Baekhyun had stopped listening.

Surprisingly, this time it was not because of Taemin (who had been surprisingly quiet ever since they had entered—knowing the man's tendencies, Baekhyun was beginning to get worried) but the distraction that presented itself before him was one of the strongest senses. It was not usually that he got sidetracked while listening to live reports about cryogenically frozen Supers.

He had stepped into the bedroom, and his eyes had only just begun to adjust themselves to the dim light when he spotted the figure huddled on one side of the bed, seemingly to hide itself from him. Baekhyun frowned as he stepped deeper into the room, the carpeted floor covering the sounds of his entry.

There was no way the person—or whatever the figure was supposed to be—had seen him. This floor of the building had been suspiciously quiet ever since he showed up, but he doubted it was because of him. A few minutes ago, he wouldn't have thought it possible that the owner had known they were coming. But now, with Supers in the basement and hiding figures in hotel rooms, he had grown more and more cautious.

He stepped around the edge of the bed and came face-to-face with the person. Well, it did seem like a person. A girl, to be exact. She was sitting in the light of the bedside lamp with her back against the wall, bare arms hugging her knees to her chest. She wasn't looking up, but did so as soon as he stepped in front of her, blocking the light.

The first thing Baekhyun noticed was the long scar on her face. It was thin and white, pretty old from the looks of it, and ran from under her left eye down to her jaw, as if someone had drawn the path of a teardrop on her face. His wariness grew.

They stared at each other.

"Who are you?" she asked, with slow syllables that grew louder as she spoke. She didn't seem afraid of him, but the defensive way she held herself told him she really had been hiding from someone.

Baekhyun touched his knuckles to his lips, and froze. Damn it, he thought desperately. Despite his many precautions, he had forgotten to wear his mask.

"No one," he said stupidly, trying to hide the lower half of his face with his hands. "Nobody. Your sleep paralysis demon."

"But I'm not sleeping."

Baekhyun stepped back slowly, trying not to let his unease show. He couldn't believe he had been this stupid, especially when he was supposed to be a role model for the other members of his team. "You are," he said, hoping his muffled voice was clear enough to be understood through the cage of his fingers. "It's a lucid dream."

She narrowed her eyes at him, defensiveness turning into offence. Slowly, she pinched the skin of her upper arm, and winced. "Ouch," she muttered, and Baekhyun turned. "See? I'm not dreaming?"

He tip-toed across the carpeted floor as fast as he could, seeing her get to her feet in his peripheral vision.

"Wait!" she cried out. "I know you! You're that guy!"

Against his better instincts, he paused, turning to look at her indignantly. There had been a note of emotion in her voice that resembled desperation, and even though his identity was at stake, Baekhyun was supposed to help people. Even if it was just helping someone cross the street.

"What guy?" he asked.

"That guy in the newspaper. With that hair." She gestured to her own hair, which fell over her shoulders in ribbons of brown. Or was it black? Baekhyun couldn't tell in the sparse lighting. "The color of Blue Bolt Gatorade."

He stared at her. "My hair is orange."

"I thought you might have...you know...dyed it."

Under the hand that covered his mouth, his lips pursed. Baekhyun had realized by now that she was talking about Taeyong, because no one else he knew could fit the Gatorade description. Besides, he knew that in the pictures from the newspaper, their faces would have been hidden. She could have easily mistaken him for Taeyong based on their similar suits.

"Well," he started. Maybe it would be better if he pretended that there weren't more then two of them. It would definitely be easier for the team to work in secrecy, and the more people knew about the them, the more they would be sought out. Since what they were doing—despite being with the best of intentions—wasn't exactly legal, he preferred anonymity.

"We're outside the door right now." Taeyong's voice crackled in his earpiece, bringing him out of his thoughts with a jolt. "Baekhyun, we're coming in."

Coming in where? Baekhyun thought distractedly, the answer coming to him not even a second later as the door to the room opened, and the troublesome trio stepped inside even before he could think.

In a flash, Taeyong's gun was in his hands, pointed straight at the girl. If Baekhyun hadn't been so shocked, he would have been proud. He had taught him well.

