under fire

by momorinse

Summary:

Ivan assists in the bust of a cruel omega sex trafficking ring—only to find out his childhood best friend and favorite person in the world had been one of their victims this entire time.

Notes:

this story deals with a lot of heavy subject matter and unhealthy behavior, so if you’re easily triggered by topics involved with sex trafficking, i highly recommend you take care of yourself and click out instead

Chapter 1

Blood, sweat, and sex. 

That’s all Ivan can smell when they raid the warehouse. Or at least it should be. 

He and the other alphas on the team are wearing extensive blockers to keep from scaring any of the victims, but nothing could’ve prepared them for the raw, agonizing scent of pain and trauma coming from the vulnerable omegas chained inside. 

It’s like nothing he’s ever experienced before. Terror drowned in hopelessness. A spike of fear as the strike team barrels its way through each wave of captors. 

Even Ivan, who considers himself a master of self-control—there’s only ever been one omega who could make him react on his baser instincts, and he’s been long gone—is nearly brought to his knees at the level of anguish in the air. 

The only bright side to this nightmare is that they should be finishing up soon. 

“You’re resisting a lot less than I expected,” Ivan notes as he jerks Heperu’s hands behind his back so he can cuff them. “Nothing to say now that we have you backed in a corner?” 

All around them, other members of the rescue team are arresting and restraining whatever members of the Segyein are left on this floor, but Heperu is surprisingly the least combative, considering his authority. 

He’s supposed to be the highest ranking Guardian of Thalara’s twisted trafficking network, and yet he’s been nothing but calm and cooperative since the cops busted into the place. While the other thugs are cursing out everyone around them, Heperu doesn’t even struggle. 

It’s… unsettling, to say the least. Though not as intrusive as the fact that Heperu hasn’t stopped staring at Ivan since he arrived. 

“You’re him, aren’t you?” 

Ivan pauses briefly before pushing Heperu to kneel against the wall, fully restrained. “I know I’m heartbreakingly attractive to look at, but you’re going to have to be a little more specific than that if you want a proper response.” 

“You’re Kitten’s previous owner,” Heperu clarifies, almost serene. “The one who hurt him. I would almost thank you for sending him my way, but I doubt you’re even aware of the part you played in his ruin.” 

Something hitches in Ivan’s chest, though he’s quick to shove it down in favor of a flawless grin. “I’m sorry, I think you must have mistaken me for another dashingly handsome detective, but I can see where you’d be confused. We’re a common bunch.” 

Ivan has only ever been with one omega—has only ever wanted one omega, no matter how much his friends have tried to assure him it’s okay to move on—and that won’t ever change. 

Even though he hasn’t seen that omega in years. 

Even though that omega will never want anything to do with him again. 

Heperu merely shakes his head, unwavering. “No. I’m certain. You’re not the only one who’s done his research, detective. And you’re exactly how I thought you’d be.” 

“Oh?” Ivan leans one hip against the wall, raising a brow. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Dewey rounding up a batch of bound criminals for transport, but Ivan doesn’t move to help him. “And how’s that?” 

“Fake.” 

Ivan smiles. “Is that supposed to be ironic?” 

“You wear such a flimsy mask. It’s no wonder Kitten left you. He would’ve seen through your deceptions even if you hadn’t driven that knife into his back.” 

And just like that, all the false laughter is wiped off Ivan’s face. “What did you just say to me?” 

“It’s almost a pity,” Heperu continues, as if Ivan hadn’t spoken. For a man who’s about to spend the rest of his life behind bars, he doesn’t seem the least bit concerned. His shoulders are calm. His target is clear. “Did you know Kitten used to talk about you in his sleep? He used to think you would find him; save him. He almost didn’t believe me at first when I told him you’d become a cop, but he got his hopes up anyway and you still never came for him.” 

Ivan’s lungs seize. “You…” 

“It’s been a long time since then. He’s been so good for me. So obedient. You probably wouldn’t even recognize him if not for his pretty silver hair.” 

No. 

“I guess nine years can do a lot to a person. He knows to be quiet now, but it used to be so easy to make him cry just by mentioning your name.” 

