welcome to the sky

the image of reader's care for her siblings, especially the conversation with Tae saying he doesn't want to die made me shed real tears, and I was all in on the tragedy of the scenario, and with the magic of jk getting so enthralled with reader as they got closer, all alongside the underlying tension of the deal they made at the very start bringing the anticipation of reader's death the whole way through. but not even that was enough for you, you had to add that twist in there (the plot was very much twisted indeed oh my gOD)

so then my world turned upside down, rug pulled from my FEET. I sat there in SHOCK. like wait, did that really happen? I was gagged, in between outrage and heartbreak, and laughing at myself through the shock and disbelief. I felt so betrayed but elated realising the kind of fic experience I found myself in so suddenly. THIS MAKES NO SENSE IM SORRY but this RUINED me (pos!!). after the setup with reader being so kind, so genuine of a person I did not see that coming at allll. and of course it was all genuine, but the need to care for her family won out. I started to realise the scale of what you decided to do, surely you KNEW what you were doing to us my god😭

I'm convinced you're an evil mastermind. after the twist I went back trying to figure out how this happened after everything reader said and I realised it fit all along.... every moment I could think of going 'wait, but she said-' ended up fitting precisely with the narrative in a way I never expected. things that seemed so innocent which I now realised never said quite enough. my mind: BLOWN

you hoped he knew you never wanted to hurt him - it doesn't say that you never would!! you just never WANTED to😭and of course this hits totally different when you read it back, after I believed it in all its cuteness the first time around. YOWCH

reader hoping he would look back and realise it was real..... OWWWW. but I love this because it was. it was real. the connection I felt between them, the way it blossomed was absolutely gorgeous, it was everything I needed with the softness and tentative beginnings, the way we saw a different side to jeongguk as he watched the reader more, we really watched them grow to love each other which was incredibly special

the biggest thing I thought of after the twist was the I WOULDVE PICKED A DIFFERENT CROSSROAD😫I literally had a lightbulb moment when I remebered that line, it makes so much sense wow🤯at the time I kind of assumed it was because reader didn't want to fall for the demon, to make her regret her choice or force him to take her life, but the moment I thought of this post-twist it all fell into place and I could only put my head in my hands and realise I walked into this of my own volition

even asking his name so soon after summoning him, just on the off chance. knowing reader had this chance offered her since the START is OOOUGH SO EVIL MY GOD

ngl even tho he got to a place of understanding with why reader betrayed him, that moment of vengeance was really quite hot lol. the glowing eyes and the fury. his line of I. Can't. Wait. OK!!!!!!!!! I'm fine everything's fine🙃🫠and I love the fact reader owning up to what she did and being ready for the consequences was what made jungkook finally forgive her..... I feel like that moment of her turning up to the crossroads to die showed him once and for all that she really was everything he fell in love with, proving it was real. oughhhh you're a genius my heart can't take it

I was deadass running around my kitchen screaming while he was dashing through the station looking for her, I was glueddd to my screen. omfg. Jeongguk hasn't cried in centuries JUST SHOOT ME WHY DON'T U IT WOULD HURT LESS

I WAS WAITING FOR HOW IT WOULD WORK OUT and you really pulled through!!! when jeongguk said this whole time he was looking for a solution it felt like a fucking blade through my chest knowing she betrayed him. but I am so giddy with happiness over how this turned out when he revealed his solution, it was so well engineered with all the pieces set out and everything weaved into the plot from the start. it's incredible storytelling and I admire it so much, from your gorgeous way with language that made each scene so vivid and emotional to the meticulously plotted story. I was a fool to think I would ever come out unscathed from this

at every turn I was shocked. the plot twist, and later the fact it actually came to the moment she died, I thought he would reach her in time or do something to stop it before it happened, but you pushed it further and always went beyond my expectations!! and I was right there with her when she woke up, I love the atmosphere you painted at the end and I defo thought he was holding her in hell somehow but of course it worked out!! they deserve their happy ending so muchhhh

It's already past midnight as I'm writing this so technically I'm a little late in making this wrapped. But it was one of my new years resolution a few years ago to do things at my pace without having that panicky feeling I'm sure most of us get.

This year felt like my heart was stopping on a hospital bed and the doctors delivered shocks through a defibrillator, bringing me back to life every once in a while. This year life felt stagnant and routines blurred while sometimes there were moments where things happened giving a reminder that I was still alive, and then it would become motionless once more.

I gained some, lost some. Some of them were permanent losses. But alas my heart is still beating and sitting here at 1 something a.m. I give myself a pat, because sometimes the most we can do is keep going on, keep fighting on the pristine bed of life taking all these shocks.

But darkness is always accompanied by light and the people I have in my life on this last day are the stars that light up my world. Old friends and new, most of all people I met here. Thank you all for your presence in my life🤍

Without further ado here's my 2024 in a nutshell:

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐜:

Hey, thief

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐜:

Esati

(I wasn't active much and didn't write a lot either but I thank everyone of you who gave my fics a chance.)

Fics that I read this year!

Supercharged (oh I loved the plot and characters in this fic)

Number 45 (this was the cutest thing!!)

By @btsmosphere ⭐

Black orchid project (CEO Jungkook anyone? The storyline is so intriguing)

By @parkitrighthere ⭐

Politico: a trilogy (this was such a fun read loved the dynamics)

By @hamsterclaw

Owl hybrid! Jungkook (he lives rent free in my mind)

By @runariya ⭐

Iron ring (I will never stop gushing about this Jimin)

By @sailoryooons ⭐

To kill a king (let's just say I would marry this fic if I could)

By @foxymoxynoona ⭐

Legends of Darlaria (this one sent me in a spiral it's too good)

By @threeletterslife ⭐

Total posts: 65 original / 1429 (1,364 reblogs) I really wasn't active for 70% of the year.

Total words written: 18.5k (which is not a lot but I'm looking forward to change that)

Top muses: Jungkook/Hoseok.

Top 10 tracks:

Come back to me by RM

Blue side by j-hope

Heart on the window by Jin

Blue by yung kai

Crying over you by Honne, Beka & RM

Astronomy by Conan Gray

Love wins all by IU

Closer to you by Jungkook

Butterfly by BTS

Dandelions by Ruth B.

Goals for 2025:

Exercise (everyone says this ik but really I need to do it more)

Go out of the house more (Imao I'm serious tho)

Write more (i will do it!)

Finish a knitting and an art project (just something I want to do next year)

That was it! It was fun and a nice way to end the year!!

Tagging: @runariya (no pressure!) And anyone who sees this can do it!!! Assume I've tagged you lol

If you weren’t mistaken, a faint smirk lifted his mouth, but he closed his lips matter-of-factly and forced it away. Only a telltale raise of his eyebrows made you chew your lip as he let you both past him and inside.

A murky corridor led to another sturdy door, and then you were in a larger room. It was bare of furniture, the most notable features the peeling paint and a threadbare carpet lining the space. The walls either side of you sported large windows, but the curtains remained drawn; Yoongi could be the only explanation for the room being fully lit regardless. There were no bulbs in the fixtures.

Something in your chest loosened at the sight of your whole team gathered inside. Everyone had got here before you. Namjoon was pacing in the centre. Hobi slumped against the far wall, Jimin beside him, clothes bloody but a beaming smile on his face.

At the clunk of the door, Namjoon whirled around, finally stopping his impatient strides.

All eyes fell on you. A similar reaction to Jin’s outside swept the room. Reluctantly, you and Jungkook let your fingers slide apart, although you shifted a little closer to him.

Namjoon’s stare, intense and unreadable as always, left you in such suspense that you had to look away. Unfortunately, it brought you eye-to-eye with Jimin, who was being the least subtle of them all. His cheeks were plump with the force of his smile, and he wiggled his eyebrows at you.

You bit back your own grin.

Namjoon, for his part, shook his head and resolved to ignore it. Or deal with it later, at least.

“What did you guys do?”

Or maybe not. Clamping your mouth shut, your eyes widened a fraction. What were you supposed to tell him?

“We, uh-” Jungkook stammered out, before Namjoon pinched his brow.

“I mean with the monster that attacked us,” he cut you off.

You sighed in relief.

“Oh, that…” Jungkook laughed, sheepish.

In three brusque strides, Namjoon marched closer, towards an old television in the corner behind you. A red glow surrounded it as he rapped on the top, and then images flickered to life on the screen.

Blue lights and smoke washed over vehicles rammed haphazardly into a street. Your street.

You didn’t bother reading the fast-scrolling banner below the picture, letting the voiceover fill you in.

“Reports were made of Bolt heading to stop a creature, which he claimed to have escaped from within an operating villain base…” the reporter read, “but on arrival, the beast appears to have been tamed. No damage was sustained to surrounding properties, and a team is working to sedate and control it…”

The screen flashed to a blurry close-up of Frank as you had left him, snoring among the wreckage.

“How the hell did you stop it?” Namjoon demanded, the device blinking back to silence as he turned back to you and Jungkook.

“Well, Y/N, um…” Jungkook gestured for you to take over.

“It’s one of Kuyang’s,” you explained, “there’s this patch behind his ear, it sends him right to sleep. It’s just… a bit difficult to get to.”

“That thing has ears?” Jin echoed.

Namjoon folded his arms and took in the both of you.

“Good work, then. That was lucky. At least it’s lessened some of what Bolt’s trying to pin on us. But this was more than a simple attack.”

He paced again to the centre of the room.

“Bolt doesn’t act on accident; he’s showed us that much. He tried to take us out directly today. He wants to eradicate us. That’s his message, and it’s final. He’ll keep coming for us until one side is destroyed.”

His words bristled around the room, but not with fear. You sensed the rage and determination you shared with your brothers.

You weren’t backing down.

If Bolt was going to make it us vs them, you would just have to win that fight.

Turning, Namjoon met eyes with Jin, who stepped forward to stand beside him.

“At least we know what Bolt has at his disposal,” Jin said, “and what he doesn’t. We know the weapons we’re up against, so I think we can take on any fighters he sends our way. What really counts is the man himself.”

“We’re going to him, right?” Yoongi spoke from his place leaning against the curtain. “I don’t want to wait for him to come after us again. He wants the fight; we make it on our terms.”

Regarding him seriously, Namjoon nodded.

Meanwhile, Jin’s words were stirring something else in your mind. Something you had forgotten in the blur of defeat and panic that had ensued since your fight with Monsoon.

We know what weapons we’re up against…

“Wait,” you breathed. It was enough to snag the group’s attention, tense gazes all finding you. Closest was Jungkook, frowning down at you.

You gulped, and met their eyes.

“When I went after Monsoon,” you began, “I found the shield ray, even if I didn’t get hold of it. But that wasn’t all… He had a collection. And I recognised another one, too. I thought I had burned it up, in the parking lot, but there was another one.”

You had to admit that some nerves crept in at the unsettled silence that followed. Namjoon stared.

“No…” he shook his head, “you’re saying they have the Razer?”

“The one that takes your powers…” you replied, “yes.”

Namjoon swore.

“You definitely destroyed it?”

“Without a doubt,” Jungkook cut in, “I felt the shockwaves in that fight.”

You nodded along with him. Namjoon wasn’t asking to doubt you, though, and took you at your word. You had seen the broken, lifeless shell of that awful gun. No, they had gained another somehow.

“They must have got hold of a blueprint, or a prototype, somehow,” Jin suggested.

“However they did it, it’s best we know what we’re going up against,” Namjoon resolved. He looked around, meeting everyone’s eyes. “You all know what it looks like?”

Nods met him.

“Then watch your backs. We’re still doing this.”

“What was it like?”

By now, you were acquainted with the view from this spot, sitting against the wall in a corner of this place. But how different had it been, when the boys still lived here?

“Hm?”

Jungkook turned to you, resting his head back against the wall. The two of you sat not far from the others, all of you sitting around waiting for Hobi to heal up and for Jin to get whatever results he was hoping for from a beat-up laptop he had pulled from somewhere. You had no idea if he had brought it with him, found it in here, or stolen it. You wouldn’t ask, either.

Though the room was wide open now, you still sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Jungkook like you had in that cramped hallway. It was difficult to keep the same feeling at bay too. His presence lit you up where you touched, but in front of the others you had to keep up some semblance of sanity, and keep from pouncing on him.

“When you first came here,” you forced your eyes away from his softly quirked lips, and to the room. “What was it like?”

To your dismay, his brows pinched into a frown. He eyed the walls, traced them up to the ceiling with its patches of damp.

He shifted his arm against yours in a shrug.

“It was a roof over my head,” he murmured, “at first.”

“Oh,” you stammered, quiet in your shock, “sorry…”

With a blink and a shake of his head, you watched him pull himself back to you. He shot you a disarmingly genuine smile, albeit small.

“Not your fault,” he assured you, “I never told you.”

Instantly, you knew what he was talking about. Just like you, Jungkook must have first moved in after he got his powers. Of course, the balm of the support from (most of) the others had eventually smoothed over the wounds that heralded your arrival.

They wouldn’t be forgotten though.

Nor would you forget your brothers’ wounds. Jungkook had yet to entrust you with his story, the knowledge of those probably painful moments. He had hardly let you near it, all this time.

“You don’t have to-” you said hastily, but he surprised you.

You spotted his jaw tighten, but his voice was level.

