~Ten's POV~

That night after our conference everyone retired to their sleeping quarters and again I wandered the ship alone. The nightmares were a plague every time I shut my eyes and since the last one I hadn't seen anything I could make sense of. They were all pieces of a disturbing puzzle that I had no desire to put together. Every time one would appear it peeled back another laying of myself, exposing something horrifying beneath...

Looking up into the bright light of an operating room table while my vision was clouded over with anesthesia, a sleek metal pit that opened up to the sky with no door to escape from and, the most disturbing of all, standing over a dead body while staring at my hands that were soaked in blood...

Blood that I knew wasn't my own...

I shivered but felt no cold when I noticed the lights in the hangar were still on. As I drew closer I could hear sounds of crackling and someone walking around. The doors swished open and my eyes came to rest on Monster who sat hunched over the hole from our fight with the Matriarch with his helmet on and welding wand in hand. The hangar was still in a state of disrepair and my body reflected the damage done as I bled through my fresh bandages.

Sparks flew and bounced off his form as my lenses darkened to adjust to the bright light. I soundlessly stepped inside to walk over to him when he looked up and tilted his helmet back. His face quickly broke into a dimpled smile. "Oh, hey Ten you're still up."

"Yes I can't seem to sleep," I responded awkwardly shuffling on my feet. "Are you unable to sleep as well, Monster?"

Monster sighed and took off his gloves smacking them against his knee. He chewed on his lip and looked around the hangar. "I wanted to see what the extent of the damage was and it's a lot worse than I thought..." Then his eyes trailed to my wound before back up to my face. "Does it hurt a lot?"

I shrugged a shoulder absentmindedly running a hand over my chest. The pain was less pronounced and had instead settled into a constant dull ache. It was irritating, but bearable.

He sighed and ran an oil blackened hand over his face sizing me up. "Look Ten, I'll fix what I can fix this but there's a lot of materials I need. It's gonna take some time and a lot of gold—"

"Oh gold won't be an issue," I responded. He quirked an eyebrow at me before I walked over to Cerber's sleeping form. All three of her heads snored softly, leg twitching as she chased something inside of her dream. I dug through a leather bag and found a heavy cloth sack. I lifted it out with ease and brought it over to Monster who eyed it curiously before dropping it into his outstretched arms. "What is it?" He grunted.

"Yuyaga's gold," I responded. "I took it with me from the arena when I escaped. If there's no other use for it perhaps we could put it towards materials needed for the repairs?"

Monster dropped the sack and opened it. His eyes sparkled at the mound of gold coins inside. "U-uh yeah this'll be more than enough..." He looked up at me with his mouth agape. "Shit Ten you could honestly buy a second ship with this much gold..."

I nodded my head. "It's a substantial amount. Of course the Star King has final say on how the funds are used but I'm sure the crew will be happy to have a functioning hangar back."

Monster chuckled and shook his head. "It'll be nice but they'll probably be happier when you're able to fully heal yourself again." I blushed deeply and looked away trying not to let him see how those words affected me. My eyes came to rest on Jungkook's battered EXO suit.

It was an impressive piece of machinery sporting bladed legs for melee attacks and reinforced titanium plating for defense. It's back was lined with heat seeking missiles that could easily be concealed behind it's scale like armor. I ran a hand over it's cold surface and saw something carved into the hatch over the heart. I squinted until I could make out the words.

moonchild

I turned to look at Monster who was watching me intently with dark eyes.

"I guess you really want to know Ten," He began with a sigh and wiping his hands off on a cloth. "Truth is... Uranaan and I grew up together. We were both orphans living in the streets and before I met the rest of the guys we were the only family each other had..." I listened Monster as his eyes glazed over and was lost somewhere far away from here.

"Uranaan was totally unstoppable in the ring and took to the machine like a second skin. No matter what the rumors say the kill count was well over fifty... It was incredible to watch the way this EXO suit moved with Uranaan inside it. We quickly gained notoriety and travelled every corner of the galaxy and we were amazing, Ten. Fight after fight after fight we won..." His voice grew quiet as he came over to lean against the machine. I didn't utter a word because if I did it felt as if it would break whatever spell he was under. He stopped talking as he ran his calloused fingertips over the etched word.

"Moonchild was the nickname I gave her when we were both still kids. She etched it here before her very first fight and it was like a spell. Something we though would keep her safe whenever she stepped into the ring."