Ivan doesn’t remember moving. All he knows is that one second Heperu is talking, spewing poison, and then suddenly Ivan is on him, one hand fisted in the front of his shirt and the other slamming against his face. 

Several shouts ring out around the warehouse. “Ivan!” 

Anger isn’t a strong enough word. This—this is rage. It’s fury. It’s blood-boiling, skin-melting hatred, burned together in a mix so toxic and intense Ivan can’t even breathe with how much he wants to tear Heperu’s head off and shred his limbs with his bare hands. 

Consumed by murder, Ivan moves to punch him again and again, only to be held back under the arms by a powerful grip, another alpha, one Ivan almost lashes out at until he recognizes the scent of pack, of Dewey, and even then he’s barely coherent. 

“You take that back,” Ivan is snarling. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. He isn’t—he isn’t here, he’s—safe, gone, he’d never—he’d never—”

“Ivan!” Dewey yanks him back farther, away from Heperu, who is watching him with something like dark satisfaction, even with blood on his face. 

“You and I both know I’m telling the truth. You wouldn’t be reacting like this if I wasn’t. I’m surprised you didn’t recognize his scent on me earlier.” 

Please. 

Ivan can’t think. He can’t breathe. He’s been on edge since before the raid even started, but he chalked it up to nerves. Told himself it was normal. Omega sex trafficking is a huge, dangerous market, and this is the biggest case his unit has handled in years. Of course he’d be on edge. 

And yet… 

He didn’t stop to think. Didn’t let himself think. Didn’t want to believe that this horrible feeling in his gut, this deep, underlying sense of pain, of horror, was anything but an empathetic reaction to a terrible yet distant crime. He refused to believe that the tiny hint of lilies in the air, normally so sweet, could be anything but a sick coincidence. His alpha instincts missing someone so much they twisted the truth to make pieces fit. 

Dewey is still trying to shake Ivan back to his senses while Acorn, in a panic, begins pulling Heperu away—but it’s too late. Heperu knows he’s slid his queen across the board. He knows he has them cornered. 

“He’s downstairs,” Heperu says pleasantly. “Why don’t you take a look for yourself?” 

Checkmate. 

Several people move at once. 

“No!” Dewey yells. 

But Ivan is already gone. 

He’s the fastest alpha in their district for a reason. No one can come close to his speed. He dodges every hand that tries to grab him as he races past and heads straight to the staircase that leads to the basement. 

The smell is even more potent here, almost suffocating. Ivan has to dig his nails into his palms just to keep from falling to his knees. It’s no wonder they kept most of the alphas from coming down, ordering them to take care of the major arrests while the betas and weaker or mated alphas handled the omegas. 

So they wouldn’t scare the victims, Hyuna said, but now Ivan wonders if there’d been another motive to the instructions. To keep him out, specifically. 

That feeling is only intensified with how everyone reacts to see his face. 

“D-Detective Drabek! You can’t be down here! You have to—” 

He pushes easily past Rookie and Bari, along with the several rooms lining the halls that are filled with terrified omegas. He pays them no mind. 

They’re not who he’s looking for. 

Please don’t be true. Please don’t be true. 

“Ivan?” Mizi appears in front of him, stunned and frantic. “W-what are you doing here? You can’t—no, wait!” 

He shoulders past her too, feeling almost like a different person. He’s not emotional, he’s not careless, he doesn’t get possessed by his instincts, not like this. 

But if there’s even the slightest chance Heperu was telling the truth… 

Confirmation comes brutally and decisively at the end of the next hall. The fact that Ivan somehow knew to head in this exact direction should’ve been damning enough, but denial is a merciless crutch. And Ivan wanted to cling to it as long as he could. 

Not that it matters. Because the pale omega sitting on the bed in the small cell, a police-issued blanket draped over his shoulders and heavy bags beneath his eyes, is none other than Till. 

Like the other omegas Ivan caught a glimpse of as he tore through the halls, Till is too thin and wearing some sort of electronic collar around his throat. Ivan doesn’t know if his colleagues just haven’t gotten around to removing it yet or if there’s been some sort of problem, but it makes his blood burn to see something so vile around his omega’s neck. 

Not your omega, Ivan’s mind corrects instantly, bitterly. Not anymore. 