The girl yelped a few seconds later, a delayed reaction to the gun pointed at her. Baekhyun whirled towards the three, not bothering to hide his face as he gave them the most disapproving frown he could muster. "Why didn't you tell me before coming in?"

Only Mark's eyes and eyebrows were visible, the rest of his face covered by the mask, but they now retreated into his hairline. "But we did," he said slowly, confused. His artificially deepened voice contrasted with the almost petulant tone he used. "We told you we were coming to your location—like, the one we saw. Oh man, were we not supposed to? Yo, I didn't know that."

Baekhyun stared at him, hard, but couldn't gather the courage to tell him off. He swiveled, facing Taeyong instead. "You're supposed to ask me the situation before entering."

Taeyong raised a perfect eyebrow in his direction. "Why aren't you wearing your mask?"

Touché.

"Who's this?" Taeyong asked, jerking his chin in the direction of the girl.

"I have no idea," Baekhyun answered.

"Wait, wait, wait," the girl spoke, reminding the four of her presence. Her hands shot into the air as Taeyong focused on her again. "Are you guys vigilantes?"

There was a long silence. "We prefer the term 'superheroes'," Kai said primly.

"Yeah, okay, same difference."

"Actually, no."

She gave Kai a quelling glance, and turned to Baekhyun. "Can you take me with you?" she asked pleadingly. "You guys are supposed to help people, right?"

Taeyong rolled his eyes. "Ah, yes, of course."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

"I'm being sarcastic."

"Oh." She frowned, visibly deflating.

"Yo, Baekhyun, what if she's like, one of the Supers?" Mark whispered to him excitedly. "Like the one we saw in the basement?"

"You have to take me!" She bit her lip. "I can't let them find me. If they do—"

"Wait, hold on a sec." Kai looked confused. "Who's 'they'?"

"I don't know," the girl said, biting her lip. "I only saw the lady with the long black hair."

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific than that," Taeyong said neutrally.

"All I know is that I'm not supposed to be here," she said, shaking her head. Her voice took on a more pleading tone, and she became more sober. "They took my friends—they would have taken me too if the lady hadn't asked me to stay here. You—you said that you found someone in the basement. That's where they said they were going to take me once they were done."

Taeyong looked at her for a long moment. "You're going to have to be more believable," he said finally, but he lowered the gun. "We can't take a risk as big as that."

Mark gave him a look. "We can't just leave her here."

"We have no way of checking her story," he replied. "It couldn't have been vaguer, and if we take her in, we're running a big risk exposing ourselves like that. Plus, neither Taemin nor Lucas are here. This is not a decision you make without the entire team's consent." He glanced at the girl again, and Baekhyun saw his hard eyes soften somewhat. "The best we can do his leave her outside somewhere."

"You're forgetting something," Kai pointed out. "She's already seen Baekhyun's face."

They all looked at Baekhyun, who looked away embarrassedly.

"Great," Taeyong muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose and taking in a deep breath, as if for patience. "We'll take her to the base once, and wipe her. Then we let her go."

"No, no, you can't do that," the girl protested. "They'll find me. I know they will." She bit her lip, and a hard look came into her eyes, as if she were deciding to do something she wouldn't normally have done. "And I have information. Something that could help you guys."

Taeyong gave her a calculated look. "That's a bluff."

"Are you willing to risk it?" Baekhyun asked. He felt pretty useless. He was supposed to be the oldest, the experienced one who led the others, but his actions this night had been far from exemplary. "Let's just take her with us for now," he said, sighing. "we'll decide what to do later."

His earpiece crackled with static, and Mark gave him an alarmed glance.

"Come to the rooftop," Lucas spoke in a cold, excited voice that made goosebumps rise on his skin. "We found her."

|

it's been a long time wassup

so now you've met the not-so-famous oc !! what do you think of her so far? is she annoying? i hope she is, i like my ocs that way lol. the plot is slowly thickening and i'm really hyped about it. it's too early for theories, but what are your thoughts so far? 

(you'll have a name for her soon dw)

love,
manx.