I blinked and glanced up at Monster in shock. "Wait, Uranaan is a girl?"

Monster smiled a smile full of longing and clenched he fist over the word. "Not many know it but Ura was a girl..." He said his voice full of pain. "She was the first—the only girl I ever loved..."

I exhaled and watched him unsure of what to say. Like the name carved in the suit this pain that Monster carried was etched somewhere inside his furrowed brows or his downturned lips. Something inescapable. Something that had simply become a part of who he was. I placed a hand on his shoulder hoping it would give him some sort of comfort.

"You don't have to tell me anything else if it's too difficult to talk about." I whispered.

"You're so much like her Ten," He shook his head and gave me a small smile which I returned and asked why. "Because she was so brave and selfless to a fault." He chuckled. "Can I tell you about her?" He asked hesitantly and I nodded my head. I could tell he wanted to talk and I was sincerely curious about the shop owner's past.

"We were both slaves that had no choice but to fight," He told me while lifting the hem of his shirt. A silver tattoo of fine curving lines covered his toned stomach. "Yuyaga picked Ura five years ago from a trafficking ring that had rounded us up but he wasn't interested in me. Even as a beggar this was the only time I had begged in my life... I knew that if he took her with him we'd never see each other again."

Monster gathered his thoughts while rubbing his dirty hands together. After a minute he opened his mouth and continued. "While I couldn't pilot a suit like Ura I proved to be competent with repairing it so he decided to buy us as a pair... The first fight was against a twelve year old boy who barely knew what he was doing. We couldn't save him so Ura finished him off as quickly as she could. It was a mercy killing," After saying this Monster's eyes darkened.

"She told me that when they'd pulled his dead body from the suit all she could see was me when we were children," Monster blinked and let his head fall into his hands. "He was so little, it was obvious to us that he had been starving for a while..." I leaned against the EXO suit and stared off into space trying to absorb every painful detail he told me. Monster sank to the floor and let out a breath mussing with his blond hair.

"We fought for Yuyaga for years and in that time my feelings for Ura only grew stronger. I was so afraid before every fight that it would be her last so I started to prepare. I stole some gold from the winnings after every fight and hid it away. I planned on buying our freedom and the apothecary where we could live out the rest of our lives for no one else but ourselves..." He trailed off. I glanced down at him as he hastily wiped tears from his cheeks while I pretended not to notice.

"I'd finally saved up enough to make those dreams real but she'd come so close to dying that I couldn't wait anymore," His voice wavered as he smiled up a me sadly. "That night I told her I loved her for the very first time and we planned on running away with the gold and starting out fresh. The last night we'd had together was perfect and I let myself believe that there was some divine force out there that had kept her safe for me all this time. I let myself believe that a future together was written somewhere in the stars..."

"I forgot for a second that all the stars are dead..."

Monster's shoulders shook as a sob escaped from between his lips. "When I woke up lying next to her she'd never looked so beautiful. I touched her cheek and her skin was still warm and I-I didn't know..." Then his voice broke as he wept for her. I couldn't help it as I sank to my knees next to him. He allowed my hand to slip into his and squeezed it tightly. "She was injured far worse than we thought and she just— she just fell asleep and never woke up..."

I felt tears blossom in my eyes to spill over onto my cheeks and my heart broke for him. Monster became unraveled beside me in his grief as his hands gripped his hair, sobs tearing free from his lips. Before I knew what I was doing I had my arms around his trembling shoulders. As he fell apart I had this irrational thought that as long as I held onto maybe his pieces would stay together...

Grief.

I thought back to the simulation when I had believed the crew was lost and relived that pain all over again. It left me feeling as if my chest had been viciously ripped open and exposed to all the world's sharp edges and I knew that this was the kind of sadness cut so deep that it left your soul to bleed out.

I couldn't say how much time had passed that we sat huddled next to each in that empty hangar. The world was quiet except for his cries that echoed off the walls and Cerber's breathing. I instinctually rubbed circles over his back as his tears soaked through the sleeve of my shirt.

When we finally broke apart Monster looked at me bashfully as if finally realizing just how much he'd said. "Thank you for listening Ten..."

