Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It took them two months to track down Rumi.

An unforgivable amount of time in Mira's opinion.

Alarms rang throughout the facility as Mira marched forward like an avenging angel, Zoey and Celine flanking her, weapons out.

Hunters' weapons were not supposed to be used on humans. But surely the Honmoon would forgive them, given the circumstances.

A scientist tried to run past her, carrying a stack of papers.

Zoey's shin-kal flew down the hallway, neatly slicing his Achilles tendon.

The scientist collapsed, pages scattering along the floor.

Mira grabbed him by the lab coat, slamming him into a wall, his ribs crunching under the force of the blow.

"Where is she?" She growled, baring her teeth in a snarl.

"Where's who?" He sputtered, struggling feebly in her grip.

Zoey pressed a shin-kal to his neck. "You know exactly who we're talking about. Where the hell is Rumi?"

The scientist's pupils constricted with fear. Good. Let him know just how much danger he was in.

"The subject is in the holding cells. Take the first left in the hallway."

The subject? The subject?

Fury seared through Mira.

Rumi wasn't a subject.

A clean blow across the jaw dropped the scientist. Mira let him collapse onto the floor, not particularly caring if he was injured by the fall.

"To the left then," Celine stated flatly, icy demeanor cracking slightly. Metal sickles caught the red lights, giving the appearance of being stained in blood.

With their luck, they probably would be soon.

Zoey and Mira nodded sharply. As much as they wanted to reap vengeance on the scientists, it could wait.

Rumi was the only thing that mattered.

Emergency lighting cast the hallway in red, as the continued forward, Mira taking point.

Her gok-do make quick work of the locked door marking the start of the holding cells.

The smell of decay hit her nose as soon as the door swung open.

And when she stepped forward, more scents joined the mix: iron, bleach, and bile.

This couldn't have all come from Rumi.

Right?

Not in two months.

Unless they were too late. Unless the only thing left for them to find was a corpse.

No. Mira mentally shook herself. She would know if Rumi was dead. The Honmoon had stitched their souls together. She and Zoey would have felt it if something happened.

(The one point of relief in the past two months had been Celine informing them - in no uncertain terms - when a Hunter died, her soulbonds would know.)

Brick walls surrounded sturdy metal doors with slats cut at the base, presumably to slide food trays under. No windows. No bars.

Mira swallowed thickly, shoving her gok-do into the deadbolt of the first door, revealing the inside of the cell.

It was empty.

This was going to take longer than they had time for.

Zoey and Celine had stepped away from Mira, venturing farther down the row of holding cells.

"Here," Celine called. "This one."

She'd stopped about halfway down the hallway, staring at the floor in front of the cell door.

"What makes you say that?"

Wordlessly, Celine gestured at a small drain in front of the door, still wet with a red liquid.

Mira didn't ask any more questions, just slammed her gok-do into the lock.

This time when the door swung open, it revealed a figure curled on the ground.

Rumi.

Chains bound her wrists and ankles together. A thick metal collar wrapped around her throat, another chain attaching it to the floor. A muzzle, tight enough she probably wouldn't even be able to speak, cut into her face. Bloodstains covered her clothing. Her patterns were a dull purple-black, as if they were trying to avoid notice.

But she was breathing. Slow, ragged, and shallow, but breathing nonetheless.

Celine was in motion first, crossing the threshold into the cell, fingers stopping just shy of Rumi's face, trying to find a place that wasn't covered in injuries.

"Rumi?" The words sounded like shattered glass coming out of Celine's mouth.

One gold eye pulled itself open, the other too swollen to move.

Fear flashed across Rumi's face when she registered she wasn't alone.

But instead of jerking away, trying to fight, any of the things the Rumi Mira knew would have done, she went limp, shaking, a small whimper making its way past the muzzle.

"Hey, hey. Rumi, it's alright. It's us," Mira tried, crouching in front of her girlfriend. "You're safe now. We're getting out of here."

Zoey pulled another shin-kal out of the Honmoon, preparing to sever Rumi's binds. "It's going to be alright. We've got you."

But as the knife entered Rumi's field of vision, she flinched, chain attached to the floor going taught as she reared back, a choked sound filling the cell when the collar bit into her throat.

Rumi's breathing quickened, pupil narrowing into a slit with fear.

Fuck.

Fuck.

The longer Rumi stayed chained like this, the more likely she was to hurt herself, but trying to free her would absolutely cause more distress.

Lesser of two evils. Mira thought, stepping around Zoey. She slammed her gok-do into the point where the chains on Rumi's wrists and ankles met, then severed the chain attached to the floor.

Suddenly free, Rumi scrambled away, back hitting the wall of the cell.

"Rumi," Mira tried again. "Do you recognize us?"

Nothing. If anything Rumi's breathing got quicker, fully passing into hyperventilation.

"Rumi." Celine stepped forward, leaving her sickles on the floor. "It's me. It-it's Eomma."

The title startled Mira. It was accurate, they all knew it.

But it was one of those truths Rumi and Celine never spoke aloud.

Rumi blinked, gold eye fading back to brown.

Then, without warning, she leaned forward into Celine, tears streaming down her face, shaking like a leaf.

Celine barely caught Rumi, whispering assurances into her hair, before picking her up into an embrace, chains hanging loosely in the air.

Wordlessly, Mira and Zoey adjusted their grip on their weapons, flanking Celine as they stepped out of the cell.

Hunters' weapons were not supposed to be used on humans. But the Honmoon would forgive any transgression that occurred tonight.

Anything for one of its chosen.

~~~~

There was not a traffic law in existence Bobby didn't break while driving back to Huntr/x tower. Maybe going to a hospital would have been smarter, but they had their own medical team on standby who wouldn't ask questions.

Zoey twisted her lock picks in one of the shackles on Rumi. Tumblers shifted under her delicate touch, the lock finally springing open, revealing weeping sores.

The carefully maintained box Zoey had placed all of her emotions in strained at the sight of them. Those were the kinds of injuries animals got trying desperately to escape captivity.

She forced her breathing to steady, fingers digging into the seat leather as Bobby rounded a corner sharply, causing them all to jostle.

"Sorry," He said, tensely.

Celine waved him off, readjusting her grip on Rumi, who had passed out sometime between the holding cell and the car.

Which meant she wasn't conscious for Zoey prying the cuffs off her limbs, or studying the muzzle and collar.

Small mercies.

Zoey licked her lips, tracing a finger across the collar, searching for the lock.

It shifted when Bobby slowed down, riding up to reveal burn patches.

She gasped, jolting back.

"What is it?" Mira was by her side in an instant, abandoning her job of surveillance to ensure they weren't followed.

"It's a shock collar." Zoey felt like there was water between her brain and her mouth. She was saying words, but not fully comprehending them.

They'd put a shock collar on Rumi. And by the size of those patches, used it liberally. They'd taken a third of her soul and muzzled and collared her like a feral animal.

"Fuck," Mira spat. "I'm going to kill them."

It was truly a sign of how bad the situation was that Celine didn't chastise Mira for her language.

"I'm scared to remove it," Zoey admitted, shoving her violent desires into the box in the back of her mind. "They might have tampered with it somehow. A fail safe if she ever got it off."

"Dammit," Mira's fingers hovered just over Rumi's face. "She deserves wake up without all this shit on her."

"She does. But she also deserves to not be shocked again."

Mira gritted her teeth, tracing the straps of the muzzle. "I think we can get this off. The clasps don't look tampered with.

Zoey nodded, grabbing a smaller rake and turning tool from her lock picking kit.

When the muzzle finally came loose, it was like the pressure in the car lessened tenfold.

Metal clattered as Zoey dropped the horrible contraption to the ground, studying Rumi's face, now that it was free.

Angry red lines crossed over her nose and down her cheeks. Cheeks that were hollow and sunken. Her lips were bitten raw, blood crusted around them.

Fuck.

Zoey gently threaded her fingers with Rumi's, ignoring the way her nails were torn ragged, like they'd been dragged down stone.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I'm sorry we didn't get there sooner."

Tears splattered onto the seat cushion, the box in the back of Zoey's mind finally cracking open.

Not completely. No, she would ensure that only happened when Rumi was safely back home. Then and only then would she allow herself to have her breakdown.

But it cracked enough for Zoey to whisper apologies into Rumi's hand, even as Mira pressed against her side, also crying, and Celine blinked rapidly.

Buildings whizzed passed outside the car windows, yet for this moment, time stood still.

~~~~

Something was different.

Awareness sparked in her brain, senses slowly returning.

She was lying on a horizontal surface. Never a good sign.

Pain, pain, pain. Blades digging into her flesh. Restraints keeping her pinned. Screaming. Knowing it wouldn't help but being unable to tame that animal instinct nonetheless. 'Would someone shut it up.' Needle to the neck. Can't move, can't move, can't move.

But she was lying on something. Not curled into a ball in her cell.

Come to think of it, she couldn't feel the chains biting into her wrists and ankles. Nor padded cuffs in their place.

She swallowed, dry throat making it near impossible. She still had her the collar.

No muzzle though. They only removed the muzzle during feeding time these days.

The world still smelled sterile, faint wisps of bleach hanging in the air, mingling with blood.

Now sure she wouldn't be able to determine any more information with her eyes closed, she tugged open her one good eye.

In front of her was a scientist. Back to her, white lab coat a herald of danger, of pain.

She couldn't stop her instinctual flinch backward, rhythmic beeping she'd turned into white noise picking up.

"Oh. You're awake." The scientist turned to face her.

Her breathing quickened. She wasn't restrained. She wasn't wearing her the muzzle. There was only one scientist.

This had to be a trap. A trick. Some sort of sick, twisted mind game. Make her think she had a shot at escape.

The collar around her throat was evidence enough she'd never make it far.

She tumbled off the bed, machines shrieking as she tore the IVs free in her panic.

Get them out of me, get them out of me. I don't want more drugs in me. Stop it. Stop it.

Her eyes darted to corners of the room, looking for an escape.

"Hey. Let's not do that." The scientist raised his hands in a placating motion. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Oh that was the sort of game they were playing?

She forced herself to bare her fangs, blood dribbling down her lips as the gashes tore open again. A growl rattled out of her throat, dry and shaky, but a growl regardless.

You want to treat me like a monster? Fine. You're getting a monster.

The scientist who had been slowly approaching her stumbled back, fear flashing in his eyes.

While he was off balance, she shoved passed him, stumbling down the sunlit hallway.

Wait what? She'd never seen a window her entire time in the facility.

Familiar hallways blurred together. She didn't know where she was running, only that she had to keep moving. Maybe she would be able to get outside before her the collar sparked to life this time.

Someone shouted behind her, so she ran faster, muscles that hadn't been allowed to stretch in too long burning.

Pain rocked through her, so suddenly she thought her the collar had been activated. But no, it was her own stupid lungs. Seizing as she forced them to work harder than they were capable.

She tumbled to the ground, sobs wracking her body.

Why? Why were they doing this? Why give her hope, when they had to know she wasn't strong enough? To break her further? Wasn't she broken enough?

A word was said. Softly, achingly tender.

A word she hadn't heard in she didn't know how long.

Pink filled her vision, still blurry with tears.

That was impossible. She couldn't be here.

This was another trick.

The word was said again, by another person.

Another figure joined the person-who-couldn't-be-her.

Yet another impossibility.

Neither of them could be here.

"-hear me?" The pink impossibility was saying. "Give me a sign if you can?"

She didn't want to. Didn't want to feel that hope flicker and die if this was a trick.

But she wouldn't be able to live with herself if it wasn't and she didn't try.

She tapped her claws on the floor, Honmoon flickering to life under her touch in a way it hadn't in far, far too long.

The pink impossibility drummed her own fingers on the Honmoon in response.

Wait.

She blinked (or was it winked with only one working eye?). No scientist would be able to call upon the Honmoon.

Which meant…

Them being here was still an impossibility.

Then she wasn't there anymore.

"Mira?" She asked, desperation flooding into her voice. "Zoey?"

"It's us." Mira extended a hand. Not quite touching her, but close enough for her to feel the heat.

"You're safe," Zoey assured. "You're out. And you're never going back."

She wasn't there.

She got out.

They'd come for her.

They'd found her.

She burst into a fresh round of tears, pulling her girls, pulling Mira and Zoey into her, not caring how the movement strained her injuries.

And Rumi sobbed into their chests until her tears ran dry.

Chapter Text

Mira tucked Rumi under her chin, holding her close until she stopped crying, Zoey pressed against the two of them, whispering into her hair.

Under normal circumstances she wouldn't disturb this for the world, but-

"Rumi, we need to get you back to the medical wing."

Rumi full body flinched, jerking away from Mira and Zoey.

"I know you don't want to, but you're badly hurt. You need more care than Zoey and I can provide." In their years of hunting, all three of them had gotten quite good at patching injuries.

However, they were far from professionals. And months of imprisonment was a different beast than demon scratches.

Still, Rumi tried to move farther away, seemingly torn between staying pressed against Mira and Zoey and putting as much distance between herself and the medical wing as she could.

"We'll be there every step of the way," Zoey assured her. "The only reason we weren't there when you woke up was because you were supposed to be out for a few more days and we stepped out to grab food."

Of course the first time they both left the medical wing was when Rumi woke up. Because the universe could never let things be easy.

Rumi's eye flicked to Zoey. "A few more days? How long…" she trailed off, gaze unfocusing again.

"Since we rescued you? Two days. Since you went missing?" Zoey swallowed thickly. "Two months and five days. Seven if you count the ones you spent unconscious."

Rumi's already unhealthily white skin went even paler. "Two months? I was there for two month-" she doubled over, coughing; a dry, painful, ragged sound.

"Come on." Mira extended a hand, Zoey mimicking her a moment later. "Let's get you back in a bed and some nutrients in your system."

For a beat, Rumi hesitated. For a beat, Mira thought she would reject their touch.

Then Rumi's hand settled into hers, claws scraping against the flesh of her palm.

Together, she and Zoey pulled Rumi to her feet, bracketing an arm under each of her shoulders.

"We've got you, tiger," Mira whispered.

"We're not going anywhere," Zoey promised.

~~~~

Sometimes Zoey forgot how destructive Rumi could be when she felt cornered.

Yes, all of them were dangerous. All three of them were trained to be lethal, be hunters on top of being Hunters.

But Rumi took it to a different level.

The bed was in tatters, shredded in a panic. Gouges in the linoleum tiles were shaped like Rumi's hind claws. The IV stand formerly in Rumi's arm was knocked over, fluids spilling onto the floor.

And yet, it wasn't as bad as Zoey had been fearing.

She and Mira had helped Rumi through enough nightmares to know how dangerous those claws were when she wasn't cognizant.

A doctor pressed an ice pack to his forehead, shoulders relaxing at the sight of the three of them.

Rumi had the opposite reaction, nearly dislodging from herself and Mira with how hard she flinched.

Oh shit, they were idiots.

"Lose the lab coat," Zoey ordered.

Thankfully, the doctor obeyed without question, folding his coat neatly and placing it on a rack of medical supplies.

That seemed to help, Rumi untensing marginally with the lab coat out of sight.

Together, she and Mira guided Rumi to a fresh bed, ignoring the mess in the other half of the room.

"We'll be right here," Zoey reminded Rumi, who started shaking the moment her body met the sheets. "No one is going to hurt you. We won't let them."

"They won't live to regret it if they do," Mira muttered, fixing the doctor with a glare.

"I apologize for upsetting you earlier." The doctor seemed to take Mira's aggression in stride. "I should have handled that situation with more grace." He gently touched a hand to his chest. "My name is Dr. Rang. Before I approach you, is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?"

The small piece of static in Zoey's mind that reared up any time her girls' care was in the hands of anyone outside their group dampened.

Mira shook her head, watching him like a hawk, Zoey followed suit.

Rumi sat stock still, thankfully brown eye flicking between Dr. Rang and the exit.

"Very well. I will walk you through every procedure I do. If you need me to stop just say the word."

Rumi's grip on Zoey's hand was iron while Dr. Rang slowly examined her, but she didn't protest.

Not until Dr. Rang made to reattach her IV.

"No drugs," Rumi whispered, voice hoarse, flinching at the sight of the needle.

"These aren't drugs," Dr. Rang assured, "It's saline to help with dehydration. You have malnutrition and need to get fluids and nutrients in your body. An IV will greatly reduce your risk of refeeding syndrome."

It was Zoey's turn to flinch. Refeeding syndrome. One of those terms that popped up in history books that you never expected to encounter in every day life.

"No drugs," Rumi said again, pulling away from Dr. Rang. "Please. No drugs. I don't want them."

"It's not drugs," Mira echoed Dr. Rang's statement. "You've gotten the same lectures on healthcare we have. Intravenous saline is one of the best ways to deal with dehydration, something you absolutely have."

"Sodium chloride and water. Nine grams of NaCl dissolved in one liter of water. That's all it is," Zoey chimed in. "The same concentration as the stuff your body produces."

Facts always helped Zoey when she was nervous. Emotions were weird and complicated and changed rapidly. Facts were stable. More information was always better than less.

Mira's fingers traced a pattern along Rumi's arm. "We won't let anything enter your body without knowing exactly what it does, alright?"

Slowly, ever so slowly, Rumi nodded, offering her hand. What had tipped the scale Zoey wasn't sure, but she was certainly not going to argue.

It took Dr. Rang a few moments to find a vein, dehydration making them roll.

Rumi didn't so much as twitch, eye glazing over.

"What about the collar?" She said the instant the IV was attached to a saline bag. "Why isn't it off?"

Zoey looked to Mira, fear bubbling in her throat. How were they going to explain this one?

Dr. Rang looked apologetic. "The collar is programmed to release an electric shock of 60 milliamps if it's opened. There is no way to safely-"

Rumi cut him off. "I don't care. I want it off."

"Rumi," Mira tried, gently. "there has to be a way to get it off without hurting you."

"I said I don't care." Rumi looked to Mira, tears brimming in her eye. "I just want it off. I don't care if it hurts me, I don't care if it sets my recovery back. Every time I move it shifts and I get scared one of them is about to activate it. I don't want them to have that ability. I want it off. Please."

Zoey hesitated, drumming her fingers against the lock pick set in her pocket.

"It won't kill me. They didn't want me dead. At worst it'll knock me out." Rumi tore her gaze away from Mira, now focusing on her. "Zoey, please."

"Zoey, please," Rumi, covered in patterns. Now the hell had she gotten those? Did she make a deal? Did she betray them? Don't make me do this. Just run. I don't want to hurt you. Even if you swung first I don't think I could fight back.

Shards of ice embedded in Zoey's heart, like she'd been stabbed by one of her own shin-kals

"Fine," Zoey said, forcing those memories to the back of her mind. "I'll unlock it."

The lock was painfully simple. Most were, if Zoey was being honest. It took her less than 30 seconds to feel the tumblers give under her rake.

"Bite down on this." Mira offered Rumi a wadded up rag.

Once Rumi had firmly sank her teeth into it, Zoey prepped the turning tool. "On three I'm going to open it, alright? One, two, three."

The lock gave. The collar swung open.

Electricity sparked from prongs on the inside.

Rumi screamed into the rag, patterns searing red with pain until she pitched forward, unconscious.

~~~~

Rumi groaned as she regained consciousness, temples throbbing. She hadn't had that much to drink last night, had she?

No, amount of alcohol she'd had would not explain a headache like this. Thanks to her demonic heritage and the Honmoon it was rare she got a hangover, even on her most wild nights.

Rumi made to press a hand to her head, only to meet resistance. Metal scraped against stone.

Her eyes flew open, the rest of her body remembering it existed.

Surrounding her was stone, shackles connected her wrists together, and a chain attached from the floor to her neck.

Both hands moved this time, flying up to her throat.

She was wearing a collar. Why the hell was she wearing a collar?

Whatever. It didn't matter. Whoever had kidnapped her didn't know who they were dealing with.

Inhaling, Rumi felt her body start to turn to smoke.

Then pain tore through her, electricity sparking from the collar.

