Yoongi unrolled the large piece of blue paper onto the table, letting the other members lean over and take a look at the map of the building.
"Mark will most likely meet with you here," the leader said as he pointed to a conference room on the third level of the hotel.
"Judging by the amount of power they have routed, we assume their mainframe is up on the next floor," Taehyung stated. He stepped in, pointing to a room he and Yoongi believed to be where they housed their servers.
"Spider and Blade will go in to attend the meeting they've scheduled with our target, Mark Olliver. About ten minutes into it, Blade will receive a phone call and excuse herself in order to let Circuit into the building so he can plant his virus," Yoongi said.
Charlie furrowed her brows, looking from Yoongi to Taehyung and then back to their leader.
"We don't even know what their security will be like, just let me plant the virus," Charlie insisted, the worry evident in her voice.
"It's more complicated than you think Charlie, I have to do it," Taehyung reasoned, but Charlie just shook her head. He let out a heavy sigh, his eyes meeting hers. "This is my job, you need to trust me," he pleaded. "Besides, I've been training with you, so I can kick someone's ass if I need to." He gave her a smile, but Charlie was still not happy about this whole idea.
She let out a small groan, finally giving in. "Fine, but you stay by my side the whole time," she sternly told him, pointing to him while he snickered.
"Ok mom," he teasingly replied, rolling his eyes at her overprotective demeanor.
Yoongi cleared his throat to gain their attention again, continuing to go over the details for the meeting in order to make sure that everything was in place and everyone knew their role.
~☾~
Charlie adjusted her red blazer, pulling the sleeves over her collared white shirt that was tucked into her black, fitted pantsuit.
Namjoon was right by her side, wearing a dark grey suit with a white dress shirt tucked in. "Remember the plan," he muttered as they walked into the hotel, heading towards the reception area.
Charlie gave the woman behind the counter a polite smile before speaking. "Hello, we have an appointment scheduled with Mr. Olliver."
"Miss Stevenson?" she asked while Charlie nodded in confirmation. "He's expecting you, just head into the elevator and there will be someone waiting to escort you once you get to the third floor," the young woman said. Both Charlie and Namjoon bowed in gratitude before heading towards the elevator.
Charlie was glad they were the only two people in there, trying to keep her breathing steady as she looked up at Namjoon, concern etched in her features.
"Deep breaths, just play the role and we'll be in and out," he reminded her while she nodded, but she couldn't push away the strange feeling that rested in her gut and made her a nervous wreck.
"In and out," she mumbled as the elevator dinged, the door opening to reveal a young man smiling at the two of them.
"Welcome, we've been expecting you! Mr. Olliver's already got everything ready for you, and his management team is already waiting for us," he said as he ushered them to their meeting room, opening the door before allowing the both of them to step in.
Charlie immediately recognized Mark as he stood up, holding his hand out for her to shake before introducing himself to Namjoon.
"These are my fellow associates, they'll be sitting in with us today just to make sure that both parties can come to a mutual agreement and sort out any negotiations you might have about the deal. Now," he started, pulling out a few files. "I've already drawn up a contract and provided an estimate for the offer we are willing to give you. Here," he said, handing the papers over to Charlie while providing a copy of the contract to Namjoon, who made sure to observe all the clauses intently, looking for any loopholes the deal might have.
Charlie pretended to look through the files as well, but had no clue what half the terminology meant. As she kept flipping through the pages, she glanced over at Namjoon as he pulled out a pen and started writing down a few notes, indicating certain conditions that he felt he could argue over in case he needed to stall for time.
Charlie's phone rang, and she knew this was the signal to excuse herself so she could get Taehyung into the building. She pulled out her phone and immediately stood up.
"I apologize, but please excuse me for just a moment." Mark looked over to her and nodded his head. She answered the call, still in the room to give the illusion that she would end it, however, she walked back over to Namjoon instead, whispering into his ear. The idea was that they were getting a call from another client and Charlie would need to take this call to resolve the issue.
"Again, Mr. Olliver, I sincerely apologize. I have been waiting for this call for weeks and need to take it. Namjoon, can you handle everything from here? I shouldn't be too long," she said. Both men gave her a small smile before she exited the room.
