A/N: Remember to vote for clear skin.

I hope you like this chapter, it's been a couple chaps since we last saw our favorite emo commander

┊ ˚➶ ｡˚𝓛𝓮𝓽 𝓜𝓮 𝓡𝓮𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽 𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓸𝓶𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓽 ˚｡➶˚┊

Jimin was there. He was right in front of her.

Jimin's gorgeous hickory eyes fell on her. A gag was in his mouth, his hands and legs tied to the wooden chair that seemed unstable considering the conditions of the ocean. He had a tunic on, but it was torn, one of the sleeves missing. One of his feet was bare while the other had a damp sock on, his pants cut up near the edges. The Emperor hadn't lied: there were no bruises on Jimin's face or exposed arm. He didn't appear to be injured.

A single tear rolled down his cheek when he made eye contact with her. She didn't know she was crying until the tears jumped off her chin.

"Jimin," she whispered just as Jungkook rushed by and knelt, cutting off the ropes.

"We need to secure him and go. We don't have time. I'm going to get him off the chair and tie his wrists."

"What are you talking about-"

"Y/n, we have no idea what they did to him. It's better to be safe than sorry. I'll get him across to our ship," Jungkook interrupted, taking the gag off Jimin. "Jimin, bud, talk to me. What happened?"

Jimin kept his mouth shut and his eyes on her, even when Jungkook tapped on his shoulder. Jungkook gave up on trying to get through to him. Instead, Jungkook got him up. As an experiment, Jungkook let Jimin stay untied for a few moments. When Jimin didn't try anything, Jungkook hesitated to put the ropes back on.

"Jimin, we need you to talk to us," Jungkook said, but Jimin shook his head and cowered away.

"Oh God," she whispered, holding a hand over her mouth. "What did they do to you?"

"Y/n-"

"Jungkook, look at him! He won't even talk! And look at how much weight he's lost!"

"I know, but we don't have time to argue. The flagship won't hold, the cannons did too much damage. We need to go, now. We'll have the psychologists from Topside and Moros look at him, okay?"

Jungkook went to tie his hands, but Jimin whimpered and backed away. Jimin kept his eyes on her, and she took it as a sign to come closer. Jungkook seemed doubtful, but she ignored his stare.

"What is it?" she asked, Jimin shaking his head. "What's wrong? What did they do to you?"

As soon as she got close enough, he collapsed into her arms. He sobbed as she held him, rubbing his back and shushing his cries. Jimin's head remained on her shoulder, his hands clutching her shirt and refusing to let go.

"It's okay. I have you, baby boy," she mumbled, and he nodded. "Everything's okay. We're getting you out of here."

He pulled back and sniffled, Y/n wiping his tears away. Still, he didn't speak. There were no words that passed his parched lips even as she held him.

"Y/n, we need to go, we don't have much longer," Jungkook said.

She acknowledged the words but kept her attention on Jimin. "Don't let go of me."

He gripped her hand so tightly she lost feeling for a moment. She led him to the ladder, where they were forced to separate so they could climb. She went first despite Jungkook's protests. They ended up in the captain's cabin, where they saw a bunch of dead rebels but no sign of Namjoon.

Y/n stepped in blood and offered help to Jimin, who took it without complaint. As soon as he saw the corpses, he backed up and pressed his body against hers. She held his hand and made him look away from all the chaos, though she had to admit his reaction amazed her. Park Jimin, the man who had slaughtered thousands, was terrified by blood and guts? She couldn't comprehend the sudden change, but she knew they needed to get him back to Moros as soon as possible.

They went to the main deck and found the fight was ongoing. Namjoon, once again, was nowhere to be found. Y/n watched as one of the two of their large ships got taken out. Y/n swallowed what little saliva she had in her throat as she ran with Jimin to the ropes connecting their respective factions.

The rebels spotted them and cleared a path. Y/n managed to get Jimin safely back to the ropes. She helped him across, Jungkook covering them. They were overwhelmed. They had to hope the long-ranged fight would be the one that took out the Flagship, not the ground troops.

