Annihilation

Gladiator

My gaze darted back and forth between them, my mind flickering between the instinct to run into the middle of the dance floor so they would know I was there, or to chance stealing a weapon to shoot every person around us who cheered them on.

At the ding of a bell by the ambassador Jungkook sprang forward, lunging at Taehyung so that they both fell to the floor with a grunt. He punched Taehyung in the jaw before they rolled over, Taehyung straddling and hitting him with the metal covering over the place where his right hand should have been. I put my hands over my mouth as Jungkook came at him with an uppercut to his side, gaining the momentum that allowed him to push Taehyung away, his body sliding across the floor in my direction.

He skidded to a stop just a foot away from me, Jungkook lifting his head to look into the crowd for the first time and meeting my eye. His skin was tinted a mix of yellow and purple where there'd been bruising on his ribs and blood dripped from his nose to his mouth, his hands swollen from fighting and wet hair sticking to his forehead.

Around me the crowd switched from cheering for him to Taehyung as he rose to his feet, positioning himself so that he was balanced and ready to fight again. Beside me Emmanuel watched intently, his arms crossed over his chest like he had a serious stake in the battle.

I pushed through the crowd in a fury, my sight set on Gideon who watched with a sinister smile and Shelby, deep in a conversation with one of the women I recognized as being higher in rank. I charged toward them, ready to force them to shut down the entire event when someone grabbed hold of my wrist, Yoongi tugging me to him right as I entered the small gap fashioned as a path out of the ballroom.

"Fix your face, they don't need to know they're with us." He pretended to be completely uninterested in the match, shielding any view of my face by standing directly in front of me.

"What do we do?" I asked with a trembling breath, the rage I felt a cover for the pain of knowing that they'd been here the entire time, held somewhere until Gideon needed them for his sick game.

We were too close to watchful eyes and open ears, Yoongi putting an arm around my waist and turning us so that we faced the dance floor again. Taehyung rubbed his forehead after head butting Jungkook so hard that he laid out cold on the floor. Onlookers whooped, their cheers for Taehyung a continuous buzz of noise as one of the men left his position, lifting Taehyung's hand into the air in victory. Jungkook's head turned toward us slowly as two men slid his arms over their shoulders to carry him out of the building, Taehyung holding his wrists out to be bound in acceptance of their new normal.

Yoongi's arm tightened around my waist as my body urged toward them again. I needed to know where they were being taken.

Almost as quickly as the night had shifted, the event transitioned back into a bustle of conversation, the band picking up with a joyous tune that felt the exact opposite of the scene that was being mopped away.

Yoongi moved us so that we walked discreetly from the ballroom to an open area where people mingled, keeping an arm around me and reaching across to grab one of my hands. "Start hyperventilating." He instructed, rubbing my back in small circles as we approached an exit at the side of the building.

Two guards stood at the door to keep anyone from using the exit, raising their eyebrows when I put a hand over my chest, gasping for air and exhaling through whimpers.

"Is she okay?" One of them stepped forward. I wondered how quickly I could take his gun, but decided against it for now, knowing that Yoongi had a plan.

"She needs some fresh air. We haven't been around this many people in a while." He provided an excuse, the two guards exchanging a look before deciding to let us through the door, creating a tiny opening for us to slip outside.