Jungkook pulled up the car to the back of the house, the headlights revealing Yoongi and Namjoon standing by the shed awaiting his arrival. He turned off the car and got out just as the older two walked over to him.
"He's still passed out in the back," Jungkook informed them as he opened the passenger door and helped Namjoon pull Silas out.
The three members managed to get the man to the basement and into the metal chair that was cleaned frequently and used often when they needed to... extract information from their sources.
Yoongi walked over towards the table at the back, examining his weapons of choice while Jungkook helped Namjoon tie Silas up to the chair, ensuring that the restraints were tight enough to immobilize him.
"Thanks kid, we'll take it from here," Namjoon said, his hand patting Jungkook's shoulder while the younger looked up at him before glancing over at Yoongi.
Jungkook stood up a bit straighter, his voice steady as he focused on his leader. "I want to stay," he stated confidently while Namjoon stared at him with a serious expression, immediately shaking his head to decline the idea.
"I don't think that's a good idea Kook. It's a messy business, and it's not always easy to stomach since a lot of shit happens in this room. I don't want you to-"
"Oh for fuck's sake, just let him stay," Yoongi interjected. "He can handle it," he added, remembering the way that the kid had beaten his foster father while the old man was tied to a chair just moments before shooting his foster mother in the head.
Namjoon quickly walked over towards Yoongi, lowering his voice as he stared at his friend. "Do you think it's a good idea for him to be here right now? It's pretty traumatizing to see some of the shit that goes down and I don't think he's ready for it," he muttered while Yoongi stopped what he was doing, his gaze locking with Namjoon's.
"Look, it wouldn't be his first time being in this room. Sure, he might not have tortured anyone before or seen it happen, but he has killed before. He's not some innocent kid who can't stomach it. Besides, it's not like he's going to do anything," Yoongi grumbled, glancing back at Jungkook, who was glaring at the man sitting in the chair in front of him.
Yoongi's eyes traveled from their youngest member to Silas, observing the dried blood on their target's face and the small bruises that were starting to form. "Although, I don't think it would be a horrible idea to have him join, I'm pretty sure he's the one who beat the shit out of him in the first place," Yoongi mused, glancing up at his friend who still held a stern expression on his face. "Fine, the kid will merely observe," he compromised, walking back over towards Silas.
Yoongi glanced at the restraints, noticing how the rope by his feet had loosened slightly. "Hey, make sure to tighten that up," he requested, nodding towards the man's feet while Jungkook quickly nodded, kneeling down to untie the loose knot before trying to knot it again, making sure it was more secure this time.
Just as Jungkook was tightening the restraints on Silas, he heard him groan, slowly starting to come to consciousness.
"Well, good morning sunshine," Yoongi said with a smirk as he came closer to the beaten man. His head still hung low and he refused to answer or even look at his captor. "You have answers that I need Silas, and it's up to you how long this whole...process will last."
Jungkook stepped back, giving his boss some space since he could sense how irritated Yoongi was already when Silas didn't provide an answer. Yoongi took a couple steps back and made eye contact with Namjoon, who walked to the other side of the concrete room and picked up a bucket, bringing it over to the man in the chair and dumping its contents on him. Jungkook felt a couple drops of cold water fly onto him and he couldn't help but chuckle slightly when Silas was suddenly jolting up in the chair, now fully away.
"Now that you are fully awake, how about we have a little chat?" Yoongi said, stepping close to him, refusing to break eye contact. Silas held his gaze and snickered back, sizing up the man in front of him.
"You fuckers think you're gonna get anything out of me?" Silas replied, upturning the corner of his mouth into a disgusting smirk.
Yoongi's jaw clenched as he brought his fist back and then hit Silas straight in the jaw. He continued to punch him over and over again until blood started to appear on his knuckles. He took a step back and reached a hand towards Namjoon, not even looking as a rag was placed in it.
