Min Yoongi had a crisp biscuit in one hand and a pen in the other. He sat leaning over a detailed schematic of potential forcefield updates to the camp's perimeter that Woozi had left on his desk the night before.

The messy, brightly lit machinist workshop was empty and silent, save for Min Yoongi and the soft crunching of his dry wafer.

Overhead light fanned over the metal storage racks and the messy workstations cluttered with rubbish, papers, or misshapen forms of metal and circuitry.

A small screen was propped up on Yoongi's desk that looked like an empty metal picture frame. As he sat scanning his schematics and munching his snack, a green light in the corner of the frame on his desk flickered. The light and motion caught his attention and he looked up.

"Hmph."

He tapped at the edge of the screen and the blank glass was suddenly filled with color and sound.

"Hey, boss. It's Dean."

The screen was pixelated, but Yoongi could see clearly enough the pale face and jagged black eyebrows of his rogue man on a mission. He could also see that Dean was inside of his ship, for he was sitting in a tight little cockpit.

"Dean."

Dean's voice cracked a little, trying to feign a lack of nerves only to reveal how present they were. "So, you see Yoongz. We have a bit of a trainwreck on our hands and, yeah, I just thought that you should hear it from me before--"

"Trainwreck is the understatement of your career, you fuck-up." Yoongi's words were sharp, but his tone was tired. He didn't have the energy for the anger that this conversation truly required.

Dean winced politely.

"Lilith already called in. I talked to her very early this morning." Yoongi tucked the pen in his hand behind his ear and slipped the last of his biscuit into his mouth, chewing it slowly as if in angry meditation.

"Yeah, well, you did give them a day's headstart before giving me a call. So me not really showing up in time to stop the shit from hitting the fan isn't entirely just on me, but that's beside the point--"

"You don't need to explain the situation, Dean. Just fix it."

"But I thought you'd want to hear confirmation that--"

Yoongi interrupted him. "Chim got what he wanted. Joon's been turned, and now we have a fucking Haejok Ai dog under Park Chimin's control, and just one more reason to send that sick golden bastard to his grave before he gets out of hand and kills us all. And poor Lil, she is in complete denial. Kept saying that Joon was bound to her somehow, which is fucking nonsense. But lucky for her, Chim probably cares for her too much to fuck her over too bad. At least, I'm hoping, but honestly who knows with that sick mind of his?"

Just then the camera view became shaky and Yoongi watched it flicker in and out of focus a moment as it shook home-video style. He heard Dean shout, "HEY."

And then there was a different young man with suave black hair staring back at Yoongi through the small screen.

"Kim Seokjin. You look worse for wear."

"Save it, fatass. I just needed to correct you myself. You know how I love being right."

Yoongi sighed. This is a downright circus. "What?"

"Chimin isn't controlling anyone. He's dead."

Min Yoongi went rigid in his chair.

Somewhere off-screen, Dean muttered something incoherent.

Yoongi opened his mouth, but before he could form words Jin dove right in: "He stabbed Joon with a poisoned knife. Then I stabbed Chim and I killed him."

As soon as Jin admitted it, it was like his words lost control even more than usual. They became an avalanche that he couldn't stop, and across the galaxies Min Yoongi sat petrified in his chair, taking them in over his morning snack.

"And then Joon gave up his spirit before he died 100% to this freaky ass spirit lady named Quin inside the Library, and when he came to after that he convulsed a bunch like a man having a heart attack... almost worse to watch than the look in Chim's eyes when I... anyway, the first thing Joon did when that asshole came to some kind of normal was knock me so hard up the side of my head that I passed out cold and didn't come to again until your homeboy Dean was dragging my ass out of that mountain. So instead of chewing Dean-o here a new one for not being on time, you should give this man a fucking medal. First of all."

"Aww, thanks man. You do care."

"You're welcome. But your ship still smells like ass and I'm buying you an air freshener the first chance we get."

"You said it smelled like corn chips and nicotine. You lied to me."

Jin ignored Dean and turned his attention back to the screen. "And second of all, if Lilith thinks that asshole Kim Namjoon is whatever you just said he is then you better fucking listen to her. And if she calls you again you better also tell her that I love her and I am COMING for her, wherever the hell that monster takes her. Unless it's gonna give away our stealth cover mojo thing in which case you can leave out everything but the I love you part. YOU GOT THAT MIN FUCKING YOONGI?!"

Min Yoongi leaned forward in his chair and braced his index fingers hard against the bridge of his nose. He groaned, closing his eyes.