A scream ripped out of Rumi, the type of roar that should have sent reverberations along the Honmoon.

But there was nothing.

Fear, heavy and cold, settled behind Rumi's sternum, mingling with the aftershocks of pain.

That shouldn't have been possible.

Before Rumi could spiral about that revelation, the door swung open and two people wearing lab coats stepped inside.

"Subject H-1 is awake. Earlier than calculated, given its height and weight. Possibly due to demonic heritage. Mark for further study," The one the right said into a tape recorder.

Rumi gritted her teeth. "I'm not an 'it.' What is going on?"

The scientist continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Subject H-1 seems capable of human speech and reasoning, which is in line with previously gathered information. Both on H-1 and prior subjects, with the exception of F type subjects."

This was bad, this was bad. She had to get out of here. She needed her sword. Hunters' weapons weren't supposed to be used on humans, but they still worked. She'd beg forgiveness when she was safe.

Rumi clenched her fist, calling out to the Honmoon. Her oldest friend, her most steadfast companion, the thing she had never known a day without.

And felt a void where a tether should have been.

Her breathing hitched. No weapon came forth. No lines of blue danced in the corners of her vision. No threads reached out to the other parts of her soul.

Rumi was unmoored.

Fear shifted rapidly to panic. There had never been a case of a Hunter being forcibly severed from the Honmoon.

Fuck it. Even without her weapon Rumi was still dangerous. She wrapped a hand around the chain attaching her to the floor and yanked.

Metal shrieked as it tore free, Rumi hastily wrapping it around her fist.

Fighting with bound hands wasn't ideal, but she would make do.

The scientist who had been silently observing stumbled backward, fear flashing on his face.

Rumi surged forward, sweeping the legs out from under the lead scientist, who still hadn't stopped talking into that fucking recorder.

"Subject H-1 shows impressive strength," He continued, even as he landed on his back, briefly stunning him. "It also demonstrates combat abilities and strategy."

"Sir!" The other scientist spoke up for the first time, shock coloring his voice.

Rumi leaped over the downed scientist, lunging for the apparent subordinate.

And screamed when once again the collar lit up, vision whiting with pain.

Her knees hit the ground, claws scrabbling for a seam, a lock, a weak point, something to get it off her.

"Subject H-1 has the ability to grow claws and eyes can become yellow with stilted pupils." An iron grip wrapped around her wrist, twisting her hand so her claws were exposed. "Mark for further study and sample collection."

Rumi tried to shove him off her, chain connecting her hands severely limiting the strength of her push.

The collar whited her vision. Blinking rapidly, she locked onto a remote in the subordinate's hand.

His hands trembled as he clenched the remote, pointing it at her in warning.

"This concludes initial observations. Dr. Yeou signing off for the moment."

If she were in less pain, Rumi would have laughed. Dr. Fox. At least he was obvious.

…If he actually had a degree she'd eat a mic.

Yeou (she'd use the honorific she saw a medical license) brushed concrete dust off his pants.

With the subordinate watching her she let him leave the cell, heavy lock sliding into place.

All the fight drained out of her the moment she was alone.

This was bad.

Her hands, claws still out, dug into her sternum, where the Honmoon usually sat.

Now that she'd noticed it was gone, it was impossible to ignore. Was this what it felt like to have your soul stolen by a demon?

Tears slipped down her face, panic clenching its iron jaws around her lungs.

Zoey, Mira, and Celine would have noticed she was missing by now. She just had to wait for them to find her.

She just had to stay strong.

She could do that.

~~~~

The burns on Rumi's neck were worse than they'd expected. Angry red and yellow circles with black divots in the center where the prongs of the collar sat curled down her throat, weeping a viscous liquid.

As soon as the collar was off, Dr. Rang started applying a topical medicine Mira didn't have the wherewithal to ask about.

Mira had been an idol for over half a decade. She'd been a Hunter for even longer. She knew what all sorts of electrical mishaps looked like. Accidents caused by faulty wiring and skipped safety inspections. Demons in power plants, for some fucking reason. That one time they'd been hunting during a thunderstorm and a demon was struck by lighting.

The marks on Rumi's neck were among the worst she'd ever seen. And that was with her demonic and Honmoon healing.

They could have killed her. Mira swallowed thickly. One of those shocks could have stopped her heart and then one part of her soul would have died cold, afraid, and utterly alone.

Dr. Rang gently pressed bandages over the burns, writing down more notes on his growing list of instructions for after Rumi was released from the medical wing.

"I'm going to step away now," He said, peeling off his gloves. "If you need anything, the assistance button is beside Rumi's bed." Grabbing his lab coat, he exited the medical wing, leaving Mira and Zoey alone with Rumi's once again unconscious form.

"Fuck," Zoey whispered, threading her fingers with Rumi's, careful of the IV.

Mira laughed bitterly. "Fuck is right." She looked to the collar, resting on the floor where Zoey had dropped it, and felt her stomach turn.

She wanted to throw it out a window. To summon her gok-do and split it in half, ensuring it could never be used again.

But she couldn't. She'd be giving it to Celine and Bobby, who also had the muzzle and were using every resource they had to track down those monsters who called themselves scientists.

Rapid footsteps nearly had her pulling out her gok-do, fixing her glare on the entrance to the medical wing, until she registered who was running.

Celine. Haggard, out of breath, looking like she'd gotten about as much sleep as Mira and Zoey had the past few days.

Past two months.

"She's awake?" Celine asked, voice raspy.

Zoey wobbled a hand. "She was. Took her a bit to recognize us and where she was."

The destroyed bed and gouges on the floor told the rest of that story. Celine's eyes briefly flicked to the mess where Rumi had previously been sleeping before she pulled up another chair.

"You got the collar off," Celine commented. It wasn't a slight, just a statement of fact. Mira understood that now, with years of healing and reconciliation between the two of them.

"Zoey was right, it was booby trapped to active when it opened. Knocked her out. Dr. Rang wants to monitor her heart to make sure the repeated shocks didn't damage it." Mira's nails bit into her palms, fury singing in her veins again.

Celine rested a hand on Rumi's arm, thumb tracing along one of her patterns, now a venomous purple instead almost black. Better, but a far cry from her usual iridescent white.

"I should have waited to take it off," Zoey whispered. "Waited until we found a work around."

"No, Zoey," Mira cut her off. "Rumi was right when she said it could have been activated at any time. We needed it off. Rumi deserved it off."

As if she could tell they were talking about her, Rumi twitched, heart rate spiking.

"Darling," The term of endearment slipped past of Mira's lips without thought. "You're safe. We've got you."

The heart rate monitor slowed back down, Rumi's good eye cracking open.

"Eomma?" She murmured, taking in the sight of Celine.

"It's me," Celine responded, softer than Mira had ever heard her speak. "I'm here."

A small smile tugged at the edges of Rumi's lips. "Good. That's good. 'M glad you're here. All of you."

Mira exchanged a glance with Zoey over Rumi's head. Those scientists were going to fucking pay.

Hunters' oaths be damned.

Chapter Text

The clack of crutches filled the penthouse as the three of them stepped out of the elevator.

Rumi's breathing hitched for a moment, long enough for Zoey's anxiety to spark.

"Rumi? You okay?" She asked preparing to reach out to support Rumi if she needed.

A grin, almost painfully wide, split Rumi's face. "I'm home," she whispered, taking in the penthouse.

Warmth replaced the fear behind Zoey's sternum. "Yeah. You're home."

The days in the medical wing had helped Rumi, as tedious as they were. The swelling in her left eye had gone down enough for her to regain sight. She was still pale, but a far healthier shade than the first few days. Bruises molting along her body were yellowing.

Mira deposited the list of care instructions and bag of medication from Dr. Rang on the table in front of the couch. "Fuck. It's good to have you back."

Rubber squeaked against wood, crutches sliding as Rumi put too much pressure on them.

Zoey was in motion the moment Rumi started to fall, catching her beneath the arms before she hit the floor.

"Dammit," Rumi cursed, breathless. "Different traction."

"That's okay, you're still getting used to them." Zoey assured, "Let's just sit down. I'm sure you've missed Couch."

An odd look crossed Rumi's face as she readjusted the elbow crutches. "Yeah. Couch it is."

They slotted into their usual positions like no time had passed. Mira closest to the elevator, Zoey near the windows, Rumi sandwiched between them.

Tension flooded out of Zoey's shoulders the moment Rumi sat down, laying her crutches on the floor.

Couch embraced them like an old friend, cushions perfectly molded to their bodies.

Zoey's shoulder warmed as Rumi leaned against it, placing her hand on Zoey's knee out of instinct.

Mira let her head rest on Rumi's collar bone, inhaling deeply, nose wrinkling for a brief moment before relaxing again.

And for a beat, they all just sat there. The Honmoon danced in the edges of Zoey's vision when she exhaled, iridescent lines hanging off Rumi's body like a cloak, like an embrace.

I'm sorry, it almost seemed to say.

I'm sorry too, Zoey thought back. But we've got her.

Warmth sank into her bones, the Honmoon humming in agreement.

An unknowable amount of time later, Mira shifted, pressing a kiss to Rumi's temple. "I'm going to make food," She said, gently extracting herself from Couch.

Rumi's stomach growled, forcing Zoey to bite back a laugh.

Some things never changed.

The amusement faded quickly as she remembered Dr. Rang's strict instructions on the types of food Rumi could eat for the next few days.

They'd fucking starved her. It wasn't enough they'd used her as a sick science experiment, they had also fed Rumi so little she was at risk of refeeding syndrome.

Seemingly unaware of her fury, Mira stepped out of the living room, returning a few minutes later with steaming bowls.

The three of them sipped their ramen diligently.

Well. Zoey and Mira sipped their ramen, Rumi sipped her broth, a small rumble of pleasure rattling out of her throat before her eyes went wide and the rumble ceased abruptly.

"The broth good?" Zoey asked hesitantly. Of course it was good, it was Mira's cooking.

But that reaction didn't come out of nowhere. Rumi hadn't hid her demon habits like that since the first few months after the Idol Awards from hell.

"Very," Rumi said stiffly, rubbing a hand over the bandages still circling her neck.

Don't overthink it. Don't jump to conclusions before Rumi says anything. The last time you jumped to conclusions it lead to Gwi-Ma breaking into the human realm.

Zoey stabbed her chopsticks into her empty bowl. Celine and Bobby had hit a dead end in their research, so they were stuck waiting until more information on the collar came back.

She needed to do something, she need a moment, she needed-

"Rumi, what do you think about taking a shower then a nap?"

Mira's voice pulled Zoey out of her spiral.

Rumi placed her half finished bowl of broth on the table, hesitating for a long moment. "…I would like that."

"Cool. Zoey, you clean up the dishes and grab Rumi a change of clothes while I get the shower ready?"

Mira's eyes locked onto hers, reading her like an open book.

Go. Do what you need to. I've got Rumi.

Zoey tossed the bowls into the sink, she'd deal with them later and pulled out her laptop.

She was the researcher for a reason.

Rumi may have had the esoteric knowledge. Mira may have had the eye for detail.

But neither of them could chase threads like she could. Neither of them could tie things together like she could.

Logging into Bobby's email, something she absolutely should not have access to, Zoey looked over the rabbit holes he'd been following.

No stone left unturned.

~~~~

Rumi waited for the next time the door opened. Ears straining for any whisper of motion.

Time stretched and blurred, never daring to close her eyes. Footsteps crossed in front of the cell door every once and a while, sometimes coupled by snarls.

What else was being held here?

Claws that refused to go away chipped at the concrete floor, eventually carving a tally mark.

She wasn't going to be here long enough for it to matter, but making that mark felt important.

Another snarl sounded from the hallway, half formed words that dissolved into mangled screams.

Rumi blinked.

Was that a demon?

There's no way. Normal people don't know about demons.

Except…

Her fingers brushed against the collar around her throat, flinching when it disturbed the burns.

They'd known to counteract her teleporting.

Alright. Crazy scientists know about demons. I still need to escape them.

Rumi rolled the chain which had formerly been attached to the ground in her grasp. She had to be smart about this. If she gave them time to react they'd activate the collar, which would stun her long enough to be incapacitated.

The chains binding her wrists together were thinner than the one attached to the collar; she could break them easily.

Metal screeched as Rumi did just that, a link landing on its side and rolling towards the door.

Wait.

Rumi stood, really focusing on the stance she fell into for balance.

The floor was faintly slanted.

It was too even of a slope to be anything but intentional.

Why though? What purpose would that serve?

The sound of a deadbolt unlocking interrupted her train of thought.

Muscles tensed instinctively, dropping into a crouch Rumi curled her claws, preparing to spring.

The door swung open.

Rumi leaped.

Over the heads of the scientists and guards in the doorway, landing in a neat roll behind them, slashing at their ankles, a sick satisfaction flooding her when one of them dropped.

The satisfaction didn't last long. Pain rocked her body as the collar was activated.

When Rumi's vision righted itself, hands were gripping her wrists, twisting them at a painful angel behind her back.

"You picked a fighter this time, Doc," A guard wearing heavy black armor quipped, tightening his grip when Rumi continued to struggle.

Yeou stared at Rumi with complete apathy. "It will be a useful research specimen. Come now, we are already behind schedule."

"Hey!" Rumi knew none of them would listen, but she had to try anyway. "What are you doing? You can't do this! I'm a person, not a specimen!"

A heavily gloved hand grabbed her jaw, forcing it closed. Rumi tried to squirm free, slip a fang into the hand over her mouth, but to no avail.

'Humans don't have a very strong bite force,' a voice in her head that sounded a lot like Zoey said, 'Only about 160 PSI, which is tiny compared to predatory animals. Like the saltwater crocodile, which has a bite force PSI of 3,700!'

At the time, Rumi had found that tidbit fascinating. Now she wished humans had evolved a little differently.

Half marched, half carried, Rumi was dragged to another wing, the smell of formaldehyde and bleach flooding her nostrils.

No.

No. Nonononononono.

Rumi's struggles redoubled, breath hitching, fear causing her heart rate to skyrocket.

The collar sparked, forcing her to go limp in the grasp of the guards.

She was hoisted onto an operating table.

One of the shackles was detached from her wrist, padded cuff cinching closed in its place.

The second shackle followed suit.

Rumi regained enough wherewithal to kick at the scientists.

One of her legs connected with their torso, forcing them to double over.

A guard's fist drove into her unprotected ribs. Rumi shouted, edges of her voice turning to a snarl. She could feel her claws and fangs lengthening, eyes turning gold, pupils narrowing into slits.

"Hey!" Yeou cut in. "Do not cause damage to the specimen, I need it as intact as possible."

Someone grabbed her ankle, strapping it down. The other joined it a moment later.

"You couldn't have sedated it first?" The scientist Rumi had kicked hugged their stomach and glared at Yeou.

"For the first procedure I wanted it to be fully responsive. We establish a better baseline that way." Yeou forced Rumi's head against the operating table, attaching a strap across her forehead.

"Procedure one." A click sounded as Yeou started another recording. "I am Dr. Yeou and will be the primary researcher for this operation. I am joined by Dr. Baem, who will be acting as my secondary. Today we are continuing our research on subject H-1"

Fox and snake. What a fitting pair.

Rumi had been hyperventilating for so long black was starting to encroach at the edges of her vision. The awkward positioning meant she didn't have the leverage she needed to break free.

She was stuck.

Yeou continued, listing off bits of information that didn't quite bridge the gap between Rumi's ears and brain.

Then he said something that made Rumi freeze.

"…today I will be collecting three biopsies. One of the biceps brachii, one of the vastus lateralis, and one of the abdominal external oblique."

Yeou stepped into Rumi's field of view, now wearing a mask and gloves and holding a scalpel.

Rumi started screaming.

Something people tend to forget is that humans are animals. That is a simple fact.

And animals will always struggle to survive, even if they know it is futile.

Humans are no exception, those long forgotten animal instincts will flare to life when faced with their own mortality.

Rumi thrashed in her bindings, screaming, sobbing, begging for someone, anyone to help.

"ZOEY! MIRA! CELINE! PLEASE!"

Hands latched onto her arm, forcing it still even as the rest of her body continued to struggle.

Rumi didn't see when Yeou pressed the scalpel down, but she felt it.

Pain, different than the kind the collar brought. Sharper, more localized.

The blade dug farther in, severing skin, hot blood ran down Rumi's arm, mingling with the liquid fire the scalpel left in its wake.

Yeou shifted his grip and a fresh bout of tears ran down Rumi's face.

"Subject H-1's physiology seems identical to a human's at first glance. Dr. Baem, hold this for me."

Rumi felt metal hook under her skin, widening the incision Yeou made. She sobbed at the intrusion

The scalpel made another slash, arcing along her muscle this time.

Blood was pooling under Rumi's body when Yeou made his final cut, setting aside his blade and lifting free an oval shaped chunk of flesh from Rumi's arm.

Oh. Rumi watched Yeou place the sample in a sterile container. That was a piece of muscle. From me.

She wasn't sure whether the lightheadedness was from blood loss or the sheer vertigo at seeing a part of her body removed.

"Biceps brachii collected. Now onto the vastus lateralis."

The world dissolved into pain as the process was repeated twice more. Dissociation settled around Rumi's brain, heavy and cloying. Distantly she was aware of her patterns turning smoky grey, a mirror to the fog in her mind.

She barely blinked when a needle and thread pierced her flesh, cinching the incisions closed with practiced ease.

The guards wouldn't have needed to cover her mouth when they dragged her back to her cell, she was too tired to fight back, but they did anyway.

A fresh, thicker chain hooked around the collar, tethering Rumi to the floor and she collapsed as soon as they let her go.

The deadbolt slid into place with a clank that rattled her teeth. Fresh blood seeped from the wound on her stomach, stitches torn by her fall.