“After my dad… I had nothing. The first time I met Namjoon, I didn’t have powers. I did a job for him. I used to steal; it was about the only thing I could do. My dad taught me to fight, once, after he was home late and some older kids tried to break into our place. I fell in with a certain crowd, but half of them were backstabbing sneaks.”

You weren’t sure he even knew he was scowling as he said that. Despite your horror, you couldn’t break your gaze away from Jungkook as he told the story, spelling out what you had always wondered.

He looked over to Namjoon then, snarl easing.

“I guess he thought I was good. He gave me more jobs, paid good money. It wasn’t one of his where it happened. We were taking some kind of reactor – I can hardly remember the plan. Someone wanted power out to rob a string of banks, I think… All that matters is it went wrong. It wasn’t safe, and it… blew up.”

Your chest tightened along with his voice, hearing him straining to keep his throat from closing.

He slumped back against the wall then. Fixed his eyes on yours.

“I got the brunt of it. Two of the others died. One of them ran away when I woke up and asked him to help me. And there was this… this burning I didn’t understand…”

“I remember,” you whispered.

Slowly, he closed his lips. His eyes bled with recognition. You felt it too, conflict constricting your chest. Appreciation that you could share the feeling, understand one another without the need for explanation, mingled with the strain in your heart of knowing he had been subjected to the same torture.

Here you both were, on the other side of it.

Jungkook took a bracing breath, shifted up where he had sagged down the wall – towards you.

“Namjoon found me.”

His voice brightened almost immediately, and he was looking around the room with new eyes of the old memories.

“V came along not too long after I did… It was the boys that made it home. They still do.”

A soft smile took your lips without thought, and you followed his gaze fondly.

The moment your eyes fell on Jin, you saw him perk up, straightening his back. Then he let out a cheerful “Aha!”.

He was the centre of attention that instant, and went on without prompting, fingers still clacking away at the laptop.

“I managed to get into our own system – and Bolt’s taken something!”

“And that’s… good?” you questioned his jubilant tone.

Keeping his eyes trained on the screen, he quirked his head.

“It means I can see where he’s taking it.”

Namjoon came to hover over Jin’s shoulder until they were satisfied. Soon enough, you found yourself refreshing the mental list of what you were about to go up against.

“If he even manages to get it up and running before we get there, it only has three charges per round. This is the first time I’m glad I haven’t improved it yet,” Jin chuckled, telling you about the newest addition to Bolt’s arsenal, the one he took right from your lab. “Jungkook or YN’s powers will take it out easily.”

And so he went on, through power-extending shurikens to the shield rifle Monsoon had stolen, all the things that had slipped through your fingers and how to defeat them.

“And the Razer…” Jin landed on the last one, but tailed off and exchanged a look with Namjoon.

“Just don’t get hit,” the leader said.

Several eyebrows raised in trepidation. You shuddered with an echoing memory of the gun’s piercing cold.

“Hobi,” Namjoon turned away from the subject, “how are you healing up?”

Shifting to sit away from the wall, Hope pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal the skin where Frank had slashed him. It was still pink, but completely closed by now.

“Better,” he beamed.

“Okay,” Namjoon fixed him with a stern eye, “but check in. If it’s putting you at a disadvantage, I want you out of there.”

“Yes boss,” Hobi replied with a grin and a mock salute.

From that alone, you were sure he was feeling better.

“I say” – Jin shut the laptop with a clack – “we’ve waited long enough.”

You couldn’t help but agree. It felt good to get on your feet again. Inside your chest, the warmth of your powers bubbled alongside your bristling determination. Just enough for you to feel them, to assure you.

A private smile stole across your face, and you turned towards Jungkook.

He found you first. A gentle touch on your wrist made you glance down. His thumb ran firmly, softly, over the skin there, and when you looked up his eyes were dark and affirming.

You realised then, that his defensive ring of fire had never burnt away. You were only on the other side of it, one of the ones he accepted in. His look was one of complete trust. When he nodded, you nodded back.

Let’s do this.

Having been inside for some time, the lot of you know marched out to find it night, the city drenched in the darkness of who-knew-what hour. Your ‘march’ was actually more of a light-footed sneaking. Setting off any alarm bells just yet would blow the operation. Together, your group wove through shadows out of this part of town, unnoticed thanks to the camouflage Yoongi effortlessly provided.

Up ahead, Jin checked around corners and led you on, the buildings rising further above you at every turn. Neon screens flashed through the night in these neighbourhoods, where the inhabitants had money to spare.

The walk couldn’t have been long, but you were a world away from the run-down hideout by the time Jin stopped, facing one of many high buildings of polished glass and chrome.

“So this is it?” Jimin asked, head tilting back.

Your eyes, instead of trailing up the building like Jimin’s, found a looming structure beside it. A pylon planted firm in the ground, standing just taller than the building itself, up to a spidery convergence of wires webbed over the city rooves.

“Well, that sure is handy for someone like him,” Jin scoffed.

Hobi rolled his neck, already striding towards it.

“And now it’s handy for us.”

His leap up three rungs was unnecessary, really. The rest of you followed behind like the mere mortals you were, clambering as silently as you could between the intersecting beams, the metal cold beneath your hands.

You looked back once, finding Namjoon and Jin still on the ground.

“I’ll see you afterwards,” Namjoon was telling him grimly, “all of us have to fight.”

“I know,” Jin agreed. Then he punched him in the arm. “And I had better, alright? See you afterwards, I mean.”

Your leader nodded, then stepped forward to the pylon. You looked ahead and pushed on upwards.

It shouldn’t have surprised you to find Bolt in a penthouse. Following the others, you hopped from the pylon onto the skyscraper’s rooftop; only Namjoon stayed behind. It wasn’t so tall as Kuyang’s lab had been, but it felt miles above. In the darkness, a few glimmering lights dotted the edges of what appeared to be an eerie garden of sorts, although no plants were in sight. Dark tile slabs ran underfoot, broken up by sculptures you couldn’t discern beyond shadows.

The rooftop was halved, your group gathering on the lower segment while a set of stairs rose another floor to more of the same; Bolt’s viewpoint over the city.  Though your eyes darted between the statues, each one playing tricks on you as if they were people watching, your gaze rested eventually on two large glass doors beside the stairway.

A distant light from further inside showed just enough for you to see beyond the glass. An entire wall was decked in little plates, things you vaguely recognised as city awards, only seen on the screens and papers.

A trophy for each life Bolt had taken would have filled the whole building, let alone a feature wall, you thought.

The small huddle of you poised still, hunters, waiting. In the last few seconds before that silence would be broken, you felt Jungkook step behind you.

“This ends now.”

The voice coming over your shoulder was made of everything he was. Electricity, cold and bitter like metal, aflame with determination. The rows, fists and shouting, the tentative midnight whispers, his kisses.

His hurt and all the things he covered it with.

Namjoon didn’t even have to ask his soldiers if they were ready. He raised his arms and slammed palms back down against metal, and a red glow silhouetted you all like a sinister halo.

Everything went dark.

The meagre light inside the property blinked off. The glare of signs across the road plunged away to nothing. Only the dotted perimeter lights, which must run on for emergencies, remained.

Footsteps behind you brought Namjoon through the pack to its head.

Ahead, something moved beyond the glass. Your gaze sharpened on it as the handle turned, the door swinging soundlessly outwards.

While not in full gear, as he had been when he first attacked you, Bolt’s blue mask was in place. Otherwise, he wore dark, comfortable clothes. Internally, you celebrated the small evidence that you really had caught him unawares.

“I should have known,” his voice carried over to you, inflated with arrogance. “Flush out the rats and they’ll have nowhere left to run.”

In your ear, a sharp inhale sent your eyes to Jungkook for a second. His fists tightened at his sides.

“You’ve taken enough, Bolt,” Namjoon spoke. If you didn’t know him, you may not have caught the dark rage burning below his even words.

Then he raised his arms, stretched them towards the man in blue.

A great gust whisked from behind you, snatching at your hair, but you stood firm. In front of you, Bolt was thrown backwards by the air, colliding with the glass behind him.

The starting gun had been fired.

As your enemy crashed through a shower of glass, you began to run. Shards of it scattered, glittering, under your pounding feet. You skidded to the doorway just as Bolt drew back to his feet in the shadows.

Raising your arms to continue the offensive, you were cut short. A startling flash blazed in your vision. In that split-second, it illuminated a smiling Bolt, gun ready at his hip. Just long enough for your heart to sink.

The shield rifle, the very one you had failed to protect.

It seemed only right that you should pay the price.

Its impact slammed against you, wrenching your outstretched arm backwards. The pale sphere it had fired, glowing and crackling, caught hold and took you with it, ensnaring your wrist like a constricting snake. Helpless to detach yourself, your body flailed through the air behind it.

Someone called your name.

Just as fast, you jerked to a stop. Below you, your feet flung out above nothing. Your heart jumped.

Looking around wildly, you found the forcefield had snagged on the wall, stuck fast to it just like it did your arm. It was the only thing holding you here.

Somewhere behind you, above you, grunts and thuds assured you that the fight continued. For now, you had to get out of this trap before Bolt could reach you again, attack you in this helpless position.

“Y/N!”

Jimin’s voice rushed closer. It was an effort to crane your head up to see him. Pale pink hair poked over the ledge.

“Grab on!” he called.

You didn’t hesitate. Swinging yourself up with a kick, you grabbed desperately for the hand he reached out. Finding it clumsily, you clutched to his wrist with clammy fingers. Next moment, he hauled you up, clamping both hands around yours until you rolled over the wall and your feet stumbled against solid ground.

But you still weren’t free.

The forcefield bit at your arm when you tried to drag it free. You cursed.

“It’s just energy,” Jimin spoke, frowning at the luminescent mass.

Then he took a breath, frowning in concentration. With one push of his hand, the sphere shifted, as if it was simply a ball from training.

Resisting, you pulled the other way. For a second, it constricted harder, making your heart clench in dread of following it. Then all at once you were falling free, tumbling to the floor as the forcefield rolled out of sight over the edge.

Hurried hands tugged you up and you were wheeling around to face the battle.

“Thanks,” you quickly clapped Jimin on the shoulder. A brief grin from him, and you dived together back towards the fray.

More shining energy fields pulsed against one wall, but it seemed the others had dodged them. You ran past the discarded weapon on the floor. But there were more where it had come from.

A bright blue jet, just like your own, fizzled against a statue and sent it thundering to the floor. Behind it, Yoongi leapt out of the way just in time. He came sprinting towards Bolt, eyes burning white.

In an instant, the hero let out a yell, clutching his eyes. Staggering, he slipped onto one knee. But in his blind panic, he whirled around, lashing out again even without a target to aim at.

Blazing blue roared outwards. Namjoon had been marching towards the fallen Bolt, but was forced to duck for cover. The lightning sliced clean through the top of the stone figure he hid behind.

Even as Bolt’s attack died, something else caught your eye. Fast as a spark from a flame, he tossed a blade into the air. It whistled, carving a streak of seething blue through the night.

A shout shot echoed across the rooftop, straight to your veins. Yoongi.

Falling from his invisible cloak of darkness, you saw a glowing blue shuriken whizz along his back. The current flew outwards across his body, throwing his pained grimace into haunting relief. The blade skittered, useless, to the ground, having wreaked its injury.

“Yoongi!” you screamed as he fell, blue light dancing over his spasming body.

Staring in horror as you were, the next flash of blue nearly caught you. Running on pure instinct, your body retaliated before you did. Snarling, your powers leapt from your palms, clashing against Bolt’s in mid-air. Blue on blue.

In the flare of sparks, Bolt smiled slowly. Never breaking the connection, he took a step forwards, cocking his head.

“So it’s true,” he spoke, “I heard about you.”

Heart hammering now, you pushed back with all your might, feeling his hostile powers wrestle with yours. They may look the same, but they felt all wrong.

“Tell me,” he took a step closer. You barely resisted the urge to draw back. “How did you do this?”

Steeling yourself with a breath, you unleashed a surge of rage, your electricity hissing through the air. It should have satisfied you to feel his power startle, stutter at the sudden attack.

All you could do was glare. He had no idea. He never thought twice about who he killed, what he took.

But as you stared, there was movement behind him. It was all you could do to keep your eyes on Bolt, willing his attention to stay on you. As it was, he had no idea that Jungkook was stalking towards him.

“I didn’t do this,” you blurted out, needing to keep him focussed. Buying Jungkook time as his face came into sharper focus, closer to the battling blue lights between you and Bolt. “You did this to me.”

You spat your words with all the venom locked inside, ready for one last push as you watched Jungkook raise both arms-

WHOOSH.

You snapped the connection, staggering backwards as Bolt whirled around.

It had not been gold that fired. In a blur, Jungkook was slammed to the ground by a column of water crashing into him.

Everyone on the rooftop turned to its source.

“Shit-” you heard someone curse.

“No,” you breathed.

Feet touching to the rooftop up ahead, among a flood of water, was Monsoon.

Another cold, arrogant grin met you all. You stared in horror. Only Bolt laughed, stepping forwards to climb to his ally’s side. They faced you all from the staircase, looking down.

Pushing himself to his feet, Jungkook’s eyes blazed gold beneath dripping strands of hair.

“Jungkook! No!” you cried, but too late.

