#militia

You peeked through the curtains and watched as a small fleet of worn-down jeeps and trucks pulled up to the gravel lot out front of the mansion, the bright headlights obscuring the figures that emerged from the vehicles. It was late into the evening now, so you couldn’t make out the features of the forty or so men that crowded around, but you did recognize the goateed black man that walked up and embraced Seonghwa as he went out to greet the newly-arrived guests.

Peter and Seonghwa looked around anxiously as they spoke, the rest of Peter’s men huddling around the parked vehicles nearby, awaiting Peter’s orders before taking any sort of action.

You had cleaned yourself up and changed back into a t-shirt and sweatpants, sitting on a velvet bench beside a window in the dark, unlit foyer, making sure to keep yourself hidden from view as you observed the men outside. You shifted your gaze beyond the tree line, searching for any sign of headlights in the distance—searching for any sign of Hongjoong and the others.

A soft hand on your shoulder caused you to flinch, only just now realizing that it had been a long while since you had last taken a breath, the unexpected touch pulling you out of an anxious trance. You turned to look up at Jongho, who shifted an apprehensive gaze between you and the window.

“We should get you to your room…” Jongho swallowed and met your eyes, trying to urge you to follow him.

Your breath was heavy as you let out a slow exhale through flared nostrils, gripping the curtain as your eyes wandered down to the floor, “This concerns me, right?” You lifted your eyes again to give Jongho a stern glare, “Shouldn’t I at least be part of the conversation?”

Jongho let out a desperate sigh, his brows furrowed with concern as he glanced out the window towards Peter’s men, “We can’t let them see you…”

You had now idea how much the men outside knew about the situation—they seemed anxious, but not overly curious about what could be hiding inside the mansion, so maybe they didn’t know?

“Given everything that’s going on…” You murmured, staring at Peter and Seonghwa. You watched as Peter’s gaze shifted in your direction, his eyes briefly meeting yours for a moment before you closed the curtains. “How long do you honestly expect to keep me a secret from them?”

***

San pulled the truck up to the mansion, Peter’s militia members all stepping back to give way for Hongjoong’s group to drive on through. San parked the vehicle just in front of Peter and Seonghwa, who stood there waiting for them, illuminated by the headlights.

Hongjoong stumbled out of the truck, moving forward in a daze towards the mansion, San, Mingi, Yeosang, Yunho, and Wooyoung cautiously emerging from the truck after him.

“Joongie…” Peter attempted to place a hand on Hongjoong’s shoulder, but the smaller man just waved him off, his eyes fixed ahead of him.

“Let me… Let me just get inside first…” Hongjoong raked his hair back, his momentum pushing him forward, “Let’s get inside where I can think…”

“Hongjoong!” Jongho yelled from the entrance of the mansion, his feet pounding on the stone ground as he met Hongjoong just outside the door.

Hongjoong stopped, his expression falling when he saw Jongho’s bruised face, his lip quivering with regret as he spoke, “Jongho… I—”

Before Hongjoong could continue, Jongho suddenly lurched forward and struck him across the face, causing the smaller man to stumble hard onto the ground. The crowd around them went silent.

Jongho heaved heavy breaths, his expression stern and intense as he stepped closer to the stunned Hongjoong. The lawyer let out a slow exhale to soothe his nerves, stroking his hair back with a nod, “There…” He reached down and took Hongjoong by the hand, pulling him back up to his feet. “Now we’re even.” Jongho then embraced Hongjoong, the smaller man’s eyes widening with a complicated series of emotions all rushing through him at once.

Hongjoong’s voice shook as he attempted to speak into Jongho’s shoulder, “J-Jongho…”

The lawyer’s eyes stung with tears that started to fall down his cheeks, hugging the smaller man even tighter, “I know you’re scared, Joong. You’ve already lost so much, and you’re terrified of losing it again.” He leaned back and held onto Hongjoong’s arms with both hands, swallowing as he stared into his friend’s eyes, “We’re going to need to trust each other if we’re going to get through this. You can’t fall apart on me.”

