Chapter Text
The wall heaved open with a loud, rusty creeeaak.
Ah. It was a roll-up door, like those of a self-storage facility. Those bastards locked me in a storage room.
Moondae had to squint against the blinding flood of light, his eyes finding the sudden change painful. His body tensed, ready to fight, though he was still tied to this goddamn chair. The freaky alien vine thing wrapped around his stomach and arms bound him to the chair with a dangerous pressure. It tightened further as it responded to him tensing and Moondae almost bit his tongue.
This-! He hissed mentally. This whole situation was completely shitty.
He could try and fight whoever was coming through those doors... His legs were free, and the chair was low and rickety enough that he'd manoeuvred to an angle where he could stand... but the alien creature holding him down could break all his ribs in an instant. He'd tried talking to it in various alien languages he knew (he'd even tried singing, which worked surprisingly often. A lot of aliens liked trot and he'd gotten quite good at it) but the vine thing made no response or signal it had understood. Or it was just ignoring him. It was probably ignoring him. Moondae had the distinct impression that it was toying with him, that he was only food being prepared, or perhaps a very literal body pillow. Whatever it was, he wouldn't underestimate an unidentified alien species. That only led to a foolish, and often gross, death by an unknown alien entity.
This is driving me insane. If the person outside that door didn't attack immediately then he could try and negotiate. They wanted something, he knew that. If he made them think he could be useful...
Creeeaak! Shuck!
The roll-up door stopped about two thirds up. A figure emerged. Moondae gritted his teeth.
He should have been a civil servant. Who cared if aliens were real and the world was a far bigger and more fascinating place than he ever could have known, if this is what being a secret agent for a secret government protecting and regulating alien activity on Earth was like? Mostly, he was pissed at himself for getting kidnapped.
When Moondae had awoken however many hours ago, it had been with a throbbing headache in pitch darkness, tied up. After listening and sensing no one else in the room he began the tedious process of wiggling out of his restraints, only to very quickly realise the more he moved the tighter the ropes got, and then there was a quick and disturbing ticktickticktick sound, much like an insect, and then the ropes moved around his body, like a snake, only snakes didn't make sounds like that, which meant they weren’t ropes at all but something alien and probably (knowing his luck) alive. Since he wanted to keep his body as a singular mass and preferably not get bitten by surprise teeth, he made sure to make his breathing shallow and remain completely still. His whole body was covered in cold sweat and the dried blood on his face was annoying. He was pretty sure it wasn’t all his, either. He hadn't been easy to kidnap, at least.
The figure approached. The figure reached behind themself, as if getting something. A weapon.
Fuck it. He’d go down fighting.
And then.
A familiar tenor called, "Aha! I found you!" There was the sound of a communicator being turned on. Then, "everyone, he's in here!"
Agent Park would have sighed deeply, from his very bones, if it wouldn't have killed him.
The man babbled on. "This is the 19th storage unit I've checked, you know. It was hidden with some kind of cloaking technology. I walked past it five times before I realised, haha! Impressive, and very illegal. Agent Kim will be excited to see it."
Oh, for fucks sake.
"Ahh, Moondae-Moondae,” that voice said, though Moondae was too exhausted to pick up on the relief there. “I can't believe you got kidnapped! Might be losing your touch in your old age, hyung."
Tsk. This punk. Did this look like the time to joke?!
The shadow kneeled in front of him. It was a familiar outline. Moondae blinked a few times and though his eyes stung, he could now make out his partner’s face.
Moondae only glared, giving his bastard partner an expression of pure irritation. He was exhausted, in pain, stiff and cold, and frankly pissed off that they'd caught him off guard and kidnapped him – him, a senior agent with years of experience in the field. It stung.
His partner, a tall oaf nine years his junior, looked him over, inspecting his captor’s handiwork. His lips pursed.
Moondae looked down at the thing trapping him. Now there was light, he could see the creature. It confirmed his assumption of its possible home planet. He grimaced. He'd never seen this exact creature before, but he could easily recognise its planet of origin.
“Throrkan,” Moondae said, jaw tight. The yellow, keeled scales were a giveaway. It had a long body and was about two fingers thick. It looked a bit like a snake, if snakes were lumpy like finger bones and of comparable length to a bus, judging by how much of its' body was wrapped around him.
