~20:57~

After getting separated from the rest of your crew, you decided to just go with it. The blood trailing down your face and your right bicep is an afterthought. All you see is red, your blood dripping off your chin and on the ground as you hold a shotgun in your hand, an AR still strapped around your shoulder. You have a lot of shells and mags left, so there's that. Looks like you can take out these dirty Martians and not worry about running out of ammo any time soon. You smirk at the thought, chuckling to yourself as you hike down the empty streets.

The buildings are wrecked, fires burning around you, random papers and embers soaring through the area. Do you give a fuck? No, no you don't. You limp as you listen to the distant gunfire. It's reverberating down the streets, creeping down your spine. You don't let it bother you. The only thing you're running off of right now is pure anger and hate. Hate for Chaeyoung. It seems as though imagining every Martian soldier as Chaeyoung has made it easier. You hate killing, but if it was her, you'd do it in a heartbeat.

A lone Martian soldier, injured, jumps out of an alley, holding a pistol by his side. By the time he locates you, you're already lining up your shot. You shoot once, hitting him right in the chest. He gasps and falls over, dropping his weapon and losing his life. You grit your teeth, hating the sight, but you know you have to get over it. This is war. People die and kill in war. This isn't the time to be squeamish to blood.

The limp you have gets a little worse, but you don't care. You kneel behind a car as a group of Martians come out of an alley. The familiar M logo on their uniform alerts you to their presence. There's six of them and they don't know you're here. All too easy. They rush down the street, their backs facing you as you whip your AR out and fire on them. Before they can even react, you've sprayed them all with your bullets. Seven. Seven dead out of how many?

Again, you stand, strapping the AR around your shoulder again as you make your way down the street. A lone Earth fighter, limping as the city collapses around her. Obviously there's nothing more you can do to help the city. You've done your part. You've killed despite not wanting to, you've located spies, you've been in the sky destroying the enemy. What more can you do? What more does Chaeyoung expect you to do? The crew of the Moonchild has solved a lot of problems, but even in the Ring they couldn't do it alone. The basic fact she forgot: every time they've faced a problem, they've suffered massive consequences.

Jungkook was out for several days, almost dead, because of the Belt and the broadcast. Taehyung and Jungkook got infected after the Ring. Oh, not to mention Anya and Taehyung got enhancements because of it. Triton they lost Namjoon. Ganymede they lost their fucking sanity. Poor Jimin thought you were dead the entire time. Ganymede itself was left in shambles and you ended up killing your own father. How many sleepless nights did that lead to? How many nightmares did that lead to? Despite quite literally putting your demons into the ground, they're still part of you. It isn't something you can just forget, and that's obvious every time you have a fight with anyone.

Every time you fight, you get scared. Every single time. You're reminded of your father and all those years growing up. Obviously you have trauma, but you thought you could get past it. You thought being with Jimin would help. Of course it does, but you didn't realize just how deep that trauma ran. When chipped Jimin slapped you, suddenly it was like he was a whole new person. You hope that when you free him, you'll be able to look at him like you always have. Like Park Jimin, not your father.

Another group of Martians come into your view, making you raise your AR and blast them. They weren't expecting a lone Earther. As soon as you down the group of four, you approach their bodies, kneeling next to them. You haven't seen any Earth soldiers in a while. What if?

Before you can second guess yourself, you take the chestplate of the Martian gear and rip it off the closest one. You take off your Earth armor, replacing it with the Martian type. It fits decently well, a bit chunkier and heavier than the Earth one, but you're not complaining. If you blend in, you can get the upper hand. As soon as you're fully covered in Martian armor, you stand and look around. Good, no one noticed you doing that. No one's even around. Perfect timing.

You push off again, trekking down the street and keeping your limp. The helmet covers your bleeding face, so no one will recognize you either. Hopefully no one will recognize your voice if you have to talk, but you doubt anyone will. That's such a small thing that someone would notice. However, you don't want to underestimate Mars. It's highly unlikely, but if there's even a zero point one percent chance, you want to take precautions. Speak lower than normal. Got it.