Hongjoong’s legs buckled beneath him, his weight falling into Jongho as the large man held him up. Hongjoong sobbed, hugging Jongho tight and burying his face into the stockier man’s arm, “I’m so sorry, Jongho… I fucked up. I should have trusted you, I-I sh-shouldn’t have…”

“I know…” Jongho sighed and pulled the weeping Hongjoong up to give him a proper hug, patting the back of the smaller man’s head to comfort him, “I know, Joong.” He stepped back and held onto Hongjoong’s tear-stained face, forcing him to meet his eyes. He gave Hongjoong a playful slap on the cheek, smirking as he spoke, “We’ll figure out how you can properly pay me back for all that bullshit later.” The lawyer smoothed out Hongjoong’s sleeves, “For now…” Jongho eyed the people surrounding him and let out a long, slow sigh, “We gotta figure out how to clean up this mess…”

Seonghwa placed his hand on Jongho’s shoulder, his gaze shifting from Hongjoong to Peter, who stood close by, “Let’s get inside and discuss how we’re gonna deal with this. Peter, have your men wait out here…”

Peter nodded and turned to wave out to his men, “You guys stay put! We’re gonna discuss things inside, I’ll give you an update when we’re finished!”

Jongho put his arm around Hongjoong and led him through the door, followed by Seonghwa and Peter, then San, Mingi, Yeosang, Yunho, and Wooyoung.

Inside the mansion, you quickly stood up from the bench and met Hongjoong’s eyes as he and Jongho walked through the door. The two of you stared at each other for a long moment of silence. You then stepped towards Hongjoong, and he reached out for you, quickly taking you in his arms and breathing hard into your shoulder as he hugged you tight.

“I’m so sorry.” Hongjoong gripped onto the fabric of your shirt, pushing his forehead into your shoulder, “I’m so, so sorry…”

“It’s okay.” You breathed out, “I’m just glad you guys are okay…”

Hongjoong pulled away slowly, turning to glance at Peter as he walked into the foyer.

Peter gave you a reassuring smirk, offering his hand to you, smiling as you took it, “It’s nice to meet you properly, ‘Felix’.” He shook your hand and pulled away, “Though, I wish it were under better circumstances…” Peter put a hand on Hongjoong’s shoulder and squeezed, “I wish all of this were under better circumstances.”

Hongjoong nodded, looking over to the others as they walked into the foyer and closed the door after them. “I did some thinking on the drive over, I have some ideas on how we can deal with Rourke, but we won’t be able to pull it off without Pyrate’s help…”

Peter put his hands on his hips and glanced towards the curtain covered windows, “I’m more than happy to help, Joongie…” The goateed man then shifted his gaze towards the rest of group, his voice dropping low, “But I haven’t exactly told my boys yet what’s going on…”

Seonghwa nodded slowly, “We’ll figure out what to say to them. We’ll come up with something that doesn’t involve her.” He met your eyes, his own tinged with poorly concealed anxiety.

Wooyoung nodded and crossed his arms, “Yeah, they don’t exactly need to know about her, right?”

Peter grit his teeth and looked down, “There’s no question that we need to keep her hidden from the rest of the world… But if my guys are going to risk their lives for this—for her—they’re going to need a good fucking reason.” He sighed and lifted his eyes to look at Hongjoong, “They need to know.”

Hongjoong’s body shook as he inhaled, staring at the floor, going over all the possible options, weighing all the pros and cons in his head. His silence made the others uneasy.

Jongho stammered, looking from Hongjoong to Peter, “We… We obviously can’t tell them… We can’t tell them about…”

Peter bit his lip and shook his head, “We’re going into a war for this, mate… They’re going to find out sooner or later…”

Seonghwa glared at Peter, his eyes in a panic but his lips sealed shut, just waiting for Hongjoong’s decision.

