~Ten's POV~

"I-I don't understand," Yunho stammered next to me. I could see tears forming in his eyes as he tried to grasp at what was going on. "It has to be a mistake..."

The crew all had different looks of pain at the disturbing information but no one could bring themselves to look Yunho in the eyes. I tried reaching for his arm to calm him down but he pulled away, gaze never leaving the captain's. The Star King glared at the screen and took a steadying breath. "It's not a mistake Yunho—"

"Yes it is!" Yunho suddenly erupted slamming a fist on the table. He hit it so hard his knuckles split red and plates from breakfast clattered. Tears now freely streamed down his face full of hurt but he glared indignantly at the Star King. "Gunho would never do that to Jongho and you know it!"

"Yunho—" The Star King said warningly before the younger boy turned away from the table with a huff and began to pace. The tension was palpable as it settled into the air. It suffocated everyone and robbed us of our ability to speak. I could tell that no one ever anticipated Gunho to be part of Jongho's arrest so the crew was faced with a difficult decision.

"Captain..." Yeosang said quietly. He tapped on the screen and pulled up photos that were attached to Jongho's file. My stomach churned when one loaded for everyone to see.

It was a picture of a boy that couldn't have been much younger than the rest of the crew. He had dark sunken eyes under a mop of dirty auburn hair. Bruises of varying colors, new ones that were a deep purple to older ones that had faded into yellow, littered his gaunt face. If it hadn't been for the simmering hatred that he pierced the camera with in his gaze he would've looked like a corpse. The caption beneath the photo read 'prisoner 10-19 Choi Jongho'.

"Oh God..." Wooyoung gasped as he studied the screen, hands clenched into fists over the table. "What have they done to him?"

"J-Jongho..." Seonghwa said shaking his head slowly as tears came to his eyes. "It doesn't— it doesn't even look like Jongho..."

Mingi growled angrily, his eyes flaring in their brilliant amber light. "Whoever did this to him, I'm going to tear limb from limb!" He hollered and San sat quietly looking at the screen at a loss for what to say. He cast a worried glance over at Yunho, his eyes brimming with pain but whether it was for Jongho's or Yunho's sake I couldn't honestly say...

Yunho stood frozen with his eyes raking over the photo of his friend. He covered his mouth with a hand and sobbed. "No, it's not true..."

The Star King straightened up his steely eyes never leaving the screen. The hurt was there like everyone else but in place of tears there was a scowl and in place of pain there laid pure fury. "I'm going to kill every single soldier I come across," He vowed darkly. Everything in him was taunt like a cord pulled tight as he tried to control himself. His fists shook at his sides as he looked up at Yunho. "every single one..."

His declaration seemed to snap Yunho out of his daze and he shook his head. I could see him thinking desperately of anything to say that could save his brother. He quickly made his way over to the captain's side gripping the edge of the table as if it was the only thing keeping him upright. "No you can't! Please, please I'm begging you..." He sobbed. The Star King gritted his teeth and turned away from him. "Yunho they took my family, our family," He said. "I'm prepared to kill anyone, no matter who they are, if they get in the way of getting him back."

"I'm telling you it was a mistake!" Yunho shouted again now at the captain's back. "I know Gunho and he'd never do this—"

"Yunho if it isn't a mistake you have to be prepared for what we have to do," The Star King retorted his eyes ablaze. "You may have to make a choice between the two of them and I can't protect you if you side with an enemy—"

"Hongjoong don't you dare touch him! he's my little brother!" Yunho yelled completely beside himself. "He's the only family I have left!"

The Star King's cord drew tight and snapped at his words. He spun around on Yunho and grabbed fistfuls of his shirt with a roar. "Jongho is your brother! Jongho!" The captain shouted his eyes boring holes into Yunho's. "and dammit Yunho we are your family! You were alone and almost dead on the streets when I gave you a home!" His voice broke over the word. Even though the Star King was furious he was crying just as hard as the trembling boy in his hands.

Yunho clasped onto the captain's hands that held him and tried wrenching free. "You can't stop me from giving a shit about my brother, Hongjoong..." He snarled. Then he looked down at the captain coldly before saying. "I knew you wouldn't understand me. You've never had a real family."

