Innocence {VKOOK}

Replacement-24

Taehyung

   Taehyung looks down at the face he has loathed for so long. Before he and the others had killed Felix and went rogue, Philip had actually been kind to him. He showed him the ropes and guided him when he first joined Phoenix, and they were almost close enough to be considered friends.

But that's history. Philip won't stop until he has killed every single one of Taehyung's loved ones and more.

   He can't let him.

All around him, there are the sounds of bodies crashing to the floor and cries of outrage as his friends join the fight.

Jimin, brandishing a long wooden pole with sharpened edges that he probably carved himself, knocks a goon to the ground with a sharp movement of his arm, nearly impaling the throat of another just several feet away. Spotting Jungkook, still tied to the chair in the middle of the room, Jimin lets out a cry and rushes over to him. Behind him the goon exhales, having just barely escaped decapitation, and follows after him. He picks up a discarded knife from the floor and approaches his target, but he stops short as Yoongi suddenly appears behind him, slicing his throat with his dagger in one swift motion.

Jimin usually prefers to leave the killing to Yoongi.

   To his left, Hoseok aims a kick to someone's head, his foot connecting with a solid blow and sending him spiraling through the air. Another man grabs Hoseok's leg from where he's lying on the ground, catching him off guard, and thrusts a long machete upward, aiming for his stomach. There is the dull sound of a silenced gunshot, and Hoseok's attacker freezes and looks down to see blood seeping through his shirt from a bullet wound clean through his heart.

The man drops his machete, collapsing on the spot, and Hoseok briefly looks up and nods at Namjoon at the other side of the room, smoke rising from his raised pistol as he uses his other gun to send a bullet through another goon's chest without so much as a quick glance for aim.

   In the middle of all the chaos is Taehyung, his bear claw knives raised and aiming for the exposed throat of the man beneath him, stained with the blood of the two guards he just killed. Amidst all the wild, murderous thoughts running through his head, Taehyung faintly notices Jimin untying Jungkook and taking the boy away from the fighting, following their plan to get Jungkook to the van where Jin is waiting. Yoongi brings up the rear as he defends the two, cutting and slicing away.

   It's over.

"Goodbye, baby," Taehyung growls and swings his arm down.

Suddenly a loud booming sound rakes through the room, sounding almost like an explosion.

   Taehyung hisses sharply and lurches forward, rolling off of Philip and clutching his left shoulder. He can faintly hear Namjoon and Hoseok yelling his name in the background. Warm blood seeps from the bullet wound, painting his hand red as he focuses his bloodshot eyes on the person who just shot him.

   Next to him, Philip lets out a nervous, almost hysterical laugh.

   "That's Jason, he's my best man," he says, a crazed look in his eyes. "He had some fun with your little bitch before you got here, and now I'm assigning him the task of bringing me your head."

   He struggles to his feet, his knees still shaking, and spits at Taehyung on the ground. "You lost your chance. There's no fucking way I'm letting you live after that little stunt you just pulled."

Enraged, Taehyung bites his lips and struggles against the pain, hoisting himself to his feet. Seeing that he can still move, Philip takes out his own gun and sends a bullet through Taehyung's right leg, shattering the bone.

   He lets out a piercing cry of agony and falls back down, curling into a ball as pain rips through his entire body.

His vision red, Taehyung can only watch as a few of Philip's remaining men drag two figures to the center of the room: Jimin and Yoongi.

   The two are covered in bruises, like they just took a beating. Yoongi's eyes are black and swollen, blood dripping from his nose and mouth. Taehyung just saw them taking Jungkook outside. What could've happened in those few minutes??

   Jimin's eyes meet Taehyung's, his body shaking as he and Yoongi are forced to their knees right beside him.

   "W-we got him to Jin," he says. "But we couldn't hold them off so we told him to take Jungkook and drive away."

   Philip kneels down in front of Jimin and looks him in the eyes. Jimin glares back, his eyes red and glistening with tears.

   "Your plan failed," he says to Philip, his voice quiet but full of hatred. "Your target got away."

   "That's true," Philip agrees, standing up and walking in a circle around the three. "But his life isn't the only one I can take."

The fighting around them stops. Namjoon and Hoseok were able to work together to defeat the rest of Philip's men, but all they can do now is hold their breath, their eyes wide and their bodies tense.

"You can start us off and be his replacement," Philip says.

Kneeling in front of him, Yoongi stares into the barrel of the gun pointed at his head.

Taehyung's eyes widen in panic, and he struggles to move. He spots an unconscious goon lying a few feet away, his gun on the ground right by his hand. If he can get to it in time...

"Any last words?"

Yoongi looks over at Jimin, his face unreadable but his eyes full of sorrow. Jimin lets out a sob and shakes his head furiously, as if trying to deny reality.

Yoongi smiles sadly, a rare, truly warm smile that lasts for only a moment before fading away, as if it was never there. He tears his eyes away from Jimin's crying face and looks down, his heart feeling like it's being torn apart.

After a moment's silence, he looks back up at Jimin's face, a single tear rolling down his cheek. He opens his mouth to speak, and Philip chuckles darkly, pulling the trigger.

The sound of gunfire booms, and a body falls to the ground with a thud.

———————————————————

Sorry about the late update guys. I'm alive though :)