Jongho shook his head, “N-no… No.” He raked his fingers through his hair, “We’ll think of something… Something to say to them… Something that won’t reveal…”

Mingi shouted out in a baffled tone, “Joong, you can’t be considering telling them!? That will just create more problems!”

Hongjoong’s expression became still, coming to terms with the reality presented to him. “Peter’s right.” He glanced over towards you and took your hand, “If we want their help, they’ll need to know what they’re heading into.” Hongjoong met your eyes, and you just looked back at him, already knowing the decision he had to make. You gave him a small nod, and Hongjoong shifted his gaze over to Peter, “How much do you trust your men?”

Peter stared back at Hongjoong, his voice soft as he spoke, “You tell me.” He crossed his arms, “You’ve said on a number of occasions that you think of them as family, that the camp is your second home…” The goateed man lowered his head and nodded, “These are unprecedented circumstances, I can’t speak on every single one of them how they’ll react… If each one of them is truly trustworthy with this…” He met Hongjoong’s eyes, “But if you’re going to get out of this, you’ll need to trust them with your life, just like I do.”

Hongjoong looked at Peter for a long moment, silent and deep in thought. He then turned his attention towards you, taking hold of both of your hands. His voice was gentle and broken as he spoke, “I won’t let them hurt you, I promise.”

You bit your lip and nodded, giving Hongjoong’s hands a reassuring squeeze, “I know.”

Slowly, Hongjoong led you towards the doorway.

Mingi lunged forward, hissing low in his throat, “Joong! What are you doing!?” Yunho held the pink haired man back, knowing he couldn’t do anything about the situation. This wasn’t his decision to make.

Jongho grabbed you by the arm to keep you from moving forward, tears in his eyes as he gave you a desperate look, “Y-you have a say in this decision, too. Just like you said…” He shook his head, pleading with you not to continue forward, “You don’t have to go out there.”

You placed your hand on his, looking down for a moment before meeting his eyes, “You guys will be killed if we don’t get their help.” You gave him a reassuring nod, “You can’t keep me a secret anymore.” You turned away from Jongho’s grip, meeting Peter’s eyes as you walked towards the door.

Wooyoung grabbed his hair and stared at you, his breathing uneven and catching in his throat. San gripped the Oreo haired man tight with one hand, the other hand reaching to take a cautious hold on the gun he had holstered to his side.

Yeosang just watched, his eyes silently following you, his body twitching briefly with a momentary break in his facade. His face managed to maintain a stoic resolve, but his body held onto a tight anxiety that trembled through his limbs.

Peter whispered into your ear as he reached for the handle of the door, “I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to you, I promise.”

You breathed out a small, humorless huff, meeting his eyes as he opened the door, “Is that a promise you’re sure you can keep?”

Peter just swallowed and looked on ahead, walking through the door first and stepping outside as you and Hongjoong followed close behind. The goateed man looked over the group of men, standing around the vehicles and sitting in truck beds, polishing their rifles and guns. They were all the same men from the market, you recognized some of their faces, but they all seemed different in this lighting. Less jolly and more uneasy as they stood there waiting for their leader to speak.

The headlights of the vehicles acted as a sort of spotlight as Peter stepped onto the gravel lot, looking over his men before raising his voice to speak, “I pulled you guys all out here tonight because I told you that our friends were in trouble.”

Fog came from his mouth as he spoke, the cold evening air chilling your skin as you nervously glanced at the men all staring in your direction.

Peter continued, “Many of you owe your lives to Hongjoong and his boys. I know when I told you he needed our help, most of you volunteered your aide without needing to know anything more.” He lowered his head and glanced back towards you, taking in a deep breath before turning to address his men, “But this isn’t a simple mission, nor is it anything close to standard, so I need to warn you about what it is exactly that you’re walking into. What you’re laying your lives down for.”