"Thank you for telling me about her Monster... I wish I could've met her." I said honestly. The heavy atmosphere dissipated when he laughed a laugh full of pure happiness. Even if that happiness was dampened he looked like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Me too Ten.. I think you two would've been good friends..."

~~~

The next morning both the crew and Monster's men all gathered together over breakfast. Although everyone was still a bit tense from the day before and plans of Jongho's rescue loomed over us the conversation remained light.

Seonghwa and Yeosang seemed to have recovered from their injuries relatively well and even Wooyoung seemed in high spirits. Although his giddiness could be attributed to the heavy dose of pain medication he'd taken on an empty stomach. His eyes swam as he picked over the sausage and potatoes Seonghwa had prepared.

Yunho had slept in to recover from the spell he'd cast the day before and sat down next to me with a bright smile. "Good morning Ten. How did you sleep?"

"I received an adequate amount of sleep," I answered automatically. My eyes drifted over to Monster who was deep in conversation with the Star King, Mingi, and Jin. Although we hadn't spoken since last night I had caught Monster's eye once over breakfast and he shot me grateful look. I felt as if I had gained a new understanding of the shop owner and perhaps a small amount of his trust in return.

"So did we break the passcode on the military drive?" Yunho asked curiously as he pushed food around in his plate. I shook my head before tilting it in Yeosang and Yoongi's direction.

"It's heavily encrypted so they've been hard at work trying to hack it all morning..." I responded. I felt worry fester in my stomach as I stared at my untouched food. "I attempted it but something is wrong with me system. There's something wrong with me."

Yunho seemed to pick up on my tone and gave my hand a squeeze over the table. "Nothing is wrong with you, Ten," He said trying to reassure me. His warm eyes were filled with kindness and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Are you feeling alright Yunho?" I asked. His smile faltered at the question and he looked back down on his plate biting his lip.

"Physically I'm okay but... I don't know Ten. I'm worried sick about Jongho and what the military's been doing to him all this time," He said with his forehead creased deep with concern. "I'm also worried that if we can't do this quietly and it turns into a firefight I don't want my brother to get hurt..." He said this quietly so only I could hear him. "I don't know where he's stationed but I don't want to risk him getting caught up in this mess. I don't know what Hongjoong would do to him if he saw his face ever again..."

I looked down at his hands and noticed he gripped his fork hard enough that his knuckles turned white and I nudged his side. "Space is a vast expanse Yunho so the likelihood of him being involved with Jongho is very slim..."

He offered me a weak smile but I could sense my words did little to calm him. The rest of breakfast continued on in relative silence until Yeosang leapt up excitedly from his chair. "Shit, Hongjoong we broke it and we actually found him! We found Jongho!" He cried excitedly. The crew was instantly on their feet and crowding around Yeosang and Yoongi who had their eyes on the screen.

"Where can we find him Yeosang?" Hongjoong asked eagerly as he crossed his arms and scanned the display. The navigator tapped a few buttons until the hull lit up with the military's data on Jongho.

"He's not too far away and I'm well enough that I could get us there as soon as we're ready to move," Yeosang said confidently. Mingi ruffled his pink hair and laughed loudly. "I knew you could figure it out Yeosang! You too Yoongi," He said directing his praise to the pale haired boy standing next to Yeosang. "Thank you for helping us."

The crew hooted happily while Monster stepped next to the Star King and grinned. "My men and I will help your crew in any way we can," He said. "Just give us the word Hongjoong and we'll be there."

The Star King smiled widely and gave him a grateful look. "Thank you Namjoon we will definitely need it."

Then Yeosang scrolled through the report to the bottom of the page when his eyes widened. "Captain..." He gasped as he read over the last line. Everyone quieted and looked up at the brightly lit display.

The last line was the signature for the arresting officer. I didn't recognized the name right away but felt Yunho instantly stiffen next to me, his plate spilling over the table before clattering to the ground. "No please it can't be..." he whispered.

The Star King's eyes widened before settling into a hard glint. The room had grown so quiet we couldn't even hear our own breathing.

Jung Gunho

AUTHOR'S NOTE

OKAY WE'RE WINDING UP FOR THE FINISHING CHAPTERS AND I. AM. SO. PSYCHED!

I hope that you all continue to enjoy the story and look forward to volume two!!❤️🥰 This has gotten so much more support than I really think I deserve so I'm grateful to every single one of you who take time out of your lives to read my story.

I just want to write a world for your mind to be able to disappear to but most of all I want you to love the journey...

See you in the next chapter.

-Jess