XII.

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The following morning, the group gathered in the old parlor to talk about what the hell to do next. They were a sorry sight. At least, Remy assumed. She couldn't see herself, but she could see the boys. And they looked awful. Several of them had dark under-eye bags that looked like bruises. Jeongguk was clinging to Namjoon like a lifeline, his forehead pressing into the older boy's collarbones. Remy had tried giving Namjoon his jacket back, but he had only given her a strange look that suggested that he had no intention of getting it back.

Besides, Remy did always love the smell of Chanel.

She had no idea how close she could sit by the boys without it being weird. No one ever really gave her a course on proper etiquette for when you've been kidnapped with your group of idols that know nothing about you but you know everything about them. Then again, Taehyung had practically been sitting on her lap earlier. But Taehyung was also Taehyung, and Remy knew for a fact that he could make friends with a strand of seaweed. So he wasn't the best person to take social clues from.

Jimin said something to Jeongguk in their language, and the youngest boy nodded slowly. Remy again wished she could understand what they were saying. Emmett and Alivia had made fun of her before when she would gush about BTS or EXO or BlackPink or... the list went on, and they would jokingly suggest that Remy learn how to speak Korean. At the time, she had just glared at them and asked in what situation would she ever need to speak to someone who spoke Korean.

Well damn, time to eat her words. Her high-school Spanish learning wasn't helpful in this situation, and the few phrases of French that her grandmother had shoved down her throat were equally useless.

Luckily, there was one language besides English she was fluent in, and it was the language of rifles. The gun found itself in her hands again, and she looked it over again. It was a beautiful specimen of handgun. But something just wasn't right. She couldn't place exactly what seemed off. She had already thought about how weird it was that those two lame men, the wiry man and the big one, (BG&U, she thought with a smirk. Chester would be proud of her for coming up with that one on the spot) would have such nice guns that were good, but only had eight rounds at each time.

There was something they were overlooking, but she didn't know what it was. So many things were happening that just didn't make sense, and couldn't be explained.

"What do we do next?" Jimin asked the group in general. Remy appreciated that he said in English. He was really a sweetheart. Anyone who was able to be friends with him really was a lucky person.

"We have to go back to the truck," Remy blurted out before she even thought about it. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her jaw dropped. The boys seemed equally shocked.

"Let me get this straight," Yoongi said. "You want us to go back to the two people that kidnapped us and shot him." He pointed at Taehyung.

That wasn't exactly what Remy wanted. What she did want was to wake up and realize that this was all some horrible nightmare. It wouldn't be the worst nightmare she had ever had, but it was definitely up there. And she had also never felt pain in any other nightmare. Just another thing to add to the list of Things That Don't Make Any Damn Sense Here In California.

"Think about it. They probably know where we are better than we do. They knew where they were trying to go, anyway. And they're in a truck, remember? A car would probably be a nice thing to have when we figure out where we are."

Seokjin snorted. "Good point. I'm in."

"You are?" Remy asked.

"But Remington," Hoseok said gently, "they've got a gun. What do we do if they start shooting?"

That was the difficult question. Or least, the difficult one to answer without being hypocritical. Still, Remy raised the gun, the muzzle pointed at the ceiling.

"You're kidding," he said, eyebrows raised.

"How good is your aim, Remington?" Jimin asked.

She shrugged. "Pretty good. I can hit my target well enough, and I've won a few competitions."

A few expressions of shock filtered through the room at the last part.

"By the way," she added quickly, her face burning, "you guys can call me Remy, if you like. That's what my friends and brother call me."

Jimin looked half-amused. "Wait, like the rat in that Disney movie?"

Challenge accepted. She felt a grin grow on her face and she set down the gun. "There are worse things to share a name with than a talented French chef with a great family and his own restaurant. For example, I know someone who was nicknamed after a type of Japanese dessert that many people choke to death on while eating every year."

A few of the boys giggled. "I like her," Yoongi said to Seokjin, then looked at her. "You're pretty... cool?"

She tucked a somewhat frizzy lock of hair behind her ear. Dammit, what was she, a freaking Disney princess?

"Seriously though," Namjoon asked. "You're that good with a gun?"

She shrugged. "I did win a few competitions in middle and high school. I don't do it as much now in college because I keep pretty busy, but I still practice. Though my aim is best with a crossbow, actually."

Jeongguk made a strange choking noise and looked at her with red eyes. He looked almost like a crazed animal for a second, and it made her shiver. But the longer she looked, the more she realized that the expression held something else. It wasn't madness or anger; it was... fear? Or desperation, she couldn't place which one.

Maybe he was concerned that she was a hunter? "I don't kill things," she said. "I mean, I'm called a huntress because my family is a hunting family, but I personally don't kill animals. Not that I find hunters bad people, it just feels wrong to me. I only shoot at targets."

It didn't seem to make him feel any better. But he did seem slightly less insane after Namjoon casually wrapped an arm around him, seemingly oblivious to his friend's internal meltdown. The boy lowered his gaze from Remy's eyes and leaned further into the embrace.

Remy sort of wanted to ask Hoseok if Jeongguk had hit his head when he fell the night previous. It would explain a lot.

"Um. 'Kay," Namjoon said. He was probably wondering why Remy was rambling so much. After all, Remy was wondering why Remy was rambling so much.

"So, okay, we go back to the truck. And then what? We talk to them through the walls to figure out where in the hell we are, and then what? All eight of us try to get..." Jimin rambled off.

"The fuck out of Dodge?" Remy suggested. He nodded. "About that," she coughed into the jacket sleeve awkwardly.

"Dammit," Yoongi said.

"I seriously doubt the greaseball left the keys in the front of the truck. And if he took the keys with him, then that means we have to open up the back to get them."

There was a long, silent pause.

"Dammit," Seokjin echoed. 

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