☂ Chapter 24 ☂

Y/n had no idea what Jimin was thinking.

Granted, no one, not even Jimin, knew what he was thinking, but Y/n was his girlfriend—it was her job to understand him better than anyone, yet there she was, unsure what was going on inside his head. Why had he let Revan get away? Sure, Y/n was new to police practices, but she knew better than to let a criminal go. Informant or not, Revan was dangerous. She hadn't heard any of their conversation, but she had to imagine it wasn't pretty based on Jimin's blank face during it.

At the current moment, they were in Jimin's cruiser, parked outside the warehouse Revan had given them coordinates to with trucks full of SWAT team members ready to barge in with officer support. With a case as serious as trafficking, rules didn't exist anymore. It was every single man available against whoever was in that warehouse. Yes, they had learned their lesson and left a decent portion of officers at 1PP to protect it; however, that didn't stop them from bringing an obnoxious number of officers to deal with the case, Deputy Inspector Min included.

Mr. Min, or Yoongi, was first to walk out of his vehicle with Jungkook next to him. As Y/n had learned, Yoongi and Jungkook had been partners once before accepting their promotions and going "separate" ways. Separate didn't appear so separate, considering the two rode together and wouldn't leave each other's sides. At least Captain Jeon had more friends. He deserved them.

"Shoot to kill," Jimin said as he checked his pistol, snapping the clip into place and flipping off the safety. "They won't show mercy, so we don't either."

"But you did with Revan."

She didn't mean to make it sound like she was questioning authority, but her low tone didn't help her case. It caused the already-cold breeze of the AC to feel colder. His tree air freshener that smelled like him—like peaches—dangled back and forth. The only sound was Jimin unbuckling, and Y/n did the same.

"I don't know what I was thinking, Y/n. He never hurt the children, he saved them from abusive households."

"And you believed him?"

"I did." Jimin trailed off and ran a hand through his hair, sinking his head. "I don't know why, but I did. He's a dying man. I saw him cough up blood with my own eyes, and I..." He shook his head. "He'd never see the inside of a cell, so I let him go."

"Is that the only reason?"

Jimin glanced at her, his eyes narrowed, but not from hostility. She couldn't tell what it was, but it wasn't a glare. His eyebrows burrowed together before he backed off, making sure the car was in park before opening the door.

"Let's go. We have a warehouse to raid."

They did, and as she stepped out, she saw how giant it was. It was larger than any warehouse she had ever seen before, and the thought of needing to raid and secure that much space boggled her mind. It was called the Bronx Logistics Center, and it had completed construction not too long ago. Despite that, she saw construction tape and barriers preventing the public from crawling inside. It was one of the largest, if not the largest, warehouses in New York City. It ranged around 1.3 million-square-feet, and it sure as hell looked it.

It was a white building with multiple stories, though Y/n had a feeling they'd worry about the first and none of the others. The higher it went up, the more unstable it appeared, with more tape and support beams covering the upper floors. The parking lot was more ginormous than full skyscrapers, yet there weren't many cars around. Y/n didn't need detective skills to know why.

"Now that we got our warrant, we'll have multiple teams flanking," Captain Jeon said, in Y/n's earshot after she walked forward. Captain Jeon addressed the entire unit, but he never turned to search for Y/n or Jimin. "Yoon-" Jungkook cleared his throat. "Inspector Min and I will assign teams and positions. I have one of our guys printing out blueprints so we can mark it off and give you guys maps. We're raiding every inch of this place, understood? They know we're here, so no point hiding. Get ready to raid."

The officers didn't protest, and they dispersed to give Jungkook and Yoongi space. Y/n and Jimin, of course, didn't do the same. Y/n approached first, figuring Jimin didn't want to do that, and cleared her throat to capture Jungkook's attention. The older man peeked over at her and smiled. It showed his bunny teeth. But when Jimin appeared, Jungkook dropped it and straightened his posture.

"I want you two on the ground team. Yoongi and I will lead the teams going to the upper levels, but I trust you guys to follow the SWAT team in. Hoseok and Seulgi will join you."

