Passionate [Jay]

IV

You made it to your hotel rooms and immediately packed. Next step of the plan was to go all the way back to New York. "Come on, let's go." Jay said after a knock or two at the door. You were getting back on a plan less than 48 hours later.

===

K managed to locate where exactly Okja was. You were now following to make sure all your equipment was in working order. Red was driving, K in the passenger while you, Jay and Silver were in the back; Blond in the trunk.

"Ok...signals all good!" K smiled, looking back, "We're seeing what Okja's seeing."

"Enjoy this moment. Because soon the whole world will know what we know." Jay slightly smiled, looking over at you and Silver. "Oh, my god, Jay. We're about to change everything. With my shiny antennae." K chuckled excitedly. "I'll put some distance between us and them. We have to test how far the signal reaches." Red mumbled, slowing down.

The drive was extremely long. You'd been sat down for nearly 4 hours; the sun had set. You were achy and the smell of Silver and Blond's asparagus stayed in your nose.

"Oh, man. We're really cooking now." K said, breaking the silence. "There she goes." You say, watching the truck with Okja in it pull into the lab. "Wow. Okja gets to see everything." Silver whispered. "Quiet." Red hushed, slowly driving away. "This is historical. It's historical. This is history." K rambled to himself.

After nearly another hour you made it to another hotel. You and K had set up all the equipment and made sure it was working correctly.

K was in charge of hitting record when it was time. Blond and Silver were beside him, Red standing over K, Jay on the corner of the bed and you sat on the small bedside table.

The screen lit up a dim blue as the feed began playing. "Are we recording?" Jay asked, a low growl being heard as K pushed a button and nodded. You all watched as a man was struggling to pull a large, ugly, pig into the room. Your eyes went wide as you saw the size of it as it approached Okja who let out a screech.

"Oh, my god..." K whispered, putting his hand over his mouth. You looked away and down at the floor as the sounds leaving Okja filled the room; shattering your heart into millions of pieces. "We should never have sent her there." Red said, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "Can you turn it off, please?" Silver muttered, hiding behind Blond. "No...no, we need to record this. We need to show this." Blond sighed.

"At least turn the volume down." You chimed in, wiping your face of your own tears. "We knowingly sent her to that hellhole." Red complained, crossing her arms. "No, we didn't. We didn't know they were gonna do this to her. We didn't know they were gonna out her through this mating." Blond defended. "We suspected!" You and Red said at the same time as the squealing and growling got louder and louder.

"Turn it off!" Red shouted, K scrambling to unplug the audio cable. You stood to hug Red as she tried to contain her emotions. "I know it's painful. But we can't be weak." Jay whispered, putting a hand on each of your shoulders as the two of you pulled away. "That's right. This is why we need to stay focused. This is why we need to stick to the mission." Blond whispered, voice breaking slightly.

"The girl, Mija, she trusted us with her best friend..." You mumble, blinking back the tears. "Yes, and we have to respect her bravery." Jay said.

"She never agreed to send Okja." K interrupted, the room falling silent as you looked at him. "What did you say?" You ask confused. K sighed and looked down, never turning to face you all, "She was in our truck. She said..." he repeated her words, "I wanna take Okja back to the mountains. I lied."

"God." Red scoffed, putting her head in her hands. "Why...would you do that?" You mumble. "I don't know. In that moment, it's just...I couldn't...I couldn't stop the mission. You know, this is...this is the coolest mission ever. I have all this stuff and—"

"Hey, K...K." Jay shushed, walking over to him, "It's ok." He chuckled, moving the laptop aside before slamming his head against the table. You all jumped at the sudden action, watching in shock while K fell to the floor with a groan. "I hold you dear to my heart, but you have dishonored the 40-year history," Jay kicked K in the stomach, "and meaningful legacy," again, "of the Animal Literation Front." Again.

"You have betrayed the great minds," two punches to the face, "and brave fighters that have preceded you!" Jay stood straight, "Never mistranslate." He huffed, walking away and straightening his tie. "Translation is sacred. From this moment on...you are no longer a member of the ALF. You are permanently banned." Jay informed, brushing past you to snatch K's bag on the bed, tossing it at him,"Get out."

K groaned in pain as he tried to stand. "However, since it is vital that we continue with our mission...we will return your equipment to you after its completion. Consider this your final contribution to the ALF." Jay concluded, watching K struggle onto his feet. He stumbled over cords, knocking over things, "Ah, shit." He complained, quickly picking them up before hurrying out, embarrassed.

"Everyone get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be big." Jay sighed. Everyone hurried out still startled from what had just happened...except you. You went to actually fix K's mess.

"Hey, it's ok. I got it." Jay said, putting a hand on your shoulder to stop you. "No it's ok." You smile softly, noticing his hand was bloody and starting to bruise. He noticed your staring and laughed softly, "It's ok."

"It's kinda gross." You laugh, dragging him to the sink. You turned on the water and put his hand under it; the water below turning red. "It's ok, huh?" You repeat, as the water revealed his busted knuckles. "Just put a bandaid on it. Good as new." He shrugged, shaking the water off his hand as you turned it off.

"You magically have bandaids in your pocket, Jay?" You scoff playfully, rummaging through your bag by the door. "And you do?" He crossed his arms. "More or less." You shrug, holding up gauze and a wrap. "Why do you just...have that?" He laughed, sitting at the beds corner. "Silver is clumsy." You deadpan, picking up the chair K was sat at moments earlier and sitting in front of Jay. He hummed in response as you took his hand in your own, placing the gauze on top of his knuckles and beginning to wrap it so it'd be secure.

"You better keep it on." You finish, making sure it wasn't going to come off easy. "No promises."

You sent him a glare. "Ok, fine. I swear I will." He laughed.