The drive home wasn't tense, but it wasn't comfortable either.

Hongjoong kept San sedated the entire ride. None of them knew what he would be like when he woke up, and having Yunho there would be the best bet to help keep him calm.

He had asked Yeosang to start working on another headband immediately.

The Wolf Pack must have been working on hacking into the system for them to be able to override the other one. San had been doing so well, so they knew the headband worked.

Hongjoong sighed as he worked to stay focused on the road, but his eyes kept drifting the the backseat.

Jongho and Seonghwa were on the ends of the row, while Wooyoung was sitting between them with his head on Seonghwa's shoulder. San was laying down on their lap with his head in Jongho's lap.

He was surprised to see how close Wooyoung and Seonghwa had become and he knew there had to be a story there, but whenever he made eye contact with the older, he just got a sad shake of the head.

It was obvious that Seonghwa was beating himself up too right now, for letting his father get away.

Hongjoong pursed his lips. What a sticky situation this was turning out to be.

And now they were on a time limit. The Wolf Pack would be doing everything they could to get their machine up and running within the 48 hours, which was now 45. And would be 44 by the time they got back to the ranch.

Yeosang had assured him that he was still following them and keeping an eye on where they ended up so they knew where to go.

Time was not their friend right now.

When they finally pulled up to the ranch, Yunho was waiting for them on the porch, looking anxious.

Despite the couch, he ran down the steps and pulled San into his arms to carry inside.

The rest of them unloaded their gears so they could go through what they had used and what they might need to bring.

The wonderful smell of grilled meat met Hongjoong's nose the second he stepped inside. His stomach growled and he turned not where Yeosang had set out a bunch of food for them. "I thought you could take this chance to refuel before we head out. You all need to try and rest as much as possible."

"Yeosang w-"

The hacker held up a hand. "I'm still programming the headband for San, and they haven't stopped yet. Hongjoong you will need your strength." He said with a firm tone.

Hongjoong sighed and gave him a crooked smile. "You're right. We can eat and sleep a little. Hopefully they don't go too far away."

"So far it looks like they may be heading back to the main base, but it's hard to say." Yeosang ran a hand through his hair. Then his head turned to the side when Jongho entered the room and he ran to the fighter's side.

The couple embraced each other while Yeosang let out a few sobs. "I was so scared for you." He muttered into Jongho's neck.

A deep chuckle came from behind Hongjoong and he turned to see Mingi smiling at the couple while also pulling Hongjoong away. "I'm glad they made up." He whispered. Then he held up a pair of chopsticks, offering Hongjoong a slice of meat.

He accepted gladly and hummed, now realized how hungry he was.

Mingi worked on making plates for everyone and delivering them.

In the other room, Yunho had San situated on a pile of blankets on the floor and had his head resting on a pillow, just watching him while waiting for Yeosang to finish the headband.

Hongjoong walked up to where Seonghwa was sitting on a couch with Wooyoung straddling him and resting his head on the older's shoulder. They both had their eyes closed and were just holding each other.

"Hey." The leader said quietly, pulling up a chair.

Seonghwa opened his eyes. His forehead creased as he studied Hongjoong. "Hey..."

Now things were awkward. Hongjoong didn't fully know what to say. It had been so long since they had been together as a group, and he started to feel bad for suspecting Seonghwa for not being truthful with him.

"Listen... I-" Hongjoong started but Seonghwa just shook his head.

"Please don't. I don't want to worry about anything that happened before we were taken. I can already guess that you must have suspected me and it's ok. I gave you every reason to." Seonghwa spoke slowly as he rubbed Wooyoung's back.

"Ok. Let me ask this at least. Are you ok?" He emphasized the last word so Seonghwa knew that he was genuinely worried.

"No. But I will be once this is over." Seonghwa said slowly.

"Did he say anything to you that could help us?"

"Joong." Mingi said softly. "We can talk about that in a bit. Let them eat." He handed Seonghwa a plate piled high with food.

"You're right, sorry." Hongjoong sighed and sat back in his chair, accepting a plate from Mingi as well.

Seonghwa kissed Wooyoung's neck a couple of times as the younger started to pull away, then turned back to Hongjoong. "No, it's ok. I've been searching through everything I can remember. Father was very tight lipped and didn't want to share plans with me. I hand't earned his trust yet..."

Wooyoung ran a hand slowly over Seonghwa's chest to try and comfort him.

"But he kept saying things about erasing a mistake, and that none of this would matter anymore. I don't get it." The oldest sighed slowly.

Hongjoong didn't like the sound of that either.

They sat in silence for a long moment, Jongho and Yeosang came to join them as well, and Hongjoong took a moment to soak in the fact that they were all together again.

He sent silent thoughts up to his dad, thanking him for the new family. This is where he belonged, by their side.

And he always would.

A short time later, a ding sounded and Yeosang flew out of Jongho's arms, only to come back seconds later with a new headband.