"Circuit, you ready?" she asked as she walked through the empty hall to his location.
"In position," she heard him say as she entered another conference room, walking to the window. There, Taehyung was waiting on the fire escape. She opened the window and helped him inside.
"Let's do this," Taehyung said. He stood up and straightened out his blue jumpsuit before grabbing his tool bag. His badge read BTS Maintenance Management and had a cute picture of him on it that made Charlie snicker when she saw it again.
The two walked back down the hall, Taehyung right behind Charlie as they reached the elevator. This honestly was probably one of the easiest missions Charlie had done, but she still felt nervous with Taehyung by her side. The elevator ride was silent as they waited to reach the next floor. There was always something about being in the field that made everyone so focused and quiet. As the doors finally opened, Charlie turned left, the picture of the hotel blueprints in her mind.
They finally reached the door that read Power Supply. Charlie turned the knob only to find that it was locked.
"Dammit," she muttered while Taehyung smiled at her.
"Here." He clipped off his badge and held it in front of the keypad right next to the door. There was a soft beep and Charlie turned the doorknob again, opening the door.
"You sly son of a bitch," she said with a smile as she quickly ushered him in, closing the door behind him. This room was huge and seemed to never end with rows of metal towers that had various colors of cables connecting them to each other.
Once inside, Taehyung looked at the various towers and cables, trying to determine where he needed to plant the bug.
"How long do you need?" Charlie asked, following close behind him.
"I don't know, I have to find the spot first," he mumbled. Taehyung walked through the room, stopping every now and then to look at the serial numbers and codes that were on the towers. "Bingo!" he exclaimed, finally stopping and opening the bag he had. Charlie watched as he pulled out a small tablet and connected a couple wires to the ports in front of him. She watched as he started to type in some code so that he could access what they needed.
After about 5 minutes, the sound of a door opening and muttered voices were heard.
"Fuck," Charlie whispered, quickly bending down by Taehyung. "How much longer?" she asked while Taehyung nervously looked at the screen in front of him.
"I don't know, maybe five or ten more minutes," he replied, trying to move his fingers faster as he felt his heart pounding against his chest, the fear of being caught amplifying his worries.
"Alright, shit. Hey Phantom, we have company," Charlie said, her voice hushed as she checked her surroundings to make sure they were still safe. This was supposed to be a quick in and out mission, no need to hurt or even kill anyone... but sometimes plans change.
"Do what you need to Blade," Yoongi said, giving her the go-ahead to take the necessary measures needed to keep them safe. Charlie instinctively nodded, knowing that he couldn't see her. She then reached down and pulled up her pant leg, revealing a small dagger that was holstered to her calf. She unsheathed it and turned to Taehyung.
"Take this, just in case," she said. Taehyung's eyes went wide as he stared at the gleaming metal but took it anyway, nodding his head in understanding.
"Be careful," he said, holding onto Charlie's hand that held the blade. She gave him a smile and nodded before standing up, taking off her very uncomfortable heels first. She then proceeded quietly, getting closer to where the voices were.
She saw two rather large men casually walking around and chatting. They didn't look like employees, but they didn't look like security either. However, she did notice the small handguns holstered to their hips
"Blade, you good?" Yoongi's voice said.
"Looks like it's just two, I got it," she quietly replied. She took a deep breath and then came up behind one of the guys, hitting him in the back of the knees and bringing him to the ground before punching him in the temple.
The second man went for his gun but Charlie was quick to grab his wrist, twisting it before hearing a small crack. That was one of the first moves she had learned from Jimin. As he screamed out in pain, she reached up and grabbed his head, bringing it down to meet her knee.
Guy number two was now on the ground, groaning in pain. Charlie turned to guy number one, who was getting back up. He had managed to reach for his gun and was bringing it up to point it right at Charlie, but her foot was quicker and kicked it from his grip, sending it flying. He tried to land a hit on her, but she was fast and dodged everything, managing to get in a couple hits to his ribs. Charlie had the first guy bloody and to his knees when the sound of a gunshot rang through her ears.