So that's why the floor is tilted. She realized, watching blood run under the slat in the door to a drain.

~~~~

Lukewarm water hit Mira's hand as she shoved it under the shower head. Rumi leaned on her crutches, blinking slowly.

"I'm sorry, but you stink," Mira said, bluntly. "Before we go to bed I think you would appreciate not smelling like the medical wing."

Rumi sighed, "You're right. Thank you for getting it started." She shifted so she was no longer blocking the door frame.

It took Mira a second to realize what she intended.

"Rumi, no. I'm not abandoning you to shower on your own."

"I'm fine, Mira." The statement would have been more effective had Rumi's legs not been shaking. "I can handle myself."

Sure you can.

"You could. Or you could let me help you, like we always do when one of us is injured."

It was a simple fact that showering while injured sucked. Even before they started dating, it was common for the shower to be occupied by two people. One injured, the other helping. Rumi used to never be on the receiving end of that help, for obvious reasons, but ever since the Idol Awards from hell she hadn't rejected their presence.

"If you really want me gone, I'll go." Mira looked dead into Rumi's eyes. "But can you honestly say you'll be able to shower without help?"

Rumi hesitated for a long moment, knuckles turning white as she gripped the handles of her crutches.

"…I need the help," Rumi whispered, dropping her gaze to the floor.

Mira softened, pressing a kiss to Rumi's forehead. "Thank you, dearest." Her fingers curled around the edges of Rumi's shirt. "Let's get these off."

"Wait."

If the word alone hadn't made Mira freeze, the terror in Rumi's voice would have.

"What's wrong?"

"I-" Rumi paused, gritting her teeth. "Some of the things they did. It scarred. Badly. I don't-" She huffed, tears beading in her eyes, black rippling through her patterns. "I don't want you to see me differently."

"Nothing they did to you could make me see you differently," Mira traced a finger down one of Rumi's patterns. "Nothing."

An unreadable expression crossed Rumi's face, but she inhaled and nodded, allowing Mira to tug her shirt over her shoulders.

All of them had a decent amount of scars. It was unavoidable in their line of work. Mira favored high backed outfits because of claw marks running along her shoulder blade. Zoey had scars on both sides of her left calf from landing on a rebar. Rumi once broke her leg badly enough it needed surgery.

But they also healed quickly; the Honmoon smoothing over all but their worst injures, Rumi most of all, a bonus from her demonic heritage.

Those were facts Mira knew. Facts that clashed with the reality in front of her.

Claw scars crossed her ribs, thick and ragged. Smaller lines of scar tissue pockmarked her stomach and arms, neat and orderly to a horrifying degree. But all of those paled in comparison to the centerpiece.

A deep, Y shaped incision twisted down Rumi's torso, surgically straight, pink at the edges.

The shirt tumbled from Mira's fingertips, hitting the floor with a soft thump.

"Rumi," She whispered, horror flooding her tone.

"Don't. I don't want to hear it," Rumi nearly spat, looking anywhere but the mirror that revealed an X shaped scar along her spine, intermixed with other incisions and claw marks.

Mira's jaw locked shut. No comments about the scars. She'd pass the information along to Zoey.

Rumi fumbled with the drawstring of her pants, eventually dropping them to the floor with her shirt and accepted Mira's offered hand to step into the shower.

They'd pulled out their well used shower chair as soon as it became obvious Rumi wouldn't be able to stand for long periods of time, so Mira simply guided her to the seat.

"Where do you want to start?" Mira took in Rumi's nude form, cataloging the injures that still looked sensitive, the ones she'd have to avoid spraying directly, and the ones that might benefit from being hosed down gently.

"Hair." Rumi didn't look up when she spoke, instead studying the shower tiles.

"Hair it is."

Mira slowly worked her way through Rumi's insanely long hair, water turning murky as grease, dirt, blood, and who knew what else lifted away.

A dull purr rattled out of Rumi's throat when Mira's nails scratched at her scalp. Hesitant at first, nearly cutting off, before growing stronger.

That's my girl.

Mira pressed a kiss to Rumi's head and immediately regretted it when she got a mouthful of suds.

Well. Almost regretted it.

"Eyes closed," Mira warned, shifting the shower head to rinse the shampoo out of Rumi's hair.

"Can I start with your torso?"

Rumi went rigged, inhaling sharply. "Don't touch the Y."

That was going to make this much harder, but Mira nodded. "I'll warn you if I'm about to get close to it."

Sure enough, when Mira dragged the washcloth near the massive scar crossing Rumi's torso, claws dug into the shower chair, leaving gouges.

"It's alright, tiger. It's just me," Mira assured, staying her hand until Rumi's patterns shifted from black to purple.

Completing the shower took an agonizing amount of time, but Rumi no longer smelled like a hospital by the end of it.

Mira stepped into the hallway to grab the set of pajamas Zoey had left, only to find the girl herself waiting, laptop resting on her knees.

"How is she?" Zoey asked, voice low.

"I'll tell you later," Mira responded, accepting the bundle of clothing, an oversized shirt of Zoey's and sweatpants belonging to Mira.

"I thought she'd appreciate the familiarity," Zoey explained at Mira's puzzled expression.

What else could Mira do but pull her in for a kiss.

"Thank you," she murmured against Zoey's lips. "You find anything?"

Zoey shook her head. "I've got a couple threads I'd like to pull on, but nothing concrete."

Mira nodded sharply, returning to the bathroom to help Rumi change.

Rumi buried her nose in the neckline of Zoey's shirt, shoulders relaxing at the familiar weight and scent.

"Let's get you to bed." Mira offered Rumi her crutches.

"It's barely the afternoon?" Rumi furrowed her brows.

"And you nearly fell asleep in the shower." Mira's tone brokered no room for argument. "Come on, dearest."

One hobbling walk to Rumi's room later, Rumi was bracketed between Mira and Zoey, clinging to them like she was afraid they would disappear if she let go.

Eventually though, her grip relaxed. Her shoulders slumped. The crease between her brows softened. Her patterns lightened to a gentle lavender. Snores filled the room.

"How bad is it?" Zoey asked, voice barely above an exhale, fingers gently carding through Rumi's still drying hair.

The rage Mira had buried returned with a fervor. "They fucking vivisected her." Nausea bubbled up with those words, with the horror of realizing exactly what that scar meant.

"They what?" Zoey hissed, teeth baring in a snarl.

"She has so many scars, Zo." Mira tried to stop the tears from falling down her face, but they came anyway, splattering onto the pillow. "They hurt her so badly."

"How do we fix this?" Zoey whispered fingers tightening on Rumi's hair for a split second.

Rumi sobbing, begging for them to understand, to just listen to her. "Didn't you see? See the gold? We're so close! No! Don't leave! Don't leave! I can still FIX IT!"

"One day at a time. That's all we can do."

Zoey was quiet for a long moment.

"We're going to make them bleed for this, right?"

Fire sparked in Mira's chest. "Damn right we are."

~~~~

This time when the deadbolt opened, Rumi was asleep.

Not a restful sleep, more of a fitful drifting, but sleep nonetheless.

Sleep that was disrupted by a bucket of ice cold water being tossed tossed in her face.

Rumi sputtered at the sudden cold, jerking back until she hit the end of the chain, trying to wipe strands of hair out of her vision.

"Subject H-1 appears to need sleep. Add to list of potential observations."

It wasn't Yeou speaking, Rumi squinted at the figure in the cell, world blurred from lack of sleep.

The scientist stepped forward, one hand holding a tape recorder, the other holding a remote lazily pointed at her.

Baem. The secondary scientist from yesterday.

Was it yesterday? How long had it been? Time was already growing fuzzy.

"Today will start the start the comparison of subject H-1 to other subjects under our purview." Baem looked at Rumi with disgust, "I am Dr. Baem and will be acting as primary researcher in Dr. Yeou's absence." The edge of their mouth curled, but their voice stayed level, betraying none of the emotion that colored their face when they said Yeou's name.

Interesting.

Rumi looked long and hard at the remote in Baem's hand. If she moved fast enough she could grab it and-

And what? She was still chained to the floor. She didn't know where the exit was. There were three guards flanking Baem.

Patience, a voice in her head that sounded like Celine said. Wait and your opponent will reveal an opening.

What if I can't wait? Rumi countered, stilling when a guard unlatched the chain from the floor, winding it around his hand like a leash.

Then make an opening.

Rumi allowed herself to be yanked forward like a dog and then lunged at Baem, claws slashing their arm, forcing them to drop the remote.

It landed in Rumi's outstretched hand, crunching into a pile of wires and plastic as she squeezed.

Pain hit her throat, but not electricity. Simple, mundane force caused by the guard yanking the chain, cutting off her breath.

Rumi followed the tug, using the momentum to fling her into the guard, sinking her claws into the soft part of his armor under his arm.

Blood coated her fingers.

The guard dropped the chain.

Electricity coursed down Rumi's back.

She dropped, seizing with enough force to rip the stitches in her thigh.

She'd broken the remote! How the hell did they…

Another guard stood over her, cattle prod sparking in his grasp.

Of course they had other weapons.

Baem gritted their teeth, pressing the shreds of their coat sleeve into their wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"You might want to get that looked at," Rumi taunted, channeling Zoey's energy. "I hear the doctors around here are very hospitable."

Fury sparked in their eyes. That was the only warning Rumi got before a fist slammed into her head.

It was a sloppy punch. She could tell from the impact alone. Crooked wrist. Hitting with the fingers rather than the knuckles. The kind of punch Celine had trained out of her before she hit double digits.

Didn't change the fact it hurt.

Baem hissed, stepping back, shaking their now injured hand.

"Take her to the arena. I will join you shortly." They stalked out of the cell, trying to regain some dignity.

But they'd messed up.

Hands wrapped under Rumi's arms, pride flashing behind her sternum, where the Honmoon usually sat.

Her.

She'd rattled them enough they had called Rumi a her.

Make an opportunity.

The feeling of pride didn't last long.

The uninjured guards dragged her to a new part of the facility; a large, circular room with claw gouges on the wall.

And dark stains on the floor.

Faint scent of iron lingering in the air.

Panic settled back in.

One of the guards unlatched the chain from the collar, the other opening the shackles around her wrists, shoving her forward before she had time to react.

Double doors slammed closed, a heavy deadbolt sliding into place.

Rumi was alone.

No. Not alone.

Floodlights turned on, filling the room with the subtlety of a flash bang, revealing an observation platform, separated from the rest of the room by a sheet of glass.

Another set of doors on the opposite end of the room swung open and a figure was shoved in, hitting the floor with a pained growl.

Rumi was about to start forward, help the figure to their feet, when she registered the grey skin. The lack of eyes.

The patterns.

Demon.

They were studying demons here.

The demon stood, going rigid when it realized it wasn't alone.

How Faceless demons knew where their prey was without sight Rumi would never know, but it didn't matter.

They could sense humans, which meant they were a threat.

An electric crackle sounded through the room, a loudspeaker activating. "Thus begins the altercation between subjects H-1 and F-14."

Altercation?

F-14 flexed its fingers, claws extending from them.

Rumi tried to summon her sword, only to nearly stumble when she felt that static where the Honmoon should have been.

This just got a lot more complicated.

F-14 cocked its head, body twitching, jerky movements putting her teeth on edge, watching her fail to summon her weapon.

Could she kill a demon without access to the Honmoon?

She knew the answer to that. Only two things could permanently kill a demon: a Hunter's weapon and Gwi-Ma's fire.

F-14 didn't show any hesitation. It flung itself at Rumi, forcing her to roll backward, claws missing her throat by millimeters.

Light glinted off the collar around F-14's neck.

So it was as much a prisoner as her.

This time when F-14 swung at her, she grabbed its arm.

It was covered in gashes. The same surgically straight marks her body now sported.

F-14 wrenched its arm out of her grip, an unearthly wail rattling from its throat, muffled from the lack of a mouth

Rumi flexed her fingers, claws forming. The next time F-14 attacked, she countered, slipping her claws between its ribs.

Normally she could wrap the Honmoon around her claws and teeth, turn them into blessed weapons as well.

Normally a demon would have dissolved at this type of wound.

These were not normal circumstances.

Blood coated her hand. Far more than the guard earlier.

(Something she forgot often: demons bleed just the same as humans when they were injured by anything other than a Hunter's blade.)

F-14 wailed again, darting away.

It didn't seem to care about the gash, overly long limbs contorting as it dropped to the floor, charging at her on all fours.

Claws met claws, Rumi deflecting its strike and using the momentum to grab onto its wrist and throw it over her shoulder.

The stitches on her arm tore open. Honestly it was a miracle they had lasted this long.

F-14 hit the floor with a crunch, impact stunning it.

Rumi didn't think, she just moved, shoving her claws into the underside of its jaw before it could recover.

Flesh gave.

Blood spurted from the injury.

A flailing limb caught Rumi's side, causing her to hiss in pain, feeling gouges form across her ribs.

But she didn't withdraw her hand. She continued to dig, windpipe shredding, carotid arteries severing.

F-14's struggles grew weaker and weaker, until it eventually stopped moving.

Not dead.

But incapacitated for the moment.

Rumi doubled over, grabbing onto her knees.

She hadn't struggled with a single Faceless demon in…ever. The were cannon fodder. Only dangerous because they came in large numbers.

"Victory goes to H-1." Baem announced. "Now return the subjects to their cells."

Rumi knew fighting the guards that approached her was futile. She knew struggling would only cause her more pain.

But who would she be if she didn't fight?

~~~~

Zoey hadn't expected to fall asleep. When they piled Rumi into bed it had been early afternoon.

But after two months of stress and poor sleep, Rumi was finally home. Settled between herself and Mira.

So that static in the back of her brain that refused to calm even when Rumi was in the medical wing quieted, allowing her to completely relax.

The peace didn't last.

Screaming ripped through the room, an agonizing, gut wrenching sound.

Zoey jackknifed upright, reaching into the Honmoon for her shin-kals, searching for the threat.

A leg connected with her torso, shoving her off the bed, knocking the wind out of her as she hit the floor.

Oh fuck.

"Rumi!" Zoey heard Mira say. "Rumi wake up!"

Another wail, this one more subdued, drowned out Mira's assurances.

Ribs aching, Zoey stood from the ground, taking in Rumi.

Her eyes were squeezed shut, clawed hands covering her ears, legs kicking down the sheets, patterns flickering like strobe lights.

Then her eyes snapped open and she screamed again.

If Zoey thought the last two were bad, they were nothing compared to this one.

Angry magenta rippled down the Honmoon. Mira's hands clamped over her ears and Zoey did the same a beat later.

Zoey hadn't heard a scream like that since the Idol Awards from hell.

Since Rumi thought Zoey and Mira had outed her secret to the world in the cruelest way possible.

Since she'd feared for her life from her closest companions.

Rumi swiped at Mira, claws tearing gouges across her arm.

The scent of iron hit the air and Rumi froze.

Blood splattered onto the sheets.

"Rumi?" Mira tried again, not moving.

"'M sorry. 'M sorry. Don't drug me again. I'll be good, I swear." Rumi stumbled backward, shoving herself into the headboard, crossing her arms over her head like she was afraid of being struck.

"Hey, you're alright." Zoey folded her shin-kals back into the Honmoon, heart quietly breaking. "Can you tell me where you are right now, Rumi?"

Gold eyes met hers, filled with confusion.

"Can you describe the texture of what you're sitting on?" Mira said, slowly, tucking her arm protectively to her chest.

One of Rumi's hands pressed onto the mattress. "Soft?" She blinked, irises starting to lose their glow.

"Good," Zoey praised. "What does the air smell like?"

Rumi's nostrils flared. "Blood. Dried flowers. Laundry detergent. You and Mira." She blinked again, eyes back to brown. "You and Mira. Dammit." She dropped her head into her hands, flinching when blood from her claws smudged on her face.

"Wha- Mira." Horror colored Rumi's tone. "I'm so sorry."

"You've given me worse." Mira flexed her arm experimentally, wincing in pain. "It'll heal in a few days."

"That never should have happened," Rumi barrelled on like she hadn't heard Mira speak. "I hurt you. Both of you." Zoey became abruptly aware of dots of blood on her shirt, where Rumi's clawed foot had connected with her torso.

"I hurt you," Rumi repeated. "I hurt my soulbonds. I didn't even realize it was you. What if it happens again? What if I hurt you worse?"

"Rumi. Look at me," Zoey ordered. Shoulders hunched, Rumi complied. "I would let you gouge my arms open a hundred times over because it means you are here. You had a nightmare. That is nothing to be ashamed of."

"We almost lost you," Mira chimed in. "We did lose you, for two months." Her eyes darted to Rumi's torso, shirt shifted just enough to expose the Y shaped scar Mira described last night. "You aren't alright and we don't expect you to be. We will take all of the nightmares and panic attacks and breakdowns and flashbacks because we love you. A couple of scratches isn't going to change that."

"What if this is all I am now?" Rumi whispered, letting her head hit the pillows. "What if they broke me in a way I can't recover from? What if all I'm meant for now is violence?"

"Then you reforge yourself." Zoey's voice was steel. "And we go with you every step of the way. Now," She turned to Mira. "lets get those scratches treated."

Zoey was tying off the last bandage on Mira's arm when the elevator door slid open revealing a haggard looking Celine.

A minuscule amount of tension slid off her shoulders when she caught sight of Rumi on the couch, but her expression was stormy when she turned to face Mira and Zoey.

"We have a lead."

Chapter Text

“A lead?” The beast in Mira’s bones snapped to attention.

A lead. Something for her to direct her anger at. Something for her to do.

Celine nodded sharply. “One of my contacts got back to me. They were able to track the sale of the-“ she hesitated for a moment, eyes flicking to Rumi, “the collar.”

Rumi’s arm raised as if to rub the burns on her throat, but she snatched her hand away before her fingers met the bandages.

“We have a name and photos of the person who made the purchase, as well as a warehouse under their name.” Celine swallowed thickly, cracks in her composure showing. “Hopefully you’ll be able to identify them.”

Reaching into her coat, Celine tossed a file onto the table, pictures spilling out.

Rumi went ridged, knuckles turning white on her crutches, metal creaking.

“That’s him.” Her voice sounded like shattered glass. “One of them at least.” Glossy print smudged under her fingers as she held it. “He went by Yeou. He was the primary researcher.” A bitter laugh forced its way out of her throat. “Ironic he was the one to purchase the collar considering he never had the balls to use it himself. Always made one of his subordinates do it.”

Mira’s stomach rolled. The collar had been used enough Rumi had picked up on the habits of the people controlling the remote.

Celine’s face went ashy and she stepped around the table to pull Rumi into an awkward hug. “We will find them. We’re not going to stop until we’ve tracked down every person in that lab.”

Zoey caught Mira’s eye and she nodded decisively, on that they were in agreement.

Blinking rapidly, Rumi sank into Celine’s embrace, tucking her head under her chin, letting herself be held for a moment.

Then she stepped back, squaring her shoulders. “You said you had a name and location.”

The shift happened so rapidly it caused Mira to blink. It had been a while since she’d seen Rumi compartmentalize that quickly.

Celine blinked as well, but she seemed to take it in stride. “His actual name is Chin Ha-jun. He used to be a medical student but was expelled after several ethics violations.”

This Rumi seemed to find hilarious. Manic laughter caused her to double over, forcing her to drop one of her crutches and grab onto the table for support. For a disconcertingly long time, she just laughed, tears rolling down her face.

“I knew he wasn’t a doctor,” she wheezed when she regained her composure. “Couldn’t stick it with med school so he decided to become a mad scientist instead. Dr. Yeou, yeah right.”

Energy spent, Rumi sank onto a chair, flipping open the file. “When do we leave?”

Zoey furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Rumi pointed to the address listed, “those warehouses aren’t far from here. If we our best chance of finding something worthwhile, before they move or destroy it, we need to go quickly.”

Ah. How to put this delicately.

“Rumi, you’re not coming with,” Mira said, flatly.

Foot, meet mouth.

Rumi looked at her, affronted. “What do you mean, I’m not coming with?”

“Exactly what Mira said,” Celine responded, “You are not going with us to the warehouse.”

“Why? I’m the one who knows how these people act. I know how they think. If anyone is going to figure out any clues they may have left behind, it’s me.” Rumi’s eyes were starting to turn gold by the time she finished speaking, lips pulled back in a snarl.

“You can barely walk.” Mira wanted to scream, but that wouldn’t help anything. “If you can land a solid hit on me, you can come with.”

Rumi looked at her for a long moment, fingers drumming against the table. Just when Mira thought she wouldn’t rise to the bait, Rumi surged upward, swinging at her.

Her form was perfect, dropped into with the ease that only came with decades of practice.

But training didn't matter when the body refused to cooperate.

Mira caught Rumi’s fist with an ease that surprised her, gently pinning her arm against her torso in a move Rumi would have been able to break out of in no time flat under normal circumstances.

These were not normal circumstances.

Rumi struggled against Mira’s pin before going limp.

“That is why you aren’t coming with,” Mira said, releasing Rumi. “We don’t know what we’re going to find there and if it comes to a fight, you are in no shape to participate.”

“I can still help,” Rumi seethed, sitting back down.

“Rumi,” Celine said slowly, “If I have my way, you will never be in the same room as those scientists again. Do not seek out those fights on your own.”

Zoey hummed. “Compromise: Rumi stays in the car. Think about it.” She held up a hand to placate Mira and Celine when they started to protest. “You still get to come with us and stay in the loop, but you’re out of the line of fire and Bobby keeps an eye on you.”

That…could work.

“Fine,” Rumi grumbled, “But I want to be in contact with you three the entire time.”

Fear flashed behind her eyes for a moment.

Ah. That explained it.

“We’re going to be fine, Rumi,” Mira assured. “Nothing is going to happen to us.”

Please don’t make a liar out of me, she begged the Honmoon, which pulsed in response.

~~~~

The drive to the warehouse was uneventful. Thankfully.

Zoey wasn't sure she could've handled something going wrong that early.

Rumi had flinched when the car door slammed shut, Bobby's knuckles were white on the steering wheel, tension radiated from every inch of Celine's body, and Mira kept dragging her fingers across the Honmoon, half forming her weapon.

Inhale. Exhale. They were going to be fine.