Sua notices him first, and her face twists unhappily. But at least she knows better than to turn him away. “Ivan, you shouldn’t be here.” 

No. This is the only place Ivan should be. 

When Till walked out of Ivan’s life nine years ago and disappeared without a trace, Ivan knew he didn’t deserve another chance. But he couldn’t help but dream of one anyway. 

He imagined their reunion so many times. How it’d happen. What he’d look like. What they’d talk about. How he’d beg. 

At Sua’s words, Till’s gaze finally flickers up from where he’d been staring hollowly at the floor, more like an empty shell than the fiery omega Ivan knew him as. 

Ivan knows Till recognizes him. He can see it in his face. 

But instead of saying something, Till just turns his head and looks away.

Chapter 2

Notes:

thank you so much for the warm response on the first chapter! i didn't expect to finish this one so quickly, but all your kind words encouraged me ❤️ please enjoy

Ivan refuses to leave Till’s side. 

Not as Sua’s medical team clears Till for transport, and not as Till is led into one of the vans to take him to the omega rehabilitation center they prepared in advance for this case. 

The entire time, Till doesn’t say a word to him. Till doesn’t even look at him. He answers Sua’s questions with short, monosyllabic sentences and doesn’t acknowledge anyone else. 

It’s only fair. Ivan feels his blood boil hotter every second he doesn’t have answers, but he can’t find his voice to say anything either. 

✧

Hyuna knocks on the open door to Till’s new facility-assigned room, where Ivan has been watching the nurse do Till’s intake like a hawk. 

“Ivan, a word?” 

It’s a surprise to see Hyuna look so visibly fatigued. As the captain of their precinct, she’s probably swamped with the aftermath of the raid, and yet she still took the time to come all the way down here to speak to Ivan. 

Ivan stands. He doesn’t want to leave Till yet, but he’s too angry to stay. 

An explanation is the least Hyuna owes him. 

“Till,” Ivan says softly. His chest tightens when Till stiffens but doesn’t lift his head. “I’ll… be right back.” To the nurse, Ivan adds, “Till’s allergic to penicillin and soy. He won’t tell you that last one and he’ll claim it’s not that serious, but he gets hives. Make sure not to feed it to him.” 

With that, Ivan turns to follow Hyuna out of the room. 

Till still doesn’t respond. 

Hyuna leads Ivan to one of the empty offices down the next hall. Once the door shuts behind them, she leans back against the desk, shifting the weight off her prosthetic as she faces Ivan. 

“I heard you made quite a scene at the raid,” she says. “Honestly, you were more composed than I expected you’d be. I know you must have a million questions.” 

Ivan is so angry he has to take several long breaths before he can speak. “How long?” he says finally. “How long have you known Till was one of the Segyein’s victims?” 

Hyuna doesn’t waver. “Eighteen months.” 

Eighteen— 

Ivan walks out the door. It’s only a lifetime’s experience of suppressing his emotions that keeps him from punching the wall. From completely losing it. 

When he reenters the room, Hyuna hasn’t moved. She’s waiting patiently. 

At this point, it’s a mental war. Hyuna knows Ivan is smart enough to put together the pieces with the limited crumbs he’s now gathered, and Ivan is too restrained to demand a detailed play-by-play the way someone less collected might. 

Mostly because he’s aware there’s a reason she never told him any of this from the start. 

Everyone in their unit knows Ivan only became a cop to find Till. These past nine years have all been for Till. Even if Till wanted nothing to do with him anymore, Ivan just needed to see him. Talk to him. Confirm that, after the way Ivan ruined him, Till was still breathing, somehow okay. 

The fact that Hyuna knew where Till had been for eighteen months and never said anything… 

Normally, Ivan thinks Hyuna is an excellent captain, capable and astute. She’s not cruel, but she is practical to an almost merciless degree, and that’s how Ivan knows, without her having to say anything, what must’ve happened. 

“You offered to get Till out as soon as you found him,” Ivan deduces, his voice empty. “He declined. Said he’d get you inside information to take down the entire trafficking network instead.” 

Hyuna smiles wryly. “You’ve got a really righteous omega out there. Till was way more selfless than I expected. He just wanted the Segyein destroyed and everyone else saved. Didn’t even ask for anything in return.” 

