support.

Charlie glanced up, her lips breaking out into an amused grin as she stared at the man standing across from her.

He was chugging a glass of water, perspiration coating his neck and face which caused his pale blue hair to stick to his skin. He let out a satisfied sigh, setting the glass down on the counter before playfully glaring at her.

"You could've gone easy on me," he complained, a small pout on his lips as she let out a laugh, shaking her head in response.

"Oh please! We've been practicing for MONTHS! Besides, I didn't even do anything," she reasoned, her smile widening when he glared at her again.

"You almost killed me!" he exaggerated. "I still don't get how you can easily do that without breaking a sweat," he mumbled, rubbing his back as he recalled the way she easily hoisted him over her shoulder before he fell with a heavy thud onto the mat... multiple times.

"I've been training for longer than you have," she replied, her features softening as she drank some water as well, trying to cool down from the late sparring session.

"Fair point," he replied. "Well, I'm going to head up, maybe take a shower before bed."

"You should," she said, nodding in response.

"You really stink." The man halted his steps, narrowing his eyes at her teasing words. He started to approach her, causing her to straighten up as she tried to put some distance between them. "What are you doing? I thought you were going to shower," she said.

"I just wanted a hug from my amazing friend before I go," he replied, opening his arms as he approached her yet again, causing her to giggle as she quickly maneuvered her way around the kitchen, trying to avoid him.

"No! You're sweaty and you stink," she teased again, ready to make a dash for it only to feel arms wrap around her as she let out a small groan of disgust while the man started rubbing his hair against her shoulder. She could feel the perspiration seeping through his shirt, and even though she was slightly annoyed, she couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her lips as she struggled in his grip.

"Tae! Get off!" she tried to escape, but that only caused him to hold on tighter, now moving onto her other shoulder while a deep chuckle resonated throughout the kitchen.

"Gross," she muttered, a smile tugging at her lips as he finally pulled away.

A boxy smile adorned his lips, eyebrows playfully lifting up and down while she pursed her lips, an attempt to conceal her smile as she tried to maintain an annoyed expression. "You still love me," he chimed.

"Yeah yeah," she replied, her facade crumbling as he slowly started walking back.

"We doing a movie day tomorrow?" he asked, earning a nod in response. "Alright, tomorrow you're all mine! You should get some rest too, wouldn't want you falling asleep on me," he joked while she nodded, promising to head to bed soon while he bid her good night.

Charlie grabbed her head in pain, trying to breathe through it. What the hell is happening to me? And who the fuck was that guy?

"You're up early."

Charlie quickly raised her head, eyes scanning the room before settling on the figure approaching her. She watched as her mother walked into the kitchen, heading towards the fridge as she pulled out a cup of yogurt before grabbing a spoon from one of the drawers.

"I could say the same about you," Charlie replied, forcing a small chuckle out as she finally took a drink of her water, hoping the cool liquid would help sooth her pounding headache.

"I have a lot of work to get done, so I wanted to get a head start." Her mother moved to stand by her as she opened the yogurt, eyes intently watching her daughter as she noticed how the young woman appeared to be lost in her thoughts.

"Tell me about dad again?" Charlie spoke without fully thinking. She was unaware of her mother's tense form as she turned to stare at the woman beside her, waiting for a reply. Charlie had remembered her mother telling her about her father, but she couldn't quite remember all of the details.

"We've been over this before dear," she sighed, pursing her lips at her daughter's request.

"I know, but... just remind me, please," Charlie pleaded.

Her mother sighed and set down her breakfast.

"We were young and supposedly in love. When he found out I was pregnant with you, he ran off. End of story." She picked up her yogurt and started to walk away, leaving Charlie with more unanswered questions.

Charlie shook her head, still staring at the kitchen doorway as she processed her mother's words. That wasn't right, she knew it wasn't right... but why couldn't she remember him... remember anyone?

She finished her water and headed back upstairs. She found Ryder back asleep and quietly walked over to her desk and pulled out a notebook. She had to write these thoughts, these... memories down so she could make better sense of them. As she opened it up and started to flip to an empty page, she noticed there were some notes already written down. She stopped and read through them.

Pretty boy with silver hair, at a club together.

Older woman helping me learn to dance.

Orange haired boy, crying on a bed.

Who are these people?

She stared at the writing and couldn't make sense of it. Had she had these weird memory lapses before? She quickly made notes about Jungkook and this weird blue-haired boy that she had called Tae. Her hand started to cramp at how fast she wrote and her head pounded once more. She closed the book, tucking it back into her desk drawer before crawling back into bed with Ryder.