Jungkook's heart stopped when he heard the gunshot through the speaker. He looked up at the other members who were sitting in the basement with him, listening in on the audio from the mission. They could still hear a scuffle going on, but they had no indication as to whether an enemy was shot or if it was one of their own.
He clenched his hands, feeling his fingernails dig into his skin as his fists slightly shook. Seconds felt like hours, not knowing what was going on. What if Charlie was hurt... or worse? He didn't know what his life would be like without her and he felt himself just go numb and empty at the thought of losing her.
"Blade?" Yoongi called, trying to keep his voice steady as he spoke.
Jungkook's eyes refused to leave the speaker that was in the middle of the table. Come on Char, say something! He felt his heart start to beat harder and faster as he held his breath, waiting for a response. Hoseok got up from his chair and started pacing back and forth while Jin had his head down, his hands behind his head as he anxiously waited.
"Circuit?" Yoongi broke the silence again, but there was still no response. He looked up at Jungkook, their eyes meeting for a moment before Yoongi picked up his phone and walked away from the table in order to make a call.
Jungkook continued to stare at the speaker, willing a sound to come from it.
"Circuit's hit! I need transport now," Charlie exclaimed as she saw Taehyung leaning against one of the towers, holding his stomach while his hand slowly turned a crimson red as he tried to stop the bleeding. She ran to him and knelt down, quickly pulling off her blazer as she moved his hand in order to apply pressure to the wound. Even with a gunshot wound, he was still typing away on his tablet, causing Charlie to chuckle a little.
"You really don't know when to stop working, do you?" she asked.
"Just one more minute," he said, not taking his eyes off of the screen.
"I have to get you out of here," Charlie muttered, putting an arm around him. She was ready to pull him up but he refused to move.
"One minute!" he nearly shouted while Charlie clenched her jaw in frustration. She glanced to their right and noticed a third man on the ground with a dagger in his throat.
She turned back to Taehyung before grabbing his bag, searching for the small first aid kit that Jin always insisted they carry with them. She found a small vial that was marked coagulant and moved back to Taehyung's side. Pulling back the jacket, she poured the liquid onto his wound, hoping that the bleeding would soon stop.
"Someone get us out of here," she said. Their original plan was for Charlie and Taehyung to literally walk out the front door, but that was not possible anymore with the amount of bleeding he currently had.
"The room next door has a fire escape, Spider will be waiting with the van," Yoongi stated.
"Done," Taehyung said as his head fell back against the cool metal, the serious look fading from his face. "Fuck, this hurts," he muttered. Charlie took a brief couple of seconds to observe him, noticing how his breathing was labored and the color was already starting to drain from his face.
"Great, let's go." Charlie picked up the bag, tossing the tablet inside before pulling Taehyung to his feet as he let out a groan. She placed his arm over her shoulder while wrapping her own around his waist. Her other hand tried to hold the blazer in place to stop the bleeding as they rushed to the fire escape.
Just get to the van. Just get him to the van. Charlie repeated it like a mantra to herself, trying to keep as calm as possible.
She managed to quickly sneak out of the room into the next without being seen. Getting Taehyung out of the window and down the fire escape was the hardest part as she could only help him so much. She felt her blazer become drenched as it soaked up more and more of his blood. Namjoon was waiting for them at the bottom and helped get him into the back of the van, slamming the door shut before rushing back to the driver's seat as they took off.
Taehyung laid on the floor of the van with Charlie bent over him. She recalled all the information that Jin had taught her as she unzipped Taehyung's jumpsuit, revealing the actual wound and his now red-stained skin. She carefully reached her hand underneath him and let her fingertips feel his skin, trying to find an exit wound. She silently cursed when she didn't find one, which meant that the bullet was lodged inside him which was going to make things harder.
"Jin, get a surgeon ready," she said and then turned back to her friend.
"You still with me?" she asked in a very calm and gentle voice. Taehyung looked over to her and smiled.
"So far," he replied. He laughed a little, but winced as soon as the pain shot through his body. Charlie briefly looked around and found some towels in a bag. Grabbing one, she pressed it against Taehyung's wound, trying anything to stop the bleeding.
"She's on her way Charlie, what's his heart rate?" JIn said and Charlie reached for Taehyung's wrist, closing her eyes as she counted the number of beats. She didn't need a clock to know that his heart rate was very slow at the moment.