Ivan wants to laugh. It’d probably sound like ice. “So you let a battered, tortured victim play double agent in a situation where the slightest misstep would’ve gotten him killed.” 

“Till said—” 

“I don’t care what he said!” Ivan snaps, composure slipping. “He—was he there, this entire time? Did he tell you?” 

Hyuna’s expression is pure pity. “Yes. From what I heard, he was taken by the Segyein just after he turned seventeen.” 

So it’s true then. This really is all Ivan’s fault. “That means Till was a slave with them for seven and a half years before you found him. By that point, he probably didn’t consider his own survival at all. He shouldn’t have had to stay for another second, and yet you—” 

Ivan breaks off abruptly, having to breathe through his teeth to contain himself. His whole body is shaking. 

They all know the statistics. Most omega sex slaves lose their will to fight within the first week. Lose their will to live within the first month. Those who don’t break early only break harder after a year of increased force, and if by some miracle they manage to survive that long, they’re so emotionally ruined and pumped full of drugs that they rarely survive rehab. 

Omegas are the most emotionally fragile, the most vulnerable, the least able to handle abuse. It’s why there are so many laws in place to protect them. 

It’s also why omega sex trafficking is such a huge market. 

From watching Till over the past couple hours, Ivan knows Till must be past his limit. He’s too malnourished, too small. There are scars all over his skin. Track marks on his arms. 

His pupils are too big. The nurse will set up for his detox after they get his blood work back, but considering how long Till had been with the Segyein, it’s going to be an uphill battle with several thousand tonnes weighing him down. Till probably doesn’t even remember what it’s like to be sober. With his trauma, he’ll hate every second of it. 

There’s a mating bite on the side of Till’s neck. Till left Ivan at his seventeenth birthday party, before they had a chance to formalize their bond. Whoever Till’s mated to isn’t him. 

The thought ruins Ivan, more than a little bit. 

Ivan is not an optimistic person. He knows the likelihood of Till surviving rehabilitation is slim. Half the omegas here will end up dead or broken by the end of next year, and the thought of Till being one of them, of him just being another number to jot down in their book as a statistical casualty while his colleagues try to insist they focus on those who can be saved… 

“If he dies,” Ivan starts, and his voice is hoarse, worse than he intended. 

Surprisingly, Hyuna cuts in before Ivan can finish. “Ivan, we won’t let anything happen to him.” 

“Right.” Ivan’s laugh is harsh. “Because you magically found a way to guarantee the life of a suicidal, forcibly bonded omega.” 

“We’re all aware that we only managed to take down the Segyein because of Till. We owe him a great deal. We’ll take care of him.” 

Ivan thinks of the way Till has refused to so much as look at Ivan since that first glance. “Was it Till’s idea not to tell me or yours?” 

There’s a short beat where Ivan can tell Hyuna is quickly trying to weigh which answer will make him least angry before she says, “We all agreed you wouldn’t have let him go through with it.” 

So Till then. “He still hates me that much, huh?” 

Hyuna softens. “Ivan, I know you said he’d probably want you dead for what you did to him, but from what I’ve seen, everything Till has done since he agreed to work with us was to protect you. You would’ve gone rogue and broke Till out yourself if you realized he was in there. He knew that and demanded we keep you out of it.” 

“You keep saying we,” Ivan notes, feeling hollow. “Who else knew Till was your confidential informant?” 

This kind of sensitive information would’ve been kept close to the chest, for Till’s own safety. Any leaks could’ve gotten him killed. 

Isaac and Dewey, definitely. Probably Nigeh. Maybe the chief. But what Ivan really wants to know is—

“Sua has known from the start,” Hyuna confirms, apologetic, seeing through him. “Mizi was only informed this morning. Everyone else involved was just told to keep you away from this case during the investigation, and to keep you away from the basement during the raid.” Something that was fairly easy, considering this wasn’t one of his unit’s cases, and they were only assisting the bust as backup rather than commanding parties. 

Still. Sua has known Ivan and Till since they were kids. She watched them grow up, watched them fall in love, and then, when Ivan was eighteen, she watched them fall apart. 

