"But wait, how did you decide to turn me? Over anyone else?" The edge was starting to fade just a bit in Jungkook's voice, replaced with genuine curiosity.
Lilith sighed carefully and her eyes looked sad. "For the reasons already said, but also because you're just... you're so loyal, Kookie. In serving Noon Mool, your friends, Namjoon. It's your blessing and your curse. But in this case, we also thought it could be a blessing. It'd make turning you perhaps less painful on you than, say, Tae."
Jungkook's arm curled in even tighter for a moment, defensively, around Tae's neck.
Hoseok went on, "And man, I really am sorry we had to scare you guys in the arena like that. But if you knew it wasn't real, then your Gwangju Ai side would never have surfaced, and the whole point would have been lost! But getting to that point... yeah, that really sucked. You can definitely kick my ass later and I won't judge you for it."
Jungkook scowled. "Planned on it."
Lilith held up her hand to get everyone's attention. "Alright, this reconciling is great and all, but before we go any further here I think we need to deal with Tae."
"And with what the hell happened to you two," Hoseok added. "I mean someone doesn't just go from dead to...not...."
Jungkook tightened his arm that was slung around Tae's neck and said defensively, "Well there's nothing to deal with. He's ok now. Killing Kiara and Dai Yu wasn't really...his own doing. But. He and I are both...normal now."
Jin muttered incredulously under his breath, "The hell does he mean about Tae killing them? I thought Joon was the one who...." Whenever no one else looked surprised at this notion, Jin gave a heavy sigh, resigned to the defeat of his own ignorance for the rest of this shuttle ride.
Then Jungkook proceeded to explain what exactly had happened to him and Taehyung, what Kookie had learned through their telepathic exchange, while Tae continued to fiddle silently with his hands.
When Jungkook's story concluded, Lilith found herself sliding into Jin's lap. Jin thought it might be because she wanted something, but the shocked look on Lilith's face said otherwise. Jin's hands pulled at her waist and he let her wrap one arm around the back of his neck and lean into his chest. Then Jin and Lilith exchanged meaningful looks with each other.
Jung Hoseok wriggled himself out of his seat and stepped cautiously up to Jungkook and Tae.
Tae's bashful eyes flickered up from his hands and into Hobi's face.
Hoseok reached out a hand, slapped it hard against one of Tae's shoulders--and then all at once pulled Tae into a forceful hug. There were no words as the two young men held each other and let slip tears of remorse, each for the other. Time seemed to stop all over again as the two of them poured out their grief for the hurt that they had caused one another.
There was a kind of relief that washed over everyone as a result. Even Chimin and Jungkook looked across the cockpit at each other with softened eyes.
Hoseok whispered into Taehyung's shoulder, "I'm so sorry, Tae."
"Me too, Hobi." Tae wiped at his face with the back of his hands, half frowning and half smiling. "Me too."
As Hoseok pulled out of the hug, he gave Tae's head a not-too-rough downward shove, ruffling Tae's hair.
Then Hoseok stopped.
"What the heck happened to your hair anyway, Tae?"
It was only then that everyone seemed to properly notice that it had faded from it's classic auburn, to a streaked grey color. It was crimped and fluttery. It made him look a bit like a fairy, or an alien.
"Uhhh, I'm not really sure," Taehyung answered.
Jungkook started to say, "It was that way when we were...."
Chimin's voice broke into the fray once again, controlled remorse in his voice. "It's some kind of miracle that we got you both back like this." Chimin's voice broke over the word 'both.' Then he said more breathlessly, "And I really am sorry, too. I'm sorry to Tae, to Jungkook and Jin. To Shae and Ava. I'm sorry that there was a whole truth, and none of you got it. And that you all got hurt in the process of seeing this mission through."
Lilith's sad eyes searched Jin's face as she whispered, "We all are." She felt the heave of Jin's sigh beneath her.
"Yeah." Hoseok leaned into that wall with an arm draped over Tae's shoulder now too, tipping his head into his friend's shoulder. "We all are."
Shae noticed that Chimin had left Joon's name out of his list. Her eyes flickered to Chim's warm features, but she knew he was too smart to have simply forgotten. Then it hit her, and her heart began to flutter fearfully. They know. They must have known all this time what Joon has done. Not just Hobi and Yoongi, but Lilith and Chimin too. Her hands tightened around Joon's arms where they wrapped around her and held her.
Then Jung Hoseok, Park Chimin and Lilith's eyes fell onto Kim Namjoon--who'd been strangely silent for the entirety of their flight.
Joon finally looked up at them with recognition.
Hoseok barked, "Now would be the time to say anything. If you've any ounce of a soul left to say anything with."
Yoongi's gaze flickered into his rearview mirror, searching Joon's face for a reaction. The leader of Noon Mool remained relatively blank-faced.
Lilith seethed, "You're not even going to--"
Joon's deep voice interrupted her: "I'm sorry, too."
Joon and Hoseok locked eyes with each other. Shae noticed that the kindness Hoseok's gaze offered so generously to Tae was not extended to Joon.
"What did you do, Joonie-hyung?" Jeon Jungkook asked with an incredulous laugh.
"Yeah," Jin scoffed, "I mean if you're gonna join this swarm of exhausting apologies, you should at least have something to apologize for."
Yoongi's sharp eyes flickered back at Joon in his rearview mirror.
Lilith's cold gaze fell over Kim Namjoon and she leaned just a little closer into Jin's chest.
Hoseok's fists were tightening.
Chimin's sharpened eyes looked ready to kill.
