Redemption

CHAPTER SIX

"Are you okay?" Seokjin fusses over Brianna, "did he hurt you?"

She shakes her head, "no, I'm fine physically..."

The end of her sentence trails of. She doesn't really need to say it, but her emotional and mental state isn't faring quite so well at the moment.

"He wouldn't have hurt her, at least not in the way you're thinking."

They all glance at the stranger within the shop dubiously. When he'd come barreling through the shop's door, shouting about a Nephilim of all things, Seokjin and Jeonguk had both become immediately panicked. And for multiple reasons.

Not a single immortal likes coming face to face with a reaper, even if that reaper's target is someone else. The majority of them are cold, and unfeeling. Also they have a notorious habit of killing first, and never bothering to ask questions at all.

Even now, Brianna's two friends are extremely wary. Especially since he shows no inclination towards leaving. It would be nice, they think, if he would just go on his way. But he simply sits there, studying Brianna blatantly. And the woman doesn't even seem to have the common sense to be afraid of him.

Much to Seokjin's disbelief.

"My name's Yoongi, by the way, " the reaper reveals. "Min Yoongi. The man who seems so fixated on you is a Nephilim, and I've been hunting him for five years."

Seokjin snorts, "five years and you still haven't managed to catch him?"

Yoongi shrugs.

"He's clever."

"But you're a reaper, " Jin exclaims, "the big bad boogeyman of the supernatural world!"

"You wanna do my job?" Yoongi retorts, folding his arms across his chest.

"If I could, I'd kill the bastard in a heart beat, " the genie growls, "but I'm no reaper!"

Suddenly, Brianna speaks up.

"Speaking of killing, " her voice is meek, and troubled, "how is it that he was able to actually permanently kill my friend Marie? I thought only reapers were capable of destroying an immortal's soul?"

Yoongi hums, and shakes his head.

"Normally you'd be right, " he confesses. "But Nephilim are different. They inherit all the abilities of their sires, that is to say, the angel that spawned them. That includes the ability to truly kill immortals."

Brianna pales significantly.

"If he's a nephi-whatever, " Jeonguk pipes in, eyes narrowed, "then how come we couldn't sense his immortal soul?"

"Yeah, " Jin speaks up, "Nephilim are immortal same as the divine half of their parentage, right? So why were we able to mistake him for a mortal?"

Yoongi sighs, tearing his gaze away from Brianna so that he might face the genie and the werewolf with a roll of his eyes.

"For the same reason that you don't know a reaper is on your trail until he shows himself."

Jin scowls.

"So what now?" The genie scoffs. "We just wait for him to waltz in here and try it again?"

"To an extent, " the reaper states, "yes."

Seokjin looks startled, eyes wide open as his outrage grows. He can't believe this!

Reapers are supposed to be the most terrifying creatures in existence. The fear of these creatures is what holds the majority of the supernatural population in check. And this guy, is one of them?

"Absolutely not!" Jin seethes. "I will not allow you to use Brianna as bait-"

"I'll do it."

Brianna grabs everyone's attention with just those three words.

"You can't be serious!" Seokjin exclaims. "He's asking you to play the bait!"

"I'm bait whether I play the part or not Jin!" She cries. "He'll come back for me! He hurt Marie because of me, and he wants to hurt you and Jeonguk too! What chance do I ever have of living my own life until he's gone?"

"I..." The genie's voice tapers in the end, resolve crumbling. "We don't even know of we can trust this guy... What if he turns and reaps us in the end too?"

Yoongi holds out a single hand, "I can't speak for other reapers, but I'm not like that. I want this guy caught just as badly as the lot of you do, and I'm willing to stand in as the seer's protector-"

"She doesn't need you to protect her, " Jeonguk snarls, suddenly adding his own heated voice into the fray.

"Doesn't she though?" Yoongi retorts. "If it hadn't been for me, the Nephilim would have already made off with her and you'd have likely been none the wiser."

The young werewolf clenches his hands, balling them up into fists so tightly that his knuckles turn white.

He'd like to deny it, like to claim that there's no way he and Seokjin would ever have allowed such a thing. But truthfully?

He can't.

"Look, " Yoongi sighs, running one hand through his dark locks as he leans against the nearby display, "it isn't like I'm asking her to dangle herself out in the open unprotected. She needn't change her daily life at all, in fact. All I'm asking is the chance to hang about. She's right, you know. He will come back for her."

"And I'm supposed to believe he'll try again without dangling her like a carrot on the proverbial stick?" Seokjin eyes the reaper warily.

"Not at first, no. He'll try waiting for an oppurtune moment, but when there isn't any, he'll try anyway."

"What makes you so sure?" Jeonguk asks angrily. "He could be patient enough to wait months, even years before he'd become that desperate."

"He could, " Yoongi retorts, "but he won't. I don't know why it is that he's so obsessed with her, but she's clearly important to him. Too important to leave in the company of three males for an extended period of time."

"Four males, " Seokjin corrects, looking to Brianna who is frowning in confusion. "Hoseok is on his way to Seattle. He thought it'd be a good idea for him to be nearby with everything that's going on."

Brianna branches, "but his visions-"

"Don't matter to him nearly as much as you do, " Jin interrupts.

"But he'll be uncomfortable, " Brianna contests angrily. "He'll have nightmares again."

The truth is that Hoseok is like a father to her, and she can't stand to see him suffer. But seeing the deaths of others is almost always a traumatic experience, and the ancient seer still carries the scars left behind. Being crammed into the same city with so many mortals will be hell on earth for Hoseok, which is why she hadn't wanted to say anything to him.

She knew he'd be on the first plane out if he heard about her problems, because he cares for her just as much as she does for him.

"I think as far as Hoseok's concerned, having nightmares probably pales in comparison to losing his precious pupil." Jin asserts confidently.

But his words don't comfort Brianna in the slightest.

"Alright then, " Yoongi announces, rising to his full height as he addresses Brianna directly. "It's settled. From now on, just think of me as your personal body guard."

The seer blushes, but nods nonetheless.