Finding my Power in You

Chapter IX : The True Depths Of My Darkness

Chaos.

Chaos once again rains down in their headquarters. Everyone is understandably stressed. There are many injuries among the returning agents, and it didn't help that the two in the most critical condition are their leader and their medic.

When they arrived, Jihoon is quick to start rushing them into the medical room. All hands are on deck for first aid. Even the walking wounded are up and about helping. Especially Junhui, who has the most experience with medicine, just after Seokmin. There is almost a solemn relief when they realize their numbers are back to normal, which is only short-lived.

After Junhui patches up Seungcheol and Seokmin, he has the other members carry them into the PODs. He moves on to Seungkwan, who seems to be heavily guarded by Hansol. Knowing the panic and fear Hansol must be experiencing, Junhui convinces Hansol to let him come closer and patch him up. Using gauze and burn cream, Junhui patches up Seungkwan's burns and cleans up his arm to give him IV fluids. Hansol is also given a quick examination and is relieved to find that he is unscathed, physically at least. Instead of sticking him in a POD, Junhui figures it would be better for Seungkwan and Hansol to sleep on an actual bed together.

It takes a good few hours, but everyone is now patched up and getting rest or venting their stress, although Junhui much prefers that everyone rest. Junhui and Minghao take to Minghao's playroom so that the younger can decompress in little space. Soonyoung holes himself up in one of the dance rooms, the music blaring at obscenely deafening levels. Hansol stays asleep on the bed with Seungkwan, holding him close to his chest. Jisoo and Jeonghan are sitting by Seokmin and Seungcheol's PODs, respectively. Chan joins Jeonghan at Seungcheol's bedside, leaning into the older for comfort. Wonwoo and Mingyu go to the younger's bedroom to finally get some rest. And Jihoon. . .

Jihoon is going through all the footage from the mission and looking for ways that everything could've been. . . better. He goes through the footage inside the enemy's facility to see if the Extraction Team could've gotten to Seungkwan faster. He looks through the body cams of the Distraction Team to see if they could've done more to buy time. He even goes over all the research and computer logs to see if the Research and Reinforcement Team could've been more on track. He spirals into this state of overanalyzing, and his already tired brain makes it harder for him to even comprehend that that leads nowhere. He can only obsess and delve further into his exhaustion-hazed mind before he starts to find something to blame. And that blame leads to a slow-burning anger that can only build up.

---

The anger finally boils over two days later. Seungcheol is out of the POD, but he's been put on bed rest and relegated to light duty by Junhui until he feels that he's fully healed. Seungcheol being out means that Jeonghan is finally out and about, trailing behind Seungcheol to make sure he is okay. There isn't much to update on Seokmin and Jisoo. They've pretty much been in the same position, the younger resting in the POD while the older stared on. For the most part, everyone tries to take turns getting Jisoo food only for them to come back and find that the food hasn't been touched or in a charred amalgamation somewhere on the wall or floor. Seungkwan is finally awake and on the move, which means Hansol is doing the same. Everyone tries to find a sense of normalcy even with the smothering feeling of grief hanging in the cold air around them. It doesn't do much to assuage the fire burning inside of Jihoon as he finally leaves the Command Center to see that the rest of the members who aren't on bed rest are gathered in the game room. He was hoping to talk to someone about the aftermath and the squelching anger that it left him with. He was hoping that there was someone among them that could understand the burning feeling in him. He was hoping that Soonyoung was experiencing the same burning in him as well.

So imagine the shock and ire, and maybe even jealousy, he feels seeing Soonyoung in a relaxed state, his arms snug around Chan. The two are watching Verkwan and Junhao duking it out on Smash Bros. He sees Jeonghan, Mingyu, and Wonwoo sitting on bean bags and reading. Mingyu and Wonwoo's legs are tangled together. He can feel his blood boiling.