The militia members watched Peter curiously, more and more of them looking cautiously towards you, the unfamiliar figure so close to their leader.

“You need to know the gravity of the situation,” Peter nodded towards his men, “And I need you to trust us with the same amount of trust we’re about to put in you. Because what’s at stake here is the very core of what we represent. It’s much more than freedom from the DOP. Much more than taking down our oppressors. Much more than any of our lives.” Peter spoke with a gravitas that made even you feel ready to stand up and fight, the calm urgency in his voice making it clear the stakes that lay within his words, “It’s a world worth fighting for, a future worth dying for. A hope for a tomorrow where this world can heal. That is what we are fighting for.” Peter turned to look at you, gesturing his hand towards you as he looked back to his men, “This person right here… This woman…” The moment he said the word, the men surrounding the lot all chattered amongst themselves, staring at you with disbelief. “She is who we are fighting for.”

The moment Peter stopped to take a breath, the crowd all spoke out at once.

“Did you really just say ‘woman’?”

“That can’t be a woman…”

“A real woman?”

“Are you serious, sir?”

The militia members were all speaking louder now, the crowd getting riled up as they processed what Peter had said.

“How the hell is she alive?” One man yelled out.

“She could be a fake!” Another man hollered, “Can you say for certain she’s real?”

“Do you have proof that she is who she says she is?”

Hongjoong stepped in front of you, shielding you slightly as he addressed the anxious crowd, “She’s as real as each of you are!” He clenched his jaw, “She is flesh and blood, and she is under the protection of me and my group. Anyone who tries to lay a finger on her has to go through us.”

As if to help prove his point, Seonghwa, Jongho, San, Mingi, Yeosang, Yunho, and Wooyoung all filed out of the mansion and stood behind you, on guard and ready to act if needed.

Hongjoong held onto your arm and spoke clearly and with authority over the crowd, “She is in our care, and the DOP is trying to get its hands on her, and we will stop at nothing to keep that from happening.” He ground his teeth together, his eyes stinging and voice shaking as he pleaded, “And we desperately need your help.”

Peter spoke up, “A woman is in trouble, and we need to do everything in our power to keep her away from the DOP, and away from those who would try to harm her.” He softened his tone and looked between each of the members of his group, “We’re telling you this not just because we need to trust you, but because I know you all share the same hope as I do. Every single one of you knows the importance this woman has, and how we can’t let the DOP get to her.”

An older man stepped forward from the crowd, addressing you directly, his faded blue eyes filled with awe as he stared at you, “How have you survived all this time?”

Hongjoong held his arm over you as if to protect you from this man, and you could feel the tension of the boys behind you, each one of them ready to pull out their guns to protect you if needed.

You looked at the elderly man and met his eyes, “I don’t know.”

Another man lunged forward, “Where did you come from?”

Your voice shook as you shifted your gaze towards the ground, “I-I don’t know…”

Another larger man stepped forward from the group. He looked different in the dark of the night, but you recognized him as the friendly stall owner who was the first to greet Hongjoong at the market the other day. His eyes were kind as he spoke to you with a sincere voice, “What is your name?”

Your ears started to ring slightly as you searched your memories again, that same headache pounding against your skull as you strained to remember who you were. “I… I don’t…”

Hongjoong held onto your arm and stepped forward, “She experienced a traumatic accident, and has no memory of who she is or where she’s from, she only came into our care recently. Whether it was by chance or by an act of God, she is nothing short of a miracle.” He turned his head to meet your eyes, “She is our miracle.” He turned to look back towards the rest of Peter’s men, “And I will die before I let anything happen to her. It is our duty to make sure General Rourke and the rest of the DOP never finds her. How she got here, how she came to be here, how she’s alive—none of that matters right now!” Tears fell down Hongjoong’s face as he looked at the men, “General Rourke knows about her. I don’t know who else knows, but I know for certain we can’t let the general get his hands on her!”