"Like I said, this can last as long as you want it to," Yoongi stated as he wiped off the enemy's blood from his hand. "What are you doing with the girls?"
"You already know," Silas gritted out through his heavy breathing. Yoongi clenched his jaw again, eyes narrowing at the man in front of him.
"You took someone I know, you fucker. Where is she? And where are the countless others Ganghan has? Where are you taking them?" Yoongi asked.
"Why do you care about that bitch? She sways her hips for money, so I'm sure she'll enjoy being someone's play thing." Silas started to laugh before turning to spit the blood from his mouth to the floor.
Jungkook took a step towards him but stopped, giving Yoongi a side glance, silently asking for permission to approach him. The small head nod was all Jungkook needed to unleash hell.
He was always kept away from the action of their many missions, and any fighting he had done was sparring sessions with either Jimin or Charlie. Jungkook let out his anger on Silas' face, the first person that flashed through his head was Gigi, then Jamie, and finally, his best friend Charlie. Ganghan had two of them and wanted the third, but he was not going to allow that to happen.
Feeling Silas's body starting to go limp, Jungkook finally pulled away and stepped back, glancing at Yoongi, who gave him an appreciative nod.
"Where is Ganghan taking them?" Yoongi crossed his arms as he asked his question a second time. When Silas still didn't answer, the leader turned towards their youngest member. "Would you like to help our friend understand how bad we need that information?"
Jungkook's eyes went wide when he realized what Yoongi was asking of him. He turned towards Namjoon, almost to make sure he had heard his leader right. Namjoon nodded and gestured towards the small table that was kept in the room, intently watching as Jungkook walked over towards it.
There was only one item that seemed to call him as he picked up the blade and walked towards Silas. Jungkook remembered the blank look on Charlie's face as she stumbled while he helped her to the floor. This fucker had tried to drug her and was planning to take her with him, forcing her to do unspeakable things.
Charlie's smiling face appeared in his head, causing him to close his eyes as he pictured her standing in front of him. His eyes then trailed down her arm to the beautiful vine tattoo that covered the majority of her arm. Using that as a template, Jungkook opened his eyes before piercing Silas's skin, making his own vines down his arm.
Yoongi watched as Silas tried his best to silence his screams, clenching his jaw tightly in order to bear the pain. The leader watched closely as Jungkook dug into their victim's skin, making sure to draw the blade slowly. After a couple of intricate lines, Jungkook pulled the knife back and looked over at Yoongi.
"Now, do you want to answer?" Yoongi crossed his arms again and waited for an answer, but Silas still remained silent. He nodded towards Jungkook who continued to etch lines and swirls onto the length of Silas's arm as the man's breathing started to quicken, the pain excruciating.
Yoongi didn't get any answers for another 10 minutes. The pool of water on the concrete floor was turning a shade of crimson red as the blood dripped from Silas' arm. Small pieces of flesh started to peel away from the muscle of his arm.
"You have another arm and two legs, and we have nowhere to be. Will I get answers, or should my friend here move on to your other arm?" Yoongi asked with hatred in his voice, but Silas still remained quiet. Yoongi took a deep breath and nodded towards Jungkook, who moved to the other side of Silas. Jungkook lifted the knife and barely made contact with his skin when he cried out.
"Ok, fine! Fuck!" He shouted, still letting his head hang. The three Bangtan men remained still, waiting for the rest of the information. "Ganghan has a transport company they use to cover it all up." Yoongi saw how hard it was for Silas to even speak, breathing heavily between his words. He was losing a lot of blood and knew that he wasn't going to be able to last long.
Yoongi walked forward and squatted down in front of Silas, grabbing onto his hair before pulling it back so they were eye to eye.
"I'm going to need more than that Silas. Company name? Dates? Times?" Yoongi finally noticed the tired expression on Silas's face as well as the small bit of fear in his eyes.