Gold split the night, but against Monsoon there was no use. Water surged instantly towards him again, and though your powers protested, burning in your chest with the need to act, you could only stand by. You couldn’t fight him.

Shimmering water engulfed the gold strands. Soon they would immobilise Jungkook, the moment it made contact…

Instead, a red glow sprung up in front of Jungkook with only a split-second to spare, sending the deluge spraying around the shield.

“Let’s start with you, then,” Monsoon smirked.

When you looked back to him, you swore your heart stopped beating.

Raised in one hand, pointing straight at Jungkook, was the Razer. Its eerie white form stood out starkly against the night sky.

The dead white light at its centre jumped to life. A whirring began, menacing and low. It rose at the same rate the strands of light started spinning within the sphere, preparing to drain its victim of all power.

It was stupid. It was stupid, you had already failed once before. You had watched Jungkook fail just seconds ago. There was nothing you could do, yet you had to do something.

You fired at Monsoon.

Easily, he raised his free hand to deflect.

But as the water rushed towards you, Jimin sprinted towards Monsoon. Thrusting an arm forward, he sent a fallen statue flying between you, a silhouette. Your eyes widened in realisation.

The inundation hit the stone with such force, you almost thought it would crack. But no – it sent the writhing water shooting straight back at its commander.

Darting forward, you shot without hesitation. Blue burst from you. The bright tendrils wove into the stream, flying like darts through the current and towards Monsoon. There was no time for him to react; only a fleeting shadow of shock stole over his face before the electricity caught him and his eyes rolled back.

You knew how it felt for your muscles to lock in place, for your body to leave your control entirely. You watched as it took hold of him, too, and smiled.

The force of the water, with no way to resist it, knocked him backwards until the floor no longer held him. A blond blur flew past you, just before the white-clad figure that was Monsoon dropped out of sight forever.

Lowering your palms, your chest heaved. Adrenaline rushed through you; this still wasn’t over.

Your eyes narrowed in on Hobi, whose feet made impact with the roof on landing. Clutched in his arms was the Razer, scooped from Monsoon’s arms just in time.

Bolt, apparently, had got over his ally’s demise already. His grief lasted the space of one step, away from the edge, before he swung round. Like you, he honed straight in on the weapon.

And then everyone moved at once.

Diving out of the path of a sinister blue bolt, Hobi rolled away on the floor. Bolt himself thudded closer, making your friend dodge again, leaping up and out of his reach. The air crackled by Bolt’s hand, but before he could summon electricity to chase Hobi down, a sheet of purple fire swept like a curtain in front of him, the fleeting shadow of V disappearing within the flames.

You were already sprinting at the enemy when Hobi touched down next to you. Stumbling around, he glanced behind him with a curse.

Confused, your eyes first darted over your friend. He didn’t seem to be more hurt, so then what-?

A clatter of metal rung through the spitting flames. Frantically searching, you quickly found the deathly white streak of the Razer on the ground, spinning away. In the desperate fumble to escape Bolt, Hobi must have dropped it.

It didn't matter how it got there. Darting to the side, you changed course towards the weapon. But you weren’t the only pursuer.

Bolt was a silhouette in front of the fire, growing rapidly in the corner of your vision. Your feet thudded as fast as you could make them, heart pounding out the same rhythm, and you were almost there, but Bolt was coming in fast-

A flash of blue. Instinctively, you pulled back, letting it cut through the air in front of your nose. Precious distance you couldn’t afford to waste.

Throwing your weight back further, you followed your body’s momentum. Your hip met the tile and you let your speed carry you, sliding over the tiles and kicking out-

Your toes met the weapon hard, snatching it from right under Bolt’s fingertips as he lunged down. His furious glare shifted to you, but he did not stay to fight. Both of you watched, panting, as the white gun hurtled over the staircase, resounding against each step out of sight.

Then Bolt was off again with you not far behind, jumping to your feet. Stairs flew beneath you as you surveyed the scene.

Bolt charged a decisive line towards the still-falling gun. Namjoon, Jimin and Jungkook assembled on the lower part of the rooftop, ready to strike.

With relief, you saw Jimin move first. Raising one hand, he brought the gun arcing through the night. Though you kept running, something loosened in your chest the closer it came to the hands of your leader.

So focussed on the gun as you were, you almost missed it. Just as the Razer landed firmly in Namjoon’s grip, something glinted in Bolt’s hand, inches ahead of you.

A sizzle of blue. Another shuriken sliced through the air. Namjoon dodged to one side, the blade sailing past him, a spark of blue losing itself in the darkness of the city.

But another blade followed.

Namjoon clearly decided not to hang around. The low whirring began again, piercing your senses straight away as if it was a chainsaw roaring. White light pounced against the glass containing it. Close as you were to Bolt, you couldn’t help the jolt of nerves fizzling in your chest.

Lifting his gaze from the weapon, Namjoon’s eyes widened a fraction. There wasn’t enough time to react. The blue lightning raced straight for his heart.

The image of Yoongi, stricken and fallen, flashed through your mind then. Helplessness burned through every part of you – even as you pushed yourself to sprint, there was no catching it.

Until a shadow leapt in the way. Obscuring your view of Namjoon, they turned in mid-air to face the shuriken.

Jungkook.

Your heart punched into your throat. In a single beat, the blade found its target.

A twitch of pain spasmed across Jungkook’s face. You couldn’t breathe. You couldn’t move. Your trembling heart choked you, the world falling silent for a deathly second.

Then his feet thumped onto the roof, the clatter of the thin blade following a beat later. Though he stumbled against the outer wall, he remained standing. Utter, blank shock painted on his face, he brought a hand up to his chest.

There, a thin red line was spreading where he had been cut. Nothing more.

Heart still hanging on a precipice, you were suspended in your shock. Numbly, you glanced down to the still-spinning shuriken lying powerless on the floor. Powerless. No more sparks surrounded it. No hint of blue, no colour at all.

Where a heartbeat ago there had been panic, now came no movement at all. Your lungs ached for air after your short race, but you hardly dared to touch the silence by breathing. Shakily, you drew in cool air, turning, as you all did, towards Bolt.

Standing in front of the shattered entrance to his home, he was equally still.

You expected some kind of joke. For him to laugh in your faces, or lash out again.

Instead, he looked down in horror. His hands steadily rose, tuning over in front of him. A downwards turn tugged at his mouth when he raised his face.

Then it turned into a snarl, and he lunged, flinging a hand straight towards you. Everyone on the rooftop jumped.

To your shame, you almost stepped back. Phantom burning, from months ago as you fell from a skyscraper like this one, rocketed through your mind. But the pain you braced for never came. No flash of blue. You stayed rooted there, disbelieving eyes tracing the air which should have been ablaze, and instead was dead and dark.

And you noticed another thing: the whirring had stopped.

Glancing to one side, you saw Namjoon lowering the Razer, face hard and a grim glint in his eye.

“You!”

Bolt’s voice brought you sharply back to him. His mouth twisted into a snarl, and his voice was sharp.

To your alarm, his rage-filled eyes, though devoid of blue, were fixed right on you.

“Give them back to me! Right now!”

With a sudden start, he marched towards you. You actually stepped back this time, in no hurry to be the target of his new warpath.

“You- I gave you those powers!” He ranted, “My powers! You can give them back to me the same way. Do it now!”

Disgusted, you could only shake your head.

Another step and he was right in front of you, reaching for you. That same face which hadn’t looked at you twice when he sent you hurtling to your intended death. The man that had since become the face of your elusive fear, sending others to attack you, never getting his hands dirty unless for a media-worthy cause.

His hand on your arm made your skin crawl.

“I made you what you were,” he pleaded – you saw it now for what it was – “you were nothing before I gave them to you-”

“Get off me!” you snapped, yanking your arm roughly from his grip. When he made to reach for you again, you barely kept control of your powers. You were sure to let just enough slip through that your eyes would light up blue with a reminder.

It clearly found its mark. He stilled, stunned. He had never been in this position before, unable to fight, and he would do well to remember it.

“I was someone before you,” you spoke, low and level.

Bolt seemed robbed of words.

Then his glare flicked to the side. Jungkook stalked up to stand beside you, drawing himself up to his full height. There was a special venom in his eyes, reserved only for the man who had ruined his life.

“Don’t touch her,” he spat.

Something in Bolt snapped. Closing his mouth, his feet scrambled beneath him. He hurried in the opposite direction, staggering a few desperate steps backwards before wheeling around, racing to get inside.

You didn’t move. Any one of you could easily kill him from where you stood – in any case, it wasn’t needed.

Someone was waiting for him.

Stepping from the dark hallway, broken glass crunching underfoot, Jin emerged into the dim light of the rooftop.

He reared back a fist, and brought it down in a blur to collide with Bolt’s face. The moment the fallen hero hit the ground, Jungkook strode forwards. Bolt’s usually vivid mask was finally dislodged, lying dull against the tiles where Jungkook’s boot crushed it against the floor.

Calmly lifting a hand, he fired gold, but not right at Bolt. Instead, you watched the molten light latch around a large shard of glass. The burning ring made dappled gold ripple in the glass, a golden dagger, the brightest thing on this dark rooftop.

Unsteadily, Bolt was getting his hands beneath him again. His ragged panting almost stirred pity in your chest. Almost.

Jungkook pushed his palm forwards, his power moving with him. The dagger struck Bolt’s back. You did not smile, but watched as it plunged ruthlessly into him, making his back arch and drawing a pitiful cry from his mouth.

No one was around to hear it, or to care. Tonight was as desolate as the night you had woken, alone and afraid, in a dark alley, left to die.

It wasn’t painless, but it was quick. Looking to Jungkook as Bolt fell silent, you found his hardened face awash with gold, like it was made of the metal itself. Only the twitch of his jaw as he yanked the glass from its victim belied the impression.

A thump as the body slumped among a soft chorus of grating glass.

The gold faded from Jungkook’s eyes. They turned to you, and you took his hand.

Thank you for reading this far into the series and sticking with it!!💜💜

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Hunching over a plate, you said little, but at least tried to smile at Hope, who caught your gaze. Yoongi eyed between the two of you, and you shrank again, unable to stand the thought he was also wary of you. Maybe Jungkook was just the most open about it.

You wondered over your toast whether Jungkook had a similar reason for being awake last night. Whether he knew yours.

Did he realise that you had been up because of your guilt-ridden nightmares? Would that make him feel better, to know you were being punished for your actions by your own psyche?

You hadn’t thought to question his own presence in the training room at night until now, though. Not that it was a particularly pleasant train of thought. Did he have nightmares of his own? Worse still, were they the same as yours? Had your near miss caused him the same fear it had you, enough to invade his sleep?

At the end of the table, Jungkook spoke in a low voice to Jin. There was no chance for you to guess what they were talking about.

Yet you were still watching. You couldn’t look away, almost wondering if you could see inside his head if you looked hard enough. Puzzle him out.

A scraping sound and movement beneath your hand jerked your attention away.

Your eyes darted to your plate – or where it had been. They followed as it dragged itself swiftly across the table, stopping in front of a clasped pair of hands. And Jimin’s eyes, intent on you under raised brows, made you shift.

“Well, if you’re not going to eat it,” he smiled innocently.

With a pout, you made a swipe for the toast you had abandoned on your plate in your (rather long) moment of distraction. The plate, of course, swiftly darted away from your reach, then switched directions.

Huffing, you gave up, slouching back sulkily in your chair while Jimin laughed.

Another hand reached over to slide your breakfast back to you, this time met with no protest. Jimin was still laughing, glittering pink dying in his eyes, and you smiled gratefully to V, your food restorer.

Lesson learned, you did keep your attention to yourself this time as you finished without looking back up.

As such, you missed the sharp eyes that had finally turned towards you.

At a loss, and not keen as usual to head to training, you followed Jimin and V over to the couch and sunk into it after breakfast, ready to waste away some of the morning. The other two kept muttering between themselves, but you were happy to let them go on unbothered.

A weight dipping the cushion beside you made your head turn in surprise.

Hope flopped against the back of the sofa, looking up at you with a smile.

“Did I ever tell you how I got my powers?” he said, tone casual.

Meanwhile, you tried not to widen your eyes. While all the boys, for obvious reasons, knew about the cause of your powers’ arrival, you weren’t sure about theirs. It wasn’t something you could just… ask.

Or so you thought.

It had been one of the worst nights of your life, so you imagined it was similar for them. Why should they want to share that with someone they didn’t trust?

Maybe Hobi did trust you, though. Because when you shook your head, he shifted his elbows onto the back of the sofa, leaning forward to confide in you.

“I was a student,” he began the tale, “training for stunt work on the side. I had to work this shitty all-night convenience store to afford it… not exactly in the safest end of town.”

You could only imagine it all too well. You realised Jimin and V had stopped their chatter, lapsing into silent attention to the story, although they must know it already.

“One night, some random guy tried to rob the place. When he started attacking a customer, I vaulted the cash desk to stop him. He beat the shit out of me. Had a crowbar and everything. But then, when I was on the floor – couldn’t move anymore, not even stand – it’s like I suddenly woke up. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

Watching his face carefully, you found no words. It was clear the experience had been terrifying, his expression clouding for a moment as he told you the worst of it. You had never seen him look so serious.

