Chapter Text
“I gotta say, after everything I’ve heard about this place, I expected more.” Byun Baekhyun, pilot of the Shadow, liked to narrate every moment of his travels with his crew. The other petty thieves that he called teammates learned to tune him out, but since this phrase marked the end of their journey, the four men perked up. “But I guess there’s no turning back now.” He turned to the man on his left who was staring a bit too intently out the sun shield. “What’s on your mind, Cap?”
“Something about this place feels off,” said Park Chanyeol, the leader of the rag tag group of criminals.
“That’s Pluto for you.” Baekhyun tended to go into things without a second thought. “Don’t worry too much about it. We’re only here for a night as our baby gets her beauty sleep.” To further accentuate his point, he slapped his hand against the metal walls of their ship. Noir, as they dubbed it--or her.
Chanyeol wanted to argue, but unfortunately, Baekhyun had a point. Despite his feelings, they just rode a straight trip from Earth to Pluto. It would take more than a handful of hours for their ship to charge to her full power. “Fine.” He unbuckled his seat belt and brushed imaginary dirt off his thighs as he stood up. “Who’s gonna stay back and guard Noir?”
No one dared to meet his eye because all of them knew that if they did, they would be stuck with the less than desirable job. “Would y’all rather I pick?”
Breaking the uncomfortable silence, Kyungsoo, their engineer, released an elongated sigh. “I’ll do it.”
Chanyeol smiled widely. “Great! Message us when she’s at 100% and we’ll be on our way.” He ignored the less than holy curses that left his friend’s mouth as he clapped his back on his way out.
No matter how hard and long he thought back, Chanyeol couldn’t remember ever setting foot on the dwarf planet. He knew why now. Pluto had an odd, almost gross atmosphere. The air was thick, the smell off, and even with his thick leather jacket and jeans, he was cold. Kim Minseok, the third member of Shadow, had the job of formulating escape plans after successful heists. He chose Pluto this time and Chanyeol trusted him no matter how uncomfortable he was.
“Sehun, roughly how much time do we have?”
“Not sure. I don’t think the prince realized his favorite toy is gone yet,” answered their youngest as he stared down at the screen in his hands. “But once he does, they shouldn’t be able to figure out who did this one. Considering you did your job right, Cap.”
“I always do.” Chanyeol flung his arm around Sehun’s shoulder and pulled him close. “Looks like we’ve got the night to ourselves then, boys. Let’s enjoy it.”
The rest of them released cheers and whoops before running toward the hidden oasis Minseok located for them. Cosmic Railway was a cheap, vulgar place that no one with any sort of a respectable reputation would even step foot into. Meaning that it was perfect for Chanyeol and the rest of his crew. The moment they entered, they were bombarded with too loud music and a stew of the worst smells known to man.
“Good job with this one, Minseok.”
“Thanks, I know.” He nudged Chanyeol’s shoulder. “Venusian at 3 o’clock. I’ll see you guys later.” He ran off to go try his luck with the pretty girl. Baekhyun and Sehun soon did the same with their own picks. Chanyeol, on the other hand, wasn’t really feeling it. His friends already called the prettiest people he could spot anyway.
He made his way towards the bar. With how packed it was, he had no choice but to choose the seat with the cracked red leather right next to a girl on her own. He tried his best to ignore her as he got the bartender’s attention, but then he noticed something different. Chanyeol had been to every corner of the known universe. He’d seen people from every planet, moon, and even the occasional star. Normally, with just one glance, he could tell someone’s race, but this girl… with her golden skin, hair, and eyes looked like nothing he had ever seen before.
Chanyeol had no choice but to try and talk to her.
“Hey,” he said in the most confident but still charming voice he could manage. “You here alone?”
It took the girl a second or two to realize that he was talking to her. The confused expression she wore was cute. “Yeah. You?”
“Same here.” He stuck out his hand. “Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol.” In a normal setting, he would’ve used any name except his real one, but in a place like Cosmic Railway, everyone was a criminal in one way or another. And if these criminals were good at their job, they would know who he was. Who Shadow was. Being at the top of the galaxy’s most wanted list was bound to get him a few points with the ladies.