She knows better than anyone how agonized Ivan was over that loss. How it almost destroyed him. 

And yet she still kept this from him.

It’s what Ivan expected, but it still fucking hurts. 

Ivan shakes his head. “Regardless of the situation, it still shouldn't have been Till’s responsibility. I thought your main source inside the Segyein was Heperu’s godson. If you had Luka Blanchard, why would you even need Till? Luka would’ve had access to far more information than an omega slave would. Keeping Till there was unnecessary overkill.” 

There’s a slight tick to Hyuna’s face, like she almost flinches but manages to contain it. 

Ivan narrows his eyes. “What? What aren’t you telling me now?” 

Hyuna holds Ivan’s gaze a little too deliberately. A rare giveaway for her. 

Ivan mentally calculates the timeline. “You turned Luka around the same time you found Till. Did Till give you blackmail information on him? Was that how you managed to get Luka on our side?” 

This time, Hyuna sighs. “Alright, I think that’s enough for tonight.” 

“No, you don’t get to walk away from this,” Ivan says sharply. “Not after everything you’ve already kept from me. Does Luka know Till was the one who sold him out? Is Till in danger?” 

Hyuna stares. “Ivan, Luka’s not with the Segyein anymore. He’s not gonna hurt Till.” 

“You don’t know that,” Ivan says. “You may have forced his hand with this case, but every cop in the city knows what kind of person Luka Blanchard is. He could still be holding a grudge.” 

Hyuna groans. “God, Till’s only been back in your life a day and he’s already turned you into an overprotective freak, huh? The kid’s got talent, I’ll give him that.” 

Ivan frowns. “What are you—” 

“Look, just trust me on this. Luka may have several screws loose, but omega trafficking rings aren’t his forte. He wanted them shut down as much as we did. Till’s the safest he’s ever been.” 

“You seem to have a lot of faith in our department.” 

There’s a strange look on Hyuna’s face like she wants to say something but doesn’t know how to. Either way, she eventually just glances up at the ceiling then looks back down at Ivan, resigned. 

“We’ll have two officers stationed outside Till’s room at all times,” she says. “This facility is already under strict protection. All high-ranking members of the Segyein are in custody, and the remaining grunts who managed to avoid today will be methodically hunted over the next few weeks. When it comes to them, Till has nothing to worry about. You should spend more time focused on helping Till get sober, then keeping him on his feet.” 

Ivan hates that she’s right. “I’ll be dropping by the precinct later and expect full access to Till’s files.” 

Hyuna gives him a dry look. “I assumed you would.” 

✧

Unfortunately, despite the omega sex slaves being undeniable victims, their nightmare doesn’t end with their rescue. Protocol is a bitch, and every single one of them has to be interviewed as potential witnesses. 

Some of the omegas are in such bad shape that this process is delayed until they’re more healed or coherent. 

Till is not so lucky. But at least Hyuna seems to understand the sensitivity of his situation, because she intends to conduct his interview herself. And she doesn’t kick Ivan out when he refuses to leave them alone together. 

“Nice to officially meet you, kid,” Hyuna says when they’re back in Till’s facility room, preparing to get the questioning underway. 

Till hadn’t been surprised when Hyuna asked to speak with him. He seemed to expect it, his expression empty and resigned. 

Ivan tries not to feel ill at their unfamiliarity. He still doesn’t know how Till managed to leak information to Hyuna’s unit—though Ivan certainly has a sickening guess, considering the only people allowed to freely interact with trafficked omegas were other Segyein members or buyers—but the fact that Hyuna and Till haven’t even met each other in person yet, despite how vital Till was to this case, means someone else had to have taken point. 

Was it Isaac? Isaac’s their best UC by a long shot, and as an alpha, he would’ve been the perfect person to go undercover as a sleazy client trying to get his dick wet. 

Ivan thinks it’s probably intentional that he hasn’t seen Isaac at all since the raid. 

Ivan will probably have to keep it that way until he can convince himself how unproductive it is to murder a friend. 

Hyuna places her recorder on the overbed table and shifts forward in her chair. “You okay to get started?” 

Till’s eyes flicker to Ivan. It’s barely a glance before he focuses on Hyuna again, but it still takes Ivan’s breath away. “Does he really need to be in here?” 

