Even though Ten was supposed to be the invisible one, he didn't see Jeonghan's hands come down on the legs of the chair. The movement was as quick as a snake darting at its prey, fluid and quick and efficient. He grabbed the legs of the chair, and ice spread down the metal like moss on an unrolling stone. Ten dropped the chair hastily, but not before some of it touched the tip of his fingers.

He hadn't registered it at first, but the sensation was like someone had placed a flame at his fingertip. It felt hot, which meant that it was so cold that his nerves had failed to recognize it.

Ten hissed, drawing back his hand, and the chair broke into shards of ice. He stepped back, looking up to see Jeonghan looking right at him. He pulled away, realizing that his cover had fallen away, and let himself become invisible again.

"You shouldn't touch me," Jeonghan said. There was bitterness in his eyes, but it didn't seem directed at him. Ten straightened, confused about how he was supposed to react, and the man looked at his hands. "It'll kill you."

"Is that a threat?" Ten asked, stepping away. His voice sounded deeper through the alteration device around his throat, and made him sound less confused than he was, for which he was thankful. A fallen shard of glass caught his eye, and he stepped towards it slowly. "Because it kind of sounds like a threat."

Jeonghan's fingers curled into fists, but he made no move to use his powers again. "My hands can kill," he said somberly. "Perhaps the name Angel is unfit for me, because my fingers don't heal, they kill."

"Well, you are very...angelic," Ten stammered, switching positions as soon as he spoke to make sure the man opposite him couldn't get a location on him. He had the shard in his hands now. "I'm guessing you're not very familiar with this villain stuff."

"If I wasn't made for this, I wouldn't be here, would I?" the Angel asked. "You shouldn't be sorry for hurting me. I am a creature of disgrace; even if I were born an angel, I am long fallen." He looked at his hands, and the air around him quivered as steam rolled off him in blankets. "I am a monster."

"A monster?" Ten asked, surprised. Jeonghan seemed distracted, and if there was a perfect time to hit him, it was this. While his attention was elsewhere, if Ten was fast enough, he could jump off a table and bury the glass in his chest easily—but something held him back. "You're...you're art."

The glass wall behind Jeonghan broke as a figure crashed through it. Jeonghan was thrown forward as the man's feet hit him from the back, but he recovered quickly, whirling and throwing out his hands. The fallen pieces of glass from Lucas's earlier accident flew towards him, and Ten had to step on the table and jump to the other side of the diner to avoid any of them tearing holes in his body.

The figure shook off the tiny pieces of glass that had stuck to him from his assault on the glass, patting his blue hair for any stray bits. "Twice in one day," Taeyong muttered, brushing his arms. "Not bad."

Jeonghan's eyes had frozen over, but his expression remained calm. "It's you again."

Taeyong raised an eyebrow, looking over his long coat judgmentally. "Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?"

"Dude," Ten groaned, dropping his guise. "Come on."

"No, I'm pretty sure his mom is like, Cruella de Vil or something. You know, the coats and the white fur and all," Taeyong said, shrugging. He turned to Jeonghan again, regarding him. "I remember you, Angel. You tried to take me to heaven."

Jeonghan looked back at him coolly. "Heaven has no place for someone like you."

"Whatever, I'm an atheist anyway," Taeyong said. "You still tried to kill me, though."

"I didn't."

"You literally sucked all the heat from my body."

"Not all of it."

"Oops, my bad," Taeyong replied, putting as much sarcasm into his tone as he could muster. "Just enough to leave me on my deathbed, then."

"I knew your friends would find you," Jeonghan said, raising an eyebrow which was as faultlessly white as a snowed-over landscape. "And they did."

"Lucky for you, huh?" Taeyong asked.

"Tae—" Ten started.

"Oh, no, no, no, no," Taeyong said, placing a finger over his mask and giving him a look. "No real names, remember?"

Ten rolled his eyes, but raised his arms into a defensive stance and disappeared again. Taeyong rolled his neck to work out a kink, and the ice-glass shards in front of Jeonghan rose around him like spikes floating in water, the points aimed at the two.

"You take the left," Taeyong said to Ten. "I'll go right."

The shards flew through the air towards them, and they dived to opposite sides. Taeyong rolled forward and came up twice—his clone dove towards Jeonghan's feet, and Taeyong took the head.

"No!" Ten yelled.