"Yes, sir," Y/n said. Jimin didn't bother joining in. "Anything we should know about this place before we go in?"

"It's not the most stable building in New York, which is saying something. It's been under construction for a while, so don't push too hard on any walls, and watch where you aim. Save ammo and shoot when you have clear shots or need to suppress a target. Don't fire willy nilly."

"Understood, we'll be careful." She squeezed Jimin's elbow, and he cleared his throat before agreeing to Jungkook's words. After, Jungkook disappeared to go organize the other teams, leaving Y/n with Officer Park. "Guess we'll be right in the action."

Jimin stared at the warehouse ahead with a neutral expression. Almost like a mask. "Think we'll find more kids in there?"

That wasn't the response she was expecting; it didn't so much as acknowledge her previous words. Still, she decided to clear her throat and do her best to answer.

"If this is the major warehouse Revan says it is, then yeah, I think so." Y/n squeezed his hand when no one was looking. "Jimin, it's gonna be okay."

He kissed her forehead. "I know. How could it not? You're here."

"Cheesy," she mumbled, and he chuckled.

"But true."

They didn't have a chance to get any further in their conversation; Jungkook recalled all the officers and assigned them to their teams, giving Y/n and Jimin no choice but to work with their new group, which had twenty people, most of them being SWAT. Hoseok, Seulgi, Jimin, and Y/n joined the squad and went to the left flank for the first floor. Another team would take the right, but due to the size of the place, there had to be two more groups for the middle portions.

Any conversations Jimin could have wanted to have with Y/n couldn't happen anymore, and Y/n respected that. The job was too important. No distractions could happen, and she repeated that in her mind as they approached the giant double doors that looked like they could fit Abraham Lincoln through them. Since they were constructed not too long ago, the glass doors didn't so much as squeak as the leading members pushed them open.

For once, Y/n and Jimin weren't leading the charge. They remained in the back and poured in with the rest of the team, keeping their weapons out and eyes scanning for movement. Y/n didn't notice anything other than her pulse in her ears and goosebumps covering her arms. Her gloves squeezed around the metal of her Glock, her finger resting by the trigger but not over it, and she had to remind herself gun etiquette and to keep it lowered toward the ground instead of near the other officers.

Their boots left mud on the polished floors. The inside of the facility was fresh, which wasn't surprising considering it was new. The first floor was finished with strong walls, though nothing was decorated yet. There were no desks, no furniture, no potted plants, no welcome mats—the space was wide with a few rooms scattered about, but nothing of note. That meant it was also dark, with most of the light being natural and coming in from the windows, though of those windows, most were boarded up for obvious reasons.

It made sense why they'd operate out of that warehouse—it was large enough that by the time someone, if anyone, got inside, the group staying there would have time to hide their illegal activities. Not to mention no one had a reason to come by, seeing as it wasn't open to the public.

The construction would be monitored by the state, but with the warehouse so large and so intent on making a shit ton of money, Y/n had no doubt no one had a tiny seed of doubt in their minds about it. Part of her wondered if the manufacturers knew. It was giant and had no cameras installed yet, meaning it'd be easy to hide out. Y/n had seen the horror stories about random strangers taking residence in homes without the homeowners noticing, and those cases were one stranger versus one small house. Their current circumstance was a massive warehouse with far more planning.

The main issue with it being minimalist was that there was little cover, so if a gunfight began, it'd be out in the open. It was the one time she didn't wish for action. As a Fast and Furious fan, car chases and pew pews had been her lifestyle, but all she wanted was to save the kids. No bullets required.

No one spoke as they traveled through the wide area. Rushed breaths and boot squeaks filled the air, and it smelled of disinfectant, but the mud began overpowering it. That and the warm bodies. All of them sweat from the intensity of the event, and Y/n felt as though she sweat more than them.

Jimin stayed by her side as they made it to the closest wall, five of them pressing against it to watch over the rest of the squad as they stepped forward and rounded the corner to investigate. As soon as the first person did, the silence got replaced by a loud bang! that resulted in blood splattering on the otherwise-clean ground. The lead man fell to the ground with his assault rifle plopping to the earth, and the team shouted orders and backed up.