Peter nodded, “Running is an option, but running only leads to a life of endless running, so I have a better option!” He called out to his men, fire in his voice, “We make the snake think he has his prey, then cut the fucker off at the head while he’s got his guard down.” He met Hongjoong’s eyes, “Two birds, one stone. We make sure the girl remains a secret, and we eliminate the DOP’s bloodthirsty head of their military.” He looked back to his men, “With Rourke gone, it’ll give us the opening we need to take down the DOP at its core. Rourke isn’t the kind of man to take risks like this, so we need to strike now, or else we could never get the chance again, and I need each and every one of you with me on this.” Peter gestured his hand towards you, “This woman right here, I believe with all of my heart that she is the key to taking down the DOP once and for all. She is the spark that will set our revolution aflame! We need each man here ready to fight for her, I need each of you willing to lay your life on the line for her! Will you help us?”

An uneasy silence spread over the crowd—a quiet, uncertain murmuring between the men as they all stared at you.

The large friendly stall owner took another step forward, nodding his head towards you, “My name is Niran, I’m a farmer at the base of the mountain.” He stood proud and held a hand over his chest, “I don’t have much, but you have my word: any man who wishes to do you harm, out there in the world, in the DOP…” He gestured his hand towards the men around him, giving them all a stern glare, “And even amongst my brotherhood… Anyone who wishes to hurt you…” He pounded his fist into his chest and met your eyes, “…Will have to go through me.”

There was another silent pause, then another man stepped forward, “They’ll have to go through me, as well.”

A few more men called out, “And me!”

“Me, too!”

“Aye, me too!”

“Gonna be hard to get through me!”

A cacophony of voices called out, all in agreement to the first man’s sentiment, their voices carrying an overwhelming hope that welled up unexpectedly in your chest, hot tears breaking though your eyes and streaming down your cheeks as you watched them all.

The large man, Niran, got down on his knee and bowed, and soon the others all followed suit, kneeling down on the gravel and bowing towards you. Niran spoke, bowing his head even lower, “We will gladly lay down our lives to keep you safe.”

You stared out over the men all bowing to you as though you were some sort of prophesized savior, you couldn’t quite process the gravity of it all. You struggled to catch your breath, your eyes stinging as you spoke out in a soft, barely audible voice, “I didn’t ask anyone to lay down their life for me…”

Peter turned and looked you over, his voice carrying a calm absolution as he spoke, “I suppose that’s the burden of being a miracle.” He gave you gentle smile as you met his gaze, “Your life is worth more than all of ours combined.”

Hongjoong gently squeezed your hand, “I know this isn’t what you signed up for…” He looked out over the crowd, studying the men kneeling before you, “But we’ll stick it through with you to the very end. No matter what happens.” He turned and started leading you back into the mansion, nodding towards the rest of his crew, “Now let’s figure out how to deal with Rourke…”

***

After things settled a bit and Peter’s men were filled in on the situation, the group gathered in the dining room along with Peter and select handful of his men. Maps and documents were spread across the table, many of which were taken from Murdock’s hideout. Wooyoung had his laptop and was looking through databases for additional intel while the rest of the group spoke.

You sat at the far end of the main table, sipping at some tea Seonghwa had brought for you, trying to ignore how Peter’s men all stared at you.

Peter leaned over the table, looking at a large map of the outer limits stretching beyond the main city. “Where did Rourke tell you to met him for the rendezvous?”

Hongoong, whose eyes were sunken from worry and exhaustion, reached over and pointed at a spot on the map, “At this abandoned base here, by the old amusement park.”

Yunho looked through the files taken from Murdock’s hideout, squinting as he peered back over to the map Hongjoong and Peter were looking over, “This is peculiar…”

“What is it?” Hongjoong moved to look at the file Yunho had in his hands.