Jeonghan raised his hands to grab him, but wasn't fast enough. Taeyong swung around so he was sitting on his shoulders, ad locked his ankles so he was choking him. Taeyong #2 grabbed the Angel's forearms and forced them behind his back.

"Ten!" Taeyong called, and Ten raised the shard, hesitating. Jeonghan strained against Taeyong, but his efforts seemed futile. Taeyong #2 seemed to be struggling, and Ten knew that all Jeonghan needed was a direct touch to the skin to leach his energy again. "Now!"

Move, Ten told himself, but his body refused to obey. Whose side are you on? a voice at the back of his mind hissed. The guy who almost died for your cause, or some secretive criminal you met minutes ago?

Just as he was about to make up his mind, Lucas sailed through the broken door again, this time still grappling with the wolf. They crashed into Taeyong and Jeonghan, and hit the display counters, and Ten winced at the sound of crushing glass. They'd have a lot to pay for damages.

Jeonghan was up before Ten could get to them. The wolf bared its teeth, snapping at Lucas's throat, but he grabbed its forelegs and Sparta-kicked it in the chest, making it fly backwards. The wolf landed against a table, and got to its feet quickly, making towards Lucas again, but Jeonghan raised a hand.

"Changkyun," he said in a warning tone. "Not now."

He then looked up, glancing at Ten for a split second before turning and walking out of the collapsed side of the restaurant.

Ten ran after him, but when he got outside, he could see nothing. There was a blood trail leading to the back, probably left by the injured werewolf, but Ten had watched enough horror movies to know that splitting up when he had two perfectly good Supers to back him up was going to get him killed. He went back inside, and rushed to his teammates.

Lucas was up, but he did not seem to be in good shape. His plainclothes outfit had been clawed through, and the long cut on his arm was stained with fresh blood. He didn't look too good, either—one eye was almost swollen shut, and he looked bone-tired.

Taeyong, on the other hand, was still collapsed against the overturned display counter. The metal of one side had been twisted away, and that below had a crater the size of Taeyong's torso. He groaned and sat up, blinking hard. He seemed unharmed except for some minor injuries, and he wasn't dead, which was a nice development.

"Come on, man," he muttered, glaring at Lucas weakly. "We had him!"

"Sorry," Lucas replied drily. "I'll ask you for your permission the next time a wolf throws itself at me bodily."

"Not the first time, too." Ten sighed. "There's a blood trail, so they're out back—most probably with the other two. Where are the others?"

"Mark's out scouting," Taeyong replied, getting to his feet with difficulty. "Shao was behind me, but I never know where she ends up so I don't expect anything from her."

"No names," Taemin's voice crackled in their earpieces, and Ten's brow furrowed as he touched his receiver. "They've already broken past the encryption, and we can't afford to have them leak any information about us."

"Don't they know, though?" Taeyong muttered. He pulled off his mask and rubbed the bridge of his nose, blinking tiredly. "They know about Mark already."

"And Taemin," Ten added.

Taeyong frowned. "What?"

"Ah, right. You have some catching-up to do."

"We can't assume anything," Baekhyun said. "Our priority right now is keeping our sources safe. Get them and the records out of here, and we'll figure the rest out later. Just make sure you don't get heavily injured."

"A little late for that, but sure," Taeyong said. "Where are you?"

"Downstairs."

"This place has a downstairs?"

"Let us do the talking for now," Lucas said before addressing Baekhyun. "Are the civilians with you?"

"Yes, but we can't keep them for much longer. One of them has a bullet wound," Baekhyun replied. "Get into position."

"How do we know who's being talked to?" Taeyong asked.

"You'll know. Hopefully."

"Doesn't sound like a very hopeful prospect."

"Guys, guys, guys," Mark's voice broke through, breathy and excited. "You have to go around to the back. I think I found—"

Before he could complete his statement, someone screamed.

|

filler much?

i promise things get better, but i suck at writing fight scenes so this is completely new territory for me. and it's not just who shot who like hunt, there's powers and everything so i suffer through the whole writing ordeal rip

also (this might be irrelevant) but i feel this weird cool sensation at my nape and between my shoulders when i sit and write so if you guys know anything about that, is that bad? bc i think it's pretty bad. i slouch over the laptop for hours every day, i really need to fix my posture.

and thank you so much for the sweet comments in the last chapter ;-; unfortunately i can't reply to all of you individually but please do know that i see them all and am very grateful for them <3

love,
Manx.