《stray together》

Takes One To Know One

The base was oddly... quiet. Changbin had fallen asleep early, the stress of Yeonjun being arrested was getting to him, and the lack of sleep finally caught up. Jeongin was out gambling, as usual- only returning back to the base once every few days to drop off his winnings for Chan to pay toward his debt. And Lino was with Han in the younger's room, either doing therapy, or sleeping. Chan wouldn't know, nor would he pry.

He sat on the couch in the main room, reading the email Suhyeon sent him again, then thought back to the phone conversation he had with her just a few hours ago.

"I'm warning you now. It's a lot, Chan." Suhyeon stressed, the true weight of it still able to be heard in her voice over the phone.

Chan turned his blinker on, slowing down to make the upcoming turn. "Yeah, I get that."

"No, like, we got into his entire cloud. We found pictures of what he did to Hae Eun. Videos. It's fucking sick. I banned Haruna and Siyoon from working on it." Suhyeon explained, her voice hushed so the others in her group wouldn't hear. "And it goes back years. But we could only get the information of recent senders from intercepting the communications. Whatever happened before we got in, we don't know who sent what."

It would never make sense to Chan how there were so many sick people in the world who were involved in some way shape or form with CSAM. From the absolute filth that manufactured it, to the ones who bought it for their own sick fantasies, and everyone in between. "All the more reason I need to find him and make sure he can't hurt anyone ever again." Chan sighed, wishing it was easier than it had proven to be.

"Right." Suhyeon agreed, before giving one last warning. "Just... be ready. Once you see that stuff, you can't unsee it."

Chan knew eventually, to help the victims, he would have to investigate what evidence he had at his disposal. Even if it would stay with him forever. The trauma stayed with the victims, so he would just have to get through it. But, he also knew that technically, the most pressing matter didn't involve him having to see it all just yet. He had a list of information and people he could take care of first. Suhyeon's team already confirmed their involvement.

The only problem was how thin his own team was currently spread. Jeongin was detrimental in being able to pay off the almost unobtainable debt he owed, and had to be out gambling. Lino was absolutely off the table, no missions involving something related to his past. Han was definitely not ready for hit jobs. So it left only Changbin and himself.

Groaning, Chan got up off the couch and headed to his office. He needed to get what information he could for each target. Thankfully, Suhyeon's list included some names, and all IP addresses. The rest were just emails, and he would need to try to locate any other online presence using those same emails to determine identities.

Lino awoke to his hair being gently played with, as Han seemed to be absentmindedly threading his fingers through the different layers of it. It had gotten noticeably longer since the younger had joined, and Lino started thinking about how he probably needed to ask Changbin to cut it soon. He hadn't looked in a mirror to notice the length, but he couldn't let it get too long. He stretched his limbs as he continued to become more awake and alert.

"Morning." Han whispered in a raspy voice, more intentional with the movement of his fingers now.

"Morning." Lino returned, unmoving. He heard the steady thrum of Han's heartbeat under where he laid his head. "How long have you been up?"

"Not long."

Humming, Lino asked, "Any texts?"

"Nothing work-wise." Han stretched as well, "Just Innie giving me shit."