"Are you listening to me? This is no time to--"

Yoongi mumbled, "I'll send you any coordinate related updates for tracking their ship. Your priority now is to find Lilith, seize the texts, follow up on their lead about The Artifact, and absolutely don't kill Kim Namjoon. No matter how bad you're gonna want to."

He could still hear Jin rambling in an angry tone, so Yoongi sighed and mumbled, "I'll just write it up in a coded message and send it to Dean. I just... I can't right now, Jin."

The lethargic young man tapped at the side of the small frame propped up on his desk and the screen flickered clear and silent in an instant.

Damn, Jin. You did what even I didn't have the guts to do. ...You killed Park Chimin.

The lightness of tears caught Yoongi by surprise. He dabbed at his cheeks, shocked in more ways than one, as the wetness trickled light and quiet on his pale cheeks.

The image of a vibrant smile, of laughter like ringing bells, and a strong hand swiping playfully through golden hair flickered through Min Yoongi's mind and close to his heart. In his memory, Chiminie had innocent eyes. Spoke with the warm earnestness of a child. Held his own arm like a brother eager to hold fast and never let go of their adventures in store.

He's dead. I should be relieved. He was a threat. He was dangerous, unpredictable. He--

Yoongi slumped even more into his desk and his face fell into his hands. As the sharp detached words of Jin's confession played through his mind again, Yoongi's chest began to heave.

And Joon. I despised him but... not always. And not enough to send him into this hell. Not really. And now he's dead, too.

Memories of a time before echoed in him. Of Kim Namjoon making some attempt at a high-brow joke that Jin was always ready to shut down. The sound of his rich, warm voice guiding them all back at Noon Mool in the midst of chaos and strife, like a pillar of warm strength in the darkest night. Kim Namjoon--a man of kindness, honor, and wisdom. Or, he was.

But now he was broken.

And this was going to break Jin, too. Yoongi just knew it.

"Are they all... are we all... as good as dead?"

He whispered these quiet, desperate questions to himself as he leaned into his grief in the privacy of that mechanic shop, where he remained for a short while undisturbed.

--

The planet was cold and weighty. Each step took more strength than usual, even with a thick space suit engulfing Lilith's small frame working in its fashion to mechanically brace against the pressure and enhance the power of her own movements.

Though it was covered in grey rock, the landscape was relatively flat. It had made for a smooth enough landing, despite the strength of the planet's gravitational pull. And the flat landscape meant it was easy to land within quick range of the coordinates that Kim Namjoon had insisted were holding the key to their good fortunes.

He was just ahead of her, a scanner raised in his hands and coordinates flickering on a screen in front of him. Meanwhile, Lilith walked with a blaster in one thickly gloved hand, her senses alert.

It seemed like the planet was completely barren, save for the two of them. Which meant the only threat... was the one standing in front of her.

"Alright. It should be right here." Joon stopped in his tracks and stashed the scanner in a pouch in his suit's leg, slow and careful in his movements. Then he shifted one of his feet over the surface of the rock surface beneath him. "But it seems like my suspicions... were correct."

Lilith peered around him, and saw that there was a perfect diamond shape in the earth that was uncovered when Joon shifted away the dust that had settled there. In each corner of that diamond shape there were circular indentations, and Lilith imagined some kind of raised case around the artifact that was meant to fit perfectly into each small groove.

But it wasn't there.

Joon sighed and turned slowly to look back around at where Lilith stood. She saw his dark eyes ticked with genuine annoyance as he said, "I thought we'd get more of a hint or a lead than this. But this planet is so damn barren, there's really nothing to tell us anything. This is shit."

He sighed.

Lilith's eyes narrowed as she looked down again, scanning the terrain beneath Joon's feet. But she knew she was grasping at straws. She had no idea what she was looking for, if there was anything to be looking for at all.

"Alright, Joon. Let's get back to the ship then. Maybe you can skim some more of the writing and see if there's a way to track it down somehow."

Joon smirked darkly. "Wishful thinking, Lil, but if it means you'll--"

"Whatever you're about to say, don't. I don't have the energy." Lilith wiggled her hand that held the blaster as she made her next point, "Now get your ass back on the ship. Go on. I'll be right behind you."

Joon chuckled darkly. "You don't have the energy now, but maybe later."

Lilith lifted the aim of her blaster a little higher, pointing at his head.

Joon started shuffling his feet. "Alright, alright, captain. I read you loud and clear."