A/N: Back with another update! My announcement has more info :> 

The door creaks.

Scanning the room cautiously, hands tight around the doorknob, is Jimin.

"Ah, Jimin! You're back."

The Commander turns in his chair. There's a welcoming smile plastered on his face, which always seems more creepy than comforting. "How did it go?"

"Not well," Jimin admits.

The smile disappears just like that. Lying had crossed Jimin's mind, but in the end he decided not to. Who knows what the Commander would do if he found out.

"Did you at least locate where they are?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then what happened?"

Jimin barely stops himself from backing out into the hallway. The Commander's eyes are narrowed in a dangerous, piercing glare.

And glares mean trouble.

"... it got out of control?" Jimin tries. His mouth is dry. It's difficult to form words.

"Evidently."

Jimin hates the icy tone.

He knows the Commander wants more information, but what could Jimin say? That he failed to be fast enough? That he truly paused for a moment and considered running into Y/n's arms and saying sorry and accepting a life on the run?

"I really did try," Jimin gulps. "I used my touch like you told me to, and I had Y/n all the way to the clearing. We were moving pretty fast..."

He trails off, searching for words. But the Commander is having none of it as he reaches his hand to a red button on the desk.

"No no no no, please! I had full contact with her and everything!" Jimin blurts it all out, desperate, and somehow he's able to speak coherently. "I swear! We were running through the forest and I had her under complete control, I was controlling her, really, but the rest of them showed up and Jungkook yelled and then she lifted the fog!"

There's a heavy, terrifying pause.

The Commander takes his hand away from the button (much to Jimin's inner relief) but his piercing glare morphs into a scowl. "She lifted the fog?"

"Yes, like my persuasion was blocked for a second? Please don't give me that look, I don't know why either."

And please don't press the button, Jimin adds in his head. It's located on every staff's desk with the sole purpose of calling in security - Training Headquarters is the end destination.

He's never going back there again.

The Commander stands up, startling him. Jimin mentally curses at his own height - the Commander, tall and slim in a dark cloak, towers over him like a menacing shadow.

Then he walks toward Jimin. Silently.

No no no-

"I really don't know what happened," Jimin backs up helplessly. He knows his blabbering is probably useless but it doesn't hurt to try. "I lost control when Y/n heard Jungkook's voice, she forced me out somehow, and by the time I hugged her to increase our physical contact it was already too late because the rest of them came. Please, sir, you've got to believe me! It's never happened before and I don't know why it did this time!"

Jimin's back hits the wall. The cold surface sends shivers through his body.

"I've had enough of you, Park Jimin."

This is it.

Jimin shuts his eyes and braces himself.

It's the end and he knows it. He'll get sent back to Training Headquarters and never see the light of day again. He'll never be able to hug Taehyung again, or laugh with Hobi, or play games with Jungkook again, and he'll never be able to apologize for all the harm that he's done to his friends -

"You have been nothing but infuriating."

- but maybe it was for the best, really, because they're safe now, right? The friends he's grown up with and loved so much?

"Look at me."

Jimin opens his eyes.

The Commander is so furious that there's a hint of red in his dark eyes. If looks could kill, Jimin would be long gone by now.

He holds his breath.

"As much as I want to send you back there Jimin," the Commander sighs, breaking eye contact, "there's one last thing."

What?

"... y-yes? Sir?"

"Oh, the relief on your face," the Commander chuckles. The tension in the air loosens slightly. "Yes. I was notified a few days ago by the principal of Freedom Academy. We are going after the boy instead. Jungkook, I believe?"

"Jungkook?"

"We're going after the girl because of her unusual abilities, yes? Not to fight against it." He's twirling his fingers again in that hypnotizing motion. Jimin is careful not to look at it directly. "So it makes more sense to go after Jungkook. The girl will turn herself in to save him."

The plan leaves a bitter taste in Jimin's mouth.

"You will lead us to them," the Commander says before Jimin can respond. "We're bringing all the Fighters with us so there's no escape for them this time. You will not interfere with anything once Y/n and Jungkook are in sight. Surely you can do that?"

Jimin hesitantly nods.

"If you can't even do nothing right, then I'm afraid you've got no hope," the Commander sneers. "We'll gather at the clearing in three hours. It'll be a surprise attack. Be there on time."

"Yes, sir."

"See to it that you do," he says airily. "Now, shoo. I've wasted enough of my time."

Jimin turns to leave.

"And Jimin?"

He pauses at the doorway.

"Don't leave the school grounds." The Commander looks at his fingernails, seemingly disinterested. Jimin knows he's anything but. "I'll know if you do, we've got security all around the school. It's a pity I can't trust you like before."

Jimin finally leaves, deeply ashamed.

He closes the door behind him and emerges in a deserted hallway. The bleak walls of Freedom Academy still surround him, keeping him locked away from the outside world.

It's a prison, disguised as a place of learning.

Jimin runs a hand through his hair in frustration.

I can't do anything right.

He can't protect his friends, he can't satisfy the Commander. What's he supposed to do?

Where does he belong?

His feet carry him down the hallway, slowly, his mind lost in thoughts and wandering, looking around as if the white walls would provide him with answers. He thinks of the other side, of Taehyung and Jungkook and... Y/n.

Everything comes back to Y/n.

"You don't have to do this Jimin, you have us! We're your friends remember?"

The hope and trust in her voice, even after he'd shown that he was the enemy... it makes his heart ache. He's not sure how forgiving he'd be if he was the one that got betrayed.