Y/n yelped from the sight of the man getting shot and killed within a blink, and in that moment, she couldn't hold any sympathy for the other side. Perhaps Jimin felt something for Revan, but anyone who murdered the genuine law enforcement officers for trying to do their jobs and make the world safer were pure evil in her eyes. They were there to protect the kids, yet the criminals didn't care. At that point, to her, it didn't matter what their intentions were with the kids. They killed officers, and for her, that was enough.

More gunfire broke out and hurt her poor eardrums. Even after being in several gunfights, she hadn't adjusted to the ear-piercing sounds, and she doubted she ever would.

"They're flanking us!" Hoseok shouted, and Y/n handled it with Jimin and two women who were in their squad.

As soon as two foes rounded the corner wearing bandanas over the lower halves of their faces and backwards baseball caps, Y/n and the others didn't hesitate. It took a few shots, but their enemies went down, leaving lord knew how many left. Y/n couldn't see ahead, but she could smell the blood and hear the gunfire. It was so loud, it blocked out every sense she had. It got to the point where the thickness of the blood disappeared and got replaced with numbness. Even the cool, heavy metal in her gloved hands didn't have any meaning as she scooted forward to aid her squad.

She kept herself crouched as she stopped behind the new lead man, who fired away and called out orders for the rest to follow. Thanks to the constant shrieking noises overwhelming her senses, she couldn't pinpoint which order she should follow and which one she should ignore.

Ringing sensations flowed through her mind, but she focused on breathing, and also on the ship raid she had done. Back then, she hadn't been scared to chase after countless men for a chance at stopping bad guys. It was time to channel that energy and apply it. Kids were waiting. Innocent kids.

With a deep inhale that vibrated her trembling lungs, she went around the flank, and her movement caused others to join in, including Hoseok and Seulgi. A total of seven followed her, and she was able to see the five foes cowering behind a wall and blindly firing at the officers pinning them down. That gave her a clear shot, but only for a moment since the group was moving at rapid speeds.

Together, her and the ones who had joined her opened fire and downed two, resulting in panic from the remaining three. They scampered back and returned fire. It didn't matter. Their panic at the sudden flank attack caused them to lose the battle. Blood soaked the floor, and the gunfire came to a halt. She didn't know how many more would be around, but seeing one group down eased her by the slightest bit.

"The first sector is clear. We're making progress," Jimin said from behind her, keeping his voice low, and she hummed in agreement before following him and the rest through the first floor.

It wasn't as much as she was expecting. She could hear distant gunfire, but nothing nearby. The problem was that gunfire was so loud, the "distant" fight felt like it was right next door. However, it was clear from the echo that it had to be on the opposite side of the building. That meant nothing for them to rush to.

Y/n stayed in the back with Jimin, Seulgi, and Hoseok as they traversed the final parts of their assigned sector in the facility. No one bothered speaking, even to say orders. The echoing shots, squeaking boots, and soft breaths infected the air. Blood still swarmed her nostrils and caused them to flare, but she pushed ahead. But not before a shot grazed her ear and made her fall back.

Jimin shouted her name and pulled her behind the nearest wall, and more shots rang out and killed two officers. The group gasped and retreated by the wall next to them, pressing their backs up against it. Her ear stung, but it was a graze, not a shot. Jimin, despite being her boyfriend, had the sense not to worry about a graze. He kept her near him, but he didn't stop what he was doing to babysit her, which she appreciated.

"Get these bastards!" the lead man said, and Y/n was quick to obey.

In a battle of fury, the police officers fought to clear out the warehouse, and Y/n contributed as much as she could despite her quick breaths and overwhelmed senses. It was one thing to be a police officer, but another to engage in a full firefight. Still, she persevered, and it resulted in them prevailing once again. The downside was that they lost five more during that fight, and they gave the fallen a moment of silence.

The idea that anyone would harm officers enraged her. Sure, there were bad officers, like Kasper, who were either racist, incompetent, corrupt, or all three, but the ones by her side wanted to save children. In that moment, it didn't matter who they were. What mattered was they all banded together to save kids, and the fact that people killed over that sickened her.

