Midas Touch ➸ Taekook

- Twenty-first -

The weeks passed, and the X-Men went through a series of training sessions to prepare for the mission. Because this time, it would be much more difficult than the previous ones. In a villa whose basement was as tangled as a labyrinth, there would be no retreat. So, more than ever, the slightest mistake meant death. For them, but also for the hostages.

Taehyung would have been lying if he'd said that for the last three weeks, all he'd done was think about the mission. This was completely untrue. On the contrary, he'd given it very little thought, strangely enough. No, something else had occupied his mind. Or rather, someone.

The evening he'd confided in Jungkook had a special place in his heart. And they hadn't spoken about it at all the next day. Taehyung feared that the man would bring it up again, because it had been a moment of weakness for him, during which he had confided his most shameful thoughts, the ones he thought he would never be able to say out loud. He was grateful to him for not saying anything. In fact, he'd probably sensed it. It was a little secret between them, a moment that had brought them inexorably closer, but which should never surface again.

At the moment, however, he didn't have much time to think about it. Night had fallen and the neighbourhood was asleep. It was the perfect time to act. They had been training, and they might never be completely ready. But they didn't have all the time in the world. On the contrary. They had already waited too long.

Taehyung cast a worried glance in the direction of the villa. From the outside, it looked like the typical house of a rich millionaire, but nothing more. It was a quiet, crime-free neighbourhood. On the surface. But even if from the outside it looked like a quiet place with no problems whatsoever, what was going on inside was something quite different.

"Do everyone remember the plan?" Namjoon suddenly asked, drawing the teenager out of his thoughts.

They all nodded wordlessly, as did Taehyung. He had to concentrate and avoid panicking. There was no room for error.

"Good, then let's go. Be careful, everyone."

They turned round, and Piotr lifted the manhole cover at the end of an alleyway opposite the villa with one hand. Logan didn't waste a minute and was the first to jump, disappearing into the darkness of the underground.

"Clear." he shouted from below, just loud enough for his team-mates to hear.

Namjoon then gave the signal to continue, and all the X-Men jumped down one after the other, assuring each other with a brief word that they had reached the bottom without any problems. When it was Jungkook's turn, the man stepped aside to let Taehyung go first. They hadn't exchanged a single word yet this evening, but he was touched by this action. He was subconsciously assuring him that he would look after him tonight.

Once in the sewers, Jin took over, guiding them to a specific wall. The place was filthy and infested with rats, but for once, no one took any notice. The time was too serious for that. Once in front of the wall, everyone joined hands, letting Kitty go ahead. The young woman activated her power and, using it, crossed the wall, taking all her team-mates with her.

"It's just as the Professor predicted." Yoongi observed.

They found themselves in a narrow but completely deserted laundry room. For the moment, the plan was going smoothly: they had broken into the villa without being noticed. They didn't know exactly where the hostages were, so they would have to move as discreetly as possible to give themselves as much time as possible to find them without raising the slightest suspicion. Namjoon checked that the corridor was clear before everyone came out, lined up one behind the other. Jin went ahead, while the leader stayed behind. From what they had concluded from studying the map Professor Xavier had retrieved for them, the hostages must have been in one of the deepest rooms in the villa's underground passageways. It was vast and dead-end, making it easy to defend against intruders. So their objective was to get there.

But as they went deeper into the maze that was the villa's underground, voices finally reached them. Everyone froze, and Logan's instinct was to bring out his metal claws, which tore at the skin on the back of his hand. However, Jin put a hand on his shoulder, preventing him from acting.

"Everyone stay very quiet, and above all, don't move." he ordered in a whisper.

He put a hand to his temple and closed his eyes, concentrating on his power. At the same time, two men appeared at the corner of the corridor. Taehyung held his breath as their eyes fell on him. And he was surprised when absolutely nothing happened. It was as if they hadn't seen him. The two heavily armed men walked past them as if the group weren't there. As if they were completely invisible. And so they disappeared down another corridor.

"How did you do that?" Hoseok asked, his eyes shining with curiosity. "You made us invisible?"

"Not exactly." Jin replied. "I got into their minds, so that their brains wouldn't notice our presence. Their eyes saw us, but their brains didn't analyse the information. So we were kind of invisible to them."

"Wow..."

"We don't have time to dwell on that." Namjoon interjected. "Let's get on with it."

They obeyed, even though Logan muttered 'I should have killed them anyway, just in case' before starting off again. But Taehyung was grateful. He was so stressed that he wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible. He knew it was almost inevitable, but they had to take as few risks as possible, both for their own safety and that of the hostages.

"This way," said Jin as he led them down a staircase that went so deep you couldn't see the bottom.

The further down they went, the dimmer the light became, and by the time they reached the bottom, simple light bulbs were sizzling.

"Don't you think it's strange that we've only met these two guards?" Yoongi suddenly asked.

They all turned to him, eyebrows furrowed in surprise as they were so unused to hearing his voice. But he wasn't wrong. They had all prepared themselves for an extremely dangerous mission, yet so far they had encountered no real difficulties.

"We're not going to complain." Namjoon simply replied.

They finally stopped in front of a heavy metal door, once again, without a single guard. It was as if the hundred or so mercenaries they had been expecting to find here had vanished into thin air. And even though Namjoon had told them not to worry about it, Taehyung couldn't help worrying. His first instinct was to turn to Jungkook, who had literally never left his side. The man had glued himself to the teenager, forming a kind of warm, protective aura. He made him feel strangely safe.

"Shouldn't we have run into mercenaries by now?" he whispered. "I mean, isn't there anyone here, even to guard the hostages?"

"I think it's just as weird as you do, chéri. So don't go too far away, I have a bad feeling."

Taehyung nodded, and unconsciously moved closer to the Cajun. They all held hands again, and Kitty led them through the heavy door. And what they saw had just as much effect on them as it had on the port of Houston.

There were dozens of mutants, most of them women, as well as some men and children. All were extremely emaciated, their cheeks hollowed out from hunger and fatigue, and they could see death in their eyes. Their clothes were filthy and the room smelt foul. Taehyung couldn't even imagine what had happened here. What they had to do to survive.

However, no sooner had they taken a step towards the hostages than an alarm went off, sounding so loud that they cried out in surprise. Taehyung's eyes widened in terror as the worst-case scenario came true.

"Fuck, we've been spotted!"

~🌻~

Sorry for the wait, I wanted to update it Yesterday, but Wattpad wouldn't let me...