I was screaming. At least I think I was screaming.

Time seemed to slow down as Yoongi's grasp on my arm loosened before he went sinking to the ground. I swore the thud his body made when he collapsed on the ground echoed; a sickly noise that resounded like another shot of a bullet, only this one tearing right through my heart.

I slowly ripped my eyes away away from his body and turned to where the two Reformists were all laughing and high-fiving each other.

"One shot." The one to the right, a girl around my age, crowed triumphantly. "Nice!"

The one on the left, a young man who also couldn't have been much older than me—and the one who'd pulled the trigger— grinned smugly, twirling his gun arrogantly. His eyes landed on me. "You're welcome for saving you."

You're welcome. Is that what he said? You're welcome??

"What the hell...?" The words were all but a faint gasp from my lips.

"Let's keep moving." The Reformist girl grinned, cocking her gun. "We still have a whole lot of aliens to score down up ahead."

My body reacted before I my mind did. I slid in front of the two Reformists, cutting their path to the main hallway off.

"What do you think you're doing?" The boy Reformist frowned, both of them halting.

"Get. Out." I was still too stunned to come up with any better words.

"Excuse me?" The girl shoved forward, incredulity and rage contorting her face. "We just saved your life! That alien was—"

"That alien wasn't even armed!" I snarled. Both Reformists flinched in shock. "You guys just pulled the trigger on an innocent Outworlder!"

"I can't believe this." The girl shook her head. "How the hell can you be on those invaders' side? They don't belong on this planet!"

"Maybe they don't. But they have nowhere else to go," I fired back. "They have no other choice!"

"They had the whole goddamn galaxy of planets they could've chosen and they chose Earth!" The boy was now yelling at me. "Well Earth belongs to humans and humans only. These creature freaks with their glowing tattoos are too dangerous with their morphing abilities. Not to mention they're terrorists now after blowing things up."

"You think that if they didn't have anywhere else to live, they'd destroy the only new home they have? If they wanted to exterminate humans, they would've done it when they first landed here!"

"Would you listen to her?" The girl shook her head. "I bet she slept with these aliens and that's why she wants to defend them." The girl took another step towards me. "Now get out of our way, alien-sympathizing slut."

The Reformists began to move forward again, but only came to a screeching halt when I lifted my gun and pointed it at them.

"You would rather defend an alien and shoot us?" The boy gasped, incredulous.

"I would rather defend an innocent person and shoot a guilty one." My voice came out eerily steady. Something had shut down in me. A humane side of me had shut down.

All I knew was I wasn't going to let these Reformists harm a single other Outworlder or innocent being. And if it meant firing a gun at them to stop them, so be it.

"This is ridiculous," the girl seethed.

She lunged at me. But she was slow. I shifted the gun and fired.

The bullet went clean through her leg and she collapsed, screaming in agony. It was a lesson Yoongi had taught me when I'd first picked up a gun. Just because a bullet didn't pierce a major organ or artery didn't make it a minor injury. The old Hollywood movies lied. A clean through-and-through bullet hole that might miss major arteries or organs would still be enough to incapacitate the victim.

"Nooo!" The male Reformist was on me before I could click the next bullet in place.

He was faster than his partner and I just had enough time to brace myself before we both slammed to the ground. The gun in his hand came down like a hammer and a scream of pain escaped me as it rammed into my shoulder mercilessly.

He lifted the gun again and my good arm flashed up and twisted his wrist violently to the side. The gun skidded out of his grasp across the floor. I lashed out, trying to bring my knees up against his sternum as I'd been instructed, but his body weight pinned me down.

He laughed, cold and merciless as he sensed my predicament. I barely managed to move my head out of the way in time as his fist swung. But the next time I wasn't fast enough and his knuckles made me see stars. Pain exploded up my jaw.

He laugh again, a maniac laugh, and slammed his fist down on my bad shoulder, pinning me. His mistake. Eyes watering through the pain I latched onto his arm with both hands and used it as leverage to bring my legs slamming into his ribs at full force.

He grunted as he lost grip and fell away from me. Before he could lunge again though, a silver wolf sprang up, seemingly out of nowhere, and slammed into the guy. A sense of deja vu struck me as the silver beast bowled over the Reformist, just like he had with the guard in front of the Infinity headquarters. Only this time, the wolf didn't stop there.

I looked away just as he sank his teeth into the Reformist's arm, shaking it violently from side to side like a dog did with its toy.

My eyes landed on the body laying a little ways away from me. Blood pooled around him, so much blood. I didn't feel repulsed by the blood. I didn't feel anything.

I somehow got up to my feet shakily— ignoring the screaming behind me, ignoring the snarls of the wolf, ignoring everything. I managed to get to his side before collapsing onto my knees.

"Yoongi," I whispered.

His eyes were only opened little slits, and the only thing that told me he wasn't dead yet were his Marks. Once blazing orange of the brightest flames, his Marks were only giving off the barest of lights, flickering every now and then— a dying ember.

"Hold on Yoongi," I whispered, taking his wrist tightly into my hand. "We're gonna help you. Just hold on a little longer, please."

The bullet had gone right through his abdomen and blood soaked the front of his shirt. His eyes fluttered at my touch and his Marks brightened ever so slightly.

"You..." Yoongi sighed, voice hardly audible. "You kick their ass?"

"I shot one of them in the leg."

"Good girl." A ghost of a smile crept across his mouth. "You're going to kick serious ass one day. I know it." He opened his mouth to perhaps say more but instead a cough wracked his body and my heart sank. He was coughing up blood.

"We're going to get you help okay?" I said, trying to sound confident. However one look at the pool of blood... I swallowed hard. I'd only just started getting to know him. It couldn't just end like this... not here... not now....

The sounds behind me had died down. The Reformist had stopped screaming and even the training center had fallen into a heavy silence.

Someone moved behind me. I didn't even look up when he knelt beside me, gently taking Yoongi's other wrist into his hands.

"Hyung," Jimin whispered.

"Don't... you dare cry. You guys have better things to do... than cry for me," Yoongi whispered. "When we meet... again... I expect a whole ass list of kick ass things you did... or don't bother...."

"Don't leave me..." Jimin's voice cracked.

"We'll... meet... again." His Marks flared brightly for a split moment. "I promise."

The fiery orange Marks sputtered one last time before going out forever.

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