"I don't know," he quietly mumbled and Yoongi looked over at Jungkook again, who simply pressed his knife into the muscle of his other arm. Silas cried out once again. "T&G Trucking! T&G Trucking!" he screamed, causing Jungkook to pull back.
Yoongi let go of his head and walked back over to Namjoon. "Find Taehyung and see what he can find on this company. Dates and times for when they are moving in and out of the city, anything. Go quick, we are on limited time," Yoongi said quietly, earning a small pat on the shoulder from his friend before Namjoon left the room.
He turned his attention back around to face the bloodied man again. "I need more Silas," he said in a monotone voice.
"I don't know anything else," Silas whimpered as he shook his head, clearly exhausted. He screamed when Jungkook started marking his arm again. "I swear I don't know! I'm just a recruiter!" he cried out and Jungkook stopped, looking up to his leader, waiting for the order.
Yoongi knew that this man didn't have anything else left in him: neither answers nor strength. He shook his head at Jungkook, who stepped back and placed the knife back on the table. Yoongi pulled the gun out from the back of his belt and pointed it at Silas, quickly pulling the trigger. He met eyes with Jungkook and gave him a small nod.
"We have work to do," he said as he motioned towards the door, the two leaving behind the second man of the Ganghan trafficking triad for the cleaner to dispose of.
~☾~
Charlie adjusted her earpiece as they started nearing the warehouse. Taehyung had managed to locate the logs for all of T&G Trucking's transports. The next shipment was to be leaving the city from this warehouse in an hour. Charlie hoped that this wasn't some mistake or a false lead, and that this mission would actually lead them to the women that had been taken instead of trucks filled with grates of materials.
Jungkook could see how Charlie couldn't sit still and reached a hand over to hers, offering her a sense of comfort.
"You good?" he asked, feeling her fingers curl around his hand as she squeezed it tightly.
"Yeah, I just really hope we find them," she muttered. Charlie gave him a small smile, but Jungkook could tell there was something else bothering her as she glanced down at her fingers. This was not the time nor the place to pry for answers, so instead of questioning her about it, he acted out of instinct and put his free hand behind her neck, earning her attention again.
"Keep me wild," he whispered to her, trying his best to keep his voice steady. The gesture was meant to calm Charlie, but his own heartbeat was going crazy right now as his fingers rested against her skin. Hearing her soft giggles told him his little plan had worked, causing him to smile at her.
"Keep me safe," Charlie whispered in response as her own hand slid to his shoulder, squeezing it in reassurance as she let out a deep breath.
She had been on edge ever since Yoongi had told all of them what Silas had revealed. She saw Jungkook walk into the house with Yoongi that night, both of them with bruised knuckles and Jungkook's shirt spotted with blood.
When she had offered to patch up his hand, he declined and said he just wanted to shower and go to bed, then turned the focus onto her and asked if she was doing ok. Charlie nodded to let him know she was fine before he accepted the answer and headed upstairs, reminding her that he was there for her if she needed anything. She went to bed not long after that, wondering what had happened in that room underground.
"You two ready?" Jimin's voice tore them apart as they shared a quick smile and nodded to him. The van pulled up near the warehouse and Hoseok parked the van in the shadows, turning to face his team.
"I will patrol the ground while Hotshot has the skies. We want to be in and out as fast as possible. We aren't sure if the drivers are with Ganghan or not, so Phantom has not authorized lethal force," Hoseok said, earning nods from everyone before they got into position, ready to head out.
Charlie opened the side door and hoped out, Jungkook right behind her with his sniper case in hand. Jimin walked around the car from the passenger side and looked to Charlie. Without a word, the four Bangtan members scattered to their respective spots. Jungkook headed to the adjacent building to get a view of the warehouse while Hoseok made his way to the other side of the building, making sure they wouldn't have any surprise visitors. Charlie and Jimin quickly got in position right next to the warehouse and heard the roar of the truck engine.
"Blade and Breaker in position," Jimin said, glancing over at Charlie while the two waiting for a response.