The streets have a bunch of buildings on both sides of you, you strolling down the center road. There's no working cars around the gigantic pavement, but there are some abandoned ones. Thank God for that, you have cover thanks to whoever left their cars here. Honestly, looking at all this stuff, all this destruction? It feels like you're in an apocalypse. Your body shivers at that idea. How disgusting.

You creep forward, then, you stop. Voices. You hear voices. On instinct, you crouch behind one of the cars, crawling forward and listening closely. They get louder as you get to the end of the road, the intersection going both right and left. They sound like they're coming from straight ahead, so that's where you go. In front of you is a sidewalk and grass, no more road. It goes down into a ditch, and that's where they are. Martians. A shit ton of Martians.

Your eyes widen, but the helmet masks that. You're at the top of the hill, crouching while glancing down at them. They haven't noticed you yet, but that's mostly because they have their backs turned to you. You do have a grenade. You smirk to yourself, grabbing the rectangular object and pulling back the clip. You take a moment, then completely rip it free. It softly beeps at you, the red light on the top of it flickering. There's got to be at least twelve Martians down there. At least. You don't have much cover up here, but you can take them all out with the grenade. Or if you don't, hopefully the others will be too disoriented to fight back. Just be ready on the AR. You can do this.

As the beeping gets louder you know you only have three seconds left until it explodes. You toss it. The object lands right behind them, making them jump around. They whip up and see you, and of course you give a cute little wave just as the thing explodes. Screams are heard as the ground blows up, the sound making you jump back. You groan, wincing at the loud noise before you whip your AR out.

There's smoke covering the area, same with bodies. It doesn't look like any survived, but just in case, you get up and run. You sprint towards them, staring at the many bodies. Yeah, they're dead. Without giving yourself a chance to linger for more to show up, you dash away. The grass hits your feet as you go deeper into the opening, searching around for any Earth or Mars survivors but finding none.

You let the AR get strapped around you again, deciding to instead grab your shotgun and hold it. The weapon is fully loaded, ready to fire on any Martians that come in your way. However, you end up making the trek to the end of the park soon enough, no Martians around to fight.

"Y-Y/N. Y/N, come in." You stop your running, panting. Of course someone's trying to comm you now. Of course. Regardless of your mental complaints, you bring the device up, pressing on it to reply.

"I'm here," you reply, leaning your back against the nearest tree.

"Where are you?" Jungkook's voice asks.

"I don't know, in some park."

"We're on our way to you, stay there okay?" he says to you.

"I don't know, Koo. I've taken out a lot on my own. I'm wearing Martian armor, I can easily slip into wherever they're set up."

"Set up? Y/N, I hate to tell you this, but I think they're just running into the city and shooting anything that moves. I don't think they have a plan or big base."

You sigh. "But what if they do? Do we want to take that chance?"

"And what are you going to do? Rush in there all by yourself and blow it up?" Jungkook asks.

"If that's what it takes. I'll do anything right about now."

He stays quiet for a moment.

"Listen, I know you're in a lot of emotional distress because of Jimin, but-"

"No, I'm not! I want to protect my home and him. I owe him, Bunny." You break off to sniffle. "I owe him."

He doesn't reply for a few seconds, making you concerned that he disconnected. Then, you hear static. "I know, sweetheart. But how would he feel if you died in battle? Or died at all? You need to live for him. If you owe him, then get out of danger. He needs you, Y/N. Chipped or not he needs you by his side, even if he doesn't admit it." You sigh, knowing deep down that he's right. You calm down, but only slightly,

"I'm still going to kill her."

"Only if I don't first," he says.

You manage to laugh at Jungkook's words. "I love you, Kook. But I'm going to stay out a little longer just to kill some more Martians."

"Y/N, I love you too, but please don't ever say that again."

"What?"

"That... you want to kill more. That's not you."

You roll your eyes. "We're in war. Killing is something that happens. I'm not doing it because I like to, I'm doing it because I want to protect everyone."