"Slow," she replied as she moved her hand to hold onto Taehyung's, feeling him squeeze hers in response.
The whole ride home Charlie couldn't take her eyes off of him. His eyes were closed but he was still breathing heavily, probably from the amount of pain he was feeling. Thankfully, they reached home in no time and when the van door opened, both Jin and Yoongi were there with a stretcher for Taehyung.
Once they reached the basement and their makeshift medical room, Charlie noticed an older woman standing there in a blue scrub gown with gloves on, waiting. She rushed over to Taehyung's side once his stretcher was placed in a corner.
"You must be Charlie," the older woman said. Charlie's eyes darted to her and then to Jin, who was getting an IV set up. Charlie was gripping onto the side of the stretcher when she felt Taehyung's fingers brush against hers. She grabbed his hand and held on tightly, reassuring him that she was there.
"I am," Charlie replied, watching the woman's every move as she started to cut away the remaining clothing on Taehyung.
"I am Dr. Warren, an old friend of Jin's." She turned to a small table next to her and picked up a syringe. "And who is this handsome man?" she asked as she punctured the skin around the bullet hole, earning a slight jump from Taehyung who gripped Charlie's hand tighter.
"This is Taehyung. Is he going to be ok?" Charlie asked.
The woman then grabbed what Charlie knew to be forceps, and she knew what was coming next.
"As long as I can get the bullet out, I think he will be," she replied, pausing as she looked right at Charlie. "I tried to numb the area as best I could, but this is still going to hurt him a lot." Charlie nodded and then moved closer to Taehyung's face. She brought his hand that she was holding to her own face and tried to position herself so that Taehyung couldn't see what the doctor was doing.
"Hey Tae, do you remember when I took you to the giant candy store, and you refused to leave until you had looked over every single piece of candy?" Taehyung smiled and nodded his head. He looked so tired and was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.
"You threatened to take me to the dentist if I didn't stop filling up your shopping basket," he said weakly with a smile. He then started to jolt as the doctor tried to dig out the bullet. He let out a small cry in pain and Charlie let go of his hand before grabbing either side of his face, forcing him to look at her.
"Hey, look at me, focus on me," she said. Even though he was still in pain, he managed to look a little more at ease. "I promise you that I will take you to that candy store and buy you whatever you want when you are all healed, ok?" Charlie noticed a small tear fall from the corner of his eye and she quickly wiped it away before she felt her eyes tear up. She needed to hold it together for him, for all of them. The smile from Taehyung's face started to fade a little as well as the color from his lips.
"Jin, do you have any blood on hand? He's lost a lot," Dr. Warren called out. Jin checked the small fridge in the room and cursed out loud.
"Fuck," he muttered. He ran back over and saw how weak Taehyung looked right now.
"What's his blood type?" the doctor asked him while Jin turned to Yoongi.
"I can run and get his file to check," Yoongi called out as he started to head for the door.
"Wait! Just use me," Charlie said as she started to push her sleeve up.
"Charlie, we can't just use anyone's blood. We ha-" Jin started.
"I know... I'm a universal donor," she responded, still pushing her sleeve up.
"Are you sure?" The doctor asked as Yoongi walked over to them.
"Yeah, I remember the nurses making a big deal out of it when I donated in high school. They said I should donate every chance I get," Charlie said as she looked over to Taehyung and then back to the doctor, waiting for some sort of direction.
"Perfect," Jin said as he ran to grab some needles and a chair. He sat Charlie down and placed a needle in her arm, taping it in place before puncturing the other end into Taehyung's arm. Dr. Warren was finishing stitching him up as Charlie watched the tube between them turn red. Jin knelt down in front of Charlie and looked over her curiously. He lightly touched her face, assessing the slight bruising and small cuts that she had.
After hearing the gunshot, Charlie couldn't think straight and ended up taking a couple hits from one of the guys, but she was fine. Her only focus was on her friend next to her.
"Jin, I'm fine," Charlie reassured, trying to pull her chin away from his hand. He scoffed and walked away, talking to the doctor.