They were going to discover where the scientists were hiding and then smoke them out.

The car rolled to a stop in front of a set of warehouses, large, deceptively normal looking, metal buildings. As if one of them wasn't being used to by a madman who had tortured Zoey's girlfriend.

"Tell me the plan," Celine said flatly, undoing her seatbelt. She didn't need reminding, she was making sure Mira and Zoey weren't about to deviate from it.

Zoey slipped in an earpiece, wrinkling her nose at the crackle when it turned on. "We stick together and ferry anything that could be useful to the car. At the first sign of trouble we leave."

She shared a look with Mira, praying Celine missed it. They were not following the latter part of that plan.

Hell, Zoey would be surprised if Celine did either.

Zoey made to open the car door when an iron grip wrapped around her wrist.

"Stay safe," Rumi stressed, fear bleeding into her voice. "All of you."

Mira reached over and gently pried Rumi's grasp open, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "We will. I swear."

The Honmoon rippled with the force of those words.

Rumi didn't look happy, but she nodded, allowing Zoey to exit the car.

Zoey tapped her earpiece once. "Test, test. Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Zoey," Bobby responded. Mira and Celine's checks went by cleanly as well.

And so they approached the door of the warehouse, adrenaline singing through Zoey's veins.

The lock came free under Zoey's picks and the door swung open with an ominous groan.

Light from Mira and Zoey's weapons cast shadows around the space that wouldn't have been out of place in a horror movie.

Inhale. Exhale.

Focus.

Curtains hung from the ceiling, partitioning off parts of the warehouse. Shelves stacked high with boxes lined the walls. The faint sound of liquid hitting the floor reached Zoey's ears.

Well, this place was definitely in use.

Celine walked with purpose, striding up to a row of shelves. Only the fact Zoey's had known the woman for almost a decade allowed her to notice the tremble in her hands as she reached for a box.

"Demonic biology. Types W and V," She read aloud, placing the box on the floor.

Mira shifted her gok-do to one hand, wiping dust off another label. "Arena results. Matches 1 through 100" Fear sank its teeth into Zoey's lungs as she remembered the multitude of fresh claw scars on Rumi's body.

They wouldn't, right?

Even taking away the horror of making sentient creatures fight each other, that was terrible research procedure, destroying the things you were trying to study.

Surely they weren't that bad of scientists?

I wonder if Chin flunked out of medical school because he couldn't pass his Research Methodology class.

The joke didn't make Zoey feel better.

Zoey crouched, studying the boxes on the lower shelves, the ones will significantly less dust on them.

"I think I've got something," Zoey called, slashing open the tape of a box. "Demonic biology. Half human."

Can't even settle on a consistent labeling system? Really?

Peeling open the corners revealed rows of cassette tapes and a stack of paper.

"Why cassette tapes?" Zoey asked the open air, not really expecting an answer.

"Only one copy, which makes it easier to destroy evidence," Celine responded, fingers tightening on her sickles.

"Fuck," Mira spat, baring her teeth. "They were so concerned about getting caught. They knew what they were doing was wrong and they didn't care. Fuck!"

Whatever Zoey was going to say in response was cut off by a low whimper.

All three of them fell silent, dropping into a fighting stance.

Mira took point, leading them to the curtain the noise had come from.

In one fluid movement, she gripped the curtain and yanked it aside, leveling her gok-do at whatever was behind it.

A demon. Strapped to a gurney, blood leaking slowly from gashes in its arms, collar wrapped around its throat.

It blearily dragged its eyes open, seemingly noticing them for the first time. Instead of snarling, or struggling against its bindings, or any of the things Zoey would have expected from a demon when it registered a Hunter, it went limp.

"Mercy," It croaked. "Please. Mercy."

It took Zoey a moment to realize what it was asking for. Not mercy as in 'spare my life.'

Mercy as in 'make this end.'

Horror gripped Zoey's throat. Was this what Rumi had felt like? So defeated she was begging for release?

It wouldn't be the first time she'd asked for death.

Mira's gok-do pierced the chest of the demon and Zoey swore she saw it smile as it turned to ash.

It took everything Zoey had to not vomit.

"What the hell. What the hell."

Rumi hadn't breathed a word of what happened to her and they hadn't pushed, letting her set the pace at which she revealed things, if at all.

But what the hell.

Zoey forced her breathing under control. She would have a panic attack about this later.

They still had work to do.

The collar joined the pile of items near the door, just in case it had more information.

And then the sound of a shoe squeaking made all of them freeze.

They weren't alone.

A young man wearing a lab coat stepped from around another curtain, wearing headphones, rolling a pen across his knuckles.

They locked eyes.

He yelled, reaching for something in his coat.

Three of Zoey's shin-kals flew across the room, piercing his hand and Achilles tendons.

Too late. A remote clattered from the scientist's grasp as he fell to the floor, blinking rapidly.

An explosion sounded from the far corner of the warehouse.

"RUN!" Celine shouted.

There was not a beat of hesitation. Run they did, not caring about the scientist crying for help behind them.

Another explosion, much closer this time, Zoey could feel the heat from the flames.

Celine reached the door, pulling the 'half human' notes box into her grasp.

Mira crossed the threshold, tumbling to the concrete and scrambling to stand up.

Zoey's heartbeat thudded in her ears.

She wasn't going to make it.

A faint pop sounded next to her, then hands were gripping her shoulders.

Rumi, looking pale, patterns an angry red.

She cast a glance over Zoey's shoulder, noticing the scientist.

Then Zoey's world became red smoke. Her ears popped.

And she was standing outside the warehouse.

Rumi collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Zoey!" Mira shouted. "Rumi!"

"I'm fine!" Zoey shouted back, wrenching the car door open, dragging Rumi in.

Celine and Mira slid into the car a beat later, Celine gripping the box of notes like a lifeline.

"Drive!" Celine ordered.

Almost before she finished speaking, Bobby slammed his foot on the gas.

Smoke rose in the air. Zoey could hear sirens approaching in the distance as she watched the warehouse collapse in on itself.

I hope this was worth it. She thought as she checked Rumi's pulse.

~~~~

Heat pulsed from Rumi's torso, the scratches the demon she'd fought a day ago (or was it two? she couldn't remember) an vicious red and weeping a clear liquid.

Apparently sleeping on a concrete floor was not conducive to keeping injuries clean.

Rumi hissed lowly, testing the edges of the injury, more liquid seeping out of the gouges under her probing.

At least it wasn't a snake demon. The venom in those bites is enough incapacitate a Hunter, even with the Honmoon burning toxins out of our systems at an accelerated rate. Rumi thought wryly, letting her battered shirt drop back into place.

Out of instinct, Rumi reached for the Honmoon, an attempt at comfort, only for the hole where the tether should have been to ache.

Don't think about that. It's out of reach. Work with what you do have.

A harsh plastic screech drew Rumi out of her thoughts, a tray containing two bowls sliding into the cell.

Rumi pounced on the food, drawing it close to her body before the person on the other side of the door could take it away. They'd done that the first time, after Rumi refused to touch the slop.

She hadn't made that mistake since.

Another tally mark joined the slowly growing cluster on the floor as Rumi ate, tipping the bowl back, disgusting gruel sliding down her throat.

If she ate quickly enough she didn't have to taste it.

Much.

The bowl of water was another story.

It trembled in Rumi's grip as she debated her next step.

A human could survive three days without water. She was pretty sure she was being fed more often than once every three days. But three days was under optimal circumstances, when the body wasn't regenerating large amounts of blood.

However, she needed those gashes clean.

Infection was more likely to kill her than dehydration.

Water sloshed over the edges of the bowl, wasting precious drops and Rumi's lungs hitched at letting them slip away, even knowing she was about to lose a lot more.

Another low noise of pain slipped out of Rumi's mouth as she poured the water on her torso, an awkward endeavor with her hands bound together, watching flecks of dust and dirt float free.

The incisions on her arm, leg, and torso weren't infected at the moment, but she needed to keep an eye on them.

Rumi closed her eyes, tipping the bowl up to her lips and drinking slowly.

She needed her strength if she was going to escape this place.

The deadbolt unlatched and Rumi leaped to her feet.

Yeou and Baem walked in, not even looking at her, arguing.

"You are secondary! What the hell were you thinking using H-1 for arena trials without my approval? It is one of a kind and we cannot risk damaging it permanently!" Yeou shouted, red in the face.

Baem huffed. "You were absent during the allotted experiment period for H-1, meaning I was acting primary. Our observations showed it is capable of combat strategy, arena trials were a way to test that." Their eyes flicked to Rumi once, disgust on their face growing.

"Acting! Acting primary!" Yeou jabbed a finger in Baem's chest. "Meaning you were still expected to obey the set list of experiments given by the normal primary."

Rumi took a step back, chain rattling across the floor.

They were both distracted. Neither were holding a remote.

She wasn't sure if she was strong enough to break the new chain attaching her to the floor, but surely one of them had the keys she would need.

Yeou snatched the chain, yanking Rumi forward. "Does this look like a subject ready for the intensive experiments set this week? You know how quickly infection sets in from a demon injury. And now you've disrupted the set schedule because you don't know how to properly contain a subject and are too petty to let a slight go."

Baem pressed a hand to the arm Rumi had injured. "It won't happen again."

"Correct." Yeou unlatched the chain from the floor. "This is how you contain an unruly subject."

He tugged the chain again and Rumi let him pull her forward, acting docile for a moment.

Then she grabbed the chain, pulling Yeou closer to her.

Towards her outstretched claws.

Yeou manged to mostly dodge, getting away with a gouge across his ribs that mirrored Rumi's.

Baem made for their pocket, but Rumi lunged at them causing them to stumble backward, remote slipping from their grasp.

A hand reached for Rumi's neck, presumably attempting to grab onto the collar.

Rumi almost managed to dodge, attempting to duck under the swing.

The hand landed across Rumi's mouth.

She didn't think.

She just bit.

Bit down with all the strength she had.

Bit down until she tasted blood, warm coppery liquid flooding her mouth.

Bit down until she heard bones crack, splintering like rotting wood.

Bit down until pain lit across her neck and she was wrenched free, dragging a chunk of flesh with her.

Rumi landed on the floor and spat out the glob of flesh, looking at Yeou grabbing his hand, a crescent shape with two larger punctures arcing across the meat of it.

Baem held the remote, pointing it at her in warning, not quite able to keep the sick glee off their face.

It was a bad idea, but Rumi couldn't help herself. "What was that about controlling unruly subjects?" She taunted.

Yeou clenched his fist, blood streaming down his arm, soaking his lab coat.

Rumi wasn't sure why she was surprised when the first punch landed on her face.

Yeou knew how to throw a punch much better than Baem it seemed.

Pain exploded down Rumi's cheek.

Another hit landed on on her ribs, right on top of the claw marks.

Rumi tried to deflect the next punch, only for the collar to flare again, forcing her to her knees.

Yeou kicked Rumi in the side, knocking her over.

She tried to roll of of the way of the next blow, but a surge of electricity kept her in place.

Finally understanding the game that was happening, Rumi curled into a ball and desperately tried to protect her vitals.

How long Yeou continued beating her, Rumi wasn't sure. She only knew that she would be more bruise than not come next feeding time.

Eventually the hits stopped but Rumi didn't dare uncurl from her fetal position.

"That," Yeou said decisively. "is how you control an unruly subject. Now, I think it looks ready for more intensive experimentation, don't you agree Dr. Baem?"

"I concur. I will also have it fitted for a muzzle to ensure biting does not become a recurring incident."

They stepped out of the cell, deadbolt sliding into place as they left.

Only then did Rumi dare to uncurl.

Tears slipped down her face, weak sobs left her body.

Breathing hurt. She didn't think she would be able to get up if she tried.

A dull purr rattled out of her chest, an attempt at comfort.

An unsuccessful attempt as the tears came more quickly, wasting the precious water from earlier.

~~~~

"What the hell were you thinking?" Mira seethed, desperately trying to refrain from shouting. Rumi did not need anger right now. "You could have died."

The warm lighting of Celine's office clashed with the tension that hung in the air. Rumi leaned on her crutches, a stormy expression on her face.

"I saved Zoey's life. If I hadn't teleported in she, you," Rumi glanced at Zoey, sitting on the couch, still shaky. "Would have died."

"You had no way of knowing if you would have been able to teleport back out and then I- we would have lost both of you." Mira massaged her temples, trying to hide the tremor in her hands.

They'd almost died. Not to a demon attack, but to human action. Due to their own foolishness by not checking the area first.

"I'm not going to apologize for saving Zoey's life."

"Alright enough," Bobby cut in, laying out the information they'd managed to salvage on Celine's desk. "This is getting nowhere."

"Agreed," Celine said tersely, fingers digging into her arms with enough force to turn her knuckles white. "We can come back to this later, for now we need to sort through what we recovered. If they didn't already know we're hunting them, they do now. We need to move quickly. Rumi, did you recognize the person in the warehouse?"

Mira's stomach turned at the memory of him. There was no way he'd survived the explosion. He'd chosen to set off the bombs but Zoey had been the reason he had no chance at escape.

Death was not easy to deal with, no matter whose it was.

Rumi nodded. "He was one of the scientists under Yeou. Chin. Whichever. I never got his name but he was one of the people who was most liberal with the shock collar." Her grip on her crutches loosened for a second, like she wanted to scratch the still healing burns on her neck before remembering herself.

The weight on Mira's chest lessened slightly. He'd definitely deserved it then.

Zoey buried her face in her hands, cursing at the reminder of the collar.

Celine nodded sharply, jaw clenching so tightly Mira swore she heard teeth crack, then turned to her desk.

Rumi's already pale face went even paler as Celine pulled out an ancient tape recorder.

"It's okay if you want to step out for this," Bobby said softly. "You don't need to listen to these."

"I already know what's on them anyway." But Rumi took a long look at the recorder and disappeared out the door.

Celine watched her leave, a storm of emotion roiling behind her eyes.

"Go." Mira surprised herself by speaking up, Celine's gaze locking onto her. "We can handle this. Go comfort your daughter."

Celine hesitated for a moment, before disappearing out the door behind Rumi.

Mira sat down heavily, Zoey joining her at the desk a moment later. Bobby sitting in Celine's spot felt wrong, but it wasn't important enough to bring up.

"Ready?" Bobby asked, inserting a tape, finger hovering over play.

"Just do it," Zoey said harshly, griping Mira's hand under the table.

"Procedure five. I am Dr. Yeou and am primary researcher for this for this experiment. Today we will be testing the diving reflex of subject H-1."

~~~~

Restraints tethered Rumi's hands behind her back. She struggled to break free from the hands gripping her shoulders, staring at the tub of water in front of her all too aware of what was about to happen. A blow to the back of her knees forced her to the floor

The muzzle across her face made it impossible to cry for help beyond a muffled shriek, but she tried anyway.

"Begin timer."

Hands forcefully gripping her braid was the only warning Rumi got before her face was shoved into the water.

The feeling of ice against her skin forced a scream out of Rumi's mouth, costing her precious oxygen.

She struggled against the hand on her scalp, desperately trying to surface, but to no avail. Her lungs started to burn, she could feel her heartbeat in her ears, pain radiated from her temples.

Just as the world started to disappear, her head was dragged upward.

Water sloshed onto the floor as Rumi collapsed against the person still gripping her braid. They grumbled and shoved Rumi off them, letting her sink to the floor, chest heaving. The now soaked muzzle made breathing difficult, but Rumi sucked in greedy lungfuls regardless.

"Interesting," Yeou said, looking at a monitor reading her vitals. "Heart rate increased after submerging, the opposite of expected response. Set up for next trial to see if it was an outlier."

Vision still splotchy, Rumi was forced back onto her knees.

"Begin timer."

~~~~

Zoey thought she was going to break Mira's hand with how tightly she gripped it.

That was…horrifying.

Inhumane. Barbaric.

Zoey prided herself on being good with words, always ready with a comeback or quip perfectly suited to a situation.

There were no words for this.

That wasn't even one of the bad ones. Not one of the ones that would have caused the scars on Rumi's body.

Bobby exhaled heavily, looking about a half second away from vomiting. "Next one?"

Zoey wanted to say no. Wanted to smash the tapes and let their secrets never reach the light of day.

But they needed to know if there was anything useful in them.

"Next one," Mira said hoarsely, eyes brimming with tears.

"Procedure eight. I am Dr. Baem and am acting as primary researcher for this for this experiment. Today will start the testing of subject H-1's immune system."

~~~~

A needle sank into Rumi's arm. She tried to jerk away, but the guard's grip on her was iron.

There was no immediate reaction, which didn't surprise Rumi. Her half demon biology made it so a lot of drugs didn't work well on her, if at all.

Mira and Zoey had been very upset at that when she told them, after years of letting them stitch her wounds thinking she couldn't feel the thread drag through her flesh when she very much could.

"Return subject H-1 to its cell." Baem ordered, cleaning their instruments. "We will monitor its vitals over the next few days."

The chain was attached to the floor, the deadbolt slid into place, and Rumi sat down heavily, examining the incisions, fresh and old crossing her skin.

Most were healing at least somewhat well.

The claw marks on her torso were another story. The heat and pain had worsened, pulsing in time with her heart.

They call themselves scientists but can't even tell when one of their subjects is dying from infection.

Rumi chuckled bitterly and rolled over to sleep, purring in an attempt to soothe herself.

She awoke sweaty and disoriented.

Pressure thudded in her sinuses, aches radiated down her limbs, her mouth was dry and tacky.

She needed something to drink, but when she tried to open her mouth, she hit resistance.

Right. The muzzle.

Rumi pressed her eyes closed, hoping it would provide some relief.

If she let her mind drift she could pretend the concrete was the tiles of their kitchen and she was lying on it because she was tired from practice. She could pretend the smell of iron was Mira preparing some meat they'd picked up from the market earlier that day.

She could pretend she just had the flu and was waiting for her Eomma to finish making soup, like she had when Rumi was little.

Rumi drifted, trying to rest as much as possible.

Until eventually her fever broke and she could no longer pretend.

"Two day recovery. Grab a blood sample to test antibodies."

~~~~

Mira felt nauseous. This felt like information no one should have access to. This felt like a secret that should have gone to the grave.

Bobby loaded the next tape in, wiping sweat from his brow, shaking so badly he nearly dropped it.

Zoey nodded her assent to start.

"Procedure fourteen. I am Dr. Yeou and am the primary researcher for this for this operation. Today we will be collecting a bone marrow sample from subject H-1's posterior iliac crest."

~~~~

A scalpel sank into Rumi's hip and she bit down, trying desperately not to scream.

Baem threaded their fingers through the muzzle tauntingly, shoving her head back into the table, knowing she couldn't move far enough to snap at them.

Didn't stop a growl from working its way out of her throat.

A growl that turned into a shriek as a needle sank into her hipbone, sharp pressure flooding her right side when Yeou started to draw back the syringe.

~~~~

"Arena trial two. H-1's opponent is subject W-15."

~~~~

A water demon collapsed at her feet, gills shredded by her claws, neck snapped.

Even with the handicap of not being able to use her teeth, Rumi had won.

She tried very hard to not think about the horror on the water demon's face when it registered exactly who it was fighting.

~~~~

Bobby got up to vomit then returned to the desk.

"Procedure fifteen. I am Dr. Baem and am acting as the primary researcher for this for this experiment. Today will begin the trial of subject H-1's drug resistance."

~~~~

Rumi couldn't focus. The world drifted in and out of comprehension.

Needles were the one constant. Sharp, piercing pain that hurt far, far worse than it should have.

One moment Rumi was in the cell, rubbing her fingers across the chain just to be able to feel something, then she was on the operating table, then she was lying on the floor.

"It's much more pliant like this. Why don't the doctors keep it like this all the time? Saves us the chance of being scratched."

"Something about experiment lengths and control groups, you know how Dr. Baem gets."

Rumi wasn't sure how much time she lost to that haze before she was able to crawl her way back to the surface.

She hated it. Hated the fuzzy out of control feeling it left her with.

Hated how it made the operations so much easier to deal with.

