A/N: There's an Adrift callback in this chapter that I'm curious to see if anyone will pick up on...

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MILKY WAY TIME: 1 YEAR 3 MONTHS SINCE NAMJOON AND SEHUN WENT MISSING

SEHUN'S TIME: 12 HOURS SINCE HE WENT MISSING

"We're five minutes away. Might want to strap in, Pluto isn't known for safe landings," Jimin says, flipping a few switches Jungkook doesn't know the names of.

He straps in without protest, hearing the satisfying clicks and bringing his eyes up when he's sure he's secure. Jimin's oddly quiet, especially considering they were chatting up a storm not long ago. Maybe it's from the added pressure that this planet could give them all the info they need, or maybe it's him concentrating. Lord knows he was never a great pilot until he was forced to learn about it. Jungkook was unconscious when Jimin had to co-pilot on the Moon during the Ring battle, but whenever Jimin gets drunk (which is a lot) he'd always brag that he flipped not one, but two correct switches. He refused to comment on how many incorrect he flipped.

"I gotta say, I think I underestimated her. The Astray flies well, or maybe that's just her dashing pilot," Jungkook says.

"Stop giving me a boner, Jeon. I'm trying to fly."

"I could reenact that time Y/n gave you head while you practiced flying, want me to?" Jungkook offers.

Jimin snorts, shaking him off. "If you won't tell I won't. No man in his right mind would not be gay for you, Jeon Jungkook."

Jungkook leans back in his seat, the cocky smile on his face highlighted by the spotlights set up on the rocky surface of Pluto. Spotlights that are meant to mark any ships nearby. If Namjoon and Sehun came this way, they would know. That's the best news: not many come to Pluto. Some pass Triton to get to the space stations lingering in between (not that there's many), but no one comes as far as Pluto. They'd be suicidal to, that's why there's so few people who go to the research station. Not even Jimin has touched down on the planet before.

The small dome set up to protect the scientists from the harsh atmosphere welcomes them in, Jimin easing it through the forcefield on the top of the glass. "Jungkook, I'm automatically getting clearance here. Feels an awful lot like an emergency forcefield. Retransmit our codes and ask for confirmation that we have living souls down there."

Jungkook does as he's told, typing out the message and sending. He gets a confirmation moments later, both him and Jimin letting out a breath. The last thing they need is another layer to the mystery. Jimin eases them down on the far side, where a large landing platform is. It's nothing like the docks on Earth, or even on Triton for that matter. It's not a gigantic structure meant for holding ships. It's merely a stretch of black land being used as a makeshift pad.

"Alright. Ground rules," Jimin says as he sets the ship in park, making sure everything's locked down. "Number 1: don't be an idiot. Pluto scientists are whack jobs who only came out this far to never speak to normal people again. Number 2: let me do the talking."

"I thought rule number 1 was don't be an idiot, why am I letting you talk?" Jungkook asks.

Jimin nudges the man. "I may not have been on Pluto unlike our wonderful scientists Anya and Sapphire, but I've been in contact with the surface teams before. Or, more specifically, their somewhat sane ones. They actually talk normal, but from what I hear from Earth, the rest are bonkers."

"What exactly does that mean?"

"They're disguised as normal people, but once you get closer, you realize that's not true," Jimin explains, taking his pistol out from his side compartment. He checks to make sure it's loaded, Jungkook getting the hint and doing the same with his. "Keep it holstered but visible. Oh, and one more thing." Jimin stands, Jungkook doing the same and following his Captain to the armory.

Thanks to the Astray being a warship, it has a fairly large armory. Also thanks to Jimin being the most overprotective, cautious man in the galaxy (along with being the most trusting at the same time; it's a strange combo), there's an abundance of weapons. Some are types Jungkook doesn't recognize. His brows crease, Jimin picking up a small device.

"This is our new best friend," Jimin says, taking both that and an AR.

"Sir, elaborate?"

Jimin attaches the small triangle-like object to the side of his AR, the cyan core of the object lighting up. "My dear Executive Officer, remember when we traveled to Mars under orders from Alex Blaine to assassinate the Martian leaders?"

"Those were the days," Jungkook replies, a bittersweet taste lingering in his mouth. "Sucks that 'the days' consisted of killing and terror, but looking back, it shaped who we are. I'm grateful for them for that. Jimin, we got so close during that whole affair with me almost dying from the enhan-"

"Jungkook."

"Yes sir?"