He shook himself lightly, meeting your eyes again, and the normally permanent smile returned to his face.

“Suddenly I got the energy to fight back. Since then, I’ve moved faster, been stronger, than I ever was before. It turned a few heads on the stunt team, which is how Namjoon got wind of me.”

“Wow, that’s… scary,” you settled for, though it didn’t do his story justice.

“Yeah,” he nodded, before turning fully to you, a look fixing you in place. “Nothing compared with a slip in training.”

You wilted at the painful reminder which blindsided you. So that’s what this was about?

Hope clapped you on the shoulder.

“I still trust you, yeah? That’s not up to Jungkook.”

Nodding, you finally managed a weak smile of your own.

“Thanks.”

Not knowing how to settle back into the sofa, you shifted and spied V whispering something to Jimin. Jimin shifted back to look him in the face, brow tilting in question. V nodded.

Then Jimin spun to you.

“Tae also wants me to tell you… how he got his powers.”

Your eyebrows shot up.

“Really,” you shifted your gaze to V, “don’t feel you have to. It must be tough-”

“It may be hard to talk about, but you should hear it,” Jimin assured you, “we want you to know.”

Your heart softened at this double show of trust. Giving a nod, you watched Jimin take a bracing breath.

“I was the one who found him,” he began, “Namjoon sent me. He heard about the place, wanted to investigate… it was a testing centre. They were keeping him there like a prisoner, seeing what stuff they could inject until he…”

Jimin choked off the sentence. You didn’t want to hear the end of it.

Jimin’s eyes were wide and betrayed such dazzling emotion you could hardly look. It was no wonder he was such a fierce protector of V, that they loved each other so strongly.

“In the end, they gave him fire. We’re not even sure if they meant to, if they knew what they were doing. But they were using him, and I had to get him out of there.”

Letting silence stretch for a moment, you waited until it was clear he wasn’t going on.

“Good,” you spoke quietly. Shifting your eyes to V, you found him looking at you calmly, though the darkness in his eyes was heavier than normal. “I’m glad you made it here.”

Jimin squeezed his hand.

Though you tried to swallow it down, you couldn’t help your next question. You wouldn’t ask what happened to Hope’s would-be killer, but this…

“What happened to the lab?” you whispered.

V’s gaze remained unblinking.

“Burned,” he said, in that rare, low voice.

Not leaving his gaze, you only nodded.

You may have been accepted by your friends. Their trust bolstered you, it did, only… Something didn’t sit right while you were still so perplexed at your precarious footing with Jungkook.

When he did show up, Jungkook seemed oddly distracted all morning. Weirdest of all was that his mood didn’t drive him away to the gym like usual. He sat at the end of the sofa until Yoongi arrived, fishing controllers from the dreaded Drawer of Cables. Playing a few rounds of video games was fun, but you still found yourself glancing a little too often at the detached Jungkook. When a controller got passed to him, he nearly won without breaking into a sweat, only to apparently zone out and fall off the map near the end.

The others laughed at him and yelled their own victories, the two of you the only ones not joining in. At least you cracked a grin, but Jungkook seemed to have drifted.

Maybe, with the others knowing him better than you did, their lack of notice was a good sign. Surely you couldn’t be the only one caught so off-guard by his silence? Or maybe it was because of last night. None of the others had heard your odd midnight conversation.

With Jungkook acting this way, you had wondered how training would play out. If he would even show. You wouldn’t blame him after yesterday with Hobi, and… whatever that had been last night.

No, you wouldn’t blame him, but strangely you found yourself hoping for the opposite in any case. Some sign from him about what last night meant… or at least that you should forget about it.

In the event, your wondering was never answered.

Namjoon marching into the room wasn’t what any of you had expected. Usually, that meant business. And today was no exception.

“Are you guys ready to head out?”

Which meant that if you weren’t, now was the time to prepare. All you needed to do was grab shoes, and then you were following Jin as he grabbed keys and headed down the front stairs to the garage.

Behind you, Hobi was desperately searching for a second shoe, only having found one in his room. Yoongi had been begrudgingly roped into helping, and his sighs filled the air at regular intervals as he found yet another spot empty.

Jimin was hopping around as he tried to run to the door before tying his laces.

Namjoon walked through the sudden chaos, unfazed, raising his voice slightly.

“Bosun’s just had to flee his place at the edge of town. Says there are people inside already. So we’d better move.”

The garage door slid open as you reached it. Jungkook was already waiting. He had been the first one to his feet when Namjoon entered with a battle plan, and you got it. Some good action would force unwanted distractions from your mind like nothing else.

He pushed away from the wall, squaring his shoulders as he stepped towards the waiting cars. And stumbled.

You bit down on your lip, but it was as if he could sense your instinctive laughter. Yours were the first place his eyes glowered as he recovered balance.

Ducking your eyes, they landed on a sneaker strewn on the ground.

“Oi, Hobi!” you called, launching his missing sneaker up the stairs past Namjoon, who was now descending.

“Thanks!” came his call, and then he was beside you in an instant, yellow light flashing in his eyes.

“Hey, only one of us has speed powers!” Yoongi complained, jogging down the stairs last.

Namjoon’s eyes flickered over the lot of you and then you were piling into cars. Jimin tugged you after him and V into Jin’s car, while the others took the neighbouring one.

With the unexpected attack already apparently underway, Jin cut all the corners he could as you sped across the city. You remembered seeing Bosun’s name in one of the various files Jin was sifting through as he and Namjoon desperately tried to strategise their way out of this game already in motion. Clearly, his wasn’t one of their top places of concern as he hadn’t been relocated yet.

You were beginning to see why. The streets you passed grew less and less maintained, cracks, weeds and broken signs whizzing past your window. This was more similar to the end of town you used to live in, before Bolt. And you would assume it to be way off his radar.

Apparently not.

Jin pulled up in some alley beside an unassuming and leaky-looking warehouse. Fumbling to open the glove box, he passed you each a small receiver along with instructions.

“Jimin, V, take that side. The back entrance is around there. With any luck they aren’t expecting us, but be ready for anything. Y/N, go the other way, check it’s clear. Then head to the front where you’ll meet the others.”

Nodding hastily, you all scrammed from the car. Jimin patted your shoulder and flashed you a grin – a nod from V and they were sprinting away to the left. You peeled off right instead, focus setting in the moment your feet were in motion.

Rounding a corner, you were faced with a near-identical alley, narrow and shadowy with puddles nestled in cracks in the concrete.

Eyes scanning, you first checked the windows in the long expanse of wall. There were few, high up and tiny. From here, you could see no one looking back out at you. Hopefully that meant the surprise factor was still on your side.

It was when your eyes returned to the street in front of you that your steps faltered. Closer now, a figure became clear in the shadows that you hadn’t made out before.

Slowing, you squinted at them, hands already twitching. But they hadn’t made any move, although they had clearly seen you. Crouched against the wall, they looked directly your way as you approached hesitantly. Maybe they just didn’t know who you were? But if they were guarding this place, surely any passerby could be classed as a threat?

So why weren’t they attacking?

You stopped fully, now only paces from them. You saw it was a young man, maybe even a teenager. His eyes were large as they looked at you from below unkempt hair, and while they had a hard edge of practised hostility, all you read there was wariness and fear.

Hands retreating under fraying sleeves, he shifted uncomfortably the longer you stood in front of him. Worn-out shoes with a hole in the side shifted near to a puddle.

Frowning, your eyes caught sight of a bag he was sheltering with his body.

Breath slowed uncomfortably in your throat as it dawned on you. He wasn’t with the people attacking the warehouse – he probably had no idea anything was even going on in the building behind the two of you.

“You should get out of here,” you met his eyes again.

He didn’t need telling twice. Since you had showed interest in him, his discomfort had been clear, and he finally shot to his feet, still clinging to the overstuffed backpack behind him.

Then your eyes were torn from his nervous ones by a blast from the end of the alley.

Whipping around, you were briefly dazzled by a burst of gold light. Inexplicably, it put you at ease – or the knowledge of who was behind it did.

What had you instantly back on edge were the two silhouetted figures that now ran across the entrance to the alleyway. The sight of weapons clutched to their chests had your fingers flexing, feeling your powers simmer defensively.

It had begun.

A second after the armed people emerged, one of them was sent to the floor by a human-sized bullet – Hope. Their gun skidded away, landing in a shallow puddle with a splash.

Starting forwards intently to aid your team, you spared one last glance back at the boy you had found in the alley.

Those same fearful eyes were now fixed past you at the violence unfolding as it spilled from the warehouse entrance. Rigid, he seemed frozen to the spot.

“Go!” you barked, “I mean it!”

And then you were running. If he had any sense, the kid would get moving.

Another sharp blade of gold light descended, nearly knocking over the remaining assailant ahead of you, but they ducked and staggered on, the blast clashing with the neighbouring wall. Tracing the source of the attack, you spied Jungkook’s vantage point on the roof, his head visible though only a brief blur as he raced after his target.

Fixing your eyes front, you charged head-on at the fleeing man.

And he spotted you too.

Whatever weapon you were facing now, you didn’t fancy finding out. He was aiming it, giving you a clear view down the barrel.

Your step never once faltered. You didn’t need to reach for a weapon.

You were one.

Blue fired from your fingertips before his could move on the trigger. It caught him, flinging him backwards, flipping before slamming against the ground.

Still hot-footing it to the heat of the action, you glanced to Jungkook, smirk already lifting your lips, ready to share the momentary victory.

But he hadn’t changed direction. Instead, he was flying towards you, descending from the rooftop on a pillar of gold, and his other arm was aiming behind you-

Turning, you caught sight of the fleeing boy, almost out of sight now.

Your heart dropped in slow motion, but your body acted without waiting for permission.

Well-aimed gold streaked down the alley. Hand raising, you threw an arrow of blue to meet it. Lightning collided in the air, your shot throwing his off, a missile of sparking blue and gold smashing against the warehouse.

Outrage painting his face, Jungkook hit the ground, already dashing towards you and the boy. Readied his arm again…

“Jungkook!” you cried.

Not stepping out of his path, the two of you practically crashed into each other. Your hand caught his shoulder, restraining him as you twisted to look behind you.

The boy was on the ground, metres from the impact. As you watched, he scrambled to his feet, hoisted his backpack over a shoulder and ran, finally disappearing into another street.

“He’s not with them,” you panted, “…he’s just a kid.”

Turning back to Jungkook, you expected rage, frustration… but not this. His eyes were fixed on the spot the boy had fled from. As his eyes tracked, slowly, back to your face, he inhaled softly. Held it. Slack-jawed horror washed over him.

Struck by the force of emotion surfacing so suddenly in his eyes, you lightened your grip and took a step back.

A heavy frown pressed on Jungkook's brows, gaze once again growing distant, drifting to the alley behind you.

“I didn’t think…” he mumbled, but his lips stilled again, parted in horror.

“You’re not supposed to expect it,” you whispered.

Eyes fixed on Jungkook’s intently, you caught the sharp flicker as they returned to you. Lucidity flooded back to him and his throat bobbed in a hard swallow.

As he looked at you, his frown eased imperceptibly, realisation widening his eyes instead.

“He would be dead.” Jungkook’s voice was brittle.

Your heart was only now slowing in your chest, the shock of adrenaline subsiding. All it took was another blow from somewhere behind the pair of you, ringing out through the confined space, to pull you away from Jungkook.

His head turned; you stepped to see around him. Dropping your arm fully at last, you broke into a sprint once more, knowing even before you heard his steps that Jungkook would be right beside you.

You eyed the warehouse and alleyway disappearing in the rear-view mirror. Soon they were eaten up by the maze of roads taking you back into the city that was none the wiser.

There hadn’t been many more attackers. No one of note, only bolstered by weapons of Bolt’s previous acquisition. In the end, the group of you had driven them out with relative ease.

Which was good. Bosun had shaken hands with Namjoon outside in relief as he found his work still intact.

But you wondered if you were the only one nagged by another win without sight of the orchestrator. Bolt seemed to follow you everywhere, without ever showing his face. You took your eyes from the cars around you to a news stand as you drove past. Blue splashed over the front cover, Bolt took his place in the glorious spotlight, right where he wanted.

Did the readers know what he had working behind the scenes?

The weapons these fighters were decked out with, you knew them. But you also knew Kuyang had never made so many of them as you were now encountering on each shout.

“Do you think Namjoon-hyung will mind if we skip training?” Jimin was nudging V with that playfully devilish grin of his, “we basically had a workout already!”

Glancing at the rear-view, you saw Jin raise a brow and shared a private smile with yourself. You didn’t think Namjoon was the one Jimin should be worrying about.

Then you sat up.

“Hey, Jin?” you spoke.

He hummed, glancing to you in the mirror, but your eyes had caught something else.

“The same car is still behind us.”

Jin’s hands tightened on the wheel and he shot a look to follow yours.

“You’re sure?”

He braked a little too sharply as a car pulled from a turning ahead of you.

“I’m sure. Not that red one, the black one behind it, do you see?”

Narrowed eyes scanning the mirror, he nodded.

“Since when?”

“A good few roads. Since the lights.”

Jimin had gone quiet, all three of you now watching Jin closely for an answer as he pursed his lips. Though you sincerely hoped it was simply a harmless coincidence, you had left the busiest roads and were nearing home. Best not to take chances.