~~~~

Zoey was going to commit a felony. She was going to paint the walls of that place red.

"Today we will be testing the temperature resistance of subject H-1."

~~~~

Rumi curled into as small of a ball as she could, trying to preserve heat. The metal of the collar bit into her neck, bringing cold with it.

The freezer door had only locked a few minutes ago, but she was already starting to lose feeling in her toes.

"If you get frostbite, don't rub the affected area," a voice that sounded like Celine said. "It will cause the ice crystals in your skin to shred the tissues. Use body heat to warm up instead."

I would love to. Rumi thought wryly, tucking her hands under her armpits.

~~~~

"Arena trial three."

Mira dropped her head into her hands, biting back a sob.

~~~~

She'd nearly lost. She'd nearly died. To a Faceless of all things.

Thick claw swipes ran across Rumi's thigh, millimeters away from her femoral artery.

If it had been a hair to the left…

At least she wouldn't have had to deal with this place anymore

~~~~

Zoey excused herself to vomit this time.

"Partial biopsy of the lumbar region."

~~~~

Rumi screamed as the blade made a diagonal slash along her spine.

"Careful," Yeou warned, "If it moves too much I may sever its spinal cord."

Rumi sobbed, trying to go still.

But her body tried to flinch away from the next incision regardless.

"Someone administer a paralytic."

She half expected it to fail, for her fingers to go a little numb at most, but Rumi's body went slack as a needle was jammed into her neck.

It didn't stop the pain, it just made her unable to react to it.

~~~~

"Stop. Stop," Zoey breathed, pressing her palms to her eyes. "I can't do this anymore. I need to take a break."

Mira tried to stand, grab water for the three of them, but her legs gave out from under her.

Rumi's screams were going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

That wasn't even all the tapes.

Apparently it was Mira's turn to vomit, grabbing onto the trash can like a lifeline.

"We still have the papers," She croaked from her position on the floor.

Bobby shook his head, tears streaming down his face. "Those can wait. We all need a break. We all need to not think about this for a bit."

"Fuck," Zoey spat. "Just- fuck!"

Mira slowly clamored off the ground. "I'm going to track down Rumi and Celine."

"Yeah. Yeah that's a good idea."

~~~~

Celine slowly padded after her daugh niec

Daughter.

Even though it had taken her years to see it, Rumi was her daughter.

And what a fool she had been to almost let her slip away.

She would not repeat her same mistakes.

Finding Rumi didn't take long, a disused conference room they hadn't gotten around to reworking the perfect place for someone to slip off to if they needed some quiet.

All four of them had used it on occasion.

Celine knocked gently on the door frame, announcing her presence to Rumi before walking in.

Light pulsed from Rumi's patterns; angry red chasing sickly yellow fading into fearful grey then circling back to red.

Rumi sat curled on the ground curled into a ball, knees drawn to her chest, hands pressed to her temples, chest heaving.

Celine closed the distance in three strides, crouching beside Rumi. "In for four, hold for four, out for four, hold for four."

A minuscule nod was the only indication Celine got Rumi had heard her, but slowly Rumi's breathing leveled out.

When Rumi pulled her head out of her hands, Celine wordlessly opened her arms.

She was bad at this. They both were.

But they were better than a few years ago.

Rumi leaned into her embrace, shaking from her panic attack. Celine gently guided them to a couch, knees protesting slightly as she half carried Rumi.

Arms still locked around Celine, Rumi tucked her head into Celine's collarbone like she hadn't since she was a child.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Celine asked, breaking the fragile silence.

"Not really," Rumi muttered, a cascade of colors running through her patterns.

Silence fell over the room again, disturbed only by the sound of their breathing.

"Why me?" Rumi said suddenly, so quietly Celine almost missed it. "Why did they do any of this? What purpose did any of this serve?" As she continued speaking her voice grew louder, until she was yelling. "What was so important they had to torture me? WHY ME?"

The last words were a roar, rippling outward along the Honmoon in a way so much like the Idol Awards a few years ago. Not damaging it, but reverberating at a frequency that put Celine's teeth on edge.

There was no easy answer to that. No neat and clean explanation. No glimmer of insight Celine could provide. But she did her best.

"People don't need a reason to be cruel. They don't need some grand justification, they just need to feel like they are more important than the people around them." Celine gently carded her fingers through Rumi's hair. "Nothing could have excused what they did to you."

Rumi sobbed, curling tighter against Celine. "I almost told them to not listen to the tapes. I didn't want them to know what happened to me. But we need to find these people and those are the best lead we have."

"They won't get away with this. I promise, Rumi. We will never stop hunting them."

Celine hadn't been able to properly connect to the Honmoon in years, not since her girls came into their own.

But that did not mean she was not longer a Hunter.

At her oath the Honmoon flickered, pulsing with a pleased hum.

(Good. No one gets to harm one of mine.

They weren't quite words, but Celine understood anyway.)

Even if it hadn't approved, Celine would have shredded her connection to the Honmoon if it meant destroying the monsters that did this to her daughter.

If possible, Rumi curled into an ever smaller ball. "There is one tape I don't want them to listen to. Something they don't need to know."

"Which one?"

"The one I think I died during."

~~~~

The door slammed open with such force Rumi jolted until she hit the end of the chain.

"This is a bad idea!" Baem protested, following on the heels of Yeou. "There is no reason to do such an extensive sample collection all at once. It could be parsed out over a few days."

Yeou glared at them with an intensity Rumi hadn't seen from Yeou before. Of the two Baem was the emotional one while Yeou was more collected.

There was a reason Rumi had been focusing her efforts to unsettle them on Baem.

"I am primary researcher. You are secondary. That means I have final say. Now," He rounded on the guards who had flanked Baem and Yeou. "Collect subject H-1 and move it to operating room B. I will join when I have gathered the tools I need for a complete vivisection."

Vivisection.

Rumi knew that word.

Vivi meaning alive. Sect meaning cut.

No. No. Nononononono.

Rumi dodged the first set of hands that reached for her, only to be yanked forward by the chain, a guard wrapping it around his hand.

She was much weaker than the last time she'd fought this desperately, injuries, frostbite, starvation, infection, slowing her down.

But she'd never been this desperate before.

Rumi fought like a demon. Claws tearing into armor, aiming for eyes, joints, the groin.

Any soft target she could.

It didn't matter.

Someone pulled out a remote, shock collar dropping her to the floor.

The guards wrenched her arms back with such force she heard something in her shoulder pop.

The march to the operating room was slow but methodical, as if they wanted to drag out the psychological torture.

Rumi's lungs burned with how quickly she was hyperventilating. Tears streamed down her face. For once her body didn't ache, adrenaline singing through her veins so intense her fingers started to go numb.

The door to the operating room swung open like the gates of hell.

It was different than the one she was usually in. Larger, with better lighting. Containing a bigger operating table, with sturdier cuffs.

More surgical instruments, which Yeou was diligently studying.

The first cuff was fastened around Rumi's wrist. Then the second.

She made eye contact with the guard, awkward angle allowing her to see through their visor.

'Please,' She tried to convey with her eyes, muzzle making words impossible. 'Don't do this.'

They ignored her, switching their focus to Rumi's feet.

In one last desperate attempt, Rumi kicked out, ribs crunching under her foot, claws sinking into the soft underarm of the armor.

The guard dropped to the floor, wheezing, blood spreading along the floor.

A lot of blood.

Yeou growled, "Remove them before they disturb my surgical environment even more. And someone restrain the subject!"

Rumi watched the guard be dragged away as her feet were strapped down.

"Now," Yeou clicked on a recorder. "Procedure twenty. I am Dr. Yeou and will be the primary researcher for this operation. I am joined by Dr. Baem, who will be acting as my secondary. Today we are continuing our research on subject H-1."

She knew this spiel by now.

"I will be performing a complete vivisection on H-1, using standard autopsy technique."

A set of scissors entered Rumi's vision and she went stock still.

Neatly, almost tenderly, the blade sliced through the thin layer of fabric separating the skin of Rumi's chest from the world.

And then Yeou moved the remnants to the side, tracing a Y down across Rumi's torso with a marker.

Someone handed Yeou a scalpel and Rumi did her best to scream. Tried to break free. Tried to do something other than lie there.

"Someone administer a paralytic. I need it still for this."

A needle dug into Rumi's neck and her muscles went slack.

The scalpel dug into Rumi's skin, just under her collarbone, then dragging horizontally towards her sternum. Fire trailed in it's wake, the scent of iron flooding the room.

The next swipe mirrored the first and brought with it a new wave of pain, Rumi's lungs hitching, a mangled sob escaping her throat, tears streaming down her face.

The third cut started at the point where the first two ended, tracing down her stomach, arcing when it reached her belly button. Blood welled up from the gash, spilling onto the table.

Rumi wasn't sure if anything she'd been through had hurt as much as this, stuck like an insect in a display case, unable to do anything.

Then Yeou started peeling.

Skin gave with a horrible wet noise, tearing away from the ribcage and sloughing free as it was released, lying on the table like a mockery of wings.

Rumi was wrong.

Nothing had compared to this level of pain before.

A fresh wave of tears burst down her face, in too much pain to do anything other than focus on the cold flooding her chest cavity, organs that never should have seen the light of day now exposed to the harsh conditions of the operating room.

"No patterns visible on internal structures," Yeou said, lining something that looked like pruning shears to the V of Rumi's ribcage.

A crunch filled the air, softer than Rumi would have expected.

Then it turned out Rumi still hadn't reached her upper limit of pain, stars exploded in her vision with such force she couldn't even scream. The shears pressed down again, splitting her sternum farther.

Her heart thundered against her exposed ribs, blade dangerously close to the rapidly beating organ.

Mira. Zoey. Celine. Help. Please. Please. I can't do this.

Eomma. I need you. Honmoon. Girls. SOMEONE!

A thrid snip and her sternum gave, ribs opening slightly as the tether connecting them was severed.

Breathing was inhaling shards of glass, shredding her throat on the way down, pain radiating across her entire body each time her lungs so much as twitched.

Then Yeou reached a hand into her chest cavity, braced it under her ribs, and snapped them outward.

Finally, mercifully, something in Rumi's brain folded and a wave of black washed over her, pulling her into unconsciousness.

(Rumi doesn't know this, but her heart did stop during this procedure.

For 30 long seconds, the vessel known as Rumi was completely still.

Hypovolemic shock, a condition in which there is not enough blood circulating in the body, possibly leading to cardiac arrest.)

(Mira, alone, working off steam on a punching bag, doubling over, clutching her chest, knowing in her bones something was wrong.)

(Zoey, book of notes open but not comprehending them, collapsing against Couch, unable to breathe.)

(The Honmoon, screeching, unable to reach one of its chosen.)

(30 seconds. Half a minute.)

(Yeou, but he is not important, cursing, desperately trying to revive his subject.)

(For 30 seconds Rumi's heart was still.)

(Until finally, thankfully, blessedly, it wasn't.)

(Mira and Zoey exhaled as one in the same moment Rumi drew breath.)

~~~~

Rumi drifted.

Shapes moved in and out of focus.

White traced the corners of her vision.

Black raced to meet her if she saw white for too long.

Feeling slowly returned, finger tips regaining sensation, limbs waking up.

Pain was less slow to return.

Rumi dragged her eyes open.

An empty room greeted her.

Pressure remained on her wrists and ankles. A bag hanging from a pole lead to her wrist, clear liquid filling it.

Satisfied with her discoveries, Rumi closed her eyes again.

But unconsciousness did not follow.

A thin purr rattled out of her chest.

"Why's it making that noise?"

"I don't know. Make it stop."

Electricity coursed through Rumi's body and she screamed. Actually screamed, not a muffled yell.

That was important for some reason. She didn't know why though.

Message received, Rumi stopped purring.

Time passed.

Rumi opened her eyes again to Baem staring at her dispassionately.

"You know, Dr. Yeou wanted to just let you die," They said, checking the IV bag. "I was the one who fought for you."

Rumi closed her eyes again, not bothering to respond.

A purr started again, instinctual.

Electricity surged again.

Rumi stopped purring.

The process repeated.

The next time Rumi opened her eyes weight settled against her face.

Oh. That's why she'd been able to scream.

Baem walked into the room, a single guard flanking them.

"Time to return subject H-1 to its cell."

Rumi didn't bother to fight as the guard loosened her restraints.

Her feet barely skimmed the floor as the guard dragged her through corridors.

An odd sense of familiarity filled her as Baem unlocked the door to the cell and the guard deposited her inside.

"Some gratitude would be nice." Baem taunted, crouching in front of her. "For the one who ensured you recovered in a sterile environment.

Rumi swung at them, claws catching their ankle, blood welling up from the gashes.

They jumped back, hissing under their breath. "Ungrateful brat," They huffed, slamming the door behind them.

Wait.

Something was missing.

They hadn't bothered to reattach the chain tethering her to the floor for one, probably assuming she was too weak to try anything.

And the door had only slammed.

There was no sound of a deadbolt sliding into place.

Legs shaking like a newborn foal, Rumi stood, stumbling into the wall, and pressed her fingers to the door, barely daring to breathe.

It gave under her touch.

Make an opportunity.

This was her chance.

She could escape.

~~~~

Days stretched into weeks. Rumi started physical therapy, slowly regaining muscle mass lost to months of starvation, eventually switching from crutches to a cane.

Nightmare happened, but usually less violent than the first night.

The list of food Rumi could eat grew longer and longer, until Dr. Rang gave the all clear.

And yet something nagged in the back of Zoey's brain.

She sat in Celine's office, well after the woman had gone home (to her 'guest room' in the tower) for the day, running her fingers along the inside of the collar.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Very valiantly, Zoey did not jump out of her seat at Mira's voice.

Her girlfriend entered the office, closely followed by Rumi, leaning on her cane.

"What makes you say that?" Zoey tried to joke, placing the collar back on the table, next to the documents they'd recovered.

"You never know when to stop researching," Mira deadpanned, taking a seat.

"Okay, in my defense I think I may have figured something out this time."

"Oh?" Rumi knit her brows together, knuckles white on the handle of her cane.

"You know how you said you weren't sure how they managed to prevent your teleporting? Well one of the…" Zoey trailed off, eyes darting to the box on the floor hosting every tape except of the one labeled 20, which Celine had confiscated. "One of the tapes," She started over, "mentioned diving reflex which got me thinking. You know what the diving reflex is?"

Mira nodded. "Your heart rate slowing down while you're underwater to conserve oxygen."

"Yeah, what if something similar happens when a demon teleports? They can't breathe while they're smoke, so their heart slows. This has a heart rate monitor, so if the wearer's heart rate gets under a certain BPM, it could be programmed to activate."

Rumi stared at her for a moment, thumb rubbing across the burn scars on her neck. "That would make sense," She said slowly, "I guess I don't pay a lot of attention to my heart when I teleport."

Zoey clenched her jaw, eyes dropping to the notes on the table, the other thing she'd discovered thrumming behind her teeth.

It was a horrible thing to say. A terrible truth she didn't know how to put lightly.

"Zoey?" Mira prompted. "Is there something else?"

"It's just- all of these notes. All of this data. And it's nothing new?" Zoey grimaced hunching her shoulders. "I don't want to be all 'the end justifies the means' but I could have told you most of this information just by observing Rumi. No earth shattering reveal, no insight into how demons work, hell I don't think they even knew about the Honmoon."

"All of these stats could have been collected humanely. And none of them even tell me something I don't already know about Rumi."

Silence blanketed the office as Mira and Rumi processed the information.

"Wait, they didn't even know about the Honmoon? I couldn't call my sword. How the fuck could they not know about the Honmoon?" Rumi strode up to the desk, scanning the papers.

Zoey flipped to the ones she'd been studying earlier. "They mention an energy a couple of times, but it's in passing and I never got the vibe they really understood it. They just knew it was linked to demons and suppressing it made them more docile. They were drugging your food with whatever they were dosing the demons with," Zoey said apologetically.

Rumi froze for a moment before understanding dawned on her face. "Demons are connected to the Honmoon. It's in a different way than Hunters but it's still a connection. The drug must have dampened my connection. They had no idea they were suppressing a Hunter's weapon as well." Rumi sank into a chair, laughing. "They got lucky. They got so fucking lucky. All of this because they got lucky." She spat the last word, fangs emerging from her lips.

Lucky.

The scientists who had tortured her girlfriend were lucky.

But the thing about luck was that it eventually ran out.

And they had been living on borrowed time since the first moment they laid a hand on a Hunter.

Chapter Text

"I'm officially clearing you for moderate activity," Dr Yong, Rumi's physical therapist, said as she returned the elastic bands to the wall. "Moderate activity," She stressed, seeing Rumi's face split into a grin. "Nothing overly strenuous and you still need to listen to your body."

Mira couldn't fight back her matching smile. Rumi had been making steady progress in the past few weeks, but hearing milestones made it that much more real.

"It is rare a patient recovers this quickly." Dr. Yong's tone held curiosity, but she was professional enough to not voice her question. "Do not set yourself back back overworking yourself. Otherwise, I will see you in three days."

With that she stepped out of the gym, leaving Rumi drinking from her water bottle, wiping sweat from her brow.

"I'm proud of you," Mira said, sitting on a weight bench.

"Oh?" Plastic crackled slightly as Rumi lowered her water bottle.

"The Rumi I knew a few years ago would have pushed her recovery and injured herself further. So yeah, I'm proud of you."

Rumi's ears went pink, patterns on her face pulsing with light.

Only on her face though, because of the long sleeves covering her arms.

Covering the scar tissue hiding beneath the fabric.

Mira never thought she would hate a type of shirt so much, but here she was.

Not that she blamed Rumi for not wanting the evidence of her torture being exposed to the world.

Still. It was hard to see all the work she'd put into feeling comfortable in her body be challenged.

"Can we try sparring?"

Mira startled, looking at Rumi, incredulously.

Had she heard anything Mira just said?

"Not anything serious," A awkward smile curved across Rumi's face. "Just testing the waters. Helping me get back into the habit of fighting with a sword."

Fighting with a sword, not claws. Using the Honmoon.

"Basic forms only." Mira brushed nonexistent dust off her pants. "And as soon as you start to feel strained we stop."

Rumi nodded sharply, fingers threading with the Honmoon. Gentle, but assured she pulled her sword free from its threads.

The Honmoon hummed, content as Rumi rested the tip of her blade on the floor.

Welcome back. I've missed you, it seemed to purr, threads curling around Rumi's shoulders like a pleased cat.

"Is that the first time you've summoned your weapon since…" Mira asked, calling forth her gok-do.

"Yeah." Rumi shakily exhaled. "I was a little scared it wouldn't work."

"Of course it worked." Both of them barely refrained from jumping at the new voice joining them.

Zoey crossed the threshold of the gym, holding a piece of paper, peeved look gliding off her face at the sight of them.

"You're a Hunter, that isn't changing."

"I know that," Rumi said, almost petulantly. "I know, it's just. I spent two months cut off from the Honmoon, something that's never been recorded to have happened before. We had no way of knowing if there were lasting damages."

Rumi shook herself, raising her sword off the ground. "But apparently it's fine. What had you in a bad mood?"

It was a deflection if Mira had ever seen one, but she let it slide.

Zoey grimaced. "Trying to track Chin is difficult. The leads Celine and Bobby are pulling on aren't going anywhere. We're trying to cobble together a way to catch him, but it's going to take time. So I-" She held up the piece of paper, revealing a picture of Chin's face. "was going to tape this to a board and throw knives at it until I feel better."

A jagged grin arced along Mira's lips. "Don't let me stop you."

They fell into a familiar routine. Rumi slowly went through her basic sword forms, eventually dispelling her blade and sitting down to stretch. Mira twirled around with her gok-do, cleaving through imaginary enemies, no showmanship, just raw efficiency. Zoey, true to her word, hurled shin-kal at Chin's face until the paper was shredded.

A thought crossed Mira's mind. Something they all knew but hadn't dared to speak aloud.

"We're going to kill him."