And he thinks about Freedom Academy. The fear.

Is this life really worth anything if this is the highest he'll go? To live with guilt eating him up inside?

What is this compared to true friendship? Out there?

A part of him immediately pushes back - you're crazy Jimin! You'll just get yourself in trouble - but he thinks of Namjoon's capability, of Jin's dad jokes, and Yoongi's level of unbothered... of his family.

Y/n was right, wasn't she?

Jimin sighs. He comes to a decision: the Commander doesn't deserve his respect.

Not anymore.

He sets off down the hallway with renewed motivation, mind whirring. He'll send them a message. He needs to warn them. It doesn't matter if they won't forgive him anymore, he's going to help.

He'll do whatever he can to save his friends and do what's right... or he'll die trying.

~

I don't have much time.

He's not allowed to exit school grounds, but he has to send a message somehow. Jimin speed walks to the first place he can think of.

The library.

He never liked this place - it's a daunting maze to him, bookshelves upon bookshelves of useless information. He hates the thick, stale air of studying and he hates the constant whirrr of the squalid air conditioning that no one has bothered to fix.

Jimin sneaks along the bookshelves. He just needs two things: paper and something to write with. Simple enough, surely.

"Ahem."

The scratchy voice makes his stomach drop. It's so recognizable he could identify it in his sleep. He glances up and sees bookshelves, countertops...

And a narrow-eyed librarian.

"Can I help you?"

Jimin straightens up and clears his throat, giving him a few seconds to think. "I would like some extra papers, please. And a new pen."

"Why?" She observes him with beady eyes.

"I would like to write a message." To help my friends commit the capital offense of treason and get away with it.

"For who?"

"My friends."

"Your friends wouldn't receive the message because they're in classes," she snaps, "and should you be as well, young man. I am having none of this."

She crosses her arms. Jimin knows she's trying to look intimidating, but her short stature - with a height that only goes up to his shoulders - totally ruins the effect. It looks a little funny.

"And let me ask you, what are you doing in this period, wandering around the walls, huh? Frolicking in the library? All you kids running around thinking you've got better things to do, well, you should take some time to think for yourself and sort out your priorities. Education is the single most important thing and you need to study for the exams so you can pass them. Let me ask you, young man, do you really want to get sent down to Training Headquarters? Because that's exactly what you're asking for right now, sneaking out of classes to send a message to your friends who are in class -"

Jimin mentally facepalms.

This is why no one likes her. Her lectures are the worst because they go on forever and you're forced to wait for her to finish, otherwise you risk getting sent down to security for "defying authority".

At least Jin's rambles are faster and more entertaining and it's all fun and games in the end.

"- and who are you, anyway?" She looks him over from head to toe. "Better not be a trespasser, young man, since I haven't seen you around here..."

"Park Jimin, ma'am. I'm a Fighter, not a student." He's relieved she didn't call security without telling him. "So it makes sense you haven't seen me this year."

"I see."

But judging by the tone of her voice, she didn't see at all.

"Ma'am, please, I don't have much time." Jimin steps closer, which lets him tower over her like the Commander did to him. It gives him a sense of satisfaction. "All I need is one sheet of paper and a pen. Simple, right?"

I don't have much time.

And he's wasted too much of it talking. For all he knows, the Commander is sitting behind the security cameras on the walls, watching this unfold with suspicion and fury brewing inside him...

"You tell me the message you want to send then, and then get out," she says coldly. "You shouldn't be in here. A young man like you should be training to promote your rank since you're just a mere Fighter, not in here dawdling around during class hours -"

I don't have much time.

Jimin doesn't want to do this but the longer he stays, the more likely he'll get busted. He grabs her shoulder roughly.

"Where are the papers?" he hisses. When the fuzz reaches her head, Jimin knows he's got her under control. "A kind librarian like you would help others out."

Her posture relaxes.

"Why yes," she says slowly, dragging the vowels in a daze. "A kind librarian like me would h-"

"Where are the papers?"

"In the storage room behind me. Boxes on the left," she replies.

"The pens?"

"On my desk."

Anyone else would be terrified to see such a cold, calculating Jimin, but the librarian is so out of it with her head in the fuzz that she replies as calmly as if Jimin were asking her about a picnic.

He was about to let her go then, but another thought occurs to him.

"What's your elemental?"

"My elemental?"

"Yes. Fire, air? What is it?" He wishes she could talk faster.

"Water."

Suits her, Jimin thinks. "And if anyone questions you about what happened, you were just helping out a kid, right? Nothing out of the ordinary?"

"Why yes. Because a kind librarian like me would help others -"

Jimin lets go of her, grabs a pen off her desk, and runs into the storage room without bothering to let her finish. He can't afford to waste anymore time - the Commander is bound to have seen all this.

He slams the door behind him and tears into a box with trembling fingers for a sheet of paper. He pushes it against the wall for a hard surface to write on.

C'mon Jimin, you can do this.

His hands are shaking so hard that he needs to force himself to take some deep breaths so his handwriting is at least legible. Then he begins.

I don't have much time.

They're coming for you, led by me, in 3 hours.

What time is that? He doesn't know...

By the time you get this letter it'll be in 1 or 2 hrs. Prepare yourselves

Something flashes.

Jimin glances at the corner of the room where a red light is spinning. There are no alarms sounding, just eerie silence.

His blood runs cold.

It's a Sight that's too familiar.

Jimin saw the same red light before he was forced into Training Headquarters all those years ago. Someone must have pressed the red button to activate it.

Security is on to him.