As soon as Jimin, Y/n, and Jungkook were onboard, they prepared to flee and recalled their troops. The archers laid down suppressive fire, but most of the rebels were killed. Y/n watched her friends get massacred, and she felt nothing. While the Emperor's men called out to each other when they perished, the rebels fell to the ground with a hushed scream that fell on no one's ears. There were no friends or family to hear them take their last breaths, only the cold sea that would inevitably wash them away with the rest of their sins.

Ten rebels made it back over in time for the final cannonball to hit the Emperor's Flagship. The structure burst, the ocean's might washing in and cloaking the Emperor's favorite toy in a sheet of water. The rebels escaped from the enemy, and in a minute, the Flagship fell victim to mother nature. Y/n stared at the dark waves before her, and she didn't feel fear. She had every reason to, but she focused on how Jimin kept grabbing onto her hand as if he'd disappear if he let go.

"Jimin," she said, cautiously. "Let's get you a jacket, it's too cold."

He nodded, his lower lip quivering. She took him to the corner of the ship and had one of the rebels fetch him a jacket. As soon as he cuddled up inside it, she made him sit by her side. He ended up resting his head on her shoulder. Throughout the entire short time she interacted with him, he never once spoke. Not even a small "okay" to let her know he had the ability to speak. She opened his mouth to check if his tongue was intact. It was, which added to her confusion.

"Y/n," Jungkook said, kneeling in front of the pair. Jimin was shivering with his eyes shut. He clutched onto her shirt and curled himself up against her. Jungkook frowned at the sight. "When we get back to Moros, we'll have the best of the best look at him. We'll figure out what's going on, I promise."

"He doesn't look like he has any injuries," she replied, motioning to how all his visible skin was clean. "He lost weight, but not malnourished, is my guess. No fever, no coughing, no other signs of illnesses."

"Do you have any idea what they did to him?"

Y/n wasn't sure if that was a question anyone could answer except the Emperor himself. As Jimin trembled in her arms and whimpered, she realized she didn't want to know the answer. All she wanted was her Jimin back, the one who laughed and promised to marry her. The one who took her on dates every other day. The one who wrote about how much he loved her, even though he was terrified of the emotion. As she parted her lips to reply, she didn't know what she was saying. She didn't know who she'd become.

"I don't know."

┊ ˚➶ ｡˚˚｡➶˚┊

Y/n didn't know what to feel.

The others didn't know about Jimin's arrival. Kastor, Jin, and Tae were left in the dark. Most of the rebels were. They tried to hide him in order to prevent unwanted visitors. Jimin was already dealing with enough, and the last thing he needed was to get overwhelmed. The scent of blood on the now sunken Flagship had already overstimulated him.

They were in the one of the infirmaries with Topside doctors and psychologists surrounding him. Y/n was forced to leave while they investigated him, meaning she, like the others, had no idea what was going on. The only ones who knew were the doctors and Shawman, who stayed in the corner.

As she entered, she saw there there candles set up as lighting, the curtains pulled over the window even though it was nearing dawn. It smelled clean, but bland. There were no cleaning products in the air, likely to keep Jimin from getting overstimulated. There were no objects in the room for him to touch, taste, or smell. He laid on the bed with fluffy white pillows and covers. He had new clothes on, and the doctors in the area didn't crowd around him.

Jimin saw her, and his eyes lit up, but he didn't smile or speak. She approached, and one of the doctors pulled up a wooden stool for her to sit on. She did, and she realized that other than the bed, it was the only object in the tiny room. There were no nightstands, no chairs, no cabinets. Just the doctors and Jimin.

"The Emperor wasn't lying," Shawman said, but Y/n kept her eyes on her man. "He didn't hurt a hair on Jimin's head. No bruises, no internal damage, no cuts, no whips, no broken bones. He didn't hurt him physically."

"But mentally," Y/n mumbled, taking Jimin's hand. He grasped onto her and scooted a bit closer. It broke her heart to see him so frail.

"He's underweight, but not malnourished. Mentally, it's hard to tell what exactly the Emperor did, but we have a theory."

"Do I want to know?"

Shawman sighed. "Jimin can't talk."

"What do you mean he can't talk? He has a tongue, he makes sounds-"

"That's not what I mean," Shawman said, approaching her and resting a hand on her shoulder. "They reconditioned him. Our guess is they conditioned him not to talk."