Rumi looked up from her stretches, Zoey turned away from the board.

"Yeah," Zoey said flatly. It wasn't quite sadness that tinged her voice, but a raw resignation.

All three of them had a weird relationship with death. They had to, being Hunters. They killed things that looked human, that acted human, that used to be human. If they failed to kill them, people would die.

It didn't make the knowledge they were planning to take multiple lives any easier to bear.

"They deserve to die. They have probably caused more suffering than any demon we've fought, with the exception of Gwi-Ma." Metallic tapping filled the air as Mira drummed a tattoo on her gok-do.

"I don't think I'll rest easy until at least at least Yeou and Baem are dead." Rumi massaged her collarbone, where the start of the vivisection scar sat. "I want them dead. Not out of some altruistic reason of stopping them from causing more harm, but because of what they did to me."

"Same." Zoey flung another knife into Chin's picture. "I don't care what that says about me. I don't care that I'm taking a human life. They don't get to torture you and live."

Weight settled behind Mira's sternum. Not dread, not fear, but acceptance. They were in agreement: Chin and Baem didn't get to live.

Warmth curled around Mira's fingers, Honmoon's threads flickering with approval.

They were all in agreement.

~~~~

Zoey thought she'd been going crazy when she got the ping.

Over the past few weeks she'd pulled together the resources keep pins on Chin Ha-jun. Searching desperately for any sort of activity. A hotel room booked under his name. Credit card activity. Train tickets. Anything that might have given away where he was.

Celine had been instrumental in setting up the web, once again showing how terrifying she could be when she put her mind to something.

Was what they were doing highly illegal? Probably. Did they care?

Absolutely not.

But for over a week it had been dead silent. No movement.

Of course the mad scientist was better at being a criminal than being a researcher.

And then, while Mira was making lunch and Rumi was napping on her lap, a single flag.

A credit card being used at an ATM, presumably withdrawing as much cash as possible.

So that's how he was staying off grid.

Zoey jostled Rumi awake, sprinting to the kitchen. Celine would have gotten the same ping she did, so she didn't need to alert her.

Her girls though, should be told as quickly as possible.

"He fucked up," Zoey said to Mira in lieu of greeting.

Mira put down her spatula. "What do we have?"

"Not much." Zoey placed her laptop on the counter. "An ATM being used in the middle of nowhere, but it's better than nothing."

"It is," Mira hummed, drumming her fingers on her arm. "Define middle of nowhere."

"Several hour drive, its a near a defunct commercial fishing port." Zoey said, looking up pictures of the area.

Mira nodded sharply, "Alright. What's our plan?"

"Go there and figure out where Yeou's been shacking up." Rumi wiped sleep from her eyes, pulling out a chair. "Don't look at me like that. I'm healed enough to come with."

"Rumi," Zoey started slowly, "This isn't going to be recon. There's good odds we run into Chin and other scientists. And their subjects. Are you sure you're ready for that?"

Rumi gave her a steady look. "I'm sure. I'll let you know if that changes."

"And the healing?" Mira asked. "Are you positive you're going to be able to handle combat?"

"Dr. Yong said I was good to go."

"For moderate activity. Nothing we do while hunting is moderate," Zoey stressed.

Mira rolled her shoulders. "Same deal as last time? You land a hit you get to come with."

Rumi stood, shaking out her hands. "Fine by me."

Instead of what happened a few weeks ago, Rumi waited for Mira to make the first move. When Mira lunged at Rumi, she dodged around it, fingers flexing into a mimicry of claws.

Rumi cocked her head teasingly. Is that all you've got? radiating from ever ounce of her stance.

Mira didn't rise to the bait, instead she slowly stepped forward, Rumi's eyes narrowing in contemplation.

Then as if reading each others minds, they moved as one.

Mira dove left, aiming for Rumi's nondominant side.

Rumi twisted away, slamming an elbow between Mira's shoulder blades, forcing her to hit the floor in a roll.

The elevator doors slid open.

"I think that counts as a hit," Rumi said breathlessly. "Hi, Celine."

"Fuck," Mira said, eloquently.

Celine's eyebrows rose. "What am I walking in on?"

"Me winning an argument," Rumi informed her proudly. "I'm coming with when you deal with Yeou."

Celine swallowed thickly but Mira shook out her limbs, sighing. "A deal's a deal."

Suddenly serious, Rumi grabbed Mira's hand, pulling her off the floor. "I know you wouldn't let anything happen to me. None of you would."

Damn right.

Rumi would be hurt by these guys again over Zoey's cold, dead, body.

"I take it you received the same notification," Celine said, shifting her focus to Zoey.

"I did. I don't know where Chin might be staying, or even if this is someplace he's going to be long term, but it seems like as good of place for a evil scientist hideout as any." Zoey started counting off points on her fingers. "It's isolated, it has a number of abandoned buildings, it has the means to dispose of large amounts of blood. If I were going to set up a hide out as an evil scientist, it's where I would go."

Celine looked over her shoulder, glancing at the satellite images Zoey'd gotten access to (thank you Bobby and your unquestioning loyalty).

"There." She pointed to a building. "That one."

"Why?" Zoey asked, before zooming in and understanding. "Oh, it's too neat."

"What?" Mira asked, also crowding around Zoey's laptop.

"This place hasn't been in use in years. Why is one building in much better condition than the others?"

Determination settled in Zoey's bones. This was their lead. This was their chance.

"I'll tell Bobby to get the car ready," Celine said, pulling out her phone.

They were burning another head of the Hydra. Tonight.

~~~~

The door was unlocked.

The chain wasn't attached to the floor.

This was her chance.

Trepidation flooded Rumi as she pushed the door open wider. Surely this was a trap? Some sort of psychological torment to test her response to failure.

But what if it wasn't? What if she actually managed to get away?

What if she got to go back to her girls?

Rumi wrapped the chain attached to the collar around her fists. Her hands were still tethered together, but a rudimentary garrote was better than nothing.

Exhaling shakily, Rumi pushed open the door of the cell. A long groan filled the hallway, making her tense, waiting for a scientist to leap out of the shadows.

Nothing.

Crossing the threshold of the cell under her own power was exhilarating, even if Rumi did need to lean against a wall, trying to catch her breath.

Breathing still sent sparks of pain shooting through her ribs, the deeper the inhale the worse the pain, but hyperventilating would only make things worse.

She needed to move. Before they noticed she was free out of her cell.

With great effort, Rumi pushed herself off the wall. Footsteps echoed along the corridor like thunderclaps, even as the tried to make them quiet. Every time the chains rattled, fear laced through Rumi's chest.

Stealthy. She needed to be as quiet as possible.

The door leading to the holding cells was thankfully unlocked. Apparently they were confident in their ability to keep subjects contained.

Once again, Rumi pushed the door open, revealing a scientist she didn't recognize wearing a lab coat, one hand extended towards the handle, the other holding a sandwich.

She startled at the sight of Rumi, stumbling backward, reaching for her pocket.

Rumi moved, fast and lethal, like a viper.

Like a demon.

Looping the chain around the scientist's neck, Rumi pulled, forcing the two of them together.

The scientist's hands instinctively flew to her neck, abandoning her reach for the remote.

Dodging around, Rumi kicked the scientist's legs out from under her, pressing a knee between her shoulder blades, and pulling the chain tighter.

Horrible gasps emerged from the scientist's throat, strangled cries for help.

But no one was coming.

With one final wrench, Rumi heard a crack and the scientist went limp.

Honmoon forgive me.

(Rumi did not hear this, but battering against the barrier that separated them the Honmoon pulsed. There is nothing to forgive. You are one of mine. Do what you must to survive.)

Dragging a body is more difficult than most people think. Dead weight is a term for a reason.

But somehow, Rumi managed, pulling the corpse into the holding cell corridor, Rumi hastily searched her its the corpse's pockets, eventually finding a key ring.

Shackles popped free and Rumi winced as they pulled scabbing away with them, revealing weeping and bloody sores.

Another infection to be worried about. Great.

The muzzle came free next, Rumi just barely restraining herself from flinging it across the hallway.

None of the keys fit the collar. Because of course they didn't. Nothing could be easy.

Another thing people don't realize is difficult: removing the clothes from a corpse.

'Rigor mortis takes about two hours to set in,' The Zoey in Rumi's brain helpfully supplied as she collected the lab coat, tucking as much of her hair into the back of it as she could.

Vertigo washed over Rumi as she observed the corpse. It wasn't the first time she'd seen a dead body, far from it.

But it was the first time she'd created one.

'I'm sorry' was on the tip of her tongue. But that wasn't true.

She wasn't sorry for killing a torturer.

So Rumi desperately tugged the lab coat higher, trying to hide the ring of metal around her throat and said nothing, stepping out into the corridor.

~~~~

Bobby put the car into park and Mira wished she could explain the feeling curled behind her sternum.

It wasn't peace. It wasn't fear. It wasn't rage- okay there was a fair bit of rage.

But there was something deeper than the rage. A sense of surety. A feeling that they were one step closer to ending this.

Mira stepped out of the car as she pulled her mask over her nose. No chances of them being recorded.

Rumi shook out her shoulders, Zoey palmed her shin-kal, Celine adjusted her grip on her sickles.

Mira drove her gok-do into the electrical box Bobby had pointed out on the blueprints.

Rumi couldn't quite hold back her flinch at the sight of sparks, but she stayed resolute.

"Together?" Rumi asked, leveling her sword at the door.

"Together," They said in unison.

Metal screeched as Rumi slammed her blade forward, prying the door open, revealing red emergency lights and concrete corridors.

They wanted to cage a Hunter? Time to see how they liked being prey.

Stepping into the bunker Chin had been holing up caused deja vu to wash over Mira.

It was eerily like the original facility they'd rescued Rumi from. Harsh lighting, the faint smell of formaldehyde.

The only thing it was missing was people.

No scientists rushed around the room. No shouting. No rustle of paper.

Other than their breathing and footsteps it was silent.

The hair on the back of Mira's neck stood up.

"Careful," Celine whispered, "No repeats of last time."

The words were mostly directed at Rumi, but Mira nodded nonetheless.

They walked in unison. Mira taking point, Rumi behind her, Celine and Zoey flanking Rumi.

It felt weird, directing both her leader and mentor.

The hallway branched and Rumi pointed to the left corridor.

"Why?" Mira asked, already turning down it.

"It smells more strongly of blood."

Dread seeped into Mira's bones

Sure enough, as they got closer the smell of blood permeated the hallway, the source of it revealing itself.

A Jeoseung-saja, strapped to an operating table, ribs split open in a mockery of wings.

It didn't seem to be conscious. Small mercies she supposed.

Zoey flung a shin-kal into the demon, turning it to dust, then staggered over to a corner to vomit.

Rumi stumbled backward, white as a sheet, sword trembling in her grip.

"You don't have to be here, Rumi," Celine said, stepping forward to block Rumi's line of sight to the operating table.

"I'm fine."

Subtle movement caught Mira's eye, drawing it to the walls.

To the shelves.

Covered in glass jars holding floating objects.

Organs.

Nausea roiled in Mira's stomach and she nearly followed Zoey's lead by vomiting.

In two of the jars she could see, dust drifted down through the liquid. The movement she'd noticed.

Again, a question she could have answered had the scientists simply asked. 'What happened to the limbs and organs of a demon after it died?' They dissolved like the rest of it.

"They were organ harvesting?" Zoey whispered, staring at the jars as well. "Were they just collecting dissection samples or selling them as well?"

"It would explain how they funded this place," Mira heard herself say, horror redoubling. Subjects that couldn't die and would eventually heal from anything? That was a cash cow on the black market. "Does that mean there are people walking around with demon organs? Or is demonic and human physiology so different their bodies would reject the donor organ?"

Rumi hacked a ragged cough. "I can give blood to Zoey, which is a point towards successful transplants. But we're also Hunters, so that might make things different."

Memory of early days of first aid training sparked in Mira's brain. Zoey's blood type is A pos. Rumi's is O pos. Mine is AB neg. Rumi can give to Zoey, no one else can give or receive from each other. Do not let panic take that knowledge from you.

Mira forced herself to exhale. They weren't here to speculate about what happened to the captured demons, they were here to find Chin.

They backtracked to the branching hallway, this time taking the right corridor.

This facility was much smaller than the one they'd rescued Rumi from. A handful of holding cells lined the walls, containing demons with poorly healing vivisection wounds.

Mercy was not a thing Mira was used to offering to demons, but there was no other word for a clean death ending their pain.

With every demon they killed, Rumi got paler and paler, harsh emergency lights casting her patterns in a violent shade of red.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mira heard Celine whisper. "We can go back to the car if you're need."

"I'm fine," Rumi repeated, sounding unsure of herself. "I need to do this. I need to prove they didn't take this from me."

"There is nothing wrong with putting distance between yourself and the people that hurt you. Especially if they would hurt you again if given the chance," Mira called over her shoulder.

They all knew what she was talking about. Rumi and Zoey remembered how badly she'd sobbed the day the restraining order for her parents was approved, that little bit of protection, the little bit of proof what happened to her was wrong and if they tried to get close to her again there would be consequences.

"I know," Rumi said, voice soft. "But I need to do this. I need to know you all are safe. I need to know it's over."

Over.

A door reminiscent of one you'd find in an office loomed at the end of the hallway, faint footsteps sounding from underneath the crack.

Mira tightened her grip on her gok-do.

This was going to be one step closer to over soon.

Zoey pulled out her lock picks, wordlessly asking the plan.

Quiet or loud?

Mira rolled the options around in her mind.

And plunged her gok-do into the lock, kicking the door open.

The person inside the office screamed, stumbling backward into a desk.

It wasn't Chin.

It wasn't the person Mira had spent days studying every feature of, so she'd recognize him in an instant.

They were a far more androgynous figure. Still wearing a lab coat. Still reaching for something in their pocket.

But not Chin.

Rumi snarled, launching herself at them, twisting their arm away from their pocket.

Zoey flung her shin-kal at them, pinning their hand to the desk, preventing them from trying again.

The scientist screamed, ripping the shin-kal out, reaching under the desk.

Mira swept their legs out from under them.

A gun hit the floor in the same moment as the scientist.

The bang was deafening, echoing around the enclosed office with such force it nearly made Mira clap her hands over her ears.

Someone gasped in pain.

Zoey dove for the firearm, unloading the magazine and clearing the chamber with an ease that shocked Mira.

Rumi stood on the scientist's chest leveling her sword at their throat.

Celine stumbled into a wall.

"Eomma!" Rumi shouted, abandoning the scientist.

"I'm fine," Celine promised, removing her hand from her arm, revealing a rapidly darkening bloody patch. "It just grazed me."

The scientist made to get up but Mira took Rumi's place, standing on their chest, blade hovering a millimeter away from their pulse point. "Don't try it," She hissed. "Zoey find medical supplies. Rumi apply pressure."

Zoey yanked open desk drawers with reckless abandon, eventually emerging with a first aid kit.

"Let me see," She ordered.

Rumi didn't move, fingers still locked around the bullet wound on Celine's arm, keeping the wad of fabric in place.

"Rumi," Zoey said, quietly but firmly. "I can't help her if you don't move."

"Rumi, I'll be fine. You just need to let Zoey patch me up."

Agonizingly slowly, Rumi loosened her grip on Celine, stepping away. Her eyes flashed gold, claws extended to points, fangs lengthened.

"Fascinating," The scientist under Mira's foot croaked. "Emotional distress causing physical changes. It never gets old to see."

And that voice.

Mire might not have recognized their face, but she sure as hell knew that voice.

Celine was responsive, Zoey knew what she was doing.

Mira could get away with this.

She pulled her gok-do back ever so slightly then slammed it into the ground next to Baem's head.

"Start talking," She growled. "What the hell is this place? Where is Chin?"

"Chin? Oh, you mean Yeou. I don't have the slightest clue. He's been in the wind since H-1 escaped. Speaking of which." Their eyes flicked to Rumi. "It's good to see you again." Back to Mira. "It must be an even better manipulator than I realized if it was able to convince you of its humanity."

Rumi's patterns flared with light, angry red spiraling into terrified grey. "I didn't manipulate them into anything," She snarled. "They wanted to come here, to find you and Chin."

Baem ignored Rumi. "You know animals don't feel pain right? They just react to stimulus. They aren't evolved enough to truly process it like you and I. Demons are the same, even if we're still not sure how a hybrid came to be."

"That's bullshit," Zoey spat, wrapping a bandage around Celine's arm, hands covered in purple nitrile gloves. "Pain is stimulus. Of course animals can feel it."

"You didn't answer all of my questions." Mira brought Baem's focus back to her. "What is this place?"

"Chin's personal lab. Whenever he felt too high and mighty to share his projects with the rest of us, he disappeared to here." A feral grin grew across Baem's face. "Of course that meant I got to be primary researcher, so I can't complain too loudly. And he was stupid enough to leave his credit cards lying around. What was I supposed to do, not continue my research?"

"I have a question." Rumi crouched down next to Baem's head, eyes back to brown, looking just shy of human. "Why me? What possible benefit could kidnapping and torturing an international idol have?"

"Science of course!" Baem exclaimed. "What other reason could I need? You are a marvel and my contributions to the study of demonology will live long past me."

Rumi laughed, a harsh sound that sounded wrong coming out of her mouth. "You only made one copy of your notes, remember? What happens when we destroy this place like we did the warehouse?"

Baem's face went pale as they registered the gravity of their situation. "Wait, no. You can't. There's countless hours of research here. Untold amounts of wisdom. You have no idea what could be lost."

"I'll be thankful to lose this knowledge," Mira snarled, glancing at Rumi.

Do we have everything we need?

Rumi nodded.

In one fluid movement, Mira pulled her gok-do out of the ground and drove it through Baem's neck.

The windpipe squelched as it was severed. Vertebrae crunched, an oddly soft sound.

Blood spurted upward, coating Mira's hands.

When she dismissed her weapon, even more blood flowed from the wound, rapidly slowing as the vessel that was once Baem's heart stopped.

It was a quick death.

More than they deserved.

Numbness curled around Mira's fingers.

She'd killed someone. A human.

Someone who had tortured Rumi.

"Come on," Zoey said, hauling Celine to her feet. "Let's get out of here. You both alright?"

Rumi didn't respond, staring at Baem's corpse for a moment then turning to walk out the door.

Mira licked her lips once. They were dry and cracked. Her fingers were already shaking from the adrenaline crash.

"No," She said slowly. "But I think I will be."

~~~~

Rumi could feel her heartbeat in her ears as she tried to walk calmly. Running would attract attention. Trying to be stealthy wouldn't work.

Acting like she belonged here was the only chance she had.

Eyes down, fidgeting with her stolen lab coat, forcing the patterns on her face to stay their neutral iridescent, Rumi walked.

Scientists brushed past her, too caught up in their own worlds to notice the gleam of metal around her throat, to notice the shimmer of not-quiet-scar-tissue on her face, to notice the very shallow breathing which still caused pain to shoot down her ribs.

A set of guards hauled a demon down the corridor, blood running from its mouth and down its torso.

Bleary gold eyes found hers then widened in surprise.

Shit.

Rumi instinctively made for her sword, fingers dragging forward, trying to call forth the crystallized starlight.

Only for her to stumble again, numbness pulsing from the place where the Honmoon should have sat.

The demon gurgled, trying to speak. When it opened its mouth, it reveled missing teeth, canine fangs having been pulled.

What it was trying to say, Rumi would never learn. One of the guards kicked it in the side while another pulled out a remote, shocking it into submission.

The demon screamed, blood splattering on the ground.

Rumi pressed herself to the wall, letting them pass.

Wait. They were heading to the holding cells.

They were about to find the body.

Rumi had to go. Now.

Lengthening her stride, Rumi sped up. Every footstep sent pain lacing through her body but she couldn't stop.

Alarms sounded and lights turned red.

"Initiate emergency protocol: Code gamma, escaped subject. Be warned, subject H-1 is capable of looking human and combat strategy. Approach with caution."