“I can make him leave if you’re uncomfortable,” Hyuna says. 

Ivan stiffens. “I’m not—” 

“It’s fine,” Till interrupts with a tired sigh. He briefly closes his eyes. “He’ll probably find out later anyway. What does he know so far?” 

“Just that you were discovered eighteen months ago and insisted on remaining inside as an informant so we could take down the Segyein.” 

Ivan hates the way they’re talking about him like he isn’t even in the room, but he bites his tongue. This isn’t about him. If this is what makes Till most comfortable, Ivan will follow it. He’ll do anything to help Till. 

Till stares at Hyuna, then nods slowly. “Sure. This isn’t a comprehensive report then? What do you want on record now?” 

“We just need your recount of the raid. Everything else can be discussed later.” 

It’s like a knot loosens in Till’s chest, and his shoulders visibly relax, as if relieved. “I can do that. Want me to start from this morning or just before you busted in there?” 

“Whatever you think is relevant,” Hyuna says. “I trust your judgment and will ask questions if I need clarification.” 

As they speak, Ivan stays as still as possible, eyes trained on documenting every shift of Till’s face, every slight movement of his body. 

Till’s thin shoulders are tense. His fingers twist absently in the sheets as he talks. His voice is quiet and hoarse, a little tight and jittery from the beginning signs of withdrawal, but strangely lucid. 

Ivan might have to reassess his assumption that Till had been kept drugged the entire time. While Till was clearly coming down from a high when he was found and his arms are littered with track marks, he’s not acting like a long-term addict. It doesn’t make sense, but he’s too clearheaded for that, too steady. 

Ivan can’t stop staring at the bite mark on Till’s neck. It’s at least several years old. While it’s not unheard of for omega sex slaves to be mated accidentally during captivity, most established traffickers are careful to keep omegas collared and unmarked. It makes them more receptive to other alphas, and better to fuck during induced frenzies and heats. 

If Till was mated that early, his heats would’ve been excruciating unless he spent them with his mate. He would’ve been more combative when forced to have sex with others, not as responsive, not as wet. Alpha commands wouldn’t work on him. He’d be harder to control, to use. 

Knowing Till’s fiery personality, as a mated omega he would’ve made a horrible, disobedient whore. The kind that would’ve been killed for being more trouble than he was worth. 

And yet for some reason the Segyein kept him, all this time. 

Everything about this feels wrong. None of it adds up. Ivan is missing something. He can feel it in his gut. They’re still keeping something from him. Something big. 

Ivan is torn between rushing back to the precinct to scour through Till’s files until he has all the answers he needs, and staying here by Till’s side so he can guarantee, with absolute certainty, that no one else will ever lay their hands on Till again. 

Both options hurt. Ivan wishes he could do them simultaneously. 

“And that’s when Sua asked to treat you?” Hyuna is saying. 

Till makes a face. “I told her I was fine and that she should’ve focused on the others first, but she was insistent. It was barely a scratch.” 

Hyuna grins. “She was worried about you.” 

“She’s a doctor who works exclusively in traumatic situations like this,” Till says flatly. “She should know better than to let her emotions get in the way. Her treating me was a waste of resources.” 

“You can’t really blame her. Last she heard, you were pregnant, so she probably thought—” 

“Pregnant?” Ivan blurts, lungs seizing. “You’re pregnant?” 

Till flinches then glares at Hyuna, accusing. Hyuna has the decency to wince and mouth something to Till, apologetically. 

“Till?” Ivan presses, shaking. 

Till glares at Hyuna for another long moment before finally, painfully, turning his gaze to Ivan. His eyes are hollow and hard. “Not anymore,” he says. “You think the Segyein would let their whores take a break long enough to pop out a kid? Of course not. They took care of it.” 

These are the first words Till has directly spoken to him since he was found, and they make Ivan want to rip his own heart out. “So they…”   

Till exhales heavily and rubs his palms against his eyes. “They wouldn’t handle it officially, since that fucks with omegas pretty bad, but they'd feed us less. Kick us around more. We’d still work, of course, because some people got off on that, but they were meticulous. They made sure no baby would survive to term.” 

