☽ The Black Sea || Chapter 2 ☾

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"Twenty years?"

The sound of Taehyung's voice floated in the interrogation room and bit at his ears. He had been the one to utter the two words, yet his mouth was dry as if he hadn't spoken in ages. The files placed on the metal desk before him confirmed what he had said, but that didn't change how his mind refused to accept it. Reality was often disappointing. Throughout Taehyung's years of service, he had learned that. However, after finding Adeline, it seemed more true than usual.

"Correct," Adeline said. Her voice wavered as it passed her lips. They had given her chapstick and access to toiletries, but that didn't change how dead skin hung off her mouth.

"I hate to ask you to recount the past twenty years, but we need information. Anything you feel comfortable sharing, we promise you it's confidential. Nothing we do ever reaches public eye."

Taehyung prided himself on telling the truth. Being in his line of work required him to stretch the truth if not completely lie to victims in the name of comfort, but Taehyung had always gone against it. That included with Adeline. Whenever he saw the opportunity, he would be honest. It had been twenty years since she last saw the outside world. The least he could do was be honest.

Adeline fiddled with her fingers. Thanks to the bright, obnoxious lighting of the interrogation room, Taehyung was able to notice her skin was littered with patches of dirt. Her hands suffered the most from that.

Taehyung leaned back in the creaky chair. "Were you trying to escape?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Your hands, they're in poor condition. Not just the dirt, but the dried blood, too. Is that why we found you tied up? Were you trying to dig your way out?" Taehyung asked, but she didn't answer. "Let's start small. Do you know the man's name?"

"Victor. He never told me his last name."

"Physical appearance?"

"As tall as you," she said. She paused to hiccup, and he spotted her leg bouncing under the table and her eyes darting around. "He has a, um... a skull? Yeah, a skull tattoo. A red one, on the back of his neck."

The interrogation room was bright and cramped for a reason. It was meant to isolate whoever was inside. The table was the only piece of furniture in the room, and they didn't bother decorating the walls. The one-way glass sat behind Taehyung. His associates were taking notes of the conversation. Just in case, Taehyung had a recorder placed in clear view on the table, recording every word she said.

Taehyung leaned forward and folded his hands together. "Take it slow. Deep breaths. You're safe now, remember that."

Adeline averted her gaze. Throughout the entire conversation, she had had trouble maintaining eye contact. It didn't help that her hair kept falling in her face to conceal her expression from him.

"Where am I?"

The question caused Taehyung to stall. It was rare he had ever frozen in such a manner; it wasn't like freezing was a good trait for a Night Stalker. Still, he recovered after swallowing a dry clump of saliva that rested on the back of his tongue.

"We told you on the way here who we were and where we were taking you, don't you remember?" Taehyung asked, and the woman didn't open her mouth to reply. "We're in the New York special ops headquarters, based in New York City. N-SOP for short."

"NYC," she murmured. That time, she tugged on the ends of her locks. "But the car ride was so long."

"New York is a giant state. Johnson City to NYC is three hours."

The "car ride" was an unmarked van that could hold up to ten people including the driver. They had a designated driver who wasn't part of the squad. While their driver had zoomed off for the City, Taehyung and his teammates had cleaned Adeline and did their best to make her comfortable. Asking questions during the ride was counterproductive seeing as she had been in shock and they hadn't had the tools necessary to properly question her. Taehyung had asked her the basics, such as her name and age. She hadn't known the answer to the second one.

"Oh." Adeline picked at her nails and rubbed her elbows against the table. It was cold material. Perhaps it was comforting to someone who had been through hell.

"Hey, how about this..."

Taehyung paused and let silence fill the air. It was an audio trick interrogators used to force eye contact. It didn't work all the time, but it was effective. The sudden lack of noise could make people uncomfortable, especially in an empty room.

A beat later, it worked. Adeline brought her head up and met Taehyung's stare.

"I'll ask you three questions, and if you answer, I'll let you go early. You can get a shower and talk to one of our mental health specialists. How does that sound?"

She nodded.