The intercom sounding nearly made Rumi jump out of her skin. People milling around looked at each other, suspicion in their eyes.

She had to move.

Rumi took a step back.

Like a predator to prey, eyes snapped to her.

Red curled across her patterns, a warning, a show of strength.

A beacon.

"It's here!" Someone shouted, pointing at Rumi.

All pretense of stealth gone, Rumi sprinted away, running down corridors she didn't recognize.

One of them had to lead to an exit.

Think. Think. It didn't make sense to have the operating rooms near the entrance, nor the holding cells.

Rumi hooked a right, fingers catching the edge of the wall to swing herself around with extra speed.

Her ribs twinged at the additional force, but adrenaline dulled any edge that might have given her pause.

She would worry about the injuries she was tearing open when she was safe. When she was free. When she was back with her girls.

Considering they hadn't come for her.

No. They were looking for her. They wouldn't give up on her.

Forcing those thoughts down, Rumi continued running farther and farther away from the area she knew the operating rooms were.

Sweet smelling air hit her nostrils.

A scientist closed a door behind himself, looking startled at the emergency lighting.

Closing off a sliver of sunlight.

She'd made it! She was going to get to go home!

An elated sob slammed free of her chest.

She was going to get to hold Mira and Zoey again. She was going to help Celine garden again. She was going to get to heal.

Electricity seared around her throat, forcing her to her knees.

No.

Not when she was so close.

Rumi tried to stand, when that didn't work she crawled.

Electricity surged again.

Feebly, Rumi kicked her feet against the ground, trying to inch forward, inch toward the door, to freedom.

One last time, the collar sparked to life.

And didn't stop.

Didn't stop when Rumi tipped onto her side, curling into a fetal position. Didn't stop when she dug her claws into the metal, desperately trying to tear it off. Didn't stop when a scream ripped free from her, one that should have send ripples down the Honmoon, one that should have been a calling card to any demon and Hunter in the area.

It only stopped when someone wearing a lab coat stepped into Rumi's field of view and made a signal to someone behind him.

Yeou tilted his head at Rumi. "Did you actually think you were going to get away? There is nowhere you can run we won't find you."

It was the first time Yeou had addressed Rumi like a person.

She couldn't bring herself to relish in the victory, muscles still spasming from the electricity.

"Don't you get it? They aren't coming for you." Yeou's hand gripped her scalp, forcing her head up to look him in the eye. "You are going to stay here until we have all the data we need. The sooner you accept that the easier it will be for everyone."

He dropped her head, letting it bounce off the concrete.

"Take it back to its cell," He ordered. "And make sure an incident like this cannot happen again."

The guards gripped her ankles instead of picking her up.

Her claws dragged along the stone, a desperate attempt at resistance. Keratin shredded down to nubs, eventually leaving streaks of blood along the floor.

Scientists whispered, watching her be hauled back to her cell.

More chains were added, tethering her legs and arms together, making running impossible.

Rumi shuddered curling into as tight of a ball as she could, sobs escaping her.

She'd been so close.

"They aren't coming for you."

No.

Yeou didn't know the bond between Hunters. They were looking for her.

Then why haven't they found you yet?

Rumi cast a glance at the cluster of tally marks on the floor she'd long since given up on.

How long had she been here? How many days had she spent being tortured?

Surely if they cared they would have found you by now?

They cared! They all cared! They all had fought so hard to keep Rumi in this world, even when she hadn't wanted to be.

Then where are they? Why is it taking so long?

Rumi didn't know.

She didn't know.

She didn't know.

She didn't know.

Why?

Maybe they weren't looking for her.

Maybe they thought she was dead and had given up.

"They aren't coming for you."

The words were meant to be internal, but they echoed around the cell.

And Rumi.

Couldn't find the strength to dispute them.

~~~~

Destroying the lab brought glee to Zoey in a way she couldn't explain. When the warehouse had been blown sky-high, that was out of their control, something they nearly died during, something they weren't prepped for.

This was destroying something that had harmed Rumi, under their own power.

Glass bottles now containing dust shattered on the ground, formaldehyde cloying her nostrils. Emergency lights broke as Zoey flung shin-kal into them. Drawers containing medical supplies were tipped over.

One final sweep revealed no other demons or notes, and Zoey worked her way back to the office, where Mira was tugging at the Honmoon, folding Baem's body into the weave separating realms.

"You almost done?" Zoey asked, knocking on the door frame.

With one final pulse of light, Baem's corpse vanished, Honmoon hiding evidence of their transgressions.

It wasn't often they used the Honmoon's ability to disguise Hunter activity, most often folding plane crash wreckage into it, but it was very helpful in this case.

Zoey was confident in her ability to hide a body, but also didn't want to take that chance.

Mira exhaled shakily, stroking her fingers along the weave of the Honmoon, soothing over an discomfort parting it may have caused.

(You have nothing to apologize for.)

"You alright?" Zoey asked again, now that they were alone, Rumi and Celine returning to the car.

"I don't know," Mira said quietly. "I shouldn't be. I just killed someone. They were a horrible person, who I couldn't let live, but-" She wrung her hands. "I killed them."

"I don't have an easy answer." Zoey crossed the room to squeeze Mira's hands. "But if that makes you a bad person then I am too, because you just killed someone in front of me and all I can feel is relief they're dead. It might just be shock and it'll hit you all later. Or it might never any worse than this."

Mira laughed, a watery chuckle. "We're going to need so much therapy after this, aren't we?"

"Bold of you to assume we didn't before, now." Zoey hefted the two jerry cans she'd hauled with her. "Are you ready to see this place go up in smoke?"

Mira hauled out the final box of notes, Zoey trailing behind her pouring gasoline, a joy thrumming in her bones.

"Rumi." Zoey knocked on the car window, flicking open a lighter. "You want to do the honors?"

A sharp nod was the only response Zoey got, Rumi claiming the lighter.

It took a few tries to get the flame steady, but then Rumi pressed it to the trail of gasoline and jumped back.

Flames surged towards the facility, engulfing the building. Something exploded and Zoey whooped in excitement. A feral grin grew across Mira's face, the echo of a smile starting on Rumi's

"Let's get out of here," Rumi said, flicking the lighter closed, running her fingers along the engravings.

Bobby drove like a madman, putting the flaming building in the rear-view mirror.

Rumi reached over to grab Mira and Zoey's hands, squeezing them, as covered in gasoline and blood as they were.

"We're one step closer," She murmured.

"And all it took was Celine getting shot."

"Zoey!"

"I'm not wrong!"

~~~~

Blood dripped down Mira's hands as she walked down a corridor, utterly alone.

Faint screams echoed around her, some distorted warbles, others painfully human.

Blinking slowly, concrete blurred in front of her, hallways stretched into nothingness.

Blood continued pooling at her feet, rivulets streaming from a seemingly endless source.

A door loomed and a blood soaked hand reached up to open it.

A body lay on the floor, long since dead. Rot had eaten at its flesh, starting to reveal the white of bone. Maggots wriggled in the holes that had once held eyes, tiny white bodies spilling onto the concrete. Flies danced on the walls, thick and cloying mass blocking out any light that may have filled the room. Desiccated fingers gripped at the ring of metal still wrapped around the corpse's throat. Frayed purple hair spilled out of a braid.

"You were too late," A voice to Mira's left said.

Sluggishly, she turned.

Rumi stared back at her, incorporeal. Blood dripped from her lips, vanishing before it hit the floor. Sallow cheeks pulled into a grin, revealing orange stained teeth.

"But then, you were always going to be the one to cause this." An eye fell from Rumi's skull, landing on the concrete with a sickening splat. Maggots flooded out of the hole, writhing, chewing at Rumi's face.

"You were going to be the one that killed me." There was no emotion in the words, just calm acceptance. The trail the maggots left revealed teeth, giving the illusion of a smile, painfully wide, a mockery of the usual awkward grin Rumi usually wore.

Mira blinked and then a gok-do was embedded in Rumi's chest, piercing the sternum.

No blood spilled out of the wound. Rumi was already dead, she had none left to give.

"You said it yourself," A new voice behind Mira said. "You're the violent one of the group. If any of us were going to destroy Huntr/x, it would be you."

Mira turned and Zoey smiled vapidly back at her, blood dotting her neck, pale in the face.

Ribs split open in an imitation of wings. Lungs glistening in the low light. Heart nestled against them, beating rapidly. Intestines spilling out, trailing behind her.

Zoey pressed a hand to her organs, viscera clinging to her. "If this happens to me, it's going to be your fault." She smiled again digging her fingers into her heart and pulling, pulling pulling, aorta tearing, vena cavas giving, arteries rupturing, spraying Mira with blood.

Mira screamed, trying to force the heart back into place and-

Flinched awake, sweat clinging to her body, a shout dying in her mouth.

She'd learned a long time ago how to be quiet when waking from nightmares.

Rumi snorted in her sleep, one hand resting lazily on Mira's thigh. Zoey twitched but didn't rouse.

They were fine.

It was just a dream.

Mira exhaled shakily, extracting herself from Rumi, deftly stepping around the stuffies and notebooks strewn about Zoey's room.

She wasn't getting back to sleep for a long while after that.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

They were fine.

It was just a dream.

The kettle started, faint rumble of water breaking the silence of the night as Mira filtered through the choices of tea.

Caffeine was a bad idea when her heart with still pounding against her ribs

Zoey, heat beating without a rib cage, smiling at her sadly.

No. Don't think about that.

Lavender was good at calming.

Rumi's purple hair, dried, just a shade off the lavender plants that Celine tended to back at the sanctuary.

The flinch that wracked Mira's body scattered packets across the counter. She selected one at random, blueberry and mango apparently, and filled a tea strainer, kettle hissing as it finished.

"You alright?" Zoey asked quietly, startling Mira out of her thoughts.

"Yeah," She rasped, trying to hide how her fingers shook.

"Nightmare?" Wood scraped faintly as Zoey pulled out a chair.

Mira sighed. They knew each other too well. "Yeah," She repeated. "You can go back to bed, I'll be fine in a few and I don't want Rumi to wake up alone."

Zoey shot her a glare. "Rumi will be fine for a few minutes. I'm more concerned about the near panic attack you just had."

"We were too late when finding Rumi. What was yours about?"

The faint tremor to Zoey's hands hadn't escaped her notice.

It was Zoey's turn to sigh. "Bullet hit Celine somewhere vital. What a pair we make."

Mira raised her mug in a mocking salute. "I'm amazed you were able to deal with the gun that quickly."

"I've got to put my American public school trauma to use somehow."

"Still," Mira lowered her mug, suddenly serious. "You dealt with a threat faster than anyone else would have been able to. Don't diminish that."

Zoey's ears turned pink at the praise. "How easy is it to get a gun in Korea? I guess I didn't really think that I'd be the only one who knew how to deal with it."

"Handguns like that?" Mira hesitated. "Typically only police are able to get access. Larger stuff like rifles I'd have to double check, but they are not common."

"So what are the odds of us encountering another gun while dealing with these guys?"

Fear loomed in Mira's stomach. Demons didn't tend to use ranged weapons. One of the largest advantages they had over demons were Zoey's shin-kals.

That went out the window when guns came into the picture.

Hunters were sturdy, but there was a difference between claws and bullets.

"Low, but not zero," Mira answered Zoey's question, fidgeting with her tea strainer.

Just another obstacle to navigate.

They drank their tea in silence for a long moment before Mira forced a smile on her face. "Ready to go back to bed?"

Zoey nodded, brows furrowed in contemplation.

Rumi stirred gently when they curled under the sheets, but didn't wake.

"I love you," Mira whispered, because it felt important to say.

"I love you too," Zoey responded.

Rumi said nothing, but she curled into Mira's warmth which was answer enough.

~~~~

Cold concrete was her only companion when she awoke, blinking blearily.

She was always cold these days. Cold and in pain.

No one opened the door. No one slid a tray of food into the cell.

When was the last time she'd eaten? She wasn't sure. Did it matter? It wasn't like they were going to kill her.

Maybe it would be better if they did.

No. They were coming for her! They were going to-

Oh who was she kidding.

No one was looking for her. They would have found her already if they were.

She rolled over and tried to fall back asleep, new chains rattling as she did.

It was so cold.

~~~~

Zoey nudged a rock down the sidewalk, tapping it between her feet like a soccer ball.

A glance over her shoulder revealed Mira and Rumi looking at her fondly. Mira pulling a hat low over her eyes, Rumi tugging an elbow length shirt down farther, usual braid twisted into a bun.

The Honmoon did a lot to make people look away when they didn't want eyes on them, such as when they were fighting demons or going on snack runs, but it didn't hurt to take precautions.

Speaking of snack runs…

The door to a convenience store swung open at Zoey's tug, a bright grin lighting up her face.

They were nearly out of comfort food and if there was one thing they needed when hunting, it was snacks.

An hour later, wallets metaphorically lighter, and arms laden with bags, the three of them emerged.

"I'm telling you, he recognized us," Rumi grumbled, shifting her bags to one hand to thread her fingers with Zoey.

Zoey promptly offloaded some of her bags onto Mira, eagerly gripping Rumi's hand. "I'm pretty sure he was just gaping at the sheer amount of food we were buying."

"We did clear out a significant portion of the snack isle. And paid without blinking." Mira shot her a playful glare at being turned into a pack mule, but didn't protest.

Sap.

"All I'm saying is if photos of us from today end up online, I'm blaming you two."

Zoey laughed, bright and care free. Tugging their joined hands up, Zoey pressed a kiss to Rumi's fingers.

Dodging around a passerby, she continued. "I will gratefully accept your ire. Now lets get home and-"

A white van skidded to a halt beside them.

The man passing them lunged at Rumi, ring of metal in his hand.

Hand with a crescent of scar tissue arcing behind the thumb.

Decades of training caused Rumi to leap back, colliding with Zoey, bags tumbling from her hand, crashing to the sidewalk.

But she wasn't fast enough.

Maybe it was the surprise. Maybe it was the fact Rumi was still recovering. Maybe it was her colliding with Zoey.

Maybe she was just unlucky.

For whatever reason, the collar snapped closed around Rumi's throat and the side of the van slid open.

People wearing armor piled out, grabbing at Rumi, and Zoey sprung into action.

Shin-kal formed in her hands, stabbing the joints in their armor.

One of them staggered and Mira cracked her gok-do into his head, shattering his goggles.

Rumi summoned her sword, trying to slash at the hands grabbing her before she shrieked in pain, clutching at the collar.

Fury raced through Zoey.

A someone inside the van gripped onto Rumi, tugging her inside.

No.

Not again.

Zoey leaped over the head of her assailant, landing inside the van as well, freezing at the sight in front of her.

Mira hit the floor of the van in a roll a beat later, limbs locking up.

Two guards gripped onto Rumi's wrists, forcing them outward in position that had to be painful. Chin a knee between Rumi's shoulder blades, one hand on a remote, the other pressing a knife to Rumi's throat. A third guard leveled a pistol at Zoey and Mira.

'What do we do?' Zoey tried to convey to Mira.

'I don't know.'

"Close the door and drive," Chin ordered. "You two, drop your weapons or this one," he dug the knife into Rumi's throat just hard enough to draw blood. "learns what a severed windpipe feels like."

Zoey dropped her shin-kal, Mira did the same with her gok-do. Neither dismissed them, keeping that secret tucked away.

"Good. Now lets discuss this like civilized individuals."

Faint vibrations hummed under Zoey's feet as the van started moving. What were they going to do? They hadn't told anyone where they were going. How long would it take people to recognize they were gone?

"Civilized is a strong word for someone holding a knife to my throat," Rumi wheezed, patterns flashing dangerously.

Chin didn't even glance at her, just pressed a button on the collar.

Rumi shrieked in pain, the faint smell of burning flesh filling the van.

"Ah, ah, ah," Chin said, pressing the knife in deeper, a few more drops of blood running down Rumi's neck when Mira and Zoey started forward, the guard holding the gun twitching. "Wouldn't want any accidents, would we?"

"The fuck do you want?" Zoey spat. "Did you really think you were going to get away with this? You kidnapped us in broad daylight."

"It's not kidnapping if I'm reclaiming my lost property." Chin shifted his grip so he was grabbing Rumi's jaw with two fingers, point of the knife dangerously close to her carotids. "I had it microchiped and everything." Rumi's eyes flashed with fear. "Oh, did you think you were safe in your little tower? I've known where you were the entire time. Thank you, for giving me the opportunity to bring H-1 back to where it belongs."

Zoey's lungs stilled. They'd put a tracker in Rumi? They'd never been safe?

She wanted to vomit.

"And I even have two new subjects," Chin continued. "I have so many questions about these demon killing weapons and what it takes to summon them. I've already seen what they do to a human, but what do they do to a hybrid?"

"If you think we'll ever use our weapons on Rumi, you're mistaken," Mira growled, hands twitching.

"I think you'll do whatever I ask," Chin responded. "Otherwise…" He slashed downward, knife cutting over Rumi's collarbone, bisecting the vivisection scar.

"Do you know what a blood eagle is?" Zoey bared her teeth in a snarl. "It's an execution method that pries the ribs from the spine, and it's what I'm going to do to you for so much as-"

A gunshot rang out, deafeningly loud in the small space.

A small hole appeared less than an inch from Zoey's foot.

Threat thoroughly made Zoey raise her hands in surrender, Mira did the same a beat later.

"Good, now, put these collars on and behave."

~~~~

Mira was sure Zoey had a plan.

She was the one to jump into the van, as if there had been another choice.

She was the one to put down her weapons.

She was the one to raise her hands.

So as Zoey reached for the collar a guard slid across the floor of the van, she trusted her soulbond and reached for them as well.

~~~~

Hands gripped roughly under her armpits, dragging her upright.

She didn't have the strength to fight back, so she just went limp.

No one was coming for her anyway.

What happened to her didn't matter.

~~~~

Thankfully, Mira seemed to be trusting her.

As if Zoey ever had reason to doubt she would.

This was risky.

This was so insanely risky it wasn't even funny.

But it was the only work around she could think of.

The collar clicked closed around her throat.

~~~~

Panic seared in Mira's veins.

I'm trusting you, Zoey

Cold metal bit into her neck, shifting as she swallowed.

Rumi locked eyes with her, inhaling slowly.

~~~~

No one was coming for her.

(Except they did.)

~~~~

Please work. Please don't let me have miscalculated.

~~~~

I trust you. I trust you. I trust you.

~~~~

(They had. She was free.)

(And she was one step away from safe.)

~~~~

"Bold talk for someone who only grew the balls to use the collar after his subordinate blew himself up."

Rumi forced a jagged grin on her face, knife scraping skin off her Adam's apple as she twisted her head back to look Yeou in the face.

"Or did you think I'd forget about that? That you were always so cocky but could never handle getting your hands dirty outside the lab."

A lie, but an effective taunt nonetheless.

Yeou snarled, clapping a hand over her mouth for a beat.

She lunged at it, fangs scraping his thumb as he pulled away, remembering what had happened the last time he'd done that.

A fist slammed into the side of her face, the guards dropping her and letting her collide with the floor.

Rumi groaned lowly, heartbeat thudding in her ears.

She would get one shot at this.

One shot, with knowledge she didn't have before, with her system clear of drugs, with the Honmoon thrumming under her skin.

Rumi lunged at Zoey and Mira, both reached for her wordlessly, instinctively.

Their hands met and Rumi's body started to turn to smoke.

The diving reflex is a response that slows the heart rate down to conserve oxygen while submerged.

Demons have a similar reflex which slows their heart rate down before teleporting, also to conserve oxygen.

The collar activated if the wearers heart rate dipped below a certain threshold.

If that threshold was never met, say if for instance the heart was beating quickly due to multiple injuries and adrenaline, then the collar simply wouldn't activate.

Rumi's body turned to smoke, collar clattering in the floor where she once stood. The collars around Mira and Zoey's throats following a beat later as Rumi dragged them into the teleport as well.

~~~~

Zoey wasn't sure where Rumi was going to decided to teleport them, but on top of the guard holding the gun wasn't her first guess.