“It looks like Rourke constructed a series of tunnels that weren’t approved by the DOP, they lead from one base to the other…” Yunho pulled out the schematics for a series of tunnels and held it over the map. “The tunnels lead right to that base…”

San dropped what he was doing and looked over at the schematics, “I know these tunnels, Woo and I used them to escape back before Hongjoong recruited us…” He poked a finger over where the abandoned base was “I bet Rourke was using this as the outpost for that illegal trade network we read about back at Murdock’s place…” San looked up and met Hongjoong’s eyes, “I know how to navigate these tunnels, I can lead a group in through one of the outer terminals and we can sneak up on them from behind. We’ll take ‘em down from the inside while you guys distract Rourke from the outside.”

“Rourke will be on the lookout for any sneak attacks like that…” Yunho sighed and looked through the rest of the documents he had laid out on the table.

“Rourke will be looking for attacks from the outside.” San raised his brows, “He doesn’t know that we know about the tunnels.”

“How are we going to distract him, exactly?” Hongjoong looked up at San.

“By giving him what he wants.” Peter eyed the others, “By giving him a woman.”

“We can’t bring the girl with us!” Mingi hissed in a low tone, eyes darting nervously towards you, “I thought the point of all this was to keep her away from Rourke!”

“We bring a decoy.” Hongjoong gave Peter a knowing glance, “Someone to play the role, just enough to make Rourke think I’m giving up without a fight.”

“So we’re going to convince Rourke that one of us is a lady?” Jongho muttered, scanning the various men standing around the room, pushing away the file he had in front of him out of frustration, “Everyone’s eyes would be on them, and Rourke isn’t an idiot. He’d have you shot before you even opened your mouth…”

One of Peter’s men nodded in agreement, “What idiot would volunteer for that kind of death sentence?”

A velvet, monotone voice broke through the chatter of the room, “I’ll do it.”

The room went quiet, all eyes turning their focus towards Yeosang leaning in the doorway.

“I’ll be your woman.” Yeosang added, his expression calm and unreadable, but his body stiff and tense like it had been before.

Jongho was the first to speak up, shooting up from his seat at the table, “Stop it, Sang… You can’t—”

“I’m the only one here convincing enough to keep their attention for the time we need.” Yeosang shifted his eyes over to Hongjoong, “We just need a distraction, right? I just need to be able to fool them at a glance.” He clenched his jaw and shifted his gaze down, “Peter and his boys will just need to catch them off guard before the General can get a more ‘in-depth’ inspection…”   Wooyoung turned away from his laptop and met Yeosang’s eyes, “Are you sure about this, Yeo? This puts all of the focus on you…”

Yeosang kept his eyes on the floor for a moment before glancing up to meet Hongjoong’s eyes, “What other choice do we have? If we don’t deal with Rourke now, we’re all dead.”

“In that case…” Wooyoung closed his laptop and got up from the table, “I got an idea for something that’ll help with this, but it’s going to take me about an hour to put it together.” Wooyoung left the room, giving Yeosang a careful pat on the shoulder as he passed him.

Yeosang looked down vacantly, as though he were in some sort of trance as he addressed the room, “I’ll go and put myself together… Let me know what the rest of the plan is when we’re getting ready to go.”

You watched the beautiful man as he turned and left the dining room, walking down the hallway and away from the rest of the group.

Hongjoong let out a deep breath and returned his attention to the map, speaking with the others about the order of events that needed to happen for this plan to work, but the voices in the air just slipped past you like incoherent murmurs.

You didn’t absorb anything from what was being spoken, your attention completely on the open door where Yeosang was previously leaning. There was a nagging feeling in your chest. Something akin to guilt… Something akin to anger… You couldn’t make words of what you were feeling, but you were no longer content with just sitting there and letting those feelings stew.

You stood up from your seat, and a room full of eyes all followed you as you got up. You looked out nervously over Peter’s men before turning to meet Hongjoong’s eyes, clearing your throat as you spoke, “I apologize… I guess I’m feeling a little…” You scratched the back of your neck, trying to come up with the right word, “Overwhelmed? I’m gonna go lie down for a bit while you guys discuss this…”

Seonghwa put a hand on yours, “Do you need someone to come with you?”