"It was a yes or no question, not an invitation to start crying about the good old days. You can get on your knees, suck me off, and sob about how much you love me later, okay? We're on mission to save our sons."

Jungkook chuckles at his words. The amusement laced in between each syllable has Jungkook grinning with delight. Wow, he really did miss this. Going on adventures with his Captain. His best friend. The greatest friend he's ever had, yes, even over the one he's wearing a bracelet for.

On instinct, he feels the tight band, pulling at their friendship bracelet. Y/n L/n. Y/n Park now. His first relationship, and also his first friend. But Jimin still feels a bit stronger. Maybe it's because he's a guy, so naturally they relate to each other more (the sex jokes get obnoxious sometimes), or maybe it's because of things like this. This is how they bond. They're assholes. The nicest assholes in the solar system.

"Point is, these are mini cloaks," Jimin explains, activating it. The assault rifle disappears, a small wave of distortion surrounding it. He straps it around his body. "Pistols aren't gonna mean shit if we have twenty scientists storming at us. These are the crowd containers. But." Jimin stops abruptly, pointing his tiny index finger at Jungkook. "No shooting unless I say so. We're not taking innocent lives no matter how much furry porn they watch."

"Sir, quite frankly I'm a bit offended since Tae and I watch-"

"If you finish that sentence, even as a joke which I hope to God it is, I will throw away every moral I've ever had to shoot you eighteen times in the head."

"I'm surprised you didn't say sixty-nine times, sir."

Jimin whacks him, turning back to the triangle objects and placing one on another AR. "You're demoted for those comments, by the way," Jimin says, handing the now-cloaked AR to Jungkook. He points to the almost unnoticeable tint of blue in the center of the rifle. "That's how you take off the cloak, but I'm sure you know your way around a gun. At least well enough that you can shoot without needing to see the weapon. If not, just click the blue button once. Want to recloak? Tap it again."

Jungkook nods and experiments with it. "Nice work, Captain. I must admit I'm impressed, but how the hell did you get the tech for this? Earth put you in charge, sure, but in your words: 'They're a bunch of worthless shithags'."

"Shithags. I made a new word that day." Jimin proudly smiles, then grabs two extra cloaking devices and some extra rounds, strapping them to his utility belt and letting the Captain's attire he has on cover it. The cape of his cloak comes down to his heels, the streaks of navy blue combined with the white making Jimin stand out. He could sure use some help with that seeing as he's so short. Jungkook decides to keep that thought to himself; he's been whacked enough by Jimin today. "And for your information, I begged Earth for months to let me have samples of the cloaked technology."

"Oh wow, you begged? Would've killed to see that," Jungkook says.

"If you weren't so much of a bottom, maybe you could see it."

Jungkook glares at him. "I'm Tae's dom."

"You've heard Y/n screaming 'daddy' many times. Never heard Tae screaming that. If this is a dick measuring contest, I'd say I won."

"You did. Namjoon told me that." Jimin goes still. "Kim Namjoon," Jungkook clarifies. "During the whole 'removing my enhancements' episode, I was unconscious and saw Namjoon. We went to Mars and uh, we talked about the crew." Jungkook nudges Jimin. "He told us to cool it on the horniness."

"I've been trying for twenty-five years."

He chuckles, glancing down at his cloaked AR with admiration in his eyes. "I'll admit I asked who's dick was bigger and..."

"It was me. I know. Jungkook, we measured once."

"Wait what? We did?"

Jimin hums. "You were drunk and you whipped out your dick on accident in front of Seulgi."

"Pass out or scream and run away?" Jungkook asks with a disappointed sigh.

"She screamed and ran away. I whipped mine out too so you wouldn't feel bad. You were hard so you know, thought of my girl, got a bit hard myself-"

"You don't need to say the details."

"I don't need to say the details. Point is, yes, I'm bigger. We measured and you fell over like ten seconds later. Gotta hand it to you Jeon, you got a nice one too." Jimin pauses, turning to Jungkook. "And by the way, Earth didn't give me the technology no matter how hard I begged. I told Anya and Sapphire to handle it, that resulted in this. Earth has no idea I have portable cloaks. If they did, I'd probably be demoted even though Anya said she'd pin the whole idea on her and claim I didn't know about it."

"How the fuck is she married to Jin? She's such a sweetheart," Jungkook says.

Jimin shrugs, finishing loading up. For good measure, he grabs a shotgun too, cloaking it and strapping it around his back with the AR. Jungkook can only imagine how heavy his back must be feeling from the pressure. Jungkook stares at Jimin for a few seconds, observing him as he takes out a picture of Namjoon he has in his pocket.