“Let’s see what they’re about,” Jin said, voice low and calculated.

A challenge.

A turning approached, so he indicated and slipped into the right-turn lane. Tentatively, you turned your head, enough to eye the black car. It carried on behind the red one and you relaxed – for a moment.

Then, just before you were obscured by the corner, it, too, switched lanes.

Your car took a collective breath in.

Jin tilted his head.

“Interesting.”

Chewing your cheek, you glanced sideways. The same nerves were reflected back in Jimin and V’s eyes.

“Jimin, can you text Namjoon that we have a potential tail?” Jin asked, tone suddenly lighter, “might be late. And in the meantime-”

He turned again, taking you down a much smaller road. The opposite direction to your original destination.

Driving straight on, he waited until the black car showed itself behind you. There was almost no doubt in your mind now.

“Joon says he’ll see us back home,” Jimin said, lifting his phone up surreptitiously to snap some images of your stalker, “and that they’re all clear. Although maybe whoever’s following them is just more subtle about it.”

Jin chuckled with him, but it was brief.

“Well, without Y/N spotting it, I’m not sure I would be much the wiser,” he mused.

Another glance in the mirror, and the black vehicle was indicating, pulling between parked cars. Didn’t tuck itself all the way in, with what could be an effort to keep a view clear of your car heading further down the road.

“Oh, were heading this way after all, hm?” Jin asked dryly.

Looking back to the road with determination, he took a right. Not long after, another right, where he swung around and stopped, facing out onto the road you had just left.

It didn’t even take that long. Your lungs hadn’t even started straining from the breath you held.

The car drove in front of you.

Jimin was ready, taking another picture as the driver passed, but there was no double-take or visible glance your way. They had a hood up, mask and dark glasses on.

The car carried on, but this game wasn’t going to last. As Jin pulled out, they were already slowing down, turning onto the road parallel to yours.

A burst of speed had you pressed back in the seat.

“Jimin, can you stop this guy? I’ve seen about enough.”

Jimin hummed a casual agreement, but you saw the smirk that grew on his lips, the glint in his eyes before pink light bled into them.

Sure enough, at the next intersection, the black car was right there. Jimin held a hand up, splayed his fingers, and that was all it took. Your stalker hit an invisible wall. The tyres froze, car stuck fast on the road it had been speeding down.

Jin put his foot down.

Several turns and roads later, with no more signs of the same vehicle, or of any repeat followers, he finally turned on himself, resuming your intended route at last. Didn’t stop you all keeping lookout, even as you waited for the hidden wall to slip aside and let you home. Especially then.

It was a relief to spill up the stairs to the scents of cooking – tteokbokki, if you weren’t mistaken.

The second lot of relief came when you saw Yoongi was the one behind the stove. Bound to be a solid meal, trusting him.

While the group noticed your return, Hobi jumping to his feet and Namjoon striding forwards, checking on all of you, you paused on the top step. Just cast your eyes around, for a second. Sometimes these moments would hit you from nowhere. Some outdated part of you expecting to have to cook for yourself after getting back from an already exhausting day, only to find your team making things easier.

In the small ways, just as much as the big, your life had changed. In the small ways, it was definitely for the better.

Letting a fond, awed smile slip onto your face for a second, you breathed in.

Jimin’s laugh met your ears, and you turned back to the moment. He clapped a chuckling Jungkook on the shoulder, giving a playful shove before he moved on towards the table. You moved to follow, only to find Jungkook hadn’t budged.

Residual smile still on his face, eyes wide and cheerful, his gaze rested on you. There was a slight hesitation, his smile growing fainter, nervous as he appeared to stall in front of you.

“Thanks,” he said quietly. It would almost be conversational; if only you had had a casual conversation with the guy, you would know. “Glad you’re all back safe.”

At your stunned stare, he squeezed a hurried smile back in place, and fled to Yoongi’s side in the kitchen. Your mouth hung open, eyes following Jungkook’s back even as Jin marched past.

“Yah, trust me to take care of the kitchen hyung,” Yoongi complained to the back of Jin’s head as he bent to sample a spoonful of sauce.

“I’m just taste-testing,” Jin defended a second later with a cheeky grin on his face.

Yoongi didn’t bat an eye.

“Well if the inspector’s not happy, report me,” he harrumphed, “go sit down.”

Jin allowed himself to be shoved table-wards, self-satisfied smile permanently on his face.

Still hovering beside Yoongi, Jungkook finally looked back at you. It would have been subtle, too, if you had been able to tear your eyes from him yet. He gazed up from below his hair.

A small, startled expression flitted across his face – not so intimidating now, huh? – before your view was mercifully blocked by Namjoon.

“I heard you noticed the tail back there. Good spot.”

Smiling, you bobbed your head.

“Thanks,” you eyed the floor, “I don’t even know what made me look for it.”

“Whatever it was, I’m glad you did. It got us all back here. I’ll be working on finding out who they were, though, and what they were doing after us.”

Your eyes flicked back to his face, a flicker of unease shooting across your expression.

He sighed, his turn to drop his gaze this time.

“I’ll keep you all posted. For now, it’s done. And I believe dinner is in order.”

Stepping aside, he ushered you past, only somewhat assuaged. That hadn’t been some usual attack which you could put down all-guns-blazing. Someone following you… that was different. Someone playing a long game. And there was one person you could already think of who was running one of those.

In the time you had been speaking with Namjoon, Jin had somehow returned to the kitchen, though Yoongi was silent about it this time.

Yoongi passed dishes as Jin scooped food into them, Jungkook rooting through the cupboards for something too. Slipping into a seat, you watched them idly. Jin set the steaming plates on the side, which is when Jungkook leaned over to chop chives over the top. You sure were in for a luxurious meal. A decent reward, you thought.

Turning with the next plate, Jin paused. Didn’t set it down. He stared, frozen, at Jungkook.

Catching on a second later, the younger man looked up like a caught puppy. Even if he hadn’t been doing anything nefarious.

An amused smile stole over Jin’s face.

“Since when do you cook so fancy, Kook?” he grinned.

“F-fancy?” Jungkook blinked. “Isn’t this… how you make it?”

Jin shrugged, setting down the plate and turning to grab the one Yoongi proffered impatiently.

“Never thought to add them,” Jin mused, “looks nice though. Tell me, where did you pick up such cheffing tips?”

Jin was half-joking, still plating up, but something was dawning on the younger man.

Jungkook looked comically horrified, gaze darting between the green chives in one hand and the scissors in the other. He paused like that just a little too long to sound casual when he finally regained his voice to mutter:

“This is how Y/N likes it.”

Any hope of sounding nonchalant died as Jin’s eyes bulged from his face. Yoongi froze, eyebrows raising, before looking over his shoulder to you with a questioning smile.

Namjoon, mercifully, looked down to his lap with a private smile, but he was the only one. Hobi broke into a grin and Jimin spun to laugh openly at his younger brother, who looked thoroughly grumpy now. Jungkook’s mouth was fixed in a solid pout, his hard glare not helping in the slightest as the declarations of joyful surprise clearly got to him.

In the face of Yoongi’s now wiggling eyebrows, and a disconcertingly intense stare from V, you laughed weakly.

For a second, your eyes met with Jungkook’s. He snapped his gaze away an instant later, firmly hiding his flushed cheeks with his turned back, recommencing his chive-chopping rather more aggressively.

Jin clapped him on the back exaggeratedly, before scooping a dish up.

“I think this has the most,” he smirked, sliding it to rest right in front of you, “the Y/N speciality, made just for you.”

With a roll of your eyes and an exasperated laugh, you took the bowl.

“Yah, leave off! You brought this on yourself, you know. Why not teach Jungkook your way?”

“Wha-” Jin broke off, flicking a dish towel at Jungkook’s back, “how many times have I made tteokbokki with you, punk?”

Shoulders a little looser, Jungkook ducked out of the way.

“You mean made for me,” he defended.

Leaving Jin to splutter behind him, Jungkook marched over to the table with two more chive-topped bowls of food which he set down a little too hard, landing with loud clunks.

The others dutifully moved on to other things as the plates all reached the table and the lot of you dug in, grateful after an eventful day. When Jin made a comment about the added flavour of the dish, it was genuine and not a dig at their youngest.

Still, Jungkook picked quietly at his food. It may have been bold to claim he was avoiding your eye, as you couldn’t really remember a time he had sought it out, but though he was only a seat across from you, he didn’t once look at you. What was worse was that you couldn’t help but notice. Couldn’t stop your attention straying to him among the boys’ chatter which should have been distracting you.

At least he ate it all.

You made a point to collect his plate once you had all finished. Namjoon had already disappeared, Jimin gathering the rest of the dishes to wash.

Rounding the table, you lifted the empty dish from under his nose, making him look up.

“Thanks, Jungkook,” you said, before he could look away. You didn’t smile, just returned his startled gaze with your own steady one.

He had to know you weren’t laughing at him. Even if a sprinkling of chives was nothing to be embarrassed about in the first place.

Ducking his gaze after a long second, he followed the others to flop down on the sofa.

Watching with amusement, you had to force yourself to move too. You placed the dishes on the pile and distractedly grabbed a towel since Jimin had started washing. It was funny… Not long ago, you wouldn’t have thought the abrasive, menacing Jungkook you knew then could ever look like a deer in the headlights.

“What are you smiling about?”

An elbow from Jimin brought you abruptly from your reflections. Yelping, you swatted him away.

“Nothing,” you insisted, grabbing desperately for a dish to dry.

Your response only encouraged the teasing smile spreading across your companion’s mouth. You didn’t like the way his eyebrow quirked. He fixed you with a scarily knowing look that had you gulping.

Then he shrugged and turned back to the dishwater.

THE CHIIIIVES😂Thank you for reading! How are you enjoying them all getting along?💜

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“Well done.”

Now your gaze snapped abruptly to Namjoon. Blinking, his words replayed in your head as if to prove what you had actually heard.

Beside you, Jungkook’s jaw dropped, tension leaking from his shoulders.

Small smile quirking his mouth, Namjoon chuckled.

“You seem surprised.”

Hesitant, you turned your eyes to Jungkook. His met yours, wide and startled like you had never seen him. How someone like him could ever look so innocent-

“Uh-um,” Jungkook tripped over his tongue, “Y/N wasn’t… we weren’t supposed to be on duty.”

“But you stepped up when we needed you,” Namjoon cut in. Stroking his chin, he raised an eyebrow at Jungkook, “together. I’m impressed by that. It seems you can put aside your differences when it matters, and agree on something.”

You pressed your lips together at his words. Sure enough, Jungkook did the same; Namjoon may have been less impressed had he witnessed Jungkook’s resistance to your help.

Next under Namjoon’s gaze, you tried your best not to look shifty.

“That was also very impressive control from you. At great risk, you managed to snuff out what Bolt was after.”

No words came to you. Dropping your eyes to the floor, you gave a flustered, jerky bow of your head.

Jungkook eyed you from the corner of his eye as you stayed like that, offering only silence. A crease shot along his brow. But he turned back to Namjoon and spoke up, shifting the topic.

“How did Bolt get on us in the first place?”

That drew a sigh from Namjoon. Tugging at his chin, he took a seat.

“He must know our plan. It’s been long enough that we can’t disguise these as random attacks any longer. Media this week has been plastered with calls for vigilance. ‘Villainous movements’ or something. A confrontation like this has been coming for a while.”

Gritting his teeth, Jungkook kicked a chair out with his heel and fell into it. His glare was directed at the ceiling.

More carefully, you took a seat yourself.

“The one time we aren’t attacking, he sees fit to send an army?!”

“Tonight wasn’t an opportunity for him to win any glory,” Namjoon shook his head, “why show his face unless he’s defeating a visible evil? He’s using others, leaving them to fight with the weapons he's already stolen.”

“Probably pin it all on our side in the media,” Jungkook muttered, venomous.

Sitting back, Namjoon held his hands out. Resigned.

“We’re used to that,” he continued calmly, “but him not tackling this in person also tells us we’re right. He’s working on something, and he wants us out of the way – but he can’t risk being the visible instigator of a confrontation.”

“You’re hitting him where it hurts, then,” you added.

“And we can’t stop,” Namjoon agreed, “but this will make it more of a challenge. Which is why you came together at the perfect time – I need you back on board.”

A smirk slid onto Jungkook’s face, but not in time to disguise the hint of much-less-suave delight that lit up his eyes at Namjoon’s declaration. He swelled under his leader’s approval.

“Both of you,” Namjoon continued, “Y/N, you proved you have what we need. Keep training, each of you, but you’re with us now.”

His smile was genuinely warm as he finished. Bolstered by his happiness, you walked out glowing.

Just outside the door, you paused, releasing a sigh. All the adrenaline, the uncertainty and now the relief spilled out of you. You turned to Jungkook.

Abruptly, you were rendered speechless.

He was smiling.

At you.

You had of course seen him smile, but only among the others. It was only now that you felt the full blast of his grin, showing his front teeth and scrunching his nose up. As he looked at you, his smile slipped away, but the happy light never dimmed in his eyes.

“I guess we did it,” you spoke, “are you still mad at me?”

He rolled his eyes, but it was accompanied by a genuine chuckle.