"You don't have to."

You pause. "But I want to."

You cut the comm, not waiting for his response. They're probably tracking you now, great. Eh, whatever. Just get to an alleyway, this park is too open. Your legs move on their own as you sprint to the nearest road you see. As soon as your feet hit the pavement, you hear a voice.

"Identify yourself!" a female voice yells out. You jump, whipping around with your AR. There's a Martian soldier not too far away. Her armor is damaged, her voice low, her legs barely holding her up. Yeah, looks like you've both seen it all.

"Only if you do first," you reply, holding your ground.

"Clever," she whispers before motioning to the alley. "Come with me."

"What? In what universe would I do that?"

"Just come with me!" At your reluctance, she throws down her AR. You want to shoot her as soon as that happens, but part of you thinks she's someone important. You don't want to down her, she might have information. "Your turn." At her words, you finally sigh and give in. You drop your AR and shotgun, even throwing your pistol on the ground. However, you refuse to get rid of the knife strapped to your leg. She doesn't have one, which makes you curious as to how she lost it, but you obviously don't have time to pry. Despite both having helmets on, the two of you stare at each other for a few moments. "Come on, this way."

Every cell in your body hates this idea, but you don't have time. You have back up on the way, so if anything goes wrong, worst case scenario is just stall until they get there. Get under her skin, give up secrets about Chaeyoung. Whatever you have to do to survive. Maybe you should've shot her when she disarmed herself, but at the same time, something's telling you that what you did was the right call. You should listen to yourself sometimes, you make a lot of good decisions. Not to mention you have a weapon still, and she doesn't. At least, you don't think she has one. Hopefully you can get the jump on her before she gets it on you. You just want to find out who she is and why you have a feeling that you recognize her.

She guides you into an alley, her standing at the mouth of it while you go deeper inside. You stand near a dumpster, her only ten feet away as she crosses her arms across her chest. "Care to identify yourself?" You stay quiet. "You're not Martian. Got it. Take off your helmet."

"If you think I'm not Martian, you should have just shot me," you say.

"Only one person would run around alone at a time like this. I've been watching you, both on TV and around the city. You're very impressive, I'll give you that."

You draw your knife, holding it in front of you. "Who the hell are you?" you ask.

"I'll take off my helmet if you take off yours. How about at the same time?"

"Fuck no! I'm not trusting someone like you!"

"You really should. This entire place is swarming with Martians, I might be your only chance at survival," she says.

"I don't need your help," you reply, taking a step back. She notices your step and comes closer, almost as if taunting you.

"Don't be scared, I only want to talk."

"Yeah I'm sure you've used that line plenty of times before," you say in a sneer, shaking your head and backing up further. This is a rather small alley, so you don't have much room. You want to get as far away as possible. Every time you try to step away, she closes the gap.

"Don't be like that. Come on, I'll show you who I am as long as you play nice."

"I should be saying that to you," you reply, feeling your heel hit the wall.

She keeps her distance, staying about fifteen feet away. Even behind the helmet, you can feel her glaring at you. Yeah, she clearly doesn't like you very much. Maybe you should throw the knife and take your chances. As you planned earlier, worst case scenario is you stall until backup gets here. You know they're tracking you, so this is the best way to go. Stall so much that she'll get angry at you and try to kill you. Great plan, L/N.

"If I take off my helmet, you'll actually take off yours?" you ask.

She nods. "I dropped my weapons, didn't I?"

"Why?"

"I don't trust you, but I know you. Y/N L/N, correct?" Your breath leaves your body. "I've been watching you for a while, as I said. You're fascinating, really." At your silence, she chuckles. "I bet you want to know who I am, right?"

"That would certainly help," you say.

"Then come on, let's do it. On the count of three, we both take our helmets off." You stare for a few more seconds before sighing and agreeing. You holster your knife, placing both your hands on your helmet. She does the same, giving you a small nod. You return it, mentally waiting for her to start counting. "Alright. One. two. three..."