"Namjoon got reincarnated into your son, didn't he?" Jungkook asks in a whisper.

Jimin's grip tightens on the picture, him releasing when his knuckles turn pale. He folds it up and tucks it back in his pocket, turning on his heel and striding out of the room. Jungkook straps his AR around his back, lingering a few seconds longer than he means to before joining Jimin in the main bay.

"If I have to be here longer than ten minutes, permission granted to shoot me," Jimin says.

"I've been waiting to hear those glorious words for over twenty years now. Thank you, Commander."

"At ease."

Jimin opens the main bay doors, keeping a cautious hand on his side, his fingers tapping against the metal of his handgun. Jungkook mimics the action, figuring it'd make them look more like a unit than they already are. If they look in sync, like they have this master plan, maybe the scientists will fear the dynamic duo. But no one would ever attack the two most important figures in history, would they? For impact, sure, but they'd have to be insane and suicidal. Oh, wait.

That's how Jimin described everyone on Pluto.

Jungkook and Jimin march out of the Astray, Jimin locking her up as soon as Jungkook's mag boots sink into the rocks littered across the terrain. Right away, Jungkook notices a group approaching. Great. Looks like whatever's going to happen will happen in less than a minute. Jungkook was never the patient type, so maybe that's for the best.

"Remember rule 1," Jimin mumbles, Jungkook agreeing right as the group of six stop mere feet away. "Hello sirs and ma'ams, my apologies for intruding, I hope to be in and out as quickly as possible. My name is Diamond Commander Park Jimin from the Tokyo. On my left is Diamond Executive Officer Jeon Jungkook. We're here for business purposes, I hope that's no trouble."

The lead woman dips her head in greeting. "No trouble at all."

The man next to her, however, narrows his eyes. Jungkook makes a mental note of all the different ways he can stop an attack before it happens. Or at least in the first few seconds of it happening. He could go for his gun, that seems like the easiest solution. Or he can try and talk down any tension, but Jimin said not to talk.

Jungkook calculates how long it would take to drop that man and kill the rest. The math works out in Jimin and Jungkook's favor, assuming they draw their weapons fast. They're older, much older, than they were in their prime, but Jimin's only gotten more training since then due to the harsh requirements laid on him, and Jungkook's never lost his speed. Taehyung's to thank for giving Jungkook practice.

"The Tokyo is opening an official investigation on the ships that traveled near the outer rim. This has nothing to do with your organization or research, I only request to see your ship logs dating from a year and a half back to now," Jimin says. Huh, Jimin did the same tactic. A year and a half rather than a year and three months. Smart. "We won't waste your time. If you could transfer that data to my comm, we'll be on our way in less than a minute."

"Now hold on a minute, pretty boy," the man says. The woman's left eye twitches, but she doesn't move to cut him off. "Government officials hate Pluto, don't think we don't know that. You think we're insane."

Jimin keeps his smile. "You think I'm pretty?"

"Is that seriously what you took out of that?"

"I try to see the positives in life. If I don't, I'll end up in a junkyard like this one." The man grits his teeth, but Jimin remains unaffected. "And I don't think you're insane, I know you are. Talking back to someone peacefully asking for data isn't taken too kindly by Earth, and I'm sure you know I'm in very close contact with them."

"Earthies," the man grumbles, balling his hands in and out of fists. Jimin points his index finger down behind his back. Jungkook's shipped with Jimin long enough to know it's Jimin's warning. A warning to not interfere with what's about to go down. Jungkook desperately wants to protest, but he knows it's for the best to listen to his Commander. "They come onto our territory trying to tell us how to live."

"Jungkook's from Mars, actually," Jimin remarks.

"Alright wise ass, I've had enough of you-"

The man cuts himself off by taking a swing at Jimin. The worst decision in his life. Jimin grabs the outstretched arm and breaks it, snapping his elbow upwards. The man screams in horror, Jimin punching him multiple times. They go down to the ground, Jimin beating him until the man surrenders. With an uninterested eye roll, Jimin composes himself, standing and wiping the blood off his knuckles and onto his cloak.

"Did you really think a few no one's from nowhere would be able to beat the leader of the solar system? Me? Park Jimin? You think I just walked into this position? You think I didn't fight both mentally and physically for it? Is that how little you think of me?" he asks, glancing around to see if anyone's next. The man Jimin beat to a pulp is whimpering and cowering away, Jimin not even looking his way. "Ship logs, now. If I have to ask again, my buddies from Earth, Mars, Triton, the Belt, and every other fucking civilization in existence will come and put a permanent end to your project. Have I made myself clear?"