Fuck.
It probably did have hidden teeth. Everything from Throrkan was a death trap. Two years ago there had been that infamous case of a Throrkan scorpion-lizard running rampant through the mountains. It had eaten six hikers and every wild animal it came across. The acid in its stomach and spit, kept stored separately in sacks within its body, a common trait in Throrkan species, could digest even bone. It's absurdly elastic jaw, much like in a snake, meant it could swallow an entire human in one gulp. They only knew about the six hikers because of the melted and abandoned hiking gear and mobile phones which it had spat out at a speed that had left them embedded in the trees. That one had been the size of a dog and had to be killed.
This one wrapped around him had settled in the dark, but now the light seemed to agitated it. It started moving, adjusting itself, and when Moondae looked down, for a split second he could see an eye slit open.
He mentally froze. The eye then closed and disappeared seamlessly into its skin. He could no longer tell where it had been.
Moondae looked away, feeling faint. He bit the inside of his cheek, hoping the pain would help him focus on the task at hand -- getting out of this thing. He did not want the slow, excruciating death this thing would give him.
His head pounded. He was dehydrated and likely had concussion, too. Moondae looked to Agent Lee who was studying the creature wrapped around him with a calm, serious expression. Moondae felt surprisingly relieved to see him.
"So," Agent Lee said. "Who's this guy?"
"I came to like this," Moondae said stiffly. "Throrkan, most likely." Moondae pressed his lips shut as the alien slithered around his torso again.
Agent Lee looked him in the eye. "Any communication?"
Moondae shook his head. It was definitely sentient - but unresponsive and uninterested in talking.
Agent Lee nodded, unfolding and placing a small pack on the floor beside him. It had various instruments in it, a standard field kit every agent had for emergencies. Agent Lee got out the Helium mase and a metal syringe. Moondae gave him a look when he got out a small phial of neon purple liquid. There was a serum the lab had developed after the Throrkan scorpion-lizard debacle which was venomous to their biology, but that was a pink colour.
Agent Lee read his expression. "Agent Moon cooked it up. It's works faster."
He inserted the needle and pulled up the plunger until it was about halfway filled with the serum. The line of red light at the top of the syringe turned green, indicating something as successful. Agent Lee smiled at him. "Okay! Don't worry hyung. We'll get this little guy off you."
“Before I lose my arms, Agent Lee,” he said dryly. If he had his arms, he'd smack him.
Agent Lee's smile quirked. Moondae almost huffed, but managed to stop himself.
Agent Lee carefully positioned the syringe. Instead of watching the syringe, Moondae watched Agent Lee's face. If he didn't die, he should probably buy Agent Lee something nice as a thank you for saving his life.
Agent Lee, Sejin, glanced up. His voice was softer from concentration, but he still managed to sound playful. "Moondae-moondae, don't look so worried~ Agent Lee is here~"
Nevermind. He wasn't getting this little shit anything.
If you get me killed I'll haunt you.
Then -- there was a wet crick as Lee Sejin stabbed under the thick scale in a quick movement. The serum injected automatically, quickly. An awful, high-pitched screeeee! cut through the room. The creature’s body tightened to crushing pressure around Moondae - for a serious moment Moondae thought he was going to die –
Agent Lee yanked the body and it slackened from him. Moondae's whole body relaxed in instant response. The tension from holding himself so rigidly to prevent death was released so suddenly that he couldn’t help but slump forward.
Agent Lee caught him, hands going to Moondae’s shoulder, holding him up. “Whoa there, hyung,” he whispered, just above Moondae's ear. “I've got you. You’re okay now.”
Moondae grunted and let his forehead drop onto the younger man’s shoulder. He allowed himself a moment to breath.
He was exhausted. He didn’t linger too long, however, before he straightened, stretching out his dead arms and neck. He grimaced at the pin needle sensations. His back cracked, and he held back a hiss. He looked at his hands and saw they were strangely pale and tingly and shaking. Lack of blood flow.
He sighed deeply. He really wanted a beer.
Agent Lee stood, hovering over him like a little chick. Moondae waved him off and got up, tilting a little, but catching himself.
