Chapter Text
let it never be said that jimin had been wholly supportive of the plan. however, he support taehyung, no matter what, and unfortunately this time it meant endorsing a plan that felt half-baked at best, no matter what angle jimin tried to look at it from. yet, it was driven by passion, and yoongi had insisted that this was best for taehyung, that he needed this. and jimin – the captain of the clover had always been his weakness, so he had acquiesced.
not to say that he wasn’t regretting it now, though. oh since the second the boat had descended, jimin had felt that something was wrong, very wrong. he should’ve been there next to his captain, he should be rowing off, he should have weapons tied to his calves like them. succumbing to his inner turmoil, he had barely glanced at jungkook glowering at him or yoongi frowning at both of them.
it took him fourteen minutes to calm down.
“you have to at least pretend to have your shit together, what kind of quarter-master are you?” yoongi said lowly, coming to stand beside jimin as he pored over a hastily drawn map of the waters.
“one that gives a fuck about his crew and captain, i suppose. one that knows that’s his family, i’d say,” jimin replies evenly, though his hands tremble with barely contained anger.
who the fuck does min yoongi think he is to question jimin’s love and loyalty?
“besides,” jimin continues, “i’m just a little unsure of the plan. i know taehyung, i trust him, i trust his judgement, but—it’s his first true trial, one that requires a plan and strategy beyond just slashing everything we see. i’m sure he felt the same when he started with do-san.”
“yeah, maybe. but what good is all that? if the plan is truly as bad as you fear, your worries are even more pointless. you’ll be the one creating the next plan on your own, with probably, i dont know, yeonjun as your quarter-master!” yoongi says, his tone tinged with humor.
humor that jimin fails to see as he swings around, his face blank and eyes blazing.
“fuck you. and you can quote me on that to your prince,” he seethes before he walks off to the captain’s cabin.
jimin doesn’t know what he’s expecting to find in taehyung’s cabin, except maybe some peace and quiet. what he doesn’t expect though, is jungkook glaring at the floor, looking up defiantly at jimin when he enters.
“i hid his dagger,” jungkook says to the quarter-master’s utter bewilderment.
“what?”
“he broke his promise to me, i thought its absence would stall him so i could convince him, but it didnt work and now i have his dagger and he doesn’t and i’m still here so what the fuck was any of that even for-”
“jungkook. that dagger means nothing. it has sentimental value because it was do-san’s first gift to him, and he thinks every success he’s had has been because of it, but he has never used anything else, so how would he even know?” jimin scoffs, “don’t stress about it, if anything it might help our beloved captain understand that he’s the lucky one, not some silver.”
jungkook lets the words hang in the air before he nods.
“i hope you’re right, jimin. now, how much longer do we have? and do we know what we’re doing when we get there?”
“we have a few hours. we’ll reach there when the moon’s highest. and of course, we do. taehyung and the guys will probably be faking sleep or waiting up for us, we just need to ambush them. honestly, it’s one of the easier things we’ve done,” jimin snorts.
“then why couldn’t he take me with him?” jungkook repeats, sounding tired of having to ask the same question over and over.
“well, i suppose there’s no harm in telling you now,” jimin huffs. “the prince forbade him to.”
“the prince?!” jungkook all but shrieks, “are you sure it was him?”
now jimin’s a little confused too. still, he continues, “yeah? i mean yoongi told taehyung he was under royal orders to ensure you don’t risk yourself in this mission, so yes, i guess. who else?”
jungkook goes red before he giggles nervously, “yeah, of course, who else! come on jiminie, loads to do and not enough time!”
he rushes out before jimin can respond. jimin stares at his running back for a few seconds before he pushes himself off taehyung’s makeshift hammock.
jungkook’s right. loads to do.
jimin’s unsure what he expected once they finally rolled into the island but it wasn’t eerie silence. for a minute he suspects his map reading skills failed him (again) and they’ve pompously arrived at the wrong island. but then he spots their poor attempt at a shipwreck bobbing sadly in the glimmering sea and takes a deep breath.
it’s showtime.
they creep through the island quietly, which is a little difficult when you’re as laden with weapons as they are, from the pirates to the navy officials, but they make it work.
as they finally enter the cave, they’re relieved to see several sleeping bodies. jimin’s assessing the situation when somebody enters the cave from his left, and trips over somebody’s extended leg.
it feels like watching a car crash happen in slow motion, as the person sits up, immediately alert, and yells out - something.
jimin doesn’t give him enough time to form any proper words before pouncing on him, but that half-second of sound is enough to wake up everyone else.
or maybe not everyone. just the people not on their side.
jimin’s unsure how the next few minutes pass. but he knows that at the end of it, their targets are in chains and ropes, his arm has a gash, and their people are still fucking asleep. a cold shiver runs up his spine.
what the fuck is wrong with them?
as if sensing his concern, yoongi rushes forward, torch lighting up the grim space. he kneels beside someone shaking them gingerly, then roughly, to no avail.