They bow, rushing away to get what he asked. The injured man claws at the ground, Jimin sighing. "Inject him with a painkiller," Jimin mumbles. Jungkook obeys Jimin's request, grabbing an emergency stim from his belt and injecting it into the man. It won't heal him, but it'll at least knock away the pain until he can get serious help. Jungkook doubts the stim will do much; after all, the man has a shattered arm, and his face is so swollen it's probably numb.

Jungkook joins Jimin's side again, gazing at him. "Permission to ask you something, sir?"

"Granted."

"Were you showing off, or are you just an asshole?"

"A bit of both, Mr. Jeon, but we know I get those traits from you," Jimin replies, his eyes observing the scientists scrambling back with their data.

"Jesus, what's wrong with this place?" Jungkook asks.

"Being on a planet so far from life does things to you. It's like if we were stuck in the Ring on the Moonchild for years. We all have our mental limits. Why do you think this place is regarded as the planet people go to die? They don't mean death in a physical way. They never have."

Jimin and Jungkook stop their conversation when the others come into their vicinity. The Commander holds out his wrist, the scientist letting the data upload to it.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Jimin says with a charming smile. The groaning man crawls to his leader, several others picking him up and carrying him away.

"Let us know if we can assist you in any other way, sir," she says with a bow. Jimin nods, not replying. Instead, he returns to the ship, Jungkook hot on his tail. They enter, Jimin shutting the door as soon as they're inside. Jungkook's amazed to see Jimin lock it as fast as he can.

"Let's go. I don't have a great feeling about them."

"I mean, you kind of beat someone so bad he turned into a human pufferfish," Jungkook replies.

Jimin snickers, flicking on the shields to max power. The Commander doesn't speak as he departs from Pluto, checking his flanks every few seconds to make sure there are no ships following them or missiles locking on. "Keep an eye on our radar, I don't want anything bad to happen to us."

Jungkook glances over. He knows it's a terrible time to laugh, but he feels the urge to when he sees Jimin propped so far forward in the seat due to the invisible guns on his back. Jungkook is in a similar position, but he doesn't have the added joy of a shotgun strapped around him.

"On it, Captain," he replies, trying to hide the laugh in his words. Seeing as Jimin focuses on the takeoff, Jungkook succeeds.

"Let me know if you feel any light-headedness. I'll let you know if I feel any. You may have to take over the stick, I'm burning out of here fast. I want to be out of satellite range in less than a minute."

Despite the strange rush Jimin has, Jungkook doesn't voice his concerns. He makes sure he's strapped in, holding onto his seatbelt as Jimin soars through the forcefield. He doesn't ease up for a solid minute, Jungkook pressed against the seat with pain in his back from the weapons. Huh, he certainly feels forty-seven. He wonders if Jimin feels forty-nine.

"And we're free," Jimin announces, letting out a short breath. He unbuckles, putting them in a hold outside Pluto. The guns on Jimin's back become uncloaked, falling on the ground. Jungkook mimics his actions, letting the metal slide onto the floor.

"Alright, let's check the logs and get our confirmation," Jungkook says.

Jimin pulls the data up, and it's in that moment Jungkook realizes he doesn't really want to know the answer. He's been in the dark for over a year, and now he finally has a piece of light. The idea that his answers could be only seconds away has his heart beating faster, his skin clamming up from the intensity his whole life has brought him. Maybe it'll stop one day. Maybe not. To be honest, he'd be fine if it didn't. He'll be ready for whatever life throws at him. He has to be. For Sehun.

Jimin scrolls through, a frown littering his face. "There's no data for months. Only one ship came by here in the past six months, and only two in the year before that. Nothing matching their descriptions."

"Is it possible something happened to their trackers that day?"

"Ironic day to choose to malfunction, huh?"

"Very, but it's possible. Some people get shitty luck. Or maybe they really did leave the solar system and the edge fucked with the data or something. Remember we tracked a ship near the edge of the system before and its tracking was all fucked on every satellite around. Could be one of those situations."

"I hope," Jimin replies, swiping the data away. "You know what that means, right?" Jungkook swivels his head toward Jimin, the older letting out a warm breath before smiling, pain hidden behind it.

"Say goodbye to our solar system. We're going after our boys..."