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65

"They'll be okay." He told the worried boy, pushing him slightly to get going. "Let's meet them outside."

Namjoon just nodded, crawling after Suga.

Jungkook took one last look at the destroyed room, seeing thick black smoke curling through the damaged door.

He decided not to mention it to an already anxious Namjoon, and quickly hurried after them.

-

"Will the elevators still work?" Agust wondered as they hurried down the hallway.

"Not if there's a fire, and judging by this temperature, I wouldn't risk it." She saw a sign for the stairs and changed direction.

Agust whined when he saw the three flights. "Can't we just stay here and burn?"

"Stop whining, Yoongi is like half the weight of this guy." Yoonji huffed, sitting on the handrail to slide down.

Agust looked down again at the teacher in his arms.

He still couldn't believe they were no longer connected.

He still had yet to sort out his feelings about it.

"Hey!" Yoonji called from a flight below. "Big bro! Get your ass in gear!"

Agust saluted her with one hand, easily carrying Yoongi with just one arm. "Yes sir!"

He copied her, leaping onto the handrail to slide down. They did that for all three flights, escaping the heat slightly as the temperature cooled a few degrees the further down they went.

The staircase ended at a hallway; the same, dark one that led to the room with the red light.

Yoonji hurried down it. "You still remember the code?"

"Don't think I'll ever forget it." Agust murmured, shifting Yoongi slightly so he could reach up and punch the code into the pad, making the air tight doors slide open.

They both took a deep breath of the cool air, although the heat was right behind them.

Yoongi stirred, making soft sounds as the clearer air swept through his lungs.

The cover to the vent laid broken on the ground, making it easier for them.

"Set him down." Agust said, nodding at Jeongguk. "Get inside and I'll hand them both up to you."

"You just want to be the last one out for the glory." Yoonji said, but gently set Jeongguk against the wall.

She took a running leap and grabbed the ledge, easily swinging herself inside.

"Gotta impress Pink somehow." Agust laid Yoongi down, stepping over him to grab Jeongguk.

Yoonji reached down and grabbed the unconscious boys arms, dragging him into the vent. He moaned at the jostling, fingers twitching.

She stiffened suddenly. "Agust. Smoke."

"I know." He had smelled it too. "Don't think about it, just move."

He picked up Yoongi, passing the small teacher over.

Yoonji pulled Yoongi inside, holding onto each of the passed out boys hands so they wouldn't slide down yet. She wanted to be first so she could guide the way, and have Agust take the rear.

Agust coughed a few times into his arm, the smoke burning its way into the room, and quickly leaped at the vent.

He grabbed the ledge, and Yoonji waited until he was halfway inside before she started crawling.

Jeongguk groaned, slowly blinking his eyes open.

"Well good morning sleeping beauty!" Agust gushed, leaning over him. "About time you decided to contribute to this escape. Get moving." He shoved the boy, and Jeongguk gasped when he felt himself sliding, quickly scrabbling at the smooth sides of the metal to stop his downward slide.

"Hey- watch it!" Yoonji growled when a weight crashed into her ass.

"S-sorry!" Jeongguk quickly pulled himself back. "What's going on, where are we?"

"In the vent, getting out. Everyone's already waiting for us. Just shut up and crawl, we need the air." She said, facing the front again.

Jeongguk nodded, following her.

He had a million questions, but he wasn't about to get on her bad side- he was barely avoiding death as it was.

Agust held Yoongi's hands above the teachers head, staring down at the man who had created him.

As if sensing the eyes on him, Yoongi's own eyes slowly opened, gazing out of focus at the face hovering over his own.

"A...gust..." He whispered, voice cracking.

For a moment, Agust felt like Suga.

"Don't worry," he leaned down, kissing Yoongi's forehead softly. "I'll protect you."

He released Yoongi's hands.

Yoongi gasped, feeling himself sliding over the smooth metal, and he scrambled to flip onto his front, fingertips digging uselessly into the floor of the vent as he tried to stop himself when he saw Agust wasn't following him.

The alter had turned to face the opening of the vent, just as the flames started flickering at the edges.

He knew he had to get out of there now, that the smoke was replacing all the air in the room, but he couldn't leave just yet.

This place had tortured him, and now that he wasn't an alter in Yoongi's mind, he couldn't run and hide from his fears anymore.

He had to face everything now.

He knew this place was going to haunt him for years to come, would plague his nightmares every night, would see the doctor's sick grin and hear his laughter ringing in all the dark corners of every room he was ever in.

He needed to see this place get destroyed.

Needed to see with his own eyes that this place, and every horrible thing that had ever happened to him in it, would never be able to hurt him, or anyone else, ever again.

The heat burned his skin, his lungs choking on smoke, and Agust still stared for a few more seconds, until all he could see was brilliant yellow flame, before turning around and sliding down the vent.

Free.