"Two minutes." Jungkook's voice was heard through their earpieces, but Charlie's heart started to beat faster as she heard the sound of the vehicle's doors shut.
"They're leaving now, we have to do something," she said frantically as her eyes met Jimin's.
"I'm not in position yet, wait, Blade," Jungkook urged. His voice was shaky as he tried his best to hurry up the many flights of stairs, hoping that she wouldn't do anything stupid.
"We don't have time," Charlie said and Jimin gave her a small nod. "I'm going to get the vehicle to stop, you take a look in the back," she said, eyes locked on Jimin's while he gave her a thumbs up, letting her know he was on board with the plan.
"No Blade, I don't have eyes on either of you. Ember, can you see them?" Jungkook asked, going as fast as he could. This was his job, to have eyes on Charlie and Jimin, and she wasn't letting him do that.
"No, I'm watching the other side. We need to make sure we don't add to their numbers," Hoseok said. He wasn't happy with Charlie's spur-of-the-moment decision, but he understood why she wanted to act fast.
Charlie hummed in response, letting Hoseok know that she heard him and would proceed carefully. She quickly pulled off her equipment, piling it in the grass before she pulled at the hair tie that kept her hair in a high ponytail, ruffling her fingers through her long locks to create a disheveled look. Pulling out her shirt that was neatly tucked into her pants, she now looked like a complete mess.
"I'm going in," she informed them.
"Dammit Blade!" Jungkook huffed, just starting to reach the floor he needed to be at. He worked quickly to pull out his sniper, frantically scanning the area as he tried to get a visual on Charlie. His breathing quickened while his jaw clenched, beyond pissed that she decided to handle the situation on her own. Why do you always have to be so damn reckless?
Charlie stepped out of the shadows and into the loading dock of the warehouse.
"Help me please!" she shouted, stumbling towards the driver's side of the truck. "Someone, please!" she cried again, holding her side and trying her best to put on a good show. She saw Jimin out of the corner of her eye snake to the back of the truck.
The driver of the truck opened the door and jumped down, cautiously approaching her. Charlie ran up to him, looking extremely desperate for help as she flung her arms around him.
"There's this man, help me please," Charlie breathed out, moving her hands around him seemingly finding support as she stumbled when in reality, she was searching for weapons... and she found one. Her fingers grazed against the cool metal of the gun that tucked in the back of his belt before she paused her movements.
"Hands up, bitch," a voice behind her said as Charlie heard the click of a gun. Fuck! She slowly put her hands up and turned around to face the passenger, who had his gun pointed right at her head.
"Phantom, the enemy has a gun to Blade, permission to shoot?" Jungkook asked as he finally looked through his scope, feeling his heart pounding against his chest as he saw the weapon drawn at his best friend, time going excruciatingly slow as he waited for Yoongi's response.
"Granted," Yoongi said, just the word Jungkook had hoped to hear.
"Hey there Hotshot," Charlie said, snickering at the man in front of her, who took a second too long pondering what she meant by that.
"Down," Jungkook ordered as he peered down his scope, crosshairs on the man pointing the gun at his best friend. He watched Charlie drop to her knees and his finger squeezed the trigger once... twice.
Charlie saw the bodies drop and quickly looked around, checking the perimeter for anyone else. Seeing no other Ganghan men, she sprinted to the back of the truck, where she found Jimin finally opening the hatch. She held her breath, not knowing what was going to be on the other side of this door.
"Jimin? Charlie?" a weak voice said as Jimin slowly stepped into the back of the large truck. Seeing Gigi's face dirty and bruised had his stomach in knots and he quickly wrapped his arms around her. He felt her start to shake a little and he squeezed a little tighter.
"We got you," Jimin whispered while Charlie turned to the other two girls in the back of the truck.