“My, my.” The woman’s confusion took no time to melt into a sexy sort of confidence. Chanyeol found himself mesmerized in the way her gold lips turned up at the corners and sparkled when light from the dance floor hit them. “This must be my lucky day.” She shook his hand. “I’m Mara.”
Chanyeol took a tight hold of her hand before she got the chance to pull away and pressed his lips against her knuckles. Mara’s cheeks glowed in the dim light and he could only assume that was a blush. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mara. It’s not everyday I see someone so… ethereal.”
She giggled as she toyed with the ends of her glossy hair. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re quite handsome yourself.”
“So I’m told.” When she didn’t laugh, he had to scramble for what to say next. “But thank you.” Chanyeol never once had a problem with charming an attractive boy or girl. It usually took him one drink, a suggestive smirk, and they were on their way to bed. But something about Mara had him a little flustered. Maybe it was the mystery behind her, but he found himself working twice as hard to impress her.
“You’re very welcome. So what bri--”
An obnoxiously loud ringing cut her off which she seemed to be rather annoyed about. It took Chanyeol an embarrassingly long time to realize that the sound he was waiting for to stop was in fact, coming from him. “Oh my, I’m sorry, gimme a sec.” He tore his communicator from his pocket and swiveled his back to Mara.
“This better be good,” he growled into the gadget without even having to look at the caller ID.
“You need to get out of there,” said Kyungsoo urgently. “Baekhyun, Sehun, and Minseok are already here. Hurry up and get back to the ship!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” He could only imagine Mara getting bored behind him. It was only a matter of moments before she left his side to find another man that would most likely not stop in the middle of a conversation to pick up a call. “She can’t be charged already.”
“She isn’t, you moron. This was all a trap. There are police everywhere and they’re looking for you, Chanyeol.”
At that, his mouth went completely dry. “Shit.” He hung up the call and turned around to face Mara again. She was pretty, yes, but in no way pretty enough to risk getting arrested. “Hey, I’m really sorr--”
Chanyeol couldn’t count the amount of times he’d looked right into a barrel of a gun on his hands or toes. The good part of all those situations was that he expected them and had a plan on how to get out. This time though, as Mara pointed an incredibly high tech weapon between his eyes, he had no idea what to do. “I--”
“In all honesty, I pegged you as smarter than this, Chanyeol.” He was prepared to fight until he felt something cold against the small of his back. He was surrounded. “Hands up, pretty boy. Let’s not make this any harder than it needs to be.”
Cosmic Railway had fallen into a peculiar silence as the building full of murders and pirates watched strangely uniformed officers handcuff Chanyeol’s hands behind his back. It was almost as if they were debating whether or not to run. The good thing was, as they later found out, was that Mara and her team weren’t there for them. The galaxy’s #1 most wanted criminal could throw themselves at her feet and she’d still have eyes only for Chanyeol.
“Who the hell are you?” he grunted, half heartedly struggling against the man pulling him up and out of his seat. He was as odd looking as Mara was. All of the officers were. They glittered like the sun itself and donned uniforms unlike anything he’d ever seen before. And coming from Chanyeol, a man who had been arrested over a hundred times, that meant a lot.
Mara took in his question with a cocky smile before snapping her fingers. “Get him walking. We don’t have much time until these dimwits realize what’s going on.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Chanyeol growled as another man joined his side, pulling him along with a tight hold on his arm. By the way they were treating him, you’d think he kidnapped the Earth Prince instead of taking his crown, which he had no problem returning if it got him out of handcuffs. “Who are you?”
“I’m disappointed that you haven’t figured it out by now, but…” she slipped her hand into the neckline of her shirt, pulling out a heavily bedazzled medallion. Chanyeol recognized the sun created by copper and yellow crystals right away. “I’ll give you a clue.”