Turning to saunter back through the corridor, he allowed you to fall into step beside him. A smile still hid behind his next words.

“Of course I am.”

“My apologies then,” you replied with an equally suppressed grin, “next time I won’t help you out. My incredible skills are clearly wasted here-”

“I knew it would go to your head,” Jungkook scoffed.

“I don’t see any danger of it surpassing yours in size, don’t worry.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes at your gleeful smile. Together, you reached the base of the stairs and he let you go first, crossing his arms as he hung back a couple of steps.

A flurry of scuffling feet and poorly muffled giggles reached your ears as you ascended, bringing your attention ahead of you once more. On reaching the top, a foot whisked around the corner; someone in a hurry to get to the living room. Their hurry couldn’t erase the glimpse you had just caught of several curious sets of eyes peeking around it, though .

Fond smile emerging on your lips, you marched down the corridor. In front of you, a large, shrieking pile of limbs was toppling over the back of the nearest sofa.

“Yah-”

Yoongi’s tired grumblings mingled with Jimin’s giggles and Hobi’s yelps as the lot of them tried to disentangle from one another. V was the last to sheepishly clamber off the unsuspecting hyung they had squashed.

Over in the kitchen, Jin shot a knowing glance towards you all from his spot by the stove. He held your gaze with a warm smile.

“So? What did Joon say?” Jimin asked, bringing you back.

Multiple sets of curious eyes blinked up at you and Jungkook.

“He was impressed,” Jungkook spoke, moving around to sit, “we’re back on the force.”

A chorus of whoops followed, Jungkook’s brothers grabbing and jostling him in celebration. But they didn’t forget you either: before you knew it, you were being tugged down by Hope too, onto the other sofa as he continued his joyful congratulations.

Breathless with laughter, you managed to escape (though your hair was surely a ruffled state).

The grin paused on your lips as you locked eyes with Jungkook, who was being equally harassed by Jimin, Yoongi patting him on the back. Your lips closed, ready to swallow down the elation if Jungkook was going to be displeased with you joining in, infringing on his group.

He gave you a timid smile.

Thank you for reading! You guys are the most amazing readers, thank you for all your wonderful enthusiasm for this series💜💜

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Of course, you relished the time they did spend at home. Even though they were busy training in most of their free time, and out late on missions, they would come and chat with you while they made breakfast, or came to rest and watch some tv.

To them, it probably appeared that nothing was different between you and Jungkook. Whenever they were home, he took the chance to train with them. You knew he missed them now they were out so much without him. Anyone would have noticed as much, given the way he hovered around the receiver, always staying up after you slipped quietly to bed.

But once the house emptied, the smiling Jimin, raucous laughter of Hope or the fond smiles of Yoongi would be replaced by the stony silence of Jungkook.

Somehow, you were growing used to it.

Either that, or you would be firing comments between each other, no longer sure if it counted as fighting or having a conversation. Anything to fill up the silence.

You trained more too, your powers’ strength returning slowly even in the course of a week. And since that night, a sort of ritual had begun at dinner. Of course, you would have chosen anyone else’s company over Jungkook’s, but you had to make do. You would cook something simple, ordering him to chop up ingredients at the very least while he complained (“if you’re just going to criticise me, do it yourself!”). To this, you would remind him that he wanted to eat the food, did he not?

If anything, it was a cathartic vengeance for the power he held in the training rooms.

But anytime the receiver blared into life, the two of you would fall quickly into silence, drinking in every word, even the shortest exchange, of the boys which were out who-knows-where.

Tonight was one of those times. The two of you were sitting across from each other as always, beginning to eat.

The radio sparking to life cut off your conversation. Jungkook put his chopsticks down completely, turning his attention towards it. It was Jimin’s voice.

“Did anyone else see that?”

“I did. Hold on, I’ll go check it out,” Hobi replied.

Then an order from Namjoon.

“Yoongi, go with him.”

You continued staring at the small device even while no more exchanges could be heard. That wasn’t the usual stuff they talked about. Normally, it was just routine things, checking up on each other and confirming what they had planned.

But it was probably nothing. It was presumably quite a feat that they hadn’t come across any sort of difficulty in all the missions so far, and this would prove to be a false alarm or easily dealt with. You had seen what the boys were capable of, after all – just Hobi and Yoongi by themselves could be lethal.

That didn’t stop you from hanging on expectantly, though.

At last, the silence was broken. But not by what you had hoped.

“Guys? What can you see?”

Namjoon’s question was met with no reply. You couldn’t tear your eyes from the small radio, breath captive in your lungs.

Then, a jarring noise leapt like lightning from the speaker, making both you and Jungkook flinch. High-pitched, grating feedback, it faded almost instantly, but the scar it had torn in the previously peaceful kitchen remained.

Frozen to your seat, your food was well and truly forgotten as you heard Jin chime in next.

“Guys, get out of there.”

Namjoon’s trust in his right-hand man was evident, no hint of question in his voice as he reverted orders.

“Code two, hide the target and evacuate-”

“Yeah, we might have a problem with that,” Jimin cut him off.

A loud boom was audible, despite the limits of the small receiver that reduced it to white noise. Once again, it cut off.

It was then you realised Jungkook was on his feet. He snatched the radio from its spot on the counter.

“Stay here,” he said, back already retreating.

A second later, you were dashing after him. Reaching his side, you both shoved shoes on.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Jungkook glared at you with absolute incredulity, frown etched in his face. He didn’t even leave time to stare you down, however, already pushing past you and all but running down the front stairs.

You followed just as fast.

“I’m coming with you. They’re in trouble.”

“Which is exactly why I’m telling you to stay here,” he spat over his shoulder.

His foot tapped restlessly as the large front door slid open. The moment he had enough space to pass through, he was marching into the expansive garage, with you hot on his heels.

“I can help,” you argued.

Jungkook wove between the cars and stopped by a motorcycle. Turning to you, his face was set, frame livid and glare fierce while he dug harshly in his pocket for the keys.

“We don’t have time to argue.”

His tone was firm, clearly infuriated.

Just then, another concerning explosion crackled through the radio, standing your hair on end.

Stepping forwards, you swung your leg over the back of the motorbike and stared challengingly up at him.

“No. We don’t.”

The sound he let out bordered on a growl, but the next moment he had situated himself on the front of the bike, and a roaring filled the air as it shuddered into life beneath you. Left with virtually no time to react as he pulled away, you were forced to cling to the man in front of you.

With your arms thrown around him, you felt him stiffen under your touch. But then he was urging the bike forwards, and not a second later wind collided with your face as you shot from the base and into the night. The rapidly increasing speed left you to shelter your face in the back of his neck.

The cacophony in your ears and the rush of air that tugged your hair behind you should have alerted you that Jungkook was disregarding basically all existing traffic laws.

But you couldn’t care less.

With the blur of city lights whizzing past you, all you could think of was the speed with which you could reach the boys. The streets were fairly empty, but cars were dotted here and there. Probably cut some up, judging by the blaring horns at one intersection.

Thundering onto a wider street streaked with neon, your eyes fell on a billboard. As you sped towards it, the picture cut to purple fire and rubble, a live news banner scrolling along the bottom.

Then it was gone again, Jungkook guiding the bike around the corner and through more city streets.

The images set your head spinning, all the more restless on the back of the bike the longer you were helpless to do anything but wait for Jungkook to get you there. How was he going to find them? You hadn’t even been told where they were going. They hadn’t bothered you with mission details ever since you and Jungkook had been stood down-

“Almost there!” Jungkook’s yell was barely audible over the wind.

“Wait, how can you-”

“They’re protecting something called the Razer. Their plan B was to stash this weapon in some underground parking lot. You head down there, I’ll help fight them off. Looks like they were ambushed.”

“How do you know all this?” you finally made yourself heard.

“I snuck into Namjoon’s office, okay? I saw the plans,” he called back. “When we get there… you might have to fry this thing. It can’t fall into their hands, better that we destroy it altogether.”

You had no time to muster a reply before the bike was swinging around a corner and skidding to a halt.

At the end of this street, the sky was lit up. Purple fire blazed, just like on the billboard, but this time it was real, licking into the sky from the wreckage of a building on the corner. Other beams of light flashed, shocks of red and luminous white smattering the fronts of the buildings.

You got no more than a glimpse of a few figures silhouetted against this backdrop before Jungkook pulled you down to shelter behind the bike.

A hand on your shoulder keeping you in place, he peered over the top of the bike before returning his gaze to you.

“The building that’s been destroyed, the Razer should be in there. You should be able to make a way through the rubble. You’ll know when you see it. Do you remember training the other day?”

Trying to take in his instructions, you nodded.

“Use as much force as you can to overload it, like we practised. Should fry the weapon’s circuits.”

“Okay,” you muttered, taking a glance over the bike again. The street was littered with people, but no one seemed to have noticed your arrival.

“Y/N, they don’t know about you,” Jungkook’s voice recaptured your attention. “I’ll join the fight. It’ll distract them and buy you some time, hopefully give the others a chance to turn the tide as well. Don’t use your powers until you have to.”

He stood then, preparing to move around the bike and head into the fray.

His step faltered before he could go further.

When he turned back, a ray of gold flickered in his eyes.

“And Y/N… be careful. This weapon… if it strikes you, it can strip you of your power.”

Your eyes were locked for a long moment, his words sending a bolt of cold fear straight to your heart.

He took a breath, but said nothing more. An instant later, he was gone, the intensity of his eyes now no more than a mirage, quickly vanishing in your memory.

There was no time to agonise over it. Nor was there time to reconcile the implications of this fight, your first mission – your priorities turned to the weapon that was now in the open far from safe hands.

A flash of gold split through the night, sparks reflected in the bike’s mirrors.

Sucking in a lungful of air, you shuffled around the front wheel, slowly leaning out. Another blinding burst of gold showed you the outline of Jungkook, golden light firing him into the air. Sparks flew as he collided, wrestling, with someone halfway up a building.

The next moment, their figures plummeted to the ground.

Jungkook was the one who stood up again, the other staying motionless.

However, you weren’t here to watch. There was no time to stick around here. By now, others had noticed the newcomer to the fight; figures advancing your way down the street prompted you to get moving.

Ducking slightly, you picked your moment and sprinted the short distance from the bike to the edge of the street, flattening yourself against brick before checking no one had seen you.

All that greeted you were warring lights and the blur of fighting, backlit by the ever-raging fire.

Confident in being unnoticed, you sparked to life again, taking off on light feet in the opposite direction to the fighting. You raced around the corner to the neighbouring road, which was totally devoid of Bolt’s minions.

Judging by the short glimpses you had garnered so far, you guessed the group that had ambushed your friends were decked out with Bolt’s stolen goods – and were out for more. But you had no real idea how many of them had powers or not.

Or, come to think of it, how many of them there were at all.

All that mattered, though, was that there weren’t enough to have found you yet. You had run the length of the street, slowing as you reached the corner where the ruined parking lot stood.

Pressing your back against the wall, you edged around to peer at the damage. The fire was brighter here, making you squint. A few shapes darted in and out of view on the other side of the flames, but this side was still deserted.

This had to be it. Somewhere among this destruction was the weapon which had caused so much trouble.

Sheltered from view by V’s vibrant flames, you approached as close as you dared until you stood right in front of the rubble. You clambered over a few smaller chunks of concrete before you decided to begin.

With one more look around for security, you breathed deeply and raised your hands, palms only a hair away from a large block that used to form part of a wall, but now lay at your feet.

Biting your tongue, you finally let your powers out.

Remembering Jungkook’s words, you focussed on broadening the scope of your power, letting as much flow from your fingertips as possible. Blue bloomed in front of your eyes. A second later, the boulder began to glow the same hue.

Gritting your teeth, you propelled even more of your power downwards. For a moment, the rock resisted, only growing brighter blue. Then all at once, it gave way with a splintering sound that was swallowed up by the roaring of the fire.

With the sudden caving, you stumbled forwards, supressing your powers hurriedly to hide any light that would give you away. Just before you could trip into the gap revealed by the destruction of the rubble, you caught yourself with a hand on the ruptured concrete edge.

The fire did little to light up the dark space that now gaped below you.

Crouching, you peered carefully around. After a moment, your eyes had adjusted enough to reveal a concrete staircase, shrouded in the debris from the collapsed wall.

You shifted closer until you could lower yourself over the edge. Holding onto the remains of the wall, you dropped down onto the stairway.

It was seriously dark down here. To continue, you had to summon a small ball of light. Blue hovered above your palm, helping you pick through the dust and bricks that littered the ground from the building’s collapse.

On the plus side, it was utterly empty. You were clearly the first one to break through to this part, so you pushed ahead, following the stairs down as per Jungkook’s instructions. The plan had been to hide it underground.

Further on, you found the base of the staircase drowned in another pile of rubble. A larger slab encroached, looming from where it had been dislodged from the ceiling, lowering the height of the space. You didn’t dare try to move that one, however, almost certain that it was keeping a larger amount of debris from filling this corridor entirely.

Ducking quickly under that, you shot through a couple of smaller pieces before you could see a way through.

Not wanting to shift more stone than you had to, you wriggled through the gap you had created. The other side was lit with a wavering yellow light, making the stairs’ shadow flicker. A few more steps led down before you finally found the end to the enclosed space.