~☾~

Ryder knocked on the door to the boss' office as a faint female voice told him to enter.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked as he stepped into the office, meeting Odessa's steely gaze.

She curtly nodded in response, gesturing towards the cushioned chairs in her office.

"Make sure to shut the door," She told him as she glanced back down at the papers scattered on her desk, looking at the latest intel her team had provided on Bangtan.

Ryder complied, maintaining his composure as he sat in front of one of the vacant chairs right across from his boss, waiting for her to explain why she had summoned him this morning.

"Spending a lot of late nights in Charlie's room lately?" she commented, finally setting the papers down as her fierce gaze was now focused solely on the young man sitting in front of her.

"I'm just doing what you told me to do. I'm supposed to get close, right?" he replied, a charming smile on his lips as he waited for a response. Even though he tried to remain cool, he couldn't deny the way his heart was erratically beating against his chest.

"You're right, I did ask you to get close," she confirmed. "But I never asked you to fuck my daughter. That's something that we can talk about at another time, there are more pressing issues we need to discuss. I called you in because I wanted to see how she's doing."

Ryder's smile dropped into a frown as he sat up in his seat. "She's been asking questions again, like how we met," he honestly responded.

Odessa solemnly nodded, remembering her conversation with Charlie earlier. "That's what I was worried about," she uttered. "If she's asking about things again, that means that she's going to need another dose at some point."

Ryder smirked in response, nodding in confirmation. "I'll take care of it," he reassured.

"Not yet," she firmly stated. She knew that he had always been eager to please and would do anything to prove his worth as a part of Ganghan, but she needed to deal with something first. "There's something I need to handle before you take care of it, and I wouldn't want you screwing shit up again," she said, voice laced with a hint of venom as her eyes narrowed at him.

"I won't," he replied.

Ryder knew what was at risk, that he was just a small pawn in this dangerous game Odessa was playing. He was teetering between life and death. One wrong move on his part, and he knew that Odessa wouldn't be so forgiving... especially not after the last incident. He had run out of lives, and this was his last chance to prove his capability as a member of Ganghan.

"You can go now, I have work to do." She waved him out of the room, dismissing him as he quickly left the room.

Ryder let out a relieved sigh once he was out in the hall, taking a small moment to calm his racing heart before he rushed towards his room, eager to get away. He bumped into a burly figure in the hall, apologizing before his eyes met Geunsoo. He apologized again, steps quickening as he continued to walk to his intended location.

Geunsoo curiously watched the young man as he strode down the hall, a small chuckle escaping his lips at the skittish boy before he entered the office, not even bothering to knock.

"What did you do to scare that poor boy again?" he questioned, the teasing tone evident in his voice as Odessa rolled her eyes before shooting him a glare, a small warning that she was not in the mood for his playful antics.

"Need I remind you that he's already screwed up once before? He's reckless and unreliable! I don't need him compromising this, not after we've worked so hard to get here," she replied.

"He's not the same kid he used to be Odessa, besides we all make mistakes. Need I remind you of the shit you pulled when you first started out?" A playful smile rested on his lips as he strode closer towards her, standing behind her as he leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her cheek before placing another on her jaw.

"I know, but I never took out a hit on the wrong person," she replied. A small sigh escaped her lips as she leaned back into her chair, body easing into the cushion as she felt sturdy hands kneading her shoulders. "Besides, I would've thought you'd be more concerned, considering the fact that he's been sleeping around with your daughter."

His hands halted their movements as he glanced down at the love of his life, a playful smile on his lips.

"Hmm, he's a young man who just wants to get his dick wet, and they're both consenting adults. Besides, she's capable of taking care of herself. She's just like her mother, falling for the reckless boys in the gang," he smirked.

She let out a light chuckle, shaking her head in response as she stared at the papers on her desk. A serious expression settled on her features as she read through the information once more, staring at the still shots of the CCTV footage from their warehouse.

"That's what I'm worried about," she replied, gesturing to the images on the table.

After one of her men had mentioned spotting an intruder on their turf, she ordered their best tech experts to scan through their security footage in order to get some answers. She finally had them, but it brought about a set of new questions. She stared at the pictures again, recognizing one of the men since he was the owner of Bangtan's beloved gentlemen's club. The other image that caught her attention was of another young man who was standing face to face with her daughter, who ended up letting a rival member walk away without so much as a scratch on him.

"What have you gotten yourself into my little darling?" she muttered.

A/N: We back!!! Did anyone catch the small bomb we dropped? ;)

Thoughts?? ———->