“they are breathing, though. i suspect it’s just some sedative or something,” yeonjun mutters from next to another person—soobin.
bile rises in jimin’s throat as he moves forward, directing the torch at one face after the other. where is taehyung?
there’s slight movement in the corner of his eye and his gaze immediately focuses there, guards up. he approaches slowly, nausea making his head spin as he takes in the sight in front of him.
the captain of the clover is holed in a corner, blindfolded and tied up. jimin falls to his knees in front of him, gingerly reaching out to untie the cloth covering his eyes. the quarter-master’s eyes well up with when they meet taehyung’s.
“yo-you're ok'y?" the captain slurs. jimin’s astounded by the slow drawl, now noticing the gash on his lips and cheeks, damn near his eyes.
"you're unbelievable. of course, i'm okay. come, sit up," he huffs, slowly and carefully bringing taehyung to an upright position. god only knows how long he’d been like that waiting for jimin.
there’s some shuffling behind jimin and he realises with a surprise that he had been alone with taehyung. the rest were probably stowing away the remaining members of their decoy mission. stupid, stupid decoy, why the fuck didn’t jimin fight harder, why did he let taehyung endanger himself like this—
"hey, park – oh, what the fuck happened here?" yoongi’s voice comes, alarm rising towards the end of his sentence as he takes in the sight before him.
"i don't know, i guess they weren't as stupid as they looked," jimin mutters. he can’t fucking breathe, and he knows it’s obvious by the way yoongi keeps shooting worried glances at him. but he can’t think about anything except taehyung and how yoongi had attempted to joke about this earlier. jimin can’t think.
he moves behind taehyung, looking toward the naval chief expectantly. thankfully, he gets the hint, and the pair manage to carry the captain of the clover to his cabin, placing him in his hammock.
jimin reluctantly leaves to ensure everyone’s on board again before they set off. he returns to taehyung’s side a few minutes later, but it feels like hours to him.
“hey, jimin, we’re going straight to the palace. we have prisoners, injuries, and a desparate need for proper beds. just letting you know,” yoongi’s voice comes over his shoulder.
jimin nods absently. he doesn’t really care right now, he’s sure they’re being rational. the quarter-master sits and stares at taehyung until he can feel the waves getting quieter and the vessel getting slower.
hoseok comes to meet them at the palace entrance. yoongi hands over the prisoners to him, and then departs to his own quarters. home, sweet home.
jimin envies him, honestly.
he remains next to jungkook who is carrying his captain bridal style to the infirmary before wind of the injuries gets out. the crew does not need to panic right now.
“can we place him somewhere the other crewmates won’t see him?” jimin murmurs to the nurse, referring to the others, still asleep, that have been brought in.
giving him an odd look, she nods, taking them to a separate, smaller but better equipped-room.
“i’m sure the prince won’t mind we’re using the higher-profile one,” she smiles slightly at jimin’s curious expression. “can you help me get his shirt off? we need to assess injuries before we get into patching him up.”
jimin and jungkook both reach forward, the younger’s hands trembling visibly. jimin debates if he should ask him to leave, he doesn’t need to bear witness to this but he remains silent. not his battle.
it takes them a while, but between the two of them, they manage it somehow. unfortunately, jimin’s eyes meet the nurse’s before they land back onto his captain and. he turns away just in time to hurl.
jungkook looks stupefied as he just keeps staring at the…man before them. he’s black and blue and red and purple. his arms are bruised from the ropes, his arm is twisted in an unnatural way, and his body–his stomach is slashed to the point where it is more cuts and bruises than skin.
they stare in horror as the nurse rushes out, undoubtedly to get backup. jimin collapses in the sole chair present in the room as jungkook walks over to him, his fingers carding through the quarter-master’s hair.
“do you think this is because of the dagger?” the younger says in a meek voice.
“no. don’t blame yourself, this is because i failed to stop him or replace him on this stupid mission,” jimin says.
“oh, only you can ever be guilty?” jungkook responds but there’s no real bite to it. luckily, the conversation stops then as the nurse returns with four others, all of them working in tandem for the next hour or so to piece taehyung back together.
jimin and jungkook remain by his side, only breathing when their captain at least looks like a person again. or well,
“he looks like a fucking mummy,” jungkook says, giggling.
the quarter-master smiles at that, turning to the nurses, “he’s going to be okay?”
they look at each other before one of them steps forward, “yes, we hope so. we don’t know when, since he lost a lot of blood and it’s clear he has head trauma, but we’re hopeful. we’ve fixed worse than this. don’t worry, hell be good soon, you should go and get some rest.”
jimin realizes with a start that these people have probably treated wounded soldiers too. they probably think he’s being silly, don’t they? and yet:
“i’ll sleep here, in case he wakes up or worsens. thank you,” he bows to them. one of them looks ready to debate him on it, but thankfully leaves with a nod.
“oh taehyung, what have you done,” he murmurs, the walls remaining silent in response, his captain struggling to take shallow breaths, scowl etched on his face.