Midas Touch ➸ Taekook

- Fifteenth -

Taehyung and Jungkook didn't waste a minute warning the rest of the group. By reading the mercenary's memories, he had discovered that the hostages were divided into five containers, and all the X-Men had immediately rushed to them. It was their first victory. However, when they managed to open the first container, they were unable to celebrate. There were a dozen children, the youngest must have been four years old, and the oldest barely thirteen. They were dirty, emaciated, injured... and terrified. When they saw the X-Men, Taehyung saw in their eyes that they thought they were going to die. The children thought they had come to finish them off, or at least to beat them up. It took Auroro, Jin and Kitty a long time to reassure them. Or at least calm them down enough to evacuate them.

"It's horrible..." sighed Hoseok as he saw Piotr lift several children in his arms, unable to walk on their own.

Some of their legs were black with bruises, their bones perhaps even broken. The younger X-Men looked away, unable to continue watching the horror. Taehyung almost vomited, but restrained himself. Unlike his comrades, he managed to hold his gaze. Yoongi and him. It wasn't the first time he'd seen the horrors mutants suffered. Those who weren't lucky enough to run into Professor Xavier.

However, his vision began to blur and his whole body began to shake violently. He was suddenly so cold, it was as if all the strength and warmth in his body had left him. And he was even starting to lose his balance.

"No, not now..." he muttered, catching himself on the first thing that passed under his hand.

That thing was Jungkook. And the man couldn't hide his surprise when Taehyung clung to him. At first, he thought the teenager was being sentimental, and that he was seeking some comfort from the Cajun. Comfort that he would gladly give him. But he quickly realised that this was not the case, when he saw Taehyung's gaze turn white, and had to put an arm around his waist to stop him from falling.

"Hey, Taehyung, what's wrong with you? Hey, you okay- Oh merde!"

Jungkook's gaze fell on the pool of blood that had formed at Taehyung's feet. He quickly found the source: the boy had been shot in the stomach during their altercation with the mercenaries. Jungkook bit his cheek: it had most certainly happened when Taehyung had narrowly saved him. He'd been shot instead of him. And he hadn't said a word. He'd preferred to suffer in silence, even if it meant putting his life in danger.

"Hey!" he shouted, turning to the rest of the team. "Taehyung's hurt! He's losing consciousness!"

"What?!"

Namjoon rushed towards them, crouching down next to Jungkook, who had laid Taehyung on the ground to compress his wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

"He needs to be evacuated quickly." Namjoon said. "Take him back to the jet, there's a first aid kit there. We'll join you as soon as we've finished here."

Jungkook nodded, lifting Taehyung as gently as possible. The boy had lost consciousness and was being carried limply by the man. Jungkook wasted no time in leaving this place, and as soon as he reached the jet he placed the teenager on one of the benches and started looking for a first-aid kit. Luckily for him, Auroro had followed him, and she found the kit for him. Together, they set about treating the boy as best they could.

"Put on some gloves." Auroro told him. "If you touch him, you'll end up as injured as he is."

Jungkook complied, his gaze fixed on Taehyung. He'd never admit it out loud, but he blamed himself. He was the adult of the two, with more experience, and yet the teenager had put himself in danger for him. He had saved him, and injured himself in his place. Even though they had only known each other for two days. Despite all the animosity Taehyung showed him, he couldn't bring himself to let Jungkook die. Even if it meant dying in his place.