Even in his lighthearted confusion, Jeon Jungkook started looking again at Shae with that same feeling in his chest he had felt standing outside of the parlor door, whenever Shae and Joon had embraced for the first time. Jungkook looked at her sitting in Joon's lap, wrapped in Joon's arms, and there was this warning siren still sounding inside of him--even though he had no idea what the punchline was to it in the least. His brain told him this was all silliness, but his gut told him something else.
Park Chimin said in a sharp, careful voice, "Kim Namjoon. In the presence of all of these witnesses here, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
"I do."
Chimin went on, "Did you intentionally devise a scheme in which you tricked all of us into attacking and slaughtering and ransacking one of our allies, creating a ruse that they were actually our enemies plotting to murder us, and then proceeded to hide from us the truth of the matter until its completion?"
"I did."
Jin, Jungkook, and Ava all exchanged looks. Whenever Ava noticed that Shae didn't look quite so surprised, something in her stomach turned.
Chimin went on, "Did you plan to keep this information from us indefinitely?"
"Yes."
"And were you aware of the full brunt of the consequences of your actions should you be found out?"
"I was."
Shae started to speak, "But that's not the whole story. He--"
Chimin raised a hand for silence. "Shea, I'm not sure you understand--"
Then Lilith interrupted, seething in Joon's direction, "How can you be so fucking calm about this?! MY PEOPLE ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!"
The weight of that truth crashed over the room.
Then Jin and Joon's eyes met. There was no laughter between them now.
"Tae, did you know about this?" Jungkook asked.
Tae nodded. "Petra did too, because she always had me feeding her information on Noon Mool. After I told Joon about murdering Kiara and Dai Yu, he told me about what happened to Jackson and the rest of Lil's people. He probably felt like I could relate to him. Which was true." Tae sent Joon a genuinely sorrowful look. When Joon's gaze fell to the floor, Tae found that he couldn't seem to look away from the painful expression that had settled onto Shae's face. Her arms wrapped tighter into Joon's, which still held her waist.
Joon whispered into Shae's ear, "It'll be ok." Then he tucked his chin and kissed her shoulder.
Jungkook had had enough.
In a rush, he leaned over Joon, reached out and pulled Shae roughly from Joon's lap by both shoulders. Shae stumbled into Jungkook, her eyes wide and his fierce as he looked down at her. Then he pushed her to one side and leaned down over Kim Namjoon.
Ava stood. She stepped between where Shae now stood and where Joon still sat. There was venom in Ava's gaze as she looked down at Joon. She held her arm out, bracing against Shae's shoulders to hold her friend back.
Jungkook's face was inches from Joon's, his almond eyes uncharacteristically menacing.
This inner quaking of protectiveness and justice felt like it was echoing from deep within Jungkook's belly. No one present thought they could ever recall the young pilot looking or sounding so menacing before as he seethed, "You were a fool to think that you could escape what you have done. Hobi and Suga were never the monsters. Neither was Tae. It was...it was always you."
Shae's pained voice broke through the tension, "But he didn't mean... he's sorry for it, he really is.... That's not who he is...."
Ava continued to brace Shae back from approaching Joon.
Then Jungkook said with menacing authority, "Kim Namjoon, you will never again lead any army or any fortress in conjunction with any of us. We strip you of your titles, and we declare you no longer fit to lead Noon Mool--or anyone."
The vibrancy of the fury in Jungkook's voice shook everyone inside the cockpit. It was like he was seized with some authority even greater than his own--and that same authority gripped and seized them all.
Joon's stiff expression looked up at Jungkook, but there was no challenge in Joon's face. The former leader of Noon Mool answered, "I understand. And I accept."
Hoseok growled, "He should be punished for what he's--"
Chimin stepped forward. He pushed Jungkook in the shoulder and caused the young man to take a small step backwards. Then Chimin stood in front of Joon, but he had turned to face everyone else in the cockpit. "Wait one holy second. Goodness gracious. We need Joon. Or, more specifically, I need him."
"For what?!" Lilith asked sharply, her fingers clawing into the front of Jin's shirt.
"The miracle of Tae and Kookie only confirms what I suspected... I need to do some more research on Satoori Ai and Gwangju Ai history and mythology. And Joon's the only other person here who can read their writing. Therefore, I need him."
Lilith started, "Wait one second. He's not going anywhere!"
Chimin held up a hand to silence her. His smile remained soft, but his eyes were still sharp. "He is coming with me to the Library of Mirth, and so are you and Jin."
Jin fluttered his eyes. "Excuse me?"
"Lilith and Jin, you know more about practical applications of Mysterium than anyone else here. Understanding it's relationship to the Satoor Ai is essential. Therefore, the two of you will also be coming with me." He smiled brightly and warmly, but there was nothing in Chimin's tone to hint that this particular information was a suggestion.
Yoongi growled from the cockpit, finally losing his silence, "Chimin's missing mentioning the part where the research is also to figure out how to harvest Shae's Satoor Ai magic without killing her. But at this point, it'd probably be good to know what the fuck actually happened to Jungkook and Tae too, so that we know how to make sure they...uh...recover well."
Chimin beamed. "Precisely."
Joon growled, "You're not practicing anything on Shae."
Chimin lifted his hands gently yet pointedly for silence again. "Relax. Keeping Petra on as our little prisoner will have more than a few perks. One of them being, she can be our guinea pig instead of Shae for any experiments we do."
Joon couldn't help but smile darkly at the thought, satisfied.
Then Shae asked quietly, "Then where will the rest of us go?"
Yoongi growled, "Gotta rendezvous with our main ship, but you won't all be staying there for long. After some quick rest, our research team should set out, and the rest of you are heading to our main base camp with us."
"Camp?" Ava wasn't really fond of camp.
"Yeah, for our rebel army. The fuck you guys think Hoseok and I have been doing all this time?"