The Star King recoiled as if Yunho had struck him.  Something in the Star King's eyes dimmed at Yunho's words before his face twisted into a mask of hurt and anger. "Yunho..." Mingi warned in a low voice as he came to stand by his captain's side.

The discontent in command was evident when the rest of the crew stood. Monster shoved himself away from the table and pointed a finger at Wooyoung and San who looked ready to throw themselves in between the two men. "Sit down!" Monster commanded loudly, his voice powerful with authority. "This is between Yunho and your captain-"

And then the Star King drew back his fist and punched Yunho once, hard.

He stumbled a bit on his feet with the captain's other hand still fisting his shirt holding him upright. He looked at the Star King stunned before wiping blood from his nose on the back of his hand.

"He abandoned you Yunho!" The Star King shouted. Yunho looked at him with hurt that was deeply etched into every part of his face. "I gave you somewhere to belong. It's here with us, with your family."

Everyone else watched the exchange between the two of them with bated breath and Hobi placed a gentle hand on my shoulder as I moved to stand up. "This has been a long time coming," He whispered with a sad smile before giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "This is how they make it right, Ten."

His words brought me right back to the first conversation I had with Yunho on the Planet of Wrought. I thought of how lost the man next to me in the red desert had seemed to be. Yunho had carried this heavy burden, maybe even a life's worth of pain, on his shoulders. The fight with the Star King was something he had regretted and was desperate to make right. He knew his place in the crew was home and he desperately wanted to be back with them just as badly as they did. Hobi and the rest of Monster's men must've seen first hand over those few months with him just how deeply he had been hurting.

Even so I glanced between the two of them apprehensively. The Star King never backed down and as the seconds ticked by the fight seemed to leave Yunho. It started with his slumped shoulders then his arms that fell to his sides until he finally crumpled against the captain and covered his face with trembling hands. "I know I just— I can't j-just stop loving him H-Hongjoong," He gasped, sucking in lungfuls of air as if he was suffocating. "I-I'm all h-he has left too."

Hongjoong loosed his grip on the front of his shirt and tugged Yunho into a hug. The younger cried into his shoulder and something in the captain softened at his tears. "I'll give him a choice then," He sighed and drew him in ever tighter as Yunho fell apart in his arms. "But this time he chooses you Yunho." Yunho merely nodded as he sniffed. I relaxed back into my chair relieved that after all this time back they'd finally reconciled.

I looked back up at the photo of Jongho and was filled with indescribable dread. Part of me was relieved the crew could finally be reunited with him but another was afraid of what we could be going up against in there. A military base would definitely be teeming with soldiers and deadly cyborgs alike. Even with Monster's men at their side, a fight in there would be more than dicey. The atmosphere in command suggested that everyone was thinking the same thing.

The fear of death is an overwhelming thing.

"So what's your plan Hongjoong?" Monster asked when the two broke apart. He turned his attention to the crew who all seemed to consider his question. "Like I said my men are at your disposal."

The Star King looked to the screen, the sight of Jongho concreting his resolve, before saying. "We need to act fast because it's a possibility that whoever was Yuyaga's inside man on this has learned of his death. It'll be far too difficult to break Jongho out if they're expecting us..."

"So you want to go in as quietly as possible?" Monster clarified and the Star King nodded.

"I want to get in and Jongho out before they even realize he's missing," He said quietly before giving a wicked smile to his men. "Let's do what pirates do best boys. Let's steal him."

The crew all laughed at his proposal and smiled knowingly between themselves. I looked between all of them and for the first time wondered at the faith they had in each other, an amount that would seem to take a lifetime to gain. Their confidence going into this nearly settled the anxiety that settled into the pit of my stomach. Almost...

Monster gave him a dimpled grin before shifting his attention to V. "Do we have some soldiers uniforms we can give to them?"

"Yes we've got them on our ship." V answered. Then in all seriousness he added. "But too many new faces may raise alarms so you'll have to decide on who's going in with you."