As soon as the words leave her lips, you whip off your helmet and toss it to the side. You blink, adjusting to the new light and letting your hand rest near your thigh, right where your knife is. Your eyes widen as you take in the sight of the woman, her standing tall. If there wasn't a wall behind you, you would have fallen over. That face. It's been so long. Almost nine whole months since you've seen it, but you'd recognize her anywhere. You'd recognize the most decorated Commander of all time.

Standing in front of you, mere feet away, is Diamond Commander Clementine Shoto.

~20:31~

Jungkook treks down the alleyway with Taehyung, Baekhyun, and Hoseok. His small squad that Seulgi sent to find Y/N. They already made good distance, but to no avail. They haven't run into any Martians either, which is making him worried. Either they're hiding somewhere, or they aren't around this area at all. Or maybe they're all guarding Y/N right now. Unlikely, but still a possibility Jungkook has to consider.

"Where do we go?" Taehyung asks, his voice echoing down the alley.

Jungkook grunts. "If I knew the answer to that, I'd be taking us there." Jungkook is trying to track Y/N with his comm, but it's not exactly working. Finding Seulgi was easy, but something must be wrong with Y/N's comm. It's not going through as smoothly as it should be. That's probably why Seulgi's comm was glitching. "Fucking dammit," he mutters, playing with his comm for another minute. "How the hell did Seulgi track her?" Jungkook asks, not expecting an answer.

"Here, let me see," Hoseok says. Jungkook lets a breath pass his lips as he hands the device to Hoseok, who takes it. He gets to work right away, poking and prodding at the thing. After another two minutes, Hoseok lights up. "I have a signal," he says in a cheer, handing the comm back to Jungkook. The Captain takes the item and stares at it in shock, peering at the signal. She's not too far, but not too close either. The perfect in between, it seems.

Jungkook can't help but feel useless. He has no enhancements, and now he can't even do his job right? Hoseok had to do it for him? He's supposed to be a platinum intelligence officer. Not a bronze, not a silver, not even a gold: a platinum. That's a big deal, that doesn't happen over night. That takes years of hard work, and Hoseok was still able to solve the problem before him. That's insane. Good for Hoseok and the mission, but bad for Jungkook's mental state.

Of course he's not mad at Hoseok or anything like that, he's just mad at himself for not being more helpful. All he wants to do is help everyone as best as he can, but it feels like he can't anymore. Taehyung had to go in and save Seulgi. Jungkook has been out of action for who knows how many days. And now he can't do something as simple as tracking. If he can't even do that right, how is he supposed to be an asset to the crew? They're depending on him. What if he can't do it?

He shakes himself out of his thoughts, deciding to instead look at the area in front of him. The alleyway narrows, leading to an opening. "Should we try it?" Hoseok asks.

"I think so, Baekhyun?" Jungkook asks, turning to the man.

He shrugs. "That's on you. Wherever you go, I follow." Taehyung nods in agreement, causing Jungkook to smile at him. Tae returns the small smile, giving his husband a nod.

Jungkook is so grateful for Taehyung. So grateful that he has to do something about it. "Hoseok, Baekhyun, go scout ahead. I'll cover our flank, give us a thumbs up when you see it's good." They read right through Jungkook's words but don't argue. They nod and rush forward. Taehyung and Jungkook are left alone. He needs to tell Tae this, just in case. They technically are still in a war, anything can happen at any moment.

"Hey," Tae says, giving Jungkook a sheepish smile.

"Hey," Jungkook whispers back, stepping closer. The two stand mere feet away from each other, staring for a few seconds. Jungkook lets out a short breath. "I love you," he says, meeting Tae's eyes. The boy blinks for a few moments before nodding and smiling.

"I love you too." Taehyung can tell there's pain behind Jungkook's expression, but he doesn't press. Another reason why Jungkook's grateful for Tae: he knows when and when not to press. It's like his superpower.

"Whatever happens, I just wanted to thank you for being by my side. Both before, during, and after my whole hospital trip."