After about ten minutes, the color to Taehyung's face returned, but his eyes remained closed. Jin removed the needle from Charlie's arm and handed her a small cup of juice.
"You need to replenish your sugar, sit and drink," he said while Charlie did just that. As she sipped on the juice, she noticed Yoongi standing in a corner, watching Taehyung. She could tell that he was upset by what had happened tonight.
She noticed that no one else was down here and she wondered where they all were. Even though things were a little awkward, she couldn't help but want to be in Jungkook's arms right now. She felt like she was going to fall over at any moment. When she finally finished the juice, she stood up and looked at Taehyung, who appeared to be sleeping.
"He's on some pain meds at the moment, but at least he's finally able to rest. He's going to be ok," Dr. Warren said, giving her a smile.
He was going to be ok, she told herself, but the guilt was still present. She was supposed to stay by his side. She was supposed to protect him... and she failed.
Charlie walked out of the room and down a barely used hall. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, flashes of everything that happened replayed in her head and her knees gave out as she fell to the floor. Her breathing quickened and the guilt consumed her, putting knots in her stomach. She pulled her legs toward her as she finally cried. She had kept it all together in order to help, but she couldn't hold it in anymore.
Jungkook was sent to help Jimin and the cleanup crew get rid of the bodies in the hotel before Ganghan noticed. He knew that Taehyung was the one hurt and saw how much it bothered Jimin that he wasn't there by his side. Jungkook felt the same with Charlie. He just wanted to be there for her... that is, if she would let him.
Once they reached back home, both Jimin and Jungkook ran inside to the basement.
"He's ok," Jin told them as Jimin let out a sigh of relief. He immediately grabbed a chair and sat down next to his best friend while Jungkook looked around, noticing that Charlie was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is she?" Jungkook asked and Jin furrowed his brows.
"She left about five minutes ago, but I don't know where to," Jin replied. Jungkook turned, frantically walking around the house trying to find her. When she wasn't in her room or outside, he walked back down to the basement and down a couple back hallways. When he turned the corner, he noticed her small figure hunched over and slightly shaking.
He ran over to her and knelt down in front of her, lightly placing his hands on her shoulders. Feeling that someone was present, Charlie looked up and met eyes with Jungkook. He saw the slight bruising and small cuts on her face, but what broke his heart was how red her eyes were, filled with tears that just kept falling. Charlie immediately lurched forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her head in the crook of his neck. He held her close and rubbed her back, not saying a thing.
"It's my fault Kook, I should have been next to him. I could have prevented this," Charlie mumbled through the tears.
"This is not your fault Char. You got him back here and Jin said he's going to be ok," he reassured. He didn't let go of her and instead held her tighter, remembering how he felt when they didn't know who was hurt.
"But I said I would be there for him and then I left him," she said. Jungkook reached down, pulling his arms away from her torso before resting them on her face, forcing her to look up at him.
"Stop that! You did what you were supposed to do and got him out. He is still alive because of you. Don't you ever blame yourself for something out of your control," he told her. Jungkook wasn't mad at her, but he wanted her to know that he was serious, that none of this was her fault.
Charlie gave him a small smile and then leaned back against the wall, wiping away her tears. Jungkook moved and sat next to her, instinctively grabbing ahold of her hand. Her hand found its way to his shoulder as the two friends sat in silence. Charlie just needed his presence right now and was glad to have him by her side.
After a few minutes, Hoseok turned the corner and saw the two members against the wall. He smiled, loving how close the two were, and walked over to them. When he was in eyesight, both Jungkook and Charlie looked up at him.
"Stop sulking and go get cleaned up," he said. Hoseok's voice was soft and reassuring as he held out a hand to Charlie. She took it and he easily pulled her up before putting an arm around her. "When you're done with your shower, I'll have tea ready in the kitchen."
Hoseok followed them upstairs before heading into the kitchen to put on the kettle for the tea. He watched as Jungkook was right behind Charlie, leading her to her room as they headed upstairs. He couldn't put his finger on it, but Hoseok noticed something a little different with Jungkook. Shaking it away, he turned back to the kettle as he heard it whistling before making a cup of tea for Charlie.
A/N: This is a mafia story....just a reminder.
Thoughts ------->