You shook your head, glancing over to the militia members before looking down, “No, I’ll be fine.”

Hongjoong nodded and let out a slow breath, “Go rest, we’ll figure things out here, so try to get whatever sleep you can.”

“Thank you…” You nodded, then glanced around to the rest of the men in the room. “All of you… Thank you.” You lowered your head and rushed out of the room, eager to escape the suffocating air of the intense conversation.

Yunho watched as you left the room, speaking in a hushed town when he was sure you were out of earshot, “Someone will need to stay behind and watch the girl…”

Hongjoong gave a reluctant nod. He was too scared to face it until now, but he knew he had to leave you alone again. There was no way around it.

Mingi opened his mouth to speak, but Yunho just glared at the pink haired man, “Not you, Mingi. You know how Rourke operates, we need you there to help lead Peter’s men.”

San gave Mingi a firm pat on the shoulder, “Plus you have more reason than anyone to kill the bastard. Do you really want to miss seeing that fucker get what’s coming to him?”

Mingi’s pout turned into a sigh as he nodded his head in agreement, “Fine…”

Seonghwa let out a deep, reluctant sigh, “And I’m guessing you idiots will need a sniper, otherwise I’d volunteer to stay behind…”

“What you guys won’t need for this is a lawyer…” Jongho sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, “I’ll stay behind to keep an eye on her and get things ready for whatever happens next.” He glared at Hongjoong, “I assume you’ve thought about what happens next? Assuming we succeed in this suicide mission?”

“We obviously can’t stay here at the mansion anymore…” San tsked and looked up at the ceiling.

Yunho looked over to Hongjoong, “Do we have any safe houses where the DOP can’t get to her?”

Mingi spoke up, “What about Peter’s camp?”

Peter shook his head, “Too many unknowns having her with us there…” He nodded towards his other men in the room, “I brought along men I knew I could trust, but that doesn’t mean every refugee who seeks asylum at the camp is trustworthy…”

Seonghwa leaned over the table and glanced up at Hongjoong, “At this point, we’re best off getting her out of the country, somewhere overseas… You have any safe houses like that, Joong?”

Hongjoong ground his teeth together and looked down, pressing his fists into the table as he shook his head, “Not anywhere reliable…”

Peter stood there in silence for a long time before finally speaking up, “I may have a place.” He put his hands on his hips, biting his lip as he looked over to Hongjoong, letting out a sigh as he continued, “It’s a few days from here by boat. I was… I was looking for a place for… For your mom…” He crossed his arms and looked down, “When things were originally looking bad with the DOP, I had heard there were some remote islands off the coast of Australia, places with resources and sustainable sources of food, where someone could live away from the eye of the DOP.” He met Hongjoong’s eyes and nodded, “I set up a shelter there, a safe place for her… I was going to take you and her away from your dad and bring you there, but by the time I got back… She…” Peter’s eyes started the water up and he looked away, biting down hard on his lip to keep his emotions in check.

Hongjoong’s eyes started to sting, he just stared at Peter, mouth slightly agape, “How come you never told me?”

Peter sniffed and shook his head, “I was too late. I couldn’t handle the guilt of that at the time, so I poured myself into Pyrate, poured myself into saving the people I could save from the DOP. But I, um…” He let out a heavy breath and stood up straight, “Look, the past is the past, all that matters is we have a place where you can take the girl.”

San shook is head, “How exactly are we going to leave the country? The DOP is in control of all the ports, there’s no way we’ll be able to get her out without getting caught.”

“We got some buddies who work the docks.” Peter nodded, “We can get a small ship loaded up with all of you tomorrow night, assuming we survive Rourke. I’ll send a couple of my boys out to make sure the dock is cleared, then you guys can load up and set sail in the cover of night.”