Taehyung sniffles, tearing up. "I'll be by your side as long as you need me to. Whatever you need, Kook. That's what I'm here for. And if I had to go through that whole hospital ordeal again?" Tae steps forward, entwining his hand with Jungkook's. "I'd do it. For you."

Jungkook shakily nods, leaning down and kissing Tae's forehead. He cherishes the boy's soft skin, smiling as he pulls back. "Thank you for everything, and thank you for marrying me," Jungkook mutters. Taehyung smiles, nodding in response. Obviously they have a lot to do today, and he has to find his best friend, but that doesn't mean he can't take a moment and be grateful for his husband. Jungkook didn't really get a chance to properly thank Taehyung for everything he's done. He's been so supportive. Almost too supportive for his own good.

The Captain glances back in time to see Baekhyun and Hoseok waving them forward, signaling that their private moment has ended. "Let's do this," Tae whispers, going in front of Jungkook. Jungkook follows the boy down the alley, approaching Baekhyun and Hoseok's side.

"Everything is clear?"

"Not really. Look," Baekhyun says, pointing to a spot not too far away.

"What the fuck is that?" Jungkook asks, furrowing his brows.

"I don't know, it looks like..."

"A tank?" Taehyung finishes in confusion.

"Since when does Mars use tanks? I thought they focused on aircraft?" Baekhyun asks. Leave it to the pilot to know all about aircrafts.

"That's what I thought too, I guess they're expanding their arsenal," Jungkook says.

"Did Earth do any of that?" Taehyung asks with a frown, already knowing the answer.

Jungkook sighs, staring at the giant mass not too far away from them. "Well, the signal shows that she's past it. Looks like we're going to have to work our way around it somehow."

"Can we loop around?" Hoseok says.

"Or stay here and let Seulgi's group take care of it?" Baekhyun says. That earns him a glare from the other three. "Look man, I want to save Y/N, but Seulgi may get there by the time we even figure out what to do."

"So what do you suggest instead?" Jungkook asks.

"We fight. Not the tank, that would be just all kinds of stupid, but the Martians. We can circle around and clear a path for when she's rescued. We need to get back to Chaeyoung anyway, we're not exactly doing so well-" Baekhyun is interrupted by a loud 'banging' sound, causing the others to wince and jump back. Jungkook peeks over everyone's heads, his eyes widening once he takes in the sight.

Earth is out there, a tank of her own rolling down the street. "Okay, maybe there's hope after all!" Baekhyun says. Jungkook smiles, leaning against the alley's wall. It feels good to not have to do all the work for once. Jungkook really thought they were going to fight a whole ass tank, but now they don't have to.

Jungkook keeps his smile as the Earth and Mars tank fight it out. Eventually, the Earth tank wins. The group lets out small, quiet victory noises in celebration. "We're somewhat winning!" Baekhyun says, causing Hoseok to laugh and nod in agreement. Jungkook peeps around at the few with pride in his eyes. This is his family. His home. If he can help guide them in times like these, maybe he's not so useless after all.

"Come on, let's go," Jungkook says, stepping out of the alley. The others follow as the Captain leads them down the sidewalk, approaching the giant Earth tank. Someone pops out of the top, holding an AR and pointing it down at them.

"Identify yourselves!" the man yells.

Jungkook holds his hands up. "Jeon Jungkook, temporary Captain of the Moonchild." At that, he lowers his gun.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" he asks.

"Looking for Y/N L/N. I have a read on her location, but getting to her has proved difficult."

The man pats on the tank, chuckling. "You guys ever ride on one of these babies before?" Everyone shakes their heads in-sync. "Good. Hop on and give me your comm, I'll track her."

Jungkook hops up on the mass of metal, handing the device to the soldier. Jungkook turns, helping Taehyung up and sighing. "Tae?" Jungkook asks.

"Yeah?" Jungkook shakes his head in disbelief. They're about to go find Y/N with a God damn tank.

"This is going to be a long ride."

~~~

A/N: Shorter chapter mostly because the next one is packed. Good luck.