“Moondae - ”
“I’m fine.”
“Hyung.”
“I’m fine,” he sighed, not even chiding him for the familiarity. He kept a hand on Agent Lee’s shoulder to steady himself, but other than that he could stand just fine. He only needed a moment to catch his breath and let the blood flow back into his limbs. He cricked his neck. “So what happened? Did you find them?”
"We had a run in with two of them. We've got one of them in a holding cell, but..."
As Sejin spoke, he heard other voices from outside, clearly Agents, and didn’t bother looking. He was going to go home, sleep, and then he was going to find the people who kidnapped him. In that order.
He ran a hand through his hair, pulling a little so the sting would help wake him up. He eyed the alien’s body, but kept his distance from it. It was rare to see any species from Throrkan; it was so far away from Earth. It was also wild with no singular governing body like most other planets, empires, and federations, and populated with so many highly dangerous, obsessionally carnivorous species that it was left alone by the majority of the galaxy. His captors, however, were a band of criminals on the run from various planets, but none of them had been Throrkan, or from a planet near Throrkan, as far as he'd seen...
He sighed, giving up on thinking, too tired. Whatever the reason, right now, he was just grateful to be alive...
“Hyung?”
Wait…
“Are you listening? Agent Ryu found...”
Moondae narrowed his eye.
The body… was it… twitching?
At that very moment, the body imploded.
Green goo splattered everywhere, even reaching the ceiling.
The two Agents had been facing away from it, but the sides of their bodies closest to the alien were completely covered in goo. But Moondae, who had been at the wrong angle at just the wrong moment, had the worst of it. The goo was dripping and warm and had the scent of something rotting. At least the acidic sacks hadn't exploded: they were there, still intact, stuck to the ceiling.
They stared at one another.
“H-hyung… You... have an… eyeball…” Agent Lee slowly gestured to his shoulder and yes, Moondae did have an eyeball there. The goo had fused it to his suit.
Fuck. Fuck, no, it was looking at him.
The moment of disgusted shock passed, and then Agent Lee’s lips twitched. He covered his mouth with a stuttering, tell-tale exhale of a laugh being suppressed, but it was pointless, as his eyes had that traitorous twinkle in them as he looked back at Moondae.
Immediately, Moondae reached into his (goo-free) inner pocket for his Neuralyser. It was a smooth, thin, metalic cylinder and with a simple flashing function that could wipe this bastard’s memory clean once and for all. Three years with this punkish, disrespectful junior. Three years. Maybe it was time for a new partner after all.
“AH – NO! Wait – hyung!” Agent Lee scampered backwards, already throwing his MiB certified sunglasses on, the ones designed to protect agents from the memory wipe, with well-practiced ease.
Moondae smiled darkly. “Agent Lee. Get back here.”
“Ack! I just saved your life!”
“Then come back here and let me thank you, Agent Lee.”
Other voices entered the commotion. The search team had arrived.
“Woah! Ew! What the hell happened to you guys?”
“Um, Agent Park," came Agent Bae's trembling voice. He was grimacing at the sight and looked a little pale. "You, um, have an eyeball on your shoulder…?”
“Yes," Moondae gritted. "I am aware.”
"Hyung - I mean! Agent Park! Ah - ah! Sunbae-nim! I like this job - please don't Neuralyse me - ahh!"
Where are you going, punk.
“Hi, this is Agent Ryu. Requesting the Specialty Clean-up Crew to my location as soon as possible. Thank you.”
“Agent Cha! Stop taking pictures! Do you know how many regulations you’re breaking right now?!!”
“Raebin! Give it back!”
“For the last time, it’s Agent Kim!”
Haa. Park Moondae closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He very desperately needed a beer. He gave one last warning glare to Agent Lee who chuckled sheepishly, partly hiding behind Agent Ryu who was scanning the goop dripping from his arm. Moondae put his Neuralyser away and went out into the sunlight, ignoring the chaos around him. He'd have to burn this suit. And have fifty showers in the specialised cleansing unit at headquarters.
Whatever. It didn’t matter anymore.
This day had gone to shit already. Honestly, could it get any wor--- ah, shit.