(Y/N) POV:

"Go on save the child. Save it. Just like your pathetic mother tried to save you." he goads once again, eyes cruelly lighting up with enjoyment.

I feel weak and shaky but still push myself up, moving my uninjured side to stabilise me and then I edge closer to the child, a mixture of shuffling and crawling- hearing the vindictive delighted laughter ring in my ears as I move. It makes my soul scream in agony- knowing that this is the man who ruined everything for me. And yet I can't change it because still I move to try and protect the boy, try to shield his eyes from seeing a monster.

"Go on...hold him close. Give him that comfort as he lies there dying." He urges, eyes red with amusement. But even so I angle the boy behind me, present myself as a barrier between the two, even if I feel my body burn as if its alight, feel the flames mercilessly lick along wounded skin.

He digs his fingers into my right side, cruel and vicious. And the nausea reaches its bursting point- stomach spasming and heaving as I empty it out onto the concrete.

"You came and took my Yoongi away." He whispers dark and furious, face close to mine that I can smell the blood off him in thick rolling waves.

I stare at him knowing now that he's the monster who hurt Yoongi. He's the reason Yoongi was so hesitant in ever accepting the bond between the two of us. And alongside the fiery pain comes white hot anger, searing and consuming.

And as I twist and writhe to rid myself off his grip, he grins joyous and bright, voice elated and light.

"You fight back too? Excellent!" he exclaims.

And then he pins me down, body harshly and intrusively pressed against mine, feeling helpless and suffocated- mind tearing itself apart and body protesting in pain even as I continue to struggle when I feel the air punched out of me when deep claws gouge into my abdomen, pinning me down even as he croons in my ear.

"At least Yoongi fought back more." He goads.

And despite the fact that my vision keeps blurring and I can't seem to keep eyes firmly on him, I answer him.

"Yoongi escaped and survived you. And I'm glad." I hiss and spit the blood that's gathered in my mouth onto him, see the flecks that mar his skin.

His grin slides off, a snarl replacing it.

"He'll always be mine." He says, arms forcing my body harder against the ground.

"He belongs to himself." I rasp out, blackness seeping into my vision, tinged with red.

I feel my lungs shudder and struggle to force air out, feel them getting crushed under him.

And the last bit of air in them tears a pained scream out of my throat, again and again, body too tightly compressed, heart losing strength to keep beating.

I scream in agony, in pain, in a plea.

"(Y/N)! (Y/N)! It's alright...you're not there anymore. You're at the nest. You're home." A voice comes filtering through the agonising keening sound that rings in my ears, soft, begging, and gentle.

My throat feels like it's on fire, body feeling the phantom weight still pinning me down and I twist to fight it off, because I don't want the weight on me, don't want to be pinned against the ground.

The screaming peters off a bit and through the slight quietness I beg.

"Off. Off. Please get it off." I whimper, body feeling constrained and suffocated and restricted- eyes blurring and trying to get the sight of the starless sky out. But it won't go...why won't it go? Is it all over?

Suddenly the weight moves off me, lungs frantically sucking in air, fearful that I won't get the chance again, that he'll come back and end the brief respite.

"You need to breathe. And focus on my voice. Can you do that? Listen to my voice." A soft calming voice comes through, urging me to listen, to comply.

I lean towards that voice blindly, shutting my eyes and squeezing them shut. And when I open them, the sky's gone. And I sob and gasp with relief. It's not over. 

And even through my shaking and trembling, I seek out the comfort of that voice- the voice who wraps around my heart in a warm gentle embrace, soothing and healing.

Slowly my breaths even out and the shaking stops and I finally see the ceiling, the decorated walls and when I lower my head I meet a pair of soft brown eyes looking at me with tender concern. Not malicious. Not hateful. Not lit up in cruel pleasure.

I'm not there....I'm not there I tell myself.

"Better?" Jiminie asks.

Not trusting my voice, I nod.

And then slowly look around the room, see that the others are close but not touching me, a protective circle that also gives me some space to move and breathe. But they're looking panicked and hurt and angry. And when my eyes land on Jungkookie, my heart squeezes painfully. Why is he crying? 

I reach out a trembling arm for him.

"---Kookie..." I mumble out. He turns quickly towards me, head moving off the chest it had been resting against, straining against the arms that are holding him back.

"Hyung she called me...let me go to her." he asks, tapping at the hand urgently.

Jinnie oppa doesn't let go, stares at me concerned. As if letting him go will make me upset.

"I want him." I whisper, straining further out for him, when the grip around him goes and he rushes forward.

"Is it okay if I hold you?" he asks, voice slightly hoarse and pained.