"We have Gigi and two others," Charlie informed. She slowly approached the other two girls, who looked terrified and unsure about whether or not they could trust the strangers standing before them. Charlie bent down and held out a hand. "We are here to take you home," she said, her voice calm as she offered a reassuring smile.
One of the girls, who didn't look more than 16, slowly grasped Charlie's hand and stood up. Charlie led the two girls out of the truck and into the warehouse where Hoseok was waiting for them.
"Jade?" Gigi asked and Charlie looked back at her.
"She's ok," Jimin said. Charlie noticed the look that Gigi gave her and she couldn't help but return the small smile, glad that they were able to reach her in time.
They got the girls into the van just as Jungkook had stepped out of the building he was in, his bag in hand as he jogged towards the van.
"Gigi?" he called. She immediately turned towards him, offering him a smile as he grinned as well, pulling her into a hug as the relief coursed through him knowing that she was safe.
Charlie didn't understand the tightness she was feeling in her chest as she witnessed what was happening between her best friend and Gigi. She tried to push the feeling away as she stepped into the van.
"What about Jamie?" Jungkook asked as he looked at the other two girls and then to Hoseok, who just shook his head in response. Jungkook turned back to Gigi and helped her into the van before he found a place himself.
Yoongi had given them instructions to drop the girls off at Raven's place, thinking they would be more comfortable there than in a house full of men. As they started to head back home, Jungkook finally turned towards Charlie.
"What you did was reckless," he scolded, causing Charlie to look up at him, slightly shocked by the tone in his voice.
"Excuse me?" Charlie asked, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"I was not in position, and yet, you still changed the plan even after I told you not to. I was supposed to get to my post, see how many guys there were, and determine if they were dangerous." Jungkook's voice started to get louder with each word as he felt the irritation and anger take over. "Then you just step out in front of them as if you can't be hurt!" he exclaimed.
He clenched his jaw as he stared at Charlie, remembering how he felt in that moment as he told his legs to move faster. He feared the sound of a single gunshot ringing through his ears once more and had prayed that he didn't hear it a second time.
"You're seriously mad at me?" Charlie spat back, the anger building inside her as she glared at him. She did what she had to do in order to get those girls out. Yes, the plan had to change, but no one got hurt and they got Gigi back, so what the hell was his problem?
"Yes, I'm fucking furious Charlotte," Jungkook said. The look in Charlie's eyes almost had him regretting his words, but he tried to swallow down the lump in his throat as he held his ground.
He had never called her by her full name before, and when she turned to look out the window instead of facing him, he immediately felt guilty for lashing out at her. He opened his mouth to speak since he wanted to clarify things, but Jimin turned back and shook his head, practically begging Jungkook to wait until they at least got home.
As soon as the car pulled into the garage of their house, Charlie pushed past Jungkook, nearly knocking him down as she jumped out of the van and walked into the house, not even bothering to look back. Hoseok and Jimin exchanged a worried glance as they watched Jungkook stomping behind her, hot on her heels.
"We are not done talking about this Charlie!" he shouted after her, reaching the living room as she halted in her steps, turning towards her best friend as she was now seething with anger.
"What is there to talk about Kook? We got Gigi back and we saved those other girls!" she yelled in response.
The youngest members' outburst caused the rest of the house to slowly make their way to the bare living room where the fight ensued. Hoseok and Jimin watched the other members' confusion as they wondered why the supposed best friends were at each other's throats right now.
"Yeah we saved them, but you didn't stick to the plan!" Jungkook took a step towards Charlie, not noticing the audience that had gathered.
"We had to change the plan, you know that!" Charlie took a step back and looked over at Jimin before turning back towards Jungkook. "Why aren't you yelling at him?! He agreed with me!" she motioned towards Jimin who immediately put his hands up, clearly wanting to stay out of this.
Jungkook ran his hands through his hair, pissed off at the fact that Charlie was not understanding the situation.