Yunho took it and placed it on San's head while Wooyoung handed a tablet to Yeosang.

"It's how they controlled him. There's a microphone on the back." Wooyoung said softly, glancing down at San with a worried expression.

Yeosang hummed to himself as he started working his way through the tablet. He nodded at Hongjoong quickly, and the leader stopped the flow of sleep serum entering San's body.

"Ok, Yunho when he starts to wake up I want you to talk to him. Let him hear your voice, ok?" Yeosang said as his fingers continued to fly over the screen. "I think I've managed to release the control on him, but I've got it pulled up just in case.

.

.

.

.

Yunho nodded and ran his hands through San's hair. He could feel his body tense as he refused to look away from his love. He silently begged for San to open his eyes...

The minutes passed slowly as they waited.

When San's eyelids started to flutter, Yunho leaned forward and pressed his lips to San's ear. "Sannie, it's Yunho. Your Yunie. I'm right here. You're safe, and you're home. I've got you baby. Everything is going to be ok."

San let out a soft moan and leaned into Yunho's hand.

His heart started to race faster. If Yeosang fixed this already he was a genius.

Several minutes passed while Yunho continued to coach San into awareness.

Wooyoung had slipped off Seonghwa's lap to take San's other hand, watching him with wide eyes.

Yunho felt bad, he hadn't even welcomed Seonghwa and Wooyoung home, so he reached across and placed a hand on Wooyoung's shoulder, offering him a quick smile.

The younger gave him and understanding look before glancing back at San.

After another few minutes, his eyes slowly opened and he blinked. "Where..." He looked around. "What happened?"

"Sannie?" Yunho leaned over him and cupped his cheek.

The younger blinked a few times. "Yunho." He whispered, smiling gently.

"Hi baby. How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts... I feel like..." San's eyes grew wide and brought his hand up to cover his mouth. "What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything." Yunho said quickly, emphasizing the 'you'. "Everyone is home and safe."

San hesitated, then turned his head to the side as if just realizing someone else was holding his hand. "Youngie!" He sat up and pulled Wooyoung into his arms.

The pair hugged each other, breaking Yunho's heart a little. The last time Wooyoung had been with them, San had thought he had done something to hurt the younger. And finding out he had been behind the break in because he had sent coordinates out nearly broke him.

"Y-You're ok." San whimpered, squeezing tighter.

Wooyoung flinched, but made no sign of letting go. He turned his head to find Seonghwa and that seemed to relax him a little.

Yunho glanced between the two of them. He had always know something was there, but Seonghwa had seemed a little distant for awhile.

He was happy the two of them had been brought together, even if it was over something like this. And they way they looked at each other told him that something had happened that had changed them somehow.

When San finally let go of Wooyoung, he turned around to look at Yunho with wide eyes. "How are you feeling? Why are you out of bed?!" He almost screeched in a high pitched voice.

Everyone started laughing, making him turn bright red as Yunho pulled him into a hug. He started to cough again, but he shook it off and rubbed the back of San's head. "I'm better now that I know you're ok."

"Regardless," Hongjoong leaned forward and gave Yunho a hard look. "You need to keep resting."

"No, you're no-"

"I'm not asking you to stay behind." Hongjoong held up a hand, asking for everyone's attention. He glanced around the room. "We are all going to rest now. Yeosang I want you switching off with someone so you can sleep a little too. We are all going to be as rested as possible if we are going to do this. There is no one who can help us."

Everyone looked at their leader with wide eyes and hard faces as he spoke.

"We are on our own. It's going to be the eight of us against the entire Wolf Pack. But we need to do this. I have faith that if all of us work together, we can win this. No one else is going to step up to the plate. We have the skills, the talent, and the knowledge needed to take them down. Look at what four of us accomplished when getting into that facility. And then when Wooyoung and Seonghwa joined in it went even better. I am proud of all of you, and no matter what happens, you are my family. And once we get through this, we will find a place that we can settle down and not have to worry about anything every again."

Yunho felt his chest expand with pride as he looked at his best friend. He had turned into an amazing leader, even after all the hardships they had been through as a group.

After everyone had taken some time to eat, they broke off into their couples and slipped into their own bedrooms.

Yunho smiled when Mingi wrapped his arm around Hongjoong's waist and pulled him close and placing a kiss on his cheek.

Yeosang and Jongho were walking down the hall holding hands, the older's head resting on Jongho's shoulder.

Seonghwa and Wooyoung had stepped outside instead of going into a room, and Yunho couldn't say he blamed them after being trapped underground for so long.

He, on the other hand, pulled San into their room immediately and curled up in the bed with him.

They both placed soft kisses on each other's neck and cheeks, trying to convey every ounce of love they had for each other while they still could.

Because they both knew that as soon as the Wolf Pack stopped, their team would be moving out to go and take them down.