"You're this determined to hurt Namjoon?" Junhong asked as he followed behind Minhyuk.

"I think Junhong is right. This is low." Even though Jihoon was the typically-loyal type, he could see that this was not a good thing to do."Hurting another Szarvounian's mate goes against the rules."

Tired of hearing his subordinates talk back to him, Minhyuk groaned."Shut up, or I'll punish you both. The rules of not targeting someone's mate aren't even official. I don't care about anyone's joy but my own, and bringing dismay to Namjoon will give me joy."

Acting against the way he'd been trained, Junhong reached out and grabbed Minhyuk's wrist, visibly angering the captain."But Namjoon's mate is small and weak. You'll stoop so low to hurt someone who stands no chance against you?"

"You dare question your captain?" Jerking his wrist out of Junhong's grasp, Minhyuk gave him a solid punch to the face, knocking him to the floor."I should have known your mate's death would cloud your judgement. Still, I allowed you aboard my ship and took you as part of my team. You ungrateful little brat. Your insubordination will be reported to Emperor Minseok if you don't clean up your act before we get to the dome."

Jihoon waited for Minhyuk to storm off before he knelt down beside Junhong."Are you okay?"

"Why did he have to mention her?" Junhong's eyes glistened with fresh tears, but he blinked them away.

"He only said it to hurt you. Please don't act out." Jihoon really didn't want anything to happen to Junhong. They were both pretty new to being warriors aboard a ship, but they still had to act strong. Jihoon had only been on a couple missions before while this had been Junhong's first. He felt responsible for the younger incubus."Let's follow Minhyuk to get Namjoon and the little one. He won't do too much damage because he still needs to present them to the emperor. Their lives are in the emperor's hands."

Clenching his hands into fists, Junhong rose to his feet."You know we can't trust the emperor to make compassionate decisions. He'll kill them both or worse. Yoongi is so little compared to us. So weak. So helpless. Why must we do this?"

"If we don't take over other worlds, we'll die out, Junhong. You know that." Jihoon also didn't like the way things worked in their world, but he didn't know any other way of living."Our world is falling apart. We've had to manufacture food because nothing can grow in our soil. We need more worlds because ours is over-populated. We know the emperor only does this for power, but we need it too."

"Why can't we just move to other worlds and live peacefully with the natives?" argued Junhong."Why must we take everything away from them, including their lives?"

"Do you really think the natives of any other world would accept us?" This was something Jihoon greatly doubted. He had heard many stories of Szarvounians being rejected by the inhabitants of other worlds.

Junhong, as disloyal as he was, believed otherwise."Those stories were told to us by the emperor. How can we know they're true? Namjoon was accepted in another world. He found a mate there. He was living peacefully. We can do that too, Jihoon. If we stop Minhyuk from presenting them to the emperor, we can go back to their world and--"

"Stop." Jihoon quickly covered Junhong's mouth with his hand."Are you trying to get yourself killed? If you are heard making plans to become a traitor, you will be executed. You know that."

---

"Namjoon." Yoongi spoke as he was sitting on the floor again, curled up to cover his body was much as possible."Can you promise me something?"

Looking over at Yoongi, Namjoon cocked his head a little to the side."Sure. What is it?"

"Promise me that we'll both get out of this alive." Yoongi knew that he was Namjoon's top priority right now, but he wanted Namjoon to worry about himself as well. He wanted them both to be able to go back home.

"Hey, everything's going to be okay." Stepping closer to Yoongi, Namjoon squatted down in front of him."We're both going to be okay. I promise. I know you're scared. That's understandable. Hoseok, Seokjin, and Jungkook are on their way. I just need to keep you safe until they get here. Then, we'll all go home together."

"Both of us, you mean. Not just me. You'll keep us both safe." That was what kept worrying Yoongi. He kept hearing Namjoon say that he would keep him safe, but Namjoon wasn't saying that he would keep himself safe.

"You're my prior--"

"My priority is both of us, Namjoon!" Reaching out, Yoongi grabbed one of Namjoon's hands with both of his own."I need that to be your priority too. Please. You're my friend. I love you. I don't want anything to happen to you."

With a sigh, Namjoon smiled ever-so-slightly."I love you too, Yoongi. You're the best friend I've ever had. And you're right. My priority should be both of us. I guess, even after the past four years that I've lived on Earth, I still think like a captain. I still want to be a good leader who protects my team." This was something Namjoon knew made him very different from Minhyuk, the captain of this ship. He had always protected his team; Minhyuk was willing to throw them away.

"You can't protect your team if you don't also protect yourself." Yoongi thought his heart was going to jump completely out of his chest when he was startled by the sound of the door opening."He's back."

Namjoon pulled away from Yoongi and stood, turning to face Minhyuk, who had just entered the room again."Did you get a suit and mask for my mate?"

Minhyuk narrowed his gaze at Namjoon, not liking the other incubus' tone."I got him a suit." he said as he held it up to be shown."And a breath mixer." He was pleased when Namjoon frowned deeply."It's the mixer or nothing."

"We don't know how his body will handle the mixer. Those are painful. You know that." Namjoon stepped right up to Minhyuk in a confrontational manner."You would purposely cause unnecessary pain to him just to hurt me?"

"Either he gets the mixer, or he suffocates in our atmosphere. Make your choice." A smirk came over Minhyuk's lips as he knew he'd just put Namjoon in a position in which he had no choice but to allow the little one to be hurt.

Yoongi watched with wide eyes as Namjoon stepped aside to allow the cruel incubus to approach him."Stay away from me!" Yoongi pushed himself further against the corner in fear."Don't hurt me!"

Namjoon couldn't even bare to watch as he knew what was going to happen. He clenched his hands into tight fists at his sides, wishing he had another option, but he didn't. Minhyuk had given him an awful choice.

There was pleasure in Minhyuk's expression as he knelt down in front of the human. He grabbed Yoongi's arm and jerked him forward with enough force to basically slam him face-down on the floor. Then, he revealed the other thing he'd been carrying in his hand with the suit. It was small, circular, and black. He pressed the item to Yoongi's back, near his left shoulder blade.

Confusion, fear, and anxiety filled Yoongi as he didn't know what was about to happen. Then he felt it. A piercing pain entered his back where the item was being pressed. It felt like something stabbed into him. That pain was followed by a churning feeling in his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. The human let out a choked scream of agony. He felt like his insides were being mixed around to new places. It was the most painful thing he had ever experienced in his life.

Yoongi's screams pained Namjoon greatly. He wished he could make it stop. He wanted to destroy Minhyuk for hurting the human. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. If he attacked Minhyuk, the cruel incubus could easily put Yoongi into the crossfire and use him as a meat shield. Attacking Minhyuk would only put Yoongi at more risk. Namjoon couldn't save Yoongi from this world on his own. So he had to hold back until the others would arrive to rescue them.