"I'm going Hongjoong," Yunho interjected immediately. His face was still streaked with dried tears but in place of sadness he had raw determination in his eyes. "If my brother had anything to do with this I want to know why. I deserve to know that much."

"Very well," The Star King conceded looking like he was already forming a plan in his mind. "But you'll be going in with me and Monster. It's far too dangerous to go in alone or even in pairs."

Once the pieces seemed to have fallen into place the Star King stood at the head of the table and issued orders. "Mingi, Jungkook, and San will form another group and search the other half of the vessel. Keep your weapons hot but do everything you can not to draw any unnecessary attention. Wooyoung and Seonghwa, you'll be on standby to offer air support in case we take to open space and it turns into a firefight. Jin will be ready with your ship to get us out of there as soon as we've found Jongho. Yeosang, you will do your best to monitor our progress from there. I'm sure transporting us will take a quite a bit of energy so we don't want you passing out on base."

Everyone murmured their agreement and Monster stood next to the Star King's side. "V, Jimin, Yoongi, and Hobi you'll stay behind and protect the ATEEZ. Keep in contact with me and let me know if anything suspicious happens."

"What would you like me to do captain?" I asked quietly. I was eager to be of help to them in some way knowing all too well the threat the military posed.

The Star King looked me in the eyes for the first time since our escape from Aquaceria. Too many emotions seemed to pass behind his eyes as he considered me. "If the military captures you then we'd be dropping the ATEEZ and a powerful cyborg right back into their hands..." He said quietly.

For some reason when he called me cyborg made my chest hurt a little. I'd never been bothered by what I was before but nonetheless the word cyborg left a bitter taste in my mouth.

He suddenly looked unsure of what to say. "I know you really want to help but it's dangerous," He sighed before running a hand down the front of his face. "No matter what I say you'll do what you want anyways though, right?" He asked tiredly.

I blinked at the question and felt heat rise to my face when I thought of all the times I disobeyed his orders. "Probably, sorry..." I apologized.

My response earned a few scattered laughs in the room and the Star King heaved another sigh. "You guys should really start taking me seriously—" He whined.

Mingi grabbed the captain around the shoulders and messed up his hair with a large hand. The Star King yelled angrily and fought against it, his shorter legs flailing in the air. His efforts only made the crew laugh louder, a few of Monster's men joining in as well. It was something that brought everyone's spirits up even if it was only for a moment.

The captain calmed with a huff realizing that resisting was useless against the second's hulking frame. "W-we do try to take you seriously..." Mingi laughed boisterously, earning a smack from the captain. I smiled at the scene and put a hand in front of my mouth to stifled my laughter.

"You do not..." The captain muttered with a pout. "I try so hard and all you do is laugh... You're all so ungrateful..." Mingi lifted him in the air and grabbed his face to squish his cheeks. The captain's lips drew his into a comical pucker which only made everyone laugh even harder. Monster eventually joined in too and the hull was filled with a cacophony of the happy sound. The Star King wrestled free and smacked Mingi upside the head. The action barely fazed the second and he was smacked consecutively a couple more times.

After a while the laughter died down and we were somber once more. I was quiet with my thoughts as I stared out into space. Perhaps the answers we needed could be found tucked away in the inky black void. I didn't know if it would help but I wished silently to the stars that we would all make it out alive. I knew that if they managed to infiltrate the base and retrieve Jongho unnoticed, their plan had a high chance of success. But I would do everything in my power to ensure they were all safe. No matter what the cost would be.

"If I sense any danger I'm going in," I told him resolutely, ending the silence. "You'll need my help against them if it turns into a fight."

The Star King shook his head of dirty blond hair but a small smile graced his lips. "Very well..."

He looked up at everyone with a newfound fire rekindled inside of his eyes. There was something inside that gaze that believed in the ability of his crew. It surfaced there just beneath his storms of grays and blues reflected back at me.

"Let's bring Jongho home then."

Author's note

Sorry this update took so long!!:( (I know I suck) I'll try to be so much better! I hope everyone's day or nights are going well!;)

Is everyone ready for ateez's comeback in October?? So excited!!!

See you in the next chapter!