Ivan feels like all the air has been sucked out of the room. Like hell is trying to swallow him whole. 

“I was lucky,” Till continues, like he isn’t single-handedly carving out Ivan’s chest. “As a male omega, my fertility rates are pretty low. It probably only happened four or five times. It happened to the female omegas more.” 

Four or five times. Four or five times Till had the shit beaten out of him because the assholes who owned him couldn’t be bothered to cover up their dicks. 

It makes Ivan sick. He’s torn between the compulsion to find the men who did it and show them exactly how awful it is to be that terrified, and the urge to empty the contents of his stomach in the garbage can by the door. 

Even worse, Ivan knows these are the rates while using contraceptives. It wasn’t like the traffickers were constantly rolling the dice without safeguards. 

They always put their omegas on birth control. It just wasn’t very effective when mixed with excessive drugs. 

“Till,” Hyuna says quietly. 

Like he’s been jolted out of a trance, Till drops his eyes, looking suddenly ashamed. His hands fist in the sheets. His shoulders shake. “Get him out of here,” Till whispers. “I want him out.” 

Ivan manages to find his voice. “Till—” 

“I said get out!” Till yells, startling them. “Get the fuck out! Get out, get out—” 

With Ivan frozen, Hyuna manages to grab Ivan’s arm and haul him out of the room. He doesn’t fight her, but when she tries to head back inside to where Till has dissolved into hyperventilating and shut the door between them, Ivan moves. 

“Wait—” 

“Ivan,” Hyuna says, voice sharp but eyes apologetic. “I’m sorry, but you can’t be here anymore. You need to leave. Now.” 

Ivan tries to breathe. “J-just let me—” 

“Till needs time, and he deserves to take as much of it as he wants. Until he asks for you again, I’m afraid I have to ban you from visiting the facility. You need to stay away from him.” 

A snarl bubbles up in Ivan’s throat. “You can’t—” 

“This is what he wants,” Hyuna says harshly. “This is all he’s asked for, and so we’ll grant it, whether you like it or not.” Seeing Ivan’s face, she softens her tone. “Go home. Rest. Wash up. Once you’re calm, you can head to the station. Dewey will give you access to the case files. While Till is recovering, you can help us nail the sons of bitches who did this to him in the first place. I know it’s a weak consolation, but it’s what we’ve got.” 

Ivan’s eyes are drawn back to the sliver of Till’s room he has access to, with Hyuna blocking the door. Two nurses have already rushed in, summoned by the heightened beeping of Till’s panicked heart monitor, but it’s Till’s barely choked back breaths that break Ivan. Not quite sobs, but close. And devastating all the same. 

“You can’t expect me to stay away during his rehabilitation,” Ivan manages to say, barely a whisper. “It—it could kill him, if he’s already this distraught. He might not make it. I can’t—”  

Hyuna gives him a pitying look. “Have you ever considered it might be easier for him to get through it without you here?” 

Ivan knows that. Of course he already thought of that. But it still feels like a slap. “I can’t,” he says, helpless. 

Hyuna sighs. Behind her, the nurses must’ve injected something to help calm or sedate Till, because the beeping slows, and Till’s panicked breathing evens out. 

“Sua will be in tomorrow,” Hyuna says. “She made it clear she wanted to work with Till specifically. She’ll monitor his health, and when the opportunity arises, she’ll broach the subject of letting you visit again. But it’ll be entirely up to Till. If he still says no, then you stay away until you’re wanted.” 

Neither of them voices what will happen if that time never comes. 

“If anything happens to him,” Ivan starts again, but Hyuna cuts him off quickly. 

“I told you we’ll take care of him, Ivan. You have my word.” 

Hyuna is not one to make empty promises, so it does help, if only a bit. But as Ivan starts to calm down and get ready to actually leave so he can head to the station—screw cleaning up first; Ivan needs answers, more than rest—Hyuna speaks again, looking a little pained. 

“So, uh, in the effort to be more transparent, I should inform you that while you’ll have access to all the case files, you’re banned from watching any of the videos. So don’t even try it, okay? I’d really dislike having to suspend you.” 

And Ivan feels like dying all over again. “What videos?”