A blank corridor led to a door which hung off its hinges. Pausing when you reached it, a bigger, equally blank space opened out in front of you.

Though a small part of the ceiling had caved in the opposite corner, a pile of rubble collected there, the intact state of the walls told you that you were finally below ground level. The space was wide, but heavy with the oppressive air of industrial parking towers, walls strewn with graffiti. Artificial lights flickered in the corner of your vision.

The lights quivered even more as a loud boom ricocheted through the space.

That confirmed you were heading in the right direction, at least. Taking off running, you skidded through the next doorway and were instantly greeted with chaos.

Purple flickered and danced along the opposite wall – although you weren’t sure there was a real wall there at all. In front of this barrier of his own making, V was silhouetted.

Before submerging yourself in the waves of heat the large fire was throwing off, you took a breath. You couldn’t make out any enemies in the gaps between the flames, the light too dim and distorted by the blaze, but V shot another burst of flame as you watched. Your eyes were too dazzled to see if it had hit someone.

“V!” you called, hurrying to his side.

He turned with a jolt, arms still raised. Stopping in your tracks at his abrupt movement, you watched his eyes cloud with recognition.

Slowly, he lowered his palms.

“…How?”

You filled in the blanks of his low, startled question easily. How did you get here?

“No one followed me, I promise,” you stepped closer, “we heard you on the radio. We need to destroy that weapon.”

Nodding, V shifted his eyes furtively around before they landed on the only intact door in the place.

“There- mmph!”

V raised an arm to point, but was suddenly thrown in that direction himself.

“V!” you cried, crouching to his side, but your eyes were scanning the flame.

Hissing, V rolled over, clutching at his side which had been struck with… something. It wasn’t the same thing that had hurt him last time, but you knew the weapons Bolt was using were anything but friendly.

“Go… destroy...” he urged you, though the following groan of pain made you hesitate.

Gulping, you looked helplessly between V, who was struggling back to his feet, and the doorway he had shown you. Just as he stumbled upright, both of your attention was snatched by a figure breaking through the flames.

They had an arm over their face, grimacing at the heat, but they lifted their weapon blindly anyway.

You dived to the floor, scurrying away from the round of bullets strewn about the space.

Before either of you could retaliate, a shot of gold pierced the purple veil, sending the attacker flying. As the shots ceased, you caught sight of a silhouette you recognised darting behind the column of fire.

“Go!” V shouted again.

Meeting his eyes, you steeled yourself with a breath. While you wanted to stay and help against those enemies trying to break through the fire to get to V, with Jungkook to contend with on the other side as well, they were surrounded.

Now it was up to you.

You had found yourself with your back against the very door you needed to go through. Spinning, you wrenched it open to be met with another descending staircase. The lights had gone out totally here, but there was no time to waste.

Plunging into the darkness with nothing but your own light to guide you, you felt the temperature drop. Your skin was clammy, sweat from the heat above now clinging icily to your face, but you weren’t hanging about.

Feet finally finding flat ground, you looked around urgently until you caught sight of a shape ahead.

It was a large box, black so it nearly blended in with the darkness. Scrabbling to get to the weapon within, you easily blasted aside the simple metal fastenings.

On opening it, bright light startled your eyes once more. A clear sphere filled with what looked like bolts of lightning formed the centre of the device. The surrounding parts containing it were white, clearly a prototype, and resembled a gun.

Already feeling your powers bubbling up, you didn’t hesitate to place your hands on the spherical centre. A tingle flew up your spine.

Refusing to let fear get to you now, even with the knowledge of what this thing could do, you continued to push until your powers spilled from your fingertips. Blue lightning skittered over the glass surface, caging the still writhing light within.

Glowing brighter and brighter as you expelled more power, you began to feel something. Like the time in training when Jungkook had connected your powers and you had felt his golden electricity – except this, this was cold.

The glass shattered between your hands, noise and light smothering your senses as you were thrown backwards.

Your back met concrete, your own gasps heavy in your ears.

The cold was still there.

Blinking rapidly, you grappled to hold onto your powers, keep them flowing. Squinting into the brightness surrounding you, you found a brilliant white light had sprung from the weapon’s casing, seemingly latched onto your own powers.

Fear jolted through you. The light, whatever its power, was pushing back, trying to devour your own.

You had been trained for this. But – and you would never repeat this – you longed for Jungkook in that moment. The safety of the training room, and the usual guarantee of coming out alive, had all fallen away.

It was just you. Alone.

But there was a fight raging above you, all for this thing. You had to do this: for Yoongi and Hobi who could be anywhere right now. Hurt, bleeding? For Jin and Namjoon, wanting to come out on top. Jimin, fighting for V who was penned into the parking lot defending you.

And for Jungkook.

You had been trained for this.

Adrenaline buzzing in your veins, you pushed yourself up from the floor, power swelling in your chest. Letting it out completely, it charged through your veins until it was spitting sparks in the air, jaws gnashing against the blazing white that threatened to devour it.

One foot forwards.

The white lightning squirmed, as if trying to shake you off. You never relented. Blue advanced steadily from your hands until it was all that could be seen.

Breaking point. You kept up the pressure, feeling the last bit of resistance from the weapon-

Crack.

Upstairs, the fire V had lit was buffeted as if hit by a powerful gust of wind. Disturbed anew, blocks shifted in the rubble, pebbles raining to earth. The opponent Jungkook had been fighting was swept clean from their feet, his golden light harmlessly striking the wall behind the spot where they had just stood.

But as the enemy was forced to the floor, Jungkook’s attention was already elsewhere. Struggling to stay standing through the shockwave, he staggered back a few paces before he could turn towards the fire. The way you had gone.

The ground seemed to settle again, the blast leaving silence in its wake.

The first sound was his feet pounding on the floor. Striding right over the fighters lying on the ground, uncaring whether they were dead or alive, skirting around the fire they had been attempting to cross seconds ago.

None of Bolt’s pathetic followers attempted to stop Jungkook. They couldn’t deny the meaning of that explosion – the thing they were after was destroyed.

Normally, he might stay, try to stop them fleeing. As it was, he didn’t stand between them and their retreat, instead sprinting towards the source of the commotion.

V had kept his guard up, still eyeing the fire for movement with dark eyes. He caught Jungkook’s eyes as the younger stopped in front of him, eyes wide and panicked.

V turned.

Following his gaze, Jungkook found a doorway. Behind the open door was consuming darkness, still and silent.

You were in there.

His feet were moving again, steps turning to strides as he picked up speed, only to nearly trip over himself as he got closer.

You rushed up the stairway, catching yourself on the doorframe. Leaning against it, you panted for breath, but an exhilarated smile never left your features.

As your breathing calmed, you looked around into the car park. Eyes meeting Jungkook’s, you straightened up a little.

His mouth hung slightly agape. He had expected you to crawl from there bleeding, if the shockwave had been anything to go by. And for him to be the one that sent you down there-

“I did it!” you exclaimed.

Blinking rapidly, he clocked how long he must have been staring in shock.

Nodding, he hurriedly shuffled around in pretence of checking the area like V.

“Good. I almost didn’t think you were going to be any help.”

You had no time to decipher his comment before V cast a sharp gaze over the two of you. His usual silence had taken hold again, but Jungkook seemed to understand him.

“We need to move.”

Striding away purposefully, V left you two to scramble after him. Jungkook threw one more skittish glance at you, but quickly turned his eyes away to march after V.

The fire’s heat grew in intensity as you neared, smothering. V waved a hand and a gap opened up, the glaring purple giving way to pure darkness beyond. Hurrying through, you panted gratefully in the cool night air. Even among the rush of your battle downstairs, you felt a bit wobbly from the strain.

Leaving the fire blazing behind you without a care, your trio scaled the wreckage, this side of the building being the main victim of the destruction. The landslide of rubble sloped upwards, your path weaving between motionless figures, slumped in gaps between the debris.

V bent down to scoop up a gun, lifting it easily from a fallen opponent. Their hand fell uselessly back onto the rock.

Jungkook did the same, only he flung the weapons he collected back into the fire behind you. It spat as it guzzled them, but the sound grew fainter as you finally reached the street and hurried away over flat ground.

As the three of you sprinted through the night, the full extent of the battle was spread before you. Scattered around the burning building were pieces of wreckage, but you were sure they couldn’t have been flung that far if it wasn’t for human intervention in the destruction.

You were forced to leap over a large channel where the road had cracked, somehow.

Eerily still after the furore that had been raging only moments ago, your group’s footsteps rang loudly in your ears. Which is why the crunch that echoed through the wasteland stopped you in your tracks.

Whizzing around, you were instantly alert, feeling your powers stir.

But the air left your lungs, relieved by the blur of pink that was coming towards you.

Jimin tossed a mangled car to one side like it was nothing, only focussed on V. They collided, Jimin burying his head in V’s shoulder and desperately clutching him close.

It was only after pulling away that he registered your presence. His eyes flicked between you and Jungkook, a million questions forming in his eyes.

But he left them unsaid.

He started running again, hand clutched in V’s and leading him around the corner. Following, you drew further from the fiery glare in your wake. The shadows grew thicker, your path taking you off that road and further into the city maze.

Wailing met your ears, sirens announcing the likely arrival of authorities at the site of the fight – all too late to stop anything.

Though you were out of sight, you were only a few streets away. Enough to make you feel terribly exposed to the building clamour of sirens. A glance over your shoulder showed the distinct red and blue of emergency vehicles painting the dark sky.

Then you caught sight of something – someone – stepping forwards from the shadows.

Someone with silvery hair and eyes that glowed bright white.

You hadn’t really seen Yoongi use his powers. His eyes were truly striking, but he did little more than breathe and suddenly the world was plunged back into darkness. The colours disappeared from the sky, even the streetlights dying.

“Yoongi!” Jimin exclaimed, changing course to rush towards him, “you’re okay! What happened-?”

“We’re fine,” Yoongi spoke calmly, dazzling eyes scanning the road behind you, “just couldn’t get back- speaking of, where are we getting to now?”

As if summoned, a figure dropped from the now dark streetlamp. No one else could make a landing like that look so easy.

Yellow faded from Hope’s eyes as he faced you, grin splitting his face.

“Namjoon got to Jin alright, they’re on their way. Just saw them.”

Only the crunch of tyres gave away the car that swung around the corner. The headlights had been cut, whether by Yoongi or by Jin, driving, as a precaution. It blended with the shadows, sliding through them to stop smoothly in front of your group, assembled on the pavement.

It wasn’t until a door swung open and Namjoon stood from it that you remembered the fact you weren’t meant to be there.

This far, the adrenaline of the action had driven it from your mind. But the look Namjoon threw at you and Jungkook made reality come crashing back around you. Would he be angry? He was the one who had stood you down after all.

He breathed in evenly, gaze raking painstakingly over you…

“Get in.”

That was all he said, ducking back inside the car without another word.

As always, nothing could be read through his words. Sobered, you looked at the boys around you, waiting for them to pile into the car before you joined them.

Inside, you kept silent. Jimin and Tae were squished together in the back, Hope apparently cheerful beside them. By contrast, in the middle, Yoongi was staring intently out at the passing streets. His irises still glowed white, reflected in the darkened glass of the window. No trace of emergency lights, searchlights or even regular city lights found its way remotely near you.

This left you shoulder to shoulder with Jungkook, a frosty silence stretching between you.

With Yoongi doing his job so well, Jin guided the car silently back home. Namjoon’s calculating eyes scanned the lot of you through the rear mirror occasionally.

All you could do was try valiantly to ignore the firm press of Jungkook’s arm against yours. But it was impossible to drive him from your mind; in a way, this was familiar. His rigid frame, determinedly staring ahead. Anywhere but you.

Then why did it make you feel so small now?

You were well used to this kind of treatment from him, reciprocating it more often than not. So it was totally unfair how he could occupy your thoughts so relentlessly. All you had done was follow his orders. Rushed into battle together, yes. But you reminded yourself that he never wanted you there anyway. You were still just a hindrance to him.

Setting your jaw, you turned your gaze stoically out the window. A lone streetlight travelled past – you must be almost home if Yoongi felt it safe enough to let the light back in.

You had lost them well enough in the dark maze of the centre, and now you could throw them off your trail.

Through the reflections, you eyed the car packed with all of you. It felt right, with everyone there. Dimmed by the window glass, you saw Jimin’s arm slung around V’s shoulder, small smiles on everyone’s faces as he exchanged low jokes with Hobi.

Jin and Namjoon guided you home at the head of the vehicle. Namjoon’s glances were caring instead of cold, checking up on his fellow fighters.

This could have been different. Nerves remained about his decision, what your actions tonight would make him think. But you could rest knowing you had stepped in to help your new family, part of the reason you were all safely in this car now.

These events only bolstered what had been growing within you. These boys were your team.

Every single one.

Thank you for reading!! Good news for those of you dying to hear what Namjoon will do now, remember the next chapter is going up on Wednesday 29th💜until then, let me know your thoughts down below🥰

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Exhaling, you cast your gaze across the rest of the training space, though you knew it to be empty. You were tucked down the end, where Jungkook had been practising before, and now stood opposite you.

“I- I don’t-” you stammered, “what do you mean?”

Jungkook poorly concealed the roll of his eyes.