They had given her a change of comfortable clothes, which were a hoodie and sweatpants, and a basic medical examination upon arrival. Although the situation was far from positive, the bright side was there was no evidence of recent sexual violence. That didn't rule out that it had never happened over the years, and Taehyung didn't know if he wanted the answer to that or not, but the physical side of her was okay. She was malnourished, dehydrated, and had mild muscle atrophy. Otherwise, she was in better shape than anyone had expected.

"You have mild atrophy, and you were able to walk decently well despite being tied down. How long did Victor tie you down for?" Taehyung asked.

"Depends." She accidentally pulled a long lock of hair out. After a moment of hesitation, she let it fall to the ground. "He normally lets me walk around the basement, but I was bad today." Adeline held up her mucky hands. A soft smile graced her lips, but there were tears in her eyes to contradict it. "You were right. I was... digging."

"I see. Thank you for answering. I hate to ask such a hard question, but would you mind telling us about his motivations and what he did to you?"

She kicked the leg of the table a few times before she settled into her creaking chair. Before replying to the question, she nibbled on her already cracked nails and bit small pieces of them off.

"He wanted a daughter," she whispered in a tone that shook as much as her body. "I was at the park when he came up to me with a cute puppy. He told me he had more if I wanted to see them, and I agreed." She broke off and sucked in a few breaths. They sounded dry. "I don't know where my parents were. I don't remember what they look like."

Out of respect for all she had lost, Taehyung gave her a moment of silence before asking the final question. "Do you feel comfortable learning a cover story to help us bring Victor down?"

She brought her brows together. "Why do I need a cover story?"

"My people, we're called Night Stalkers. We're a special ops unit specializing in investigating suspicious persons, but the problem is, we do it illegally. We break into their homes and search for potential wrongdoings, then bring our findings to our superiors so they can fabricate enough dirt on the suspects to warrant an official investigation. We found you illegally. To bring Victor down, we need to give you a cover story for how you escaped."

"I..." Adeline's cheeks shimmered with tears. "Okay. Whatever it takes."

That would also require an NDA and intense therapy to ensure she was in a stable enough mental state to remember the cover story. A little over three hours had passed since they had rescued her from Victor, yet she didn't remember the van ride or the information Taehyung had given her about the Night Stalkers. It was a common coping mechanism.

Mental blocks formed in many of the victims they had freed. The issue was no victim's situation had been as severe as hers. At worst, it had been an abused child. Most victims they rescued had been neglected or malnourished. Still awful, but not on the same level as Adeline.

"You did amazing, Adeline," Taehyung said as he stood. The sudden 'squuueak!' of the chair made her flinch, and he went to her side to calm her down. "It's okay, you're safe. No one will hurt you. May I?"

He motioned to her shoulder, and she agreed. As gently as he could, he placed his hand on her and helped her up.

Fluffy socks covered her feet. They hadn't given her shoes due to the lack of extras they had. Of the sneakers that were waiting around the HQ, most of them were in men's sizes, and of the women's selection, none of them fit her. Not that it mattered; Adeline had fell in love with the fluffy socks the second Taehyung had gifted them to her.

Her socks made little 'swish swish' noises as she dragged her feet across the floor. Taehyung kept one hand nearby in case she fell, but she never did. Then, the door opened, and in came General Kim.

General Kim intimidated Taehyung more than any mission ever could. The man's height was a factor, but the main one was his demeanor. General Kim carried himself with a straighter posture than anyone Taehyung had known. His chin was always held high with his hands wrapped behind his back. Every time he took a step, it was more like a booming march that compelled others into silent admiration.

"I have a new assignment for you," General Kim said. The voice matched his battle-hardened face. It was as thunderous as New York's stormy skies. "Go to mission control and meet with Private Wang for more details." General Kim turned his dragon eyes toward Adeline. "Allow me to escort you to our clinic."

Taehyung got the message and vacated the interrogation room, but not without stealing a final glance at his commanding officer. General Kim always had the same jacket on; it was as dark as the man's raven hair and decorated with more honors than Taehyung could count. A matching hat with golden accents covered half his forehead but stopped before it could touch his ears. There were fading scars on his lobes as if he had gotten them pierced a hundred times.

Not wanting to appear creepy, Taehyung tore his gaze away and focused on navigating the base. It was an underground headquarters, which was fitting considering the secretive nature of his profession.