I nod slowly, mentally bracing myself for the constricting feeling to come but his hands go around me so lightly, so carefully as he places me into the cradle of his legs that I feel nothing but relief and contentedness from the way he holds me towards him, gently mindful of my injuries, hands resting low on my waist.

My eyes seek out Yoongi oppa because he'd promised to stay and I feel a slither of panic but then he's gently kneeling in front of me, hand carefully reaching out to cup my face- eyes fearful as if waiting for me to push him away. The moment his hand cups my jaw, I lean into the touch, pressing my cheek into his cool soft hand.

"You stayed." I mumble to myself.

"Of course I did." He replies, soft and gentle.

I feel my head throb painfully and even though I feel drained I don't want to sleep. Don't want to close my eyes and be trapped again. Don't want to go to sleep and fear if I'll wake up.

And then through the slight silence comes a vicious, vehement hiss.

"I hate him. And I'll make him pay." Tae's deep voice comes through, thick with emotion and breaking slightly when he clenches his fists- eyes fluttering shut.

And even though his voice deepens with vengeful promise, I'm soothed by them, by all of them even as they curl around worried and hurting alongside with me, somehow it reiterates and confirms that even if I'm struggling to piece myself together, they'll help to make me whole again.

JOON POV:

The night doesn't pass by easily at all. The remainder of it anyways.

It was already late when we'd finished talking, all of us falling into silence as we processed the information, silently sought out each other for comfort and reassurance in each other's presence by wounding arms and legs together, loosely entangled embraces as we watched over (Y/N) sleeping.

But the night was shattered with the most devastating pained screams from a frozen figure in Yoongi hyung's arms. The screams tore apart our souls and shattered the silence with fear so thick and cloying I was suffocating under it.

And when her eyes had flown open, they'd been blank and unseeing- frozen and trapped in the remnants of her nightmare and Kookie who'd been curled against her, leaning into her had bolted back in alarm when she cried and begged for something to be taken off, voice broken as she writhed and twisted- every note of her voice filled with agony. And when he'd watched with tearing eyes, the way her body sucked in shuddering deep breaths of air- I feared and wondered what it was that she was seeing, feeling; a numb sort of horror seeping through the bond.

I watched through a thick, drowning haze as Jiminie rushed forward and murmured words to calm her, his ability saturating each syllable with calm, gentle notes- wounding their way around her and urging her to feel the same way, to calm down. And how after she'd slightly calmed down, her eyes roved the room taking us all in, freezing on Kookie. Kookie who was being held by Jin hyung.

And the heart-breaking way she reached out for him, asked for him. And when he'd held her, rather than it triggering the horror again, it lessened that feeling in the bond, made the numbness abate slightly; but still she was restless until she saw Yoongi hyung.

This was the third time she had actively been seeking him out, and whilst it was a rush of warmth seeing how she yearned for her mate, there was something worrying in the way her eyes were filled with a frantic energy until she confirmed he was there, he was with her.

I had a horrible feeling that it had something to do with what had happened to her, and I wondered whether he had tormented her with Yoongi hyung's name, had brought her a deeper soulful pain whilst being tortured.

I couldn't bear to see her struggling to pick herself up, couldn't bear to see the pain that filled each unconscious and conscious gesture, expression, and her voice. 

I wanted to hold her away from it all, let us hunt him down and make him pay all whilst knowing she was safe at the nest.

I wanted her to recover and heal properly, wanted to urge her to feed but respected her choice not to.

I wanted the smiling, joyous mate who was stolen from us.

But I didn't know how long it would take to find her again.

But I also knew that none of us would stop until we had.

We would help her heal, try, and bring her mind refuge in other tasks and pastimes.

But there was no way I was going to sit back and see her suffer like this.

It had been but one day and I felt shattered.

It made me fear how long her recovery process would be, and whether she'd end up hurting herself in the process.

TAE POV:

"(Y/N)...." I sigh, voice hurt and disappointed as I look at her.

She looks at me unhesitant, face meeting my worried expression with her own determined one.

"Please tell me you were not considering heading back to lessons." I say, feeling concern and worry as I take in the sight of her entering the kitchen, dressed and ready despite the early hour, Jiminie following behind disapprovingly.

My words catch the attention of our mates, who turn confused and shocked to take in the sight of our baby mate, determinedly walking without assistance to the kitchen table, waving off Jiminie and Kookie who flutter nervously on either side of her with their arms outstretched.

"I only have one lesson." She mumbles, meeting my eyes.

"It's only been a few days, give your body the chance to rest." I insist, reaching out to gently stabilise her when she leans against the table with a pinched expression.