"Our side of the floor is clear," their team lead said, pressing on his walkie-talkie to inform Captain Jeon. Before he could, there were footsteps, and they went on guard, Y/n snapping her pistol up.

A few beats later, another one of the squads came around the corner. They had more people than Y/n and Jimin's team, and they looked less injured. That meant the gunshots were likely coming from the upper levels, then.

"First floor is clear. We counted a dozen," the other team's lead said.

"We counted around a dozen, too. Let's set up a perimeter and wait for Captain Jeon's word."

That was what they did. They secured the space. All four first floor teams checked in and showed they found nothing of note. No kids, no other enemies, and no documentation of proof against their enemies. It took twenty minutes for Captain Jeon and Inspector Min to join them, and when they did, they had messy hair and blood on their faces.

"Clear. We found where they were keeping the kids. On the top floor," Jungkook said as he approached the team. "You don't even want to know how many. Looks like that's the last of them. We captured some, and they all swear that's it now that their leader tucked tail and ran. It's over, everyone. We cracked the case."

No one had the energy to cheer. Instead, they slumped against the walls and slid down to sit. Y/n was among them. Her grazed ear was an afterthought. Whatever, it'd heal in a week anyway. No point dwelling on it.

For another hour, the squads rescued the kids and investigated the site. They'd have more interrogations to give and the legal stuff revolving around the construction of the warehouse and the company who owned it, but that was for the FBI to handle, not NYPD. It was an international case, considering many of the kids came from South Korea thanks to Revan's background there, so the FBI would take over the case now that the New York side of things was handled.

Once outside, Y/n leaned against Jimin's cruiser with Officer Park by her side. He squeezed her hand and glanced at her, his puppy eyes as mesmerizing as always.

"It's finally over," he said, and she dipped her head in agreement. "Does it feel like how you expected it to?"

"No." It was the honest answer. "I thought we'd get to put a bullet in Revan."

"Yeah, me too, but life's not like the movies, is it?" He chuckled and rubbed her thumb over the back of her glove. "We put lots of bullets in his goons, though. That's enough for me. We saved the kids, that's what matters."

"Do you think there are more out there? In South Korea?"

"Maybe, but that's not our job anymore. That's too big for NYPD. The FBI will handle that, so let's focus on our victory, yeah? We saved the kids, we stopped the bad guys, and Revan is gone. We can rest easy now."

Y/n knew that wasn't the truth. While an officer, there was no such thing as peace, and she had a feeling life would get more and more chaotic as time went on. That was her first real case, and she had the luxury of saying it was solved. Unfortunately, that didn't happen as much as she wished it would, and she had to come to terms with that.

Before she could answer, Jungkook approached. His face remained as neutral as always, but as soon as he got close enough, a small smile decorated his lips.

"We did it. We stopped them," he said, laughing after a beat. "I never thought we would. All the dead ends, vague leads, interrogations... it felt like it was going nowhere. But Revan gave up."

"His goons sure as hell didn't," Y/n said, motioning to her bloody ear. "I still don't know why he threw them under the bus like that."

Jimin shook his head. "He felt guilty. He spent lord knows how long mourning his daughter, so he gave up. After a while, the guilt gets to you. It makes you see things differently. Especially with kids. You know what they say, many criminals return to the scene of the crime. Revan did the same."

Well, she couldn't argue with that. Not when Jimin had personal experience with the topic of guilt revolving around kids. That led to them leaning against the car in silence, staring up at the sky and enjoying the peace and quiet. The soundscape didn't include gunshots and shouts, but instead laughter and kid voices. None of them sounded hurt or scared. Not anymore.

"We did it," Jungkook whispered again, repeating the words as if they weren't real.

Y/n replayed them in her mind until they sunk in, yet they didn't feel real to her, either. They had been working on the case for so long that she never imagined a day without it, but there she was, standing in the wake of a case solved. Well, mostly. The FBI would investigate the international aspect and the higher-up side of things involving the warehouse itself; however, Y/n and NYPD's jobs were done. They succeeded. They saved the kids.

That caused her to laugh.

"Yeah, we did."

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