"You took off all your weapons and went in not knowing the full situation while unarmed. Jimin can fight and knows how to handle things rationally, and you should know better than to put yourself in harm's way," he argued. Jungkook tried to soften his voice, hoping she would realize the severity of the situation. Ganghan was after her specifically and she had practically handed herself over to them. She was lucky he got to his post in time.
"And I can't fight?" Charlie scoffed as she realized what Jungkook was truly trying to say. "It's because I'm a woman, right?" Charlie asked while Jungkook merely hung his head, avoiding her eyes as he remained silent. "So all I'm good for is being sexy and luring our targets, huh? I shouldn't actually be fighting?" Charlie crossed her arms in front of her chest, clenching her jaw as she repeatedly told herself to stay strong while she waited for him to respond.
"It's just different," Jungkook finally said. He finally gathered the courage to look up, meeting his eyes with hers. "I have protected you for years, and I can't protect you if you go running right to the enemy!"
"I don't need you to protect me!" Charlie shouted. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this angry with Jungkook. "I was doing just fine before you moved into that damn house." She knew that was a lie, but she was too irate to be logical about anything right now.
"Sure you were," Jungkook said, rolling his eyes and scoffing, but when his eyes focused back on the woman in front of him, he knew that he went too far as he felt the tension grow in the room.
Yes, he was mad as hell right now, but to remind her of the pain she went through all alone was cruel. Before he could try to take back those words, her fist landed a hard punch to his jaw before she tackled him to the ground. He tried to grab her and pin her down so she could cool off and he could get a chance to explain, but she was much better at this than he was.
Taehyung and Hoseok tried to step in but Yoongi held up his hand, stopping them from breaking it up. He did have a rule about no fighting in the house, but after listening to what Jungkook just said, Yoongi felt that Charlie had every right to put her best friend in his fucking place.
"Let them fight it out," he said as the rest of the house watched, worried about how this was going to end.
There were a couple times that Jungkook thought he had his arms around her, but Charlie was smart and knew how to use her flexibility and her small frame to her advantage. She managed to get her legs around his torso, keeping him still, while an arm snaked around his neck as she pulled him close to her chest, cutting off his air. She had him pinned, and Jungkook knew that.
Trying to breathe, he quickly tapped her arm so she would let go...but she didn't. All the times that someone had looked down on her because of who she was flooded back into her mind, people calling her weak and frail, telling her she was a nobody. Men only seemed to want her for her body, and she used that to her advantage of course, but she would be lying if she said it didn't hurt sometimes.
Yoongi decided to step forward when he noticed the anger and pain written all over her face. She was obviously not thinking clearly and he needed to stop her.
"Charlie enough," Yoongi said, watching her closely as he saw how she wasn't letting go while Jungkook continued to tap on her arm, his face now a bright shade of red. When she still didn't loosen her grip, Taehyung walked over to her and tried to pull her away, but she held on even tighter.
"Charlotte!" Yoongi shouted as he got closer to her, ready to pry her away himself.
Charlie finally let go of Jungkook and he turned on his side, gasping for breath while Taehyung was right by his side, making sure he was ok. Charlie stood up and stared down at her best friend.
"You just got beaten by a woman," she said while Jungkook looked up at her, his hand rubbing his throat. "How does that feel?" Charlie asked before storming out of the room, pulling back her arm when Jin tried to reach out for her as she brushed past him.
"Damn, you really fucked up man," Jimin said before heading into the kitchen. Yoongi let out a heavy sigh as he stared at Namjoon, trying to figure out what to do while the other members nervously shared a look with each other before glancing back at Jungkook, who was clearly irritated.
Jungkook, ignoring all the stares directed towards him, managed to get up and shoved Taehyung away from him. Taehyung, who was only trying to help, frowned as he watched the youngest member leave the room as well, heading in the opposite direction as Charlie.
A/N: Thank you for your patience in getting out updates! I know it ended at a real cliff hanger so we will be working hard on the next chapter!
Thoughts?? -------->