It was an effective take down though, the guard collapsing under them, gun clattering from his hands.

Mira resummoned her gok-do, flinging it into the chest of one of the guards, who went down like a puppet with its strings cut.

Zoey palmed her shin-kal, driving one into the neck of the guard who formerly held the gun, then into the one Mira hadn't skewered.

Rumi summoned her sword, patterns on her face rippling in time with the pulses of the Honmoon under her feet as she walked up to Chin.

"I don't belong to you," She growled, eyes searing gold, fangs lengthening, fingers turning purple, the Honmoon hanging off her like a cloak, whispering its approval. "Not you, not anyone else."

In that moment, Rumi illuminated by both a Hunter's blade and her own patterns, Chin seemed to realize exactly what he had messed with.

"Wait!" He tried to cry, but to no avail. Rumi swung her sword, neatly removing his head.

And then it was over.

It was over.

Zoey smashed in the window separating the driver from the rest of the van, cutting his throat then wrestling the steering wheel out of his grip, bringing the van to a halt.

"Fuck," She wheezed into the dashboard, then twisting back to look at Rumi and Mira.

Rumi wiped a stream of blood from her nostril. "I think I'm ready to go home."

Mira sobbed, pulling her into a hug. "I think we can arrange that."

"Yeah." Zoey wiped tears out of her eyes. "One trip to Huntr/x tower coming up."

Chapter Text

Mira felt delirious when they pulled into the parking garage of Huntr/x tower in a van with a bullet hole, smashed windows, and multiple stab marks.

Whatever. Their employees were paid well enough to not ask questions.

Somehow they hadn't been pulled over. Five dead bodies would have been really difficult to explain.

Zoey staggered out of the drivers seat and collapsed.

"Fuck," She whispered. "Just. Fuck." Her knees collided with the pavement, fingers digging into her hair.

Mira laughed manically, sliding open the side door of the van and stepping out, Rumi's arm slung over her shoulders.

"You can say that again," Mira gently rested Rumi on the ground, trying to get her bearings. "We should probably dispose of the van."

"Fuck," Zoey said again, very eloquently. "I don't think I have the brain cells to do that."

Blood dripped onto the concrete, glass shards from when Zoey had smashed the window embedded in her arms.

"Medical wing." Rumi pulled her head out of her hands. "Call Eomma 'n Bobby."

Mira's knees buckled, adrenaline crash hitting her full force.

"Yeah." She pulled out her phone. "That's a good idea."

Celine picked up on the first ring.

"What happened?"

"Chin. Found us. Tried to get Rumi back. He's dead and now we have a blood covered van in the parking garage."

Celine fell silent for a long moment. "Stay on the line. I'm on the way. Are you all hurt?"

"Scrapes and bruises. Rumi got shocked again, Zoey has glass in her skin."

"Put me on speaker."

Mira placed her phone on the ground, letting her head rest against the van, exhaustion washing over her.

"Rumi? Zoey? Can you hear me?"

"I'm here, Eomma," Rumi slurred. "I'll be alright."

"I'm here as well," Zoey chimed in, shifting so she was leaning against Mira. "I can't believe they did that. In broad daylight. What the fuck were they thinking?"

'It nearly worked. They nearly got away with it.' Mira thought, quashing the fear rising in her chest. 'If Rumi and Zoey hadn't figured out how to get around the collar, they would have succeeded.'

The elevator doors slid open, revealing Celine jogging toward them.

But it didn't work.

They were safe.

It was over.

~~~~

Another glass shard clinked as it was placed in a metal tray, Zoey's grip on Rumi's hand tightening at the sound.

"I'm nearly done," Dr. Rang assured, "Then we'll see if you need stitches or just bandages."

Zoey exhaled shakily. She didn't regret jumping through the window, but holy shit getting shards of glass removed always sucked.

"I'll probably be fine with bandages. I heal quickly."

Dr. Rang looked up from his work, unamused expression on his face.

He hadn't been read in on the whole 'demons are real and the KPop idols you treat are the world's protectors' thing but he had to have noticed something was up with them.

Case in point, when Zoey hissed as the next shard left her skin, Rumi's eyes flashed gold.

"I'll keep that in mind," Dr. Rang said dryly.

Mira fidgeted from her seat in the corner, only having sustained bruises during the fight. "Are you sure you don't want that local anesthetic?"

"I'm a big girl, I'll be fi-" Zoey cut off with a yelp, a particularly large chunk catching weirdly. "You know what, I will take those drugs."

~~~~

Rumi didn't sleep that night, all three of them crashing in the medical wing just in case.

The faint smell of bleach, drugs, and metal didn't make for a conducive sleeping environment, despite the warmth of Zoey and Mira bracketing her.

It was fine. It was only for one night. Then they'd be free to return to the penthouse, sleep in their own beds, eat junk food until they passed out.

They had time.

It was over.

Yeou and Baem were dead. Without the funding of Yeou's black market sales the group of scientists would crumble.

Maybe some would escape justice. Maybe some questions she had would stay unanswered.

But no one else would be hurt by them.

A cold comfort, but it would have to do.

Movement pulled Rumi out of her thoughts, someone slipping into the medical wing.

Someone that instantly put Rumi's mind at ease.

"Hi, Eomma," Rumi said quietly, trying to not disturb Mira and Zoey.

"I thought you'd be asleep," Celine greeted.

Rumi shook her head sadly. "I don't think I can sleep in medical settings anymore."

Celine pulled out a chair, dim lighting catching the bandage still wrapped around her arm.

Rumi swallowed thickly, thinking of how close she'd gotten to losing her. A single random shot from a dropped gun.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

Rumi's head snapped up, looking to Celine, incredulous.

"What are you talking about? There was no way you could have known Yeou was going to try to kidnap me in broad daylight." Rumi stilled, remembering the tidbit of information Yeou had given.

"I should have done something. I should thought of some way to keep you safe-"

"Eomma," Rumi cut in. "Yeou put a tracker in me. This would have happened eventually. You being injured had nothing to do with it."

Celine blinked, then rage seared across her face. "He did what?"

Disgust roiled in Rumi's stomach. "Yeah. Said he 'microchipped me' like a fucking dog. He knew where I was the entire time."

"Has it been removed yet?"

Rumi's stomach rolled for a different reason. "No. I don't want-" She broke off with a huff. "I want it gone, but I don't want to go under the knife again. I don't want a doctor digging around in me, doing something I can't stop."

"They wouldn't be. Mira, Zoey, and I would be there every step of the way, making sure that didn't happen."

"I know that," Rumi nearly whined. "I know that. But when I think of someone digging around in my flesh all I can remember is…"

Her fingers found the vivisection scar, edges finally fading into a healthy peach.

Blood streaming down her chest, trying to scream for help and failing, the crunch of the rib shears, the snap of her ribs being bent in half.

"There has to be another way," She finished lamely.

Celine's face went contemplative. "What if you couldn't see it? Would that help?"

That…might work.

"I don't know," Rumi admitted. "It would depend on where the tracker is embedded."

"Then I'll leave you to think it over. Try and get some rest."

Celine leaned over Zoey to press a kiss to Rumi's forehead.

"Goodnight, Eomma."

"Goodnight, Rumi. Goodnight, Zoey."

Zoey peeled one eye open, miffed at being caught. "G'night, Celine."

~~~~

Zoey felt her fingers creak as Rumi tightened her grip on her hand.

"It's okay, just focus on my voice. No one is going to hurt you," Mira whispered, rubbing soothing circles on Rumi's shoulder.

A white sheet separated Rumi's right arm from the rest of the room, a surgeon how had introduced themself as Dr. Hyeon neatly carving a line across the meat of her bicep, where a scan had shown a chunk of plastic and metal.

Rumi whined faintly, squeezing her eyes shut and burying her head in Mira's shoulder.

"We've got you." Zoey drummed her fingers on Rumi's knee. "We're what's important right now, not what's going on behind that curtain."

"Got it," Dr. Hyeon announced, the faint clatter of metal on metal ringing around the operating room. "Give me a few minutes to stitch you up and you'll be done."

"Can I-" Rumi licked her lips, breathing shaky. "Can I see the chip?"

Dr. Hyeon slid the tray containing the tracker over. "It is considered a biohazard so be careful."

Rumi burst into tears at the sight of it, dislodging from Mira's shoulder. "It's over."

"It's really over."

And for the first time, Zoey could start to believe that.

~~~~

Mira rolled under a swipe of Rumi's practice sword, retaliating with her staff.

"You gotta do better than that," She taunted, watching Rumi's patterns flicker gold with amusement.

Sweat caused both of their shirts to cling to their bodies and Mira resisted the urge to wipe her forehead.

"Try me," Rumi shot back, grin revealing her fangs.

Oh it was on.

~~~~

Rumi pulled another shirt out of her closet.

Another crop top with short sleeves.

Another thing she couldn't wear without revealing her scars.

Her fingers rested on the edge of the vivisection scar, hooking around her navel.

It had faded in the past few months, but it was still very obviously there.

And that wasn't even mentioning the claw scars twining down her arms and legs.

Rumi sighed, tossing the shirt into the discard pile.

She'd spent so long wanting to be comfortable in her own skin, only for it to be taken away from her again.

Maybe one day she'd get it back.

But that day was not today.

~~~~

True to her word, now that Rumi was absolutely safe, Zoey had her breakdown.

She was very, very good at compartmentalization, but eventually those boxes opened.

It didn't hit her out of nowhere, she got just enough warning, a little ping in her mind saying 'hey, you need to get somewhere quiet' for her to stagger to her room.

Her lungs locked up, breaths coming in short gasps, head between her knees, trying to focus on one of the various strategies she knew to calm down from panic attacks, but to no avail.

We almost lost her. She was tortured for two months. She wasn't even safe when we recused her. We let those monsters track her for weeks. We let her think she was free when they knew exactly where she was the entire time. She had the collar put on again, something I swore I would never let happen. I put all of us at risk. I should have known better, I should have figured it out sooner. Of course they had a backup plan for tracking an escaped subject. I'm so stupid. I can't-

Ice hit the back of her neck.

Zoey inhaled sharply, jolting out of her spiral.

The blur in front of her coalesced into Rumi, holding an ice cube.

Wordlessly she dropped on the floor next to Zoey, pulling her into a hug, purring up a storm.

Zoey sank into her embrace, sobbing.

Eventually her breathing leveled out, eventually the tears stopped.

All in all, it wasn't the worst panic attack of Zoey's life, but it was up there.

"Thank you," Zoey rasped.

"Any time." Rumi offered a water bottle, which Zoey drank from greedily. "You want to talk about it?"

Zoey bit her lip, contemplating her next move.

"I'm sorry I didn't realize you had that tracker. If anyone should have, it would be me."

"Zoey," Rumi stressed, tipping Zoey's head back to look her in the eyes. "You did nothing wrong."

"It's so obvious in hindsight!" Zoey exclaimed. "Why wouldn't they have a way to keep tabs on their subjects! I'm the researcher of the group! I have-"

"What you did discover saved our lives," Rumi cut her off. "If you hadn't put together the thing about heart rate monitor, we would be stuck in a situation worse than death. So I had a piece of tech in me longer than I needed to. That doesn't change the fact your research, your medical knowledge, is what led to us killing Yeou."

And Zoey…

Paused.

"You mean that? You're not angry?" She looked to Rumi, wiping the remnants of tears out of her eyes.

"I promise," Rumi said, pulling her in for a kiss.

~~~~

Rumi lazily drummed her fingers on the table, watching Celine stir the soup she was making.

"Are you sure you don't want help?" She asked, feeling antsy with nothing to do.

"I would prefer this come out edible, so you can stay where you are," Celine teased.

"Hey!" Rumi protested. "I'm perfectly serviceable in the kitchen."

"Perfectly serviceable isn't quiet what I'm looking for at the moment." Celine shot her a look over her shoulder.

Rumi sank onto the table with a grumble.

"How's your arm holding up?" The stitches had been removed a few days ago, the wound now covered by a simple bandage.

"As well as I can hope," Celine answered, resting her hand over the bandage. "Zoey is quiet adept at sutures."

Rumi huffed a laugh. "I'll pass on the compliment." They lapsed into silence for a moment. "I'm sorry you got hurt protecting me."

"Rumi." Celine's voice was ice. "I would take this injury over and over again if it meant it wasn't you. If it meant you were safe."

"I know. Doesn't mean I have to like seeing people I love being hurt." The memory of Zoey and Mira snapping those collars around their throats jumped to the front of her mind, Celine collapsing after being shot.

"No one does, now eat up." Celine placed a bowl of soup in front of her.

"Thank you, Eomma. I love you."

"Love you too."

~~~~

Mira's fingers worked their way through Rumi's hair, untangling the mess her thrashing had worked it into. Zoey was making tea, a full moon bathed the living room in light. It should have been a peaceful moment.

But the faint tremors still wracking Rumi's body took away from the domesticity that should have been surrounding the scene.

"You sure you don't want to talk about it?" Mira asked, ears twitching as she heard the kettle go off.

Rumi shook her head, shoulders hunching up. Her eyes had gone back to brown, claws receded, but fear etched its way into every inch of her body.

Zoey returned from the kitchen, three mugs in hand. She placed two of them on the table, bright pink and dusky purple making it clear which one each was intended for, then settled into her spot on the couch next to Rumi.

'Thank you,' Mira mouthed.

"Nightmares are nothing to be ashamed of." Zoey blew steam off her tea, fingers drumming on the ceramic. "We all get them."

"I know that," Rumi rasped, her first words since she'd woken up screaming. "I just don't want to talk about it. It's not an image you need to have. My brain's just being stupid."

That was…a very interesting choice of words.

Absentmindedly, Mira started massaging Rumi's scalp, fingers digging into the places she knew she loved, Rumi melting under her touch.

"I trust you two implicitly, you know that?" Rumi whispered, shifting so one hand was on Zoey's calf.

The more Rumi spoke, the more fear sparked in Mira's chest.

When Rumi woke up screaming, she hadn't lashed out at the sight of them, she had curled into a ball, whimpering, protecting her head.

"It wasn't a memory, was it?" Zoey asked quietly.

For a long moment, Rumi didn't respond. Then she sat up, extracting herself from Mira's touch and grabbing her mug.

She didn't leave, but she did put just a little distance between them. Making it ever so slightly easier for her to escape if need be.

"It wasn't. Or it wasn't one memory." Rumi's fingers tapped out the melody to What it Sounds Like, grounding her, reminding her she wasn't wherever her mind kept trying to drag her.

In a rush, Rumi exhaled. "It was like my brain combined the Idol Awards and the vivisection. I was stuck to that table, unable to move, but it was you two holding the knives. Pulling my ribs apart with the Honmoon's weapons. And then I woke up and you were standing over me and it was like I hadn't woken up at all."

"Rumi," Mira said in horror. They all had nightmares about the Idol Awards from hell, but for Rumi's mind to fuse those events together…

"It wasn't you two. I know that. You saved me. You wouldn't do that to me." Rumi sobbed, tears running down her face, dripping into her tea. "This is why I didn't want to tell you. Because I knew you would blame yourselves. Don't deny it, Mira. I can see the guilt on your face."

And Mira had no response. All she could do was dig her fingers into the couch, desperately wanting to reach out and hug Rumi, but fearing it might do more harm than good.

"I'm so sorry," She heard herself say.

"Yeah," Rumi said sadly, "Me too."

~~~~

Rumi landed in a curl of red smoke, gas cans in hand.

The facility still smelled the same, even if it was abandoned and looked like it had been that way for months.

She sloshed liquid on the walls, tugging her mask over her nose to filter out some of the fumes.

The holding cells loomed in front of her.

Swallowing thickly, Rumi shouldered open the door, trailing gasoline behind her.

The cells were empty. Rumi wasn't sure what she would have done if they weren't

Resting her hand on the door of what had once been her cell, Rumi inhaled sharply and forced it open.

It was smaller than she remembered.

Blood stains still coated the floor, it still smelled like rot and decay.

But it didn't make her freeze like she expected it to.

It was just a room.

Flicking open her lighter, Rumi sparked a flame and dropped it, teleporting away just before it hit the ground.

~~~~

Zoey brushed snow off her shoulders.

It was a gorgeous day out, snow just sticky enough to cling together, flurries stinging your cheeks.

The perfect weather for a snowball fight.

Mira shrieked in indignation as a snowball hit her in the face.

"You're going to pay for that!" She shouted, scooping up her own fistful of snow.

"Am I?" She taunted, ducking under the ball Rumi threw. "Not with that aim!"

"Rumi!" Mira called. "Flank left, we can pincer her!"

"Unfair!" Zoey yelped, ducking behind a tree. "Two on one? Do you have no honor?"

Rumi appeared in a burst of red smoke next to her, yanking her hood and shoving a handful of snow down her back. "No honor in a snowball fight!"

"Jackass!" Zoey shouted, wiggling to shake the snow loose.

But there was no heat behind it. Not at the sight of Rumi's face, wild and carefree, smiling like she hadn't in months.

~~~~

Mira lazily kissed Rumi, dragging a hand through her hair, grinning against Rumi's mouth when she felt her melt into her touch.

"You like that?" She teased, breaking away just long enough to wink at Zoey, who was pressing kisses to the back of Rumi's neck.

"Yes," Rumi said bluntly. "Are you stopping or…"

"Hm. Maybe I should, it's not like you could do anything about it." Mira mused, hooking her thumbs under Rumi's shirt.

Rumi froze, fearful. And not the playful fear that sometimes underscored these moments.

Genuine fright.

"Rumi? Are you alright? Do we need to actually stop?" Zoey asked as Rumi tensed against her.

"No." Rumi swallowed shakily. "Just maybe lay off the teasing for the moment."

"Understood." Mira said, solemnly. "Are you okay with your shirt coming off?"

Mira watched as Rumi forced her muscles to relax, tension bleeding out of her body. "As long as I'm the one to do it."

Rumi inhaled, curling her fingers under her shirt, exhaled, and tugged it off.

Her chest heaved, shoulders hiked up as Mira and Zoey stared at her torso, at the scars twisting along it.

"Can I touch them?" Zoey asked, breathlessly.

Rumi nodded, digging her fingers into Mira's arms.

Slowly, tenderly, Zoey's fingers traced across the claw marks along Rumi's ribs. The thin slashes on her biceps. The X on her spine.

"You're gorgeous," Zoey whispered. "Nothing that happened to you could ever take away from that."

Mira pressed a kiss to Rumi's collarbone, just above where the vivisection scar started.

"Is this one okay too?"

"I don't know."

Mira withdrew. "I won't do anything until you're sure then." Instead she kissed Rumi's pulse point, relishing in how it fluttered under her touch. "You're alive. No matter what they did, no matter what happened to you, you survived it. That's the most important thing."

Rumi whined, melting into her. "Thank you for finding me."

"There was never any other option."

~~~~

Rumi pulled open her eyes, slightly achy.

Mira's hand rested on her hip, fingers digging into the arc of bone even while asleep. Zoey's foot hooked around her ankle, tugging them closer together.

"I love you," She whispered into the silence. "I love you two so much."

There was no response, but with their weight pressed against her, there did not need to be.

~~~~

Rumi walked out of the shower wearing a tank top. Not her usual crop top, but something with short sleeves nonetheless.

Fuck, Zoey had missed seeing those arms.

~~~~

Mira leaned against Zoey, listening to her babble about the behind of the scenes of the movie they were watching

"-that was an actual shout of pain. They used the take because of how good it sounded and it didn't even mess up filming! It was their last shoot of the day, so everything worked out fine."

Rumi snickered, joy bleeding into her frame as she draped bonelessly over Mira and Zoey's laps.

This was good.

It wasn't prefect, not with how often they awoke with nightmares. Not with Mira sometimes swearing her hands were stained with red. Not with Zoey running her fingers over the surgical scar where the tracker was removed from Rumi. Not with Rumi favoring turtlenecks again.

But if this was good, Mira wouldn't trade it for anything.

Certainly not perfect.

Not if it meant giving this up.