"But how? And why?"

"We don't know how, I'm guessing something to do with threats and psychological torture. He hasn't spoken to anyone since he got back. As for why, I have a theory about that," Shawman explained, motioning to Jimin. "You know your boyfriend better than all of us. I don't mean this as an insult, but he talks a lot."

"You think they got tired of it?"

"I think they wanted to punish him in a different way. You heard the Emperor, he said Jimin never responded well to physical torture. But Jimin loves talking. He's always witty and charming. The Emperor wanted to take something from him, so my guess is, he tortured him into believing he can't talk, or Jimin feels a sense of PTSD whenever he tries to speak."

Jimin, who was still shaking, nodded and sunk into the covers. Y/n kissed the back of his hand and pressed her muddy boots against the clean floors. They got stained with the grime and muck she dragged in.

"Can we undo it?" she asked, though she didn't know if she wanted the answer.

"We believe so, yes. Let's keep this quiet for now. We don't want to overwhelm him. I hate to say it, but we need to keep it a secret from the others. Even Kastor."

"How the hell am I supposed to look Kastor in the eye and tell him we haven't found his so-" Y/n broke off before she could finish the sentence, catching her breath and giving Jimin's hand a soft squeeze. "How can I lie to him? They're best friends, it's unfair to do that to him. Why don't we tell him the news but make it clear Jimin can't take any visitors?"

"You think Kastor will listen?"

Y/n hung her head. "Fine. I'll keep it a secret. Just promise me it won't be for long."

"It won't be, but we don't want to give anyone misinformation, especially not Kastor. He's been through enough. Let's take some extra time to figure out the extent of the psychological damage, then we can let everyone know the news that Commander Park is safe," he said. Shawman turned to Jimin, who darted his eyes between him and Y/n. "You're safe, my friend. We'll get you the help you need. You're never going back to those monsters again."

Shawman got up and exited the infirmary, Y/n watching him go. The psychologists spoke to one another in hushed voices she couldn't make out. That led her to Jimin, who had rosy cheeks and chapped lips.

"Can you leave us alone?" Y/n asked the doctors in the room. Upon their confused stares, she shook her head. "He's had enough. You can come back later. Let us relax for a little while."

Eventually, they filed out of the room. That left her alone with Park Jimin, the man who couldn't speak anymore. It shattered her soul into a million fragments that stabbed at her mind. She had faith he would learn to speak again, but it didn't change that she couldn't hear another joke for a long time. No more witty humor, or cheesy romantic comments. No more whispered promises about how he'd always cherish her.

"Is it a good idea to ask how you're feeling?" she asked, Jimin softly smiling at that. He placed his free hand against the side of the bed, and she tilted her head. "Do you want me to...?"

At his nod, she got up and slid into bed with him. He curled up against her, his head resting on her chest as she stroked his hair. His locks had seen better days. They were rough and greasy. She made a mental note to give him a long bath later.

"I can get you a pen and paper," she murmured while she did her best to comfort him. "You can write, or talk to me that way. I have your flask, too. I bet you could use a drink right now, yeah?"

His body moved as if he was chuckling, but when she looked, she saw it was actually a soft sob. She kept massaging his head and letting him cry it out on her chest. She didn't want to know the horrors he got subjected to. As much as the physical pain was a nightmare, she imagined psychological torture was worse. They already broke his body; Jimin himself said he could handle that. The issue was, now both his body and mind were broken, and she didn't know how to fix it.

"I..." He swallowed and tried to speak again, but she shushed him.

"Don't. Save your strength. Everything will be okay, I promise," she said. It didn't hit her that Jimin was back. Even as he pressed his body against hers, she didn't feel it. They won, they sunk the Emperor's Flagship. They were months away from retaking New Theon. She had two victories to celebrate, yet she couldn't bring herself to smile.

For some reason, it felt as though the worst was yet to come.

┊ ˚➶ ｡˚𝓛𝓮𝓽 𝓜𝓮 𝓡𝓮𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽 𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓸𝓶𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓽 ˚｡➶˚┊

A/N: How you guys doing after that? You guys doing okay?