“Namjoon taught you how to do this yesterday-“

“-I wouldn’t say taught, exactly-“

“-so let’s see it.”

Was Jungkook not supposed to be helping you? Namjoon had said his powers were closest to yours. Clearly his eagerness for you to learn from Jungkook had blinded him to the very clear hatred Jungkook harboured for you.

But if this was how he wanted to play it, you would go along. Prove to him that you didn’t need his help to improve.

Gritting your teeth, you lifted your palms as Namjoon had shown you earlier. What else had he told you? To summon the right feeling.

This time, instead of being afraid of the pain your powers had brought at first, you searched for the sensation in your chest. Briefly, your eyes flickered to the side. Jungkook was watching you impatiently, eyebrows raised.

He didn’t think you could do it.

Swallowing, you pulled your eyes away from him and towards the metal target he had fixed on the wall, the one you had seen him training with earlier.

Like opening a trapdoor in your chest, a blaze of heat suddenly escaped. You panted as it flowed from your palms, watching with pride as your bright blue current zapped across the surface of the metal, just as his gold had done earlier.

After a moment, you felt your energy waning and fumbled to close off the power again. Though it took you a great deal of concentration, it came easier than it had done the first time. Glowing with your achievement, you turned, head high, to face Jungkook. Maybe you had been too hard on yourself earlier, as Jimin had said. You would soon get better.

But instead of any indication he was impressed, Jungkook simply folded his arms, expression unchanging.

“You need to be quicker,” he said.

Not entirely concealing the disappointment that lanced through you at his dismissal, you waited for him to elaborate.

But he merely stared.

It became clear he had no intention of continuing. Hands tightening to fists at your sides, you scoffed in irritation.

“And are you going to tell me how to do that?”

“I’m sure you can figure it out,” he said darkly. He turned and stalked away to the bench by the wall, leaving you no chance to argue.

Before he turned around, you wrenched your eyes away, and back to the target. Fine. He didn’t want to teach you. He was only here because Namjoon had made him, but he was taking it as a chance to try and see you fail.

But you were determined he wasn’t going to be the only star student around here.

Your arms lifted, and this time it was much easier for you to summon the electricity. Perhaps, like physical exercise, this was a matter of getting warmed up.

A sharp blast of blue rattled the metal against the wall. A smirk slid across your face.

You shut it off and tried again.

At the side of the room, Jungkook watched without reaction as blue repeatedly fired across the space, the same vivid lightning reflected as a glow in your eyes. You smiled as you watched that deathly light, and he knew he was right about you. He saw that same cold joy at using powers that could take a life – the exact same as the man who had given them to you.

By the end of your training time, your confidence had been restocked. Jungkook hadn’t offered you any more assessments of your weaknesses, but you were certain you had become quicker at both activating and stopping your powers than you could have imagined after your first try the previous morning.

Another clash sounded through the room as you hit the target again. As it faded, leaving just the sound of your panting breaths to fill the space, a voice spoke.

“Very impressive.”

Lowering your arm and whirling around, you found Namjoon leaning against the opposite wall. He strode towards you, though you noticed his eyes travelling to Jungkook who was still skulking by the wall.

“Loads better already,” Namjoon offered you a smile on his way past, “nice work, both of you.”

As his leader approached him, Jungkook got to his feet, enduring the congratulations of Namjoon who threw an arm around him.

“Yep,” Jungkook ground out, eyes fixed on you, “she’s certainly determined.”

His blood boiled even further seeing your mouth quirk up at that.

“Get some rest. You’re done for the day,” Namjoon told you. Nodding, you headed away, not waiting for Jungkook. It was just as well, because Namjoon held him back.

“I’m proud of you,” he told the younger sincerely, “I knew you would be able to welcome her in eventually. And it looks like you helped her a lot. It may not be easy for you, but you set aside your differences and that’s great.”

Namjoon’s encouraging smile was the first thing to strike guilt into him about how he had been treating you. His leader was so pleased, but it was all a lie. He hadn’t really done anything to make him proud.

Nodding with an attempt at a smile, he excused himself for the gym. Whenever he couldn’t make sense of his thoughts, they could usually be straightened out by a workout, so he headed straight there and began with some pull-ups.

He trusted Namjoon. Namjoon wanted to welcome you. But still, he couldn’t seem to support the decision.

Again, his mind replayed the mental images of you, standing with your shoulders set and arms raised, repeatedly firing deadly electricity through the air. The flashes of blue were enough to dissipate his guilt almost instantly.

His biceps and shoulders began to protest, but he pushed through. If he could just make a few more…

The problem was, he could see that fatal determination in you. His comments hadn’t prevented you from pushing your powers harder. Did you even understand how dangerous they were? Anyone could end up with powers like that, and not all were equipped to deal with them. Not everyone would use them for the best.

It was clear to him that you wanted nothing more than to master them as quickly as possible. And then, who knew what you could do? To him. To his team.

He dropped back to the ground, panting heavily.

Rubbing his burning palms together, he watched as gold static crackled around them. He clenched them into fists, turning away.

You stared hazily at the four blank walls of the room. It was entirely dark, your eyes only picking out slight details. Not that there were many to behold; you remained in the bare room from your first night, clearly not fully trusted with your powers yet.

Though you felt you had proved yourself a little when you trained with Jungkook earlier, you had to agree it was for the best. You didn’t want to admit quite how drained you felt after the adrenaline from your training had faded.

At first, you had crashed on the sofa, chatting with Hope and Jimin again. They were encouraging as always, understanding of the tiredness that seeped into your bones.

“Don’t push yourself,” Jimin had warned again. “You only just got your powers after all. You’re still adjusting.”

But fairly soon, talk of powers and training had been dropped. They put the tv on, and besides the news article which flashed up at first (‘Bolt describes his defeat of Monster Necrus X’), it was the first time the craziness of this new world you had crash landed into was gone from your mind. You didn’t care what they put on, paying minimal attention to the show and instead basking in the downtime with your new friends.

But when Hope looked up warily, you didn’t even need to guess who was standing behind you.

Jungkook’s venomous glare only met you for a second as he walked past, instead settling on ignoring you completely as he headed to the kitchen. The same loose t shirt hung from his frame, but since you came upstairs it had been drenched with sweat, clinging to his back as he headed to the kitchen.

Looked like he did train as hard as the others had told you.

Heaving yourself to a sitting position with some difficulty, you groaned. You hadn’t been working out, in the traditional sense at least, but your muscles had seized up.

You kept your gaze on Jungkook, who was filling a bottle and tilting his head back to gulp down some water. When he met your eyes again, his darkened, jaw popping in irritation.

With a sigh, you turned back to the others who were eyeing you apprehensively.

“I think I’m gonna head to bed,” you sighed.

“You don’t have to-” Jimin tried, but you shook your head.

“It’s okay. I’m about to pass out anyway. Have a good night.”

You weren’t sure what time it was then, but it must have been early because on waking you found yourself wide awake while it was still dark, the house quiet. Despite the subtle ache in your body from the strenuous first day, and the heaviness of your head, you were firmly awake.

Pushing the covers off, you sat with a huff.

At least this feeling, this inability to sleep, wasn’t something isolated from the regular world you used to know. Even people who had never seen lightning shooting from their own hands had trouble sleeping sometimes. A normal problem, that you could deal with.

And so it was almost relieving when you padded into the deserted kitchen. For the moment, you didn’t have to cling to anyone, least of all someone who seemed to despise you, to guide you through.

In the kitchen, you flicked on the lights beneath the cupboards, the minimum level to light the space without assaulting your weary eyes.

Through your tiredness you breathed in the still air as you sat back, having set the kettle to boil. You watched the water inside growing restless as it heated up, tracking the bubbles as something to do.

It was only when the light flicked off, signalling that the steaming water was ready, that you took your eyes off it. And then you nearly fell out of your chair.

As you had turned to stand and retrieve the kettle, you found the seat beside you filled.

Biting back a curse, you simply panted, hand over your chest as you recovered from your shock. Big eyes blinked back at you.

While you steadied yourself against the counter, you took in the person’s face. You hadn’t been introduced yet, but remembered seeing him the first night you had arrived, holding onto Jimin’s hand.

He hadn’t said anything yet, so you shifted slightly and decided to break the silence.

“Sorry… I didn’t notice you come in. Do you have powers like Yoongi’s?”

The only move he made was to close his lips.

Okay, that hadn’t worked. Glancing over at the kettle, steam still emitting from the spout, you tried again.

“I’m making tea. Do you want any?”

Slowly, a smile turned his lips up at the corners. What could be considered a nod moved his head, and a knot of relief unwound in you as you scampered around the counter to fetch mugs. Eventually, the calming scent of tea wafted in steam from each cup as you slid one tentatively in front of your companion.

Clasping your hands around the warming ceramic, you spoke softly as you waited for it to cool enough to drink.

“I’m Y/N. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.”

His eyes raised from his tea and you mustered a small smile. You hadn’t expected him to reply at all, so when his smile returned and he spoke, you were astonished.

“V,” was all he said, a deep voice that didn’t disturb the quiet.

Your own smile grew. Sliding back into a seat, you took that as a win and kept talking.

“I couldn’t sleep,” you chuckled, “I figured no one would be up, not that it matters. I almost feel like I’m back at home. Midnight tea breaks are still a thing when you become a superhero, it seems.”

Laughing at yourself, you took a sip of your tea at last. But lowering you mug, you noticed a frown creasing V’s brow.

“Hero…” he muttered.

“I was just joking,” you laughed nervously, “I barely know how to use my powers yet.”

He said nothing else, but you noticed his fingers tightening around his cup. Had you done something wrong?

“Is something wrong?” you asked gently, reaching a hand subtly closer to him.

But in that moment, a hot, itchy feeling shot down your arm. With a gasp, you tensed, recognising the feeling and scrabbling to restrain it as you had learned to.

Though you held back the threatening torrent, a small flicker of blue escaped, leaping from your hand.

Closing your eyes and gritting your teeth, you withdrew, but a sudden smashing sound assaulted your ears, making it difficult to focus inwardly. The moment you flinched away, eyes snapping open to see a chair strewn on the floor among a growing tea stain and shards of shattered ceramic, control slipped away from you again.

Eyes widening, you backed away from V, now several paces away from you. Blue crackled around your hands.

It prompted you to take your eyes off the shadowy figure of V, breathing deeply as you locked your powers away, a slight simmering in your chest the only reminder as they retreated.

You had successfully shut down your powers, as you had been taught. But it didn’t seem to have been enough, not for the tense figure that stood on the other side of the trashed kitchen.

Your eyes opened as you staggered back and into the wall, panting with the exertion your powers always inflicted. You opened and closed your hands experimentally. No more electricity threatened. Next, your eyes fell on V, who took another step backwards.

You didn’t know what to say, but before you had the chance, another figure was approaching from the dark corridor. They were practically running towards you.

Even in the unlit space, you soon saw that it was Jungkook. His nostrils flared as he noticed you, but first he turned to V. Not far behind on his heels was Jimin, who didn’t spare you a glance as he ran to V as well, instantly throwing his arms around him from behind.

You could only stand, frozen as Jimin led V away. Jungkook remained.

Biting down on your tongue, you pushed yourself to stand unsupported again. Jungkook stepped disdainfully over the remnants of V’s tea on the floor, stalking towards you. He didn’t stop until he was close enough that it forced you to look up at him.

“What are you thinking?” he hissed.

“I-I don’t know what happened,” you stammered.

You might as well not have bothered, cut off nearly instantly by Jungkook. He was practically snarling, throwing a hand out as he ranted.

“You’re damn lucky you weren’t fried to a crisp!”

“I got my powers under control-“ you protested.

Teeth gritted, Jungkook pressed even closer to you, crowding your space as he glared into your eyes.

“I wasn’t talking about you!”

Clenching your jaw, you breathed through your nose, refusing to budge even though his face was mere inches away. Silence stretched out, nothing but your breathing filling the space as you tried to fathom his words.

“V…” you murmured. A curious frown creased your brows, but Jungkook didn’t feel like indulging you. His lips curled into a scowl.

“You must be stupid. I’m not sure if you noticed, but our powers aren’t anything to fool around with. All of us.”

“He… he wasn’t going to hurt me,” you spoke. At first in disbelief, but you grew more certain. V had had more than enough chance to attack you if he had wanted to.

“You don’t know that. Just stay away from him,” Jungkook spat, stepping back.

You jumped in before he could turn his back.

“And how am I supposed to do that? I live here too, Jungkook!”

“That’s the problem!” he rounded on you, “you don’t know anything about us!”

“I don’t know what you’re so afraid of,” you spoke coldly, “V is fine. And so am I, if you cared to know. I did exactly what I’m training to do.”

It was your turn to walk away, passing Jungkook on your way towards the exit. Unfinished tea be damned, you couldn’t keep arguing with him.

“Like scare him half to death?”

You paused in your path. Why did he think you were training to instil fear? You were training because you had no other option, with powers as unpredictable as yours. But it seemed fear was what you had caused anyway.

Dropping your head, you gazed at your hands, wishing anew that you didn’t have this complicated curse that drove people away. That made you into a danger.

But you didn’t have the words or the will to explain this to the obstinate Jungkook.

“See you at training,” you spoke flatly, and stepped away.

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