V+O; in the Alternate Universe **Completed**

Chapter 38

First she had to find her friends; she knew they'd be looking for her at this point. O climbed up a statue of a horse and rider in an attempt to get a vantage point. And there they were, JungKook paced back and forth as the other two were sprawled out in the grass... She wondered if the fox had led her here on purpose. On any other occasion it could have taken her days to find them. Jumping from the statue in one graceful arc she sprinted for them. JungKook was the first to see her and he caught her up, squeezing her tightly. It felt good to be in his arms, she felt more whole than she had done in however long it had been since she saw them last and most of all it felt safe.
"Did you just come out of the tunnels?" JiMin asked as he gave her a squeeze and she nodded.
Jin whistled and patted her on the head in a very older brother loving way. "A day and a half down there." He faked a shiver and disgust. "Glad you're in one piece though."
"How did you find us?"
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." She laughed. "So how do we find Octavia?"
"Well Jin had this brilliant idea so he went to the top of that," JK pointed at a tall building, "and it seems that half the city is covered in greenery with a very clear spiralling centre. We're guessing she's there. It makes logical sense."
"Okay sounds easy, almost too easy."
"Well we thought that too, but the place is crawling with infected humans. It looks like some variation of the rott, but it's worse." JiMin scratched at his lip, seemingly worried. "And we're not even the full 7 right now."
"7?" Orailia questioned. "There's only 6 of you?" They all looked at her as if she was concussed.
"RM, Agust, Hobi, JungKook" he touched his own chest, "JiMin, Jin" he pointed at each, "and V."
"Oh I probably just haven't met him yet." An owl hooted and she looked around for it; as the three boys exchanged very concerned looks. They had heard what had happened between O and Octavia but they had thought they had made it in time as she remembered them. It was clear to the three now that one vital person had been all but erased from her mind.
JungKook too had to turn to look up at the sky as his eyes prickled for his friend, TaeHyung. They were all like brothers, but right now they had a mission: it was important to compartmentalize. There was a strange quiet that spread over them with the realization that she had no idea who V was. It made them profoundly sad. O was in her own world, and didn't notice their whispered discussion about her lack of marks. JK made it clear that adding stress over what she may not remember was pointless at this time.
"I think we should find some food." Jin finally said, as they walked through the city plastered in plants. "For now we're going easy but it won't stay that way for long."
"Probably a good idea, we also just came out of a war, we need some rest." As JiMin spoke she looked at each of them, they were all covered in blood, cuts, and bruises. It made her feel sick that she was so self consumed to have not noticed how banged up they were..
O nodded, "it's a good plan."

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They found a small abandoned diner, it took them a moment to pry the door open and then secure it behind them. JK and Jin went about checking that they were the only ones inside the building. Once cleared they raided the cans from the cupboards. O and JiMin pulled all the cushions off of the furniture, piling them in one area on the floor which was hidden from the windows, to make sure they weren't able to be seen from the large front shop windows.
The boys used their weapons to crack open the cans; it was a weird assortment of beans, corn, cherries, puree pumpkin, and a few others. But it was far better than no food which is what they were running on at the moment. They passed the cans in a circle, digging in with their spoons. When O wasn't eating her knees were tucked up to her body, arms wrapped tightly around them. This time she noticed JungKook's concerned glances.
He immediately noticed the uncharacteristic posture of hers, to him it looked like a sort of fetal position, something one did to comfort themselves. Unable to help himself he put his arm around her and pulled her close. "We'll figure it all out." He whispered down to her, O relaxed a little and let her head rest against him, her bobbed hair falling into her face, she tucked her whole body closer to him in one scooch. Whether she was using him for warmth or comfort or both he didn't care. It was comforting to them both to be so close.

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It was still day but JungKook could feel his eyes were heavy, he leaned back and stretched his legs out; they had gone from one war to the next. Orailia slide to the floor and curled up against his body, head on his leg. Somehow she had gotten a hold of his hand, even if he had wanted it back it would've been a task to remove hers. He was happy for O to borrow whatever she needed from him so long as he too was allowed to find some peace in her as well. Smiling down at her one last time before he allowed himself to drift into sleep.
There was a scraping sound which startled them all awake, JK's first reaction was to cover Orailia's mouth before she could say a word. Only when they're eyes locked and she nodded did he remove it.
He peered over their hiding spot; one of the infected was raking its hand along the glass painfully slowly, he noticed its nose was missing. Wondering if maybe in trading for their brutality they had also lost some of their whits and humanity. Putting a finger to his lips he indicated by waving his palm downward that they should stay put and stay quiet. It took another half an hour before the thing had really left their window. And in that time O had again cozied up to JungKook.

It was very strange for JiMin and Jin to watch, as they very clearly remembered every bit of TaeHyung, and their relationship. Although they knew he had never even existed for her, in her mind they never so much as met. The person who she had the closest relationship with other than V would've been JungKook.
JiMin imagined the whole thing was rather confusing for her, and that when she thought back there were probably large holes when she was figuring things out alone where Tae should have been. As JiMin watched her it was clear there had been some profound change in her that losing TaeHyung had created. She seemed more cautious, less confident, and maybe even more shy. It made him sad, seeing her this way, a sort of shattered self. To him, if she needed to cling to JungKook for some form of support, when her world had been turned upside down, regardless of if she knew it or not, that was okay with him.
V would've wanted them to do everything possible to support her, even if that meant whatever was happening with JK right now. JiMin also wondered if JungKook needed her just as much. Tae was family, and although they were all super close JK was the youngest and JiMin imagined it would be hardest for him out of all of them. JiMin wasn't sure Jin was as forgiving. TaeHyung had been all about honour and in his own way JungKook taking care of O was an honourable thing. Especially when she seemed so fragile right now, even if there was a hint of selfishness in it, JiMin still thought that was okay. Love was not a finite resource, you could always make more. He would make sure to remind Jin of that fact.