She stubbornly looks at me, fire in her eyes.

"I want to. If I sit around doing nothing I'll go mad." She huffs.

But the fact that her voice doesn't come out in anything except a monotone makes me believe that she means every word she says.

The hyungs round the other side of the table, Yoongi hyung displaying clear disapproval of her idea, Jin hyung fretting aloud as he sets the plates down and Hobi hyung rounding past Joon hyung to gently help her into a seat.

"(Y/N)...you're still in pain." Hobi hyung murmurs gently, hands brushing tenderly across her face as he murmurs a few healing charms.

She sighs and relaxes as the charms take effect, leaning into the touch but the determined expression she's pulling makes me realise just how we're going to convince her.

"Oppa you said I was getting better slowly. And though I love it at the nest, I feel cooped up. I want to go back to normal, bit by bit." She says, looking earnestly at him, voice soft as she goes to wrap her hands around his wrists, anchoring him there.

Hyung wavers. We can all see it.

"How long is your lesson?" Joon hyung asks, expression contemplative.

"Joon-ah, not you too!" Yoongi hyung says exasperatedly, even if his eyes have softened as they look at (Y/N)- clearly in the process of considering it too.

"Hyung she can't! She's in pain walking...how is she meant to get to and from lesson, not to mention exert herself too?" I say, becoming frustrated because why isn't anyone seeing just how she looks exhausted, how she's being stubborn even as we catch her grimacing still?

"Tae I'll be with Kookie, it's one lesson and I just want to go out for a bit. Don't try keep me in." (Y/N) says, voice a mixture of frustration and a pleading lilt.

Her eyes flash red as she looks at me, revealing that my rejecting of her idea is bothering her more than she's letting on, it's triggering her instincts and she's close to snapping at me.

Maybe that's why I say yes, why I relent.

And also because I am a weak, weak man for sad pouty mates.

"You take the herbal tonics Jinyoung sent over, you let Hoseok-ah give you any more healing charms he thinks you need and you visit MJ with me after lesson." Jin hyung states as she turns to eat breakfast, voice clearly stating his negotiating demands to let her go to lesson.

"And you let me feed you breakfast." Jiminie says, plopping down next to her.

"And you give me cuddles before you leave."

"And you give me a goodbye kiss before you go."

The room erupts in an echo of 'me too'.

"And you let me be your cuddle buddy." I bargain.

But I see the slight hint of a smile tug at her lips as she fiddles with her fork.

And then she hands the fork to Jiminie with a fond huff.

"A hard bargain but deal." She says.

But even as she allows Jiminie to feed her, allows Jin hyung to press the vials of tonic to her lips and parts them easily and leans into the touch- there's a shadow that masks her usual radiance and enjoyment, the fatigue I'm seeing is more than just physical- it's deeply rooted in her. 

And I mentally resolve to keeping a closer eye on her, seeing her so silently distraught and suffering makes me itch to shift, so I can satiate those instincts too but right now she needs her mates.

Not her mates plus a new revelation.

That can wait.

And even if I feel those instincts rise and threaten to push against the barrier- I don't let them.

Right now (Y/N) matters. Not what my mind is pleading me to do.

(THERE YOU GO! AHHH WHAT'S TAE HIDING I WONDER?? AND LOOK AT HER- I TOLD YOU HER PLANS WOULDN'T BE ACCEPTED BUT AT THE SAME TIME I GET WHAT NORMALCY SHE'S TRYING TO GET, SHE WANTS TO BUSY HERSELF UP SO SHE DOESN'T HAVE TIME TO THINK ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENED AND YOU CAN BET IT MIGHT DELAY HER MENTAL RECOVERY, SIMPLY COS SHE'S TRYING NOT TO DWELL ON IT. MY POOR BABY! AND LOOK AT THE BOYS BARGAINING...IT WAS A SWEET SIGHT TO IMAGINE SO I JUST HAD TO ADD IT IN. I HOPE EVERYONE IS STILL ALIVE AFTER THIS ANGSTY SUFFERING FLUFFY MIX WE GOT GOING ON AND BE BRAVE SWEETHEARTS- WHO SAID IT'S OVER? BUT I SWEAR I'LL TRY BRING IN MORE FLUFF, I HOPE IT WASN'T DISCONNECTING TO READ IF THAT MAKES SENSE! LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS LOVELIES AND STAY SAFE!)

We can hide and pretend that we aren't hurting, can make the daylight push the darkness to the side, but when it's night, when we're alone- what's to stop the shadows from consuming us? Be strong and overcome those demons.

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3