Unlike the standard military base, theirs was awesome. It had a night theme that led to most of the walls being black with stars painted on the high ceilings. Their lights were placed in the floor where it intersected with the walls. Most of HQ was one giant lobby-like space that acted as their hub.

The ceiling was at least thirty feet above him and had intricate detail put into the starry sky painted on it. All the planets, including Pluto if anyone considered that a "planet," were sketched in the correct order. They were glow-in-the-dark and added to the night vibe they were going for.

If they were going to commit illegal acts in the name of justice, they would at least look cool doing it. Taehyung respected that. He had an interest in fashion growing up, so he liked to think he had an eye for style.

There weren't many Night Stalkers. As far as Taehyung was aware, it was exclusive to America, and a limited number were accepted. That meant the hub wasn't as packed as one would assume. Taehyung had the freedom to stroll through without fearing he'd bump into anyone and have to endure unnecessary social interaction. It wasn't that Tae disliked talking to others, it was more he hated being interrupted while on his way to complete a task.

The hub itself had a lounge in the middle where most of the Night Stalkers flocked to after a long shift. Some lived in the HQ, others, like Taehyung, opted for apartments nearby. On rough nights, Taehyung had found Stalkers sleeping on the various couches thrown around the lounge.

There was a bar, and although it was strange placement considering it was in the very center of the room, it had a wide selection of drinks. That included non-alcoholic drinks Taehyung frequented. Since Taehyung always tipped, the bartenders began sneaking in pouches of hot chocolate mix and making it for him. That could also be because Taehyung out-ranked them, but a win was a win.

As with most buildings, there were four corners. The one Taehyung had came from was the interrogation corner. The one he had to journey to was mission control, and it was on the opposite side of the hub (of course).

Taehyung sucked it up and hiked to the double doors. When they parted, he climbed the short staircase and made his way inside the center. It was far smaller than the hub. The lighting was dim and turquoise. The low light allowed for the attention to remain on the middle of the room, where their operations table was.

One of the generals Taehyung had never learned the name of was there giving orders. Private Wang was, too. He was standing on the other side of the rectangular table that was a touchscreen showing a map of New York. It was flagged with all the suspicious persons they had to investigate. Some teams had to leave almost twenty-four hours in advance just so they could set up a stakeout and prepare for the next nightfall.

Taehyung approached Private Wang and shimmed by the other four Night Stalkers in the room. By the time he made it to Jackson's position, he spotted another man there. He had hair far too long for combat; it was longer than Taehyung's, which was quite the feat. It bounced and curtained his eyes and cheeks.

His face, like his hair, didn't seem fit for their environment. It was soft and lacked scars other than a tiny one on his cheek that was easy to miss if anyone other than Taehyung observed him. His eyes carried a sense of innocence and youthful eagerness, not to mention they were like a doe's. His cheeks were sharp up top but soft as they evened out to his thin lips that had a mole resting underneath.

"Colonel Kim," Jackson greeted with a head bow. "General Kim assigned a new member to the squad, and he wants you to train him for the time being."

Social interaction got in the way of missions, and a new recruit was the perfect recipe for Taehyung getting irritated for at least the next sixty business days. Training took months. Assuming the rookie could keep up with the pace of being a Night Stalker, it'd take him at least three dozen missions to learn how to be the best soldier possible.

Wonderful. Taehyung was absolutely overjoyed.

"Thank you, Jackson. You're dismissed," Taehyung said, and right after, Jackson saluted and departed the mission center. The background chatter didn't occur to Taehyung as he stepped closer to the recruit. He seemed to shrink under Taehyung's gaze. "What's your name, rookie?"

"My name is Private Jeon Jungkook, sir. I'm ready to take down some bad guys."

Taehyung nodded once. Twice. He stopped before he could do it a third time. At least Jungkook had a fire to him. Most recruits would be shaking in their boots at the very prospect of doing a job that relied on them giving a perfect performance 24/7. For that reason, Taehyung let a smile loose. He dropped it as fast as he could.

"Okay. Follow me."

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A/N: Unfortunately, I'm back at college now. I've been doing the move-in process, and it's been a hassle to say the least. Response times may be slower than normal as I adjust to my hectic schedule.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and remember to vote if you want to see more of this story! The more you vote, the faster chapters will come out!