Not many things scared Chanyeol anymore. He had seen far too much to feel such a pointless emotion, but that necklace… that alone was enough to make his stomach tighten. “You’re a priestess of Apollo.”
Mara hummed as two of her men rushed ahead to hold the door open for her, their heads bowed. “Pretty boy’s got at least half of a brain.” She twirled around to stand in front of him. The cold air blew her hair around her face, barely messing up her good looks. The more he saw of her, the more Chanyeol mentally cursed himself for not pegging her as a celestial being the moment he saw her. “Where’s the rest of your crew?”
“Like I’d tell you.”
She smirked. “I know they didn’t leave without their Captain. One of these ships is yours and I think I’ve got a pretty good guess. The big, ugly black one, right?”
Chanyeol’s hands curled into fists. If it wasn’t for the damn handcuffs, he’d have knocked that smile right off her pretty face. “You can do whatever you want to me, but don’t you fucking dare hurt them.”
“Oh don’t go all hero on me. They don’t matter to me like you do.” She moved from side to side, her neck craned at odd angles as she surveyed every parked ship. Noir was parked a stone’s throw away from them so Chanyeol knew she was just playing with him, building up his anxiety. “Tell me, if you were to tell them to leave you behind, would they?”
“As their leader, I like to think my word means something.”
Mara chuckled and if sparkles had a sound, it would sound like that. “Then do it. Tell them to leave.”
“And how do you expect me to do that?” To accentuate his bound hands, he shrugged his shoulders.
As if she didn’t realize the situation before, she pursed her lips. “Well they’re watching us right now, aren’t they? Waiting for your signal to attack.” True to her word, he could see Baekhyun, Sehun, Kyungsoo, and Minseok pressed up against Noir’s sun shield. Whether or not they knew how obvious they were, he didn’t know. Either way, he was disappointed. “Just do the opposite.”
Chanyeol could sense the threat that Mara left unsaid. If he didn’t tell them to leave, she’d make sure they never would. Disappointed or not, he’d do anything to ensure their safety.
Even if that meant screwing his own.
It took a handful of seconds and an intense stare to catch Baekhyun’s attention. Even with the distance, he saw the worry and fear. None of them were prepared for this day. They had gotten used to the narrative in which they never got caught. “Go,” he mouthed.
Baekhyun shook his head as if to say, “not without you.”
Chanyeol frowned. He wondered if he asked Mara for just five minutes with his team, would she give it? Something was telling him that once he got on his ship, he wouldn’t see his makeshift family. He didn’t want his last interaction with them to be one where he couldn’t even hear their voices.
“We don’t have forever, pretty boy.”
That was enough to answer his question. Chanyeol directed his attention back to Baekhyun and cocked his head toward Pluto’s clearly marked exit. For a moment, his friend just stood still and Chanyeol feared he didn’t make his signal clear enough.
“Chanyeol--”
“Just give it a minute, will you?” Chanyeol snapped. If not for the tears gathering in his eyes, he would’ve appreciated the way Mara reeled back.
Kyungsoo stepped into view and placed his hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder. Chanyeol didn’t have to hear him to know that he was telling him to listen, no matter how much it hurt. He could always count on Kyungsoo to be the voice of reason in tough times. “They’re leaving,” he uttered, hoping the despair wasn’t too obvious on his voice.
Noir’s engine fired up, heating up the air around them and forcing Chanyeol to hide his face in his shoulders. At least now he could freely cry and simply blame it on the harsh winds. When he finally unstuck himself, Noir was a dot getting smaller and smaller. Though he couldn’t see them, he could feel four pairs of watery eyes on him. Oh how he wished he was given the chance for a proper goodbye. Chanyeol was almost one hundred percent positive that if he really tried, he could fit them all in a hug at once.
And if he couldn’t hug them, the opportunity to say how much he loved them would’ve been more than enough. Shadow changed his life for the better. Anyone could make the argument that criminals could never be happy or satisfied, but it gave him, a young orphan living in the slums of some unknown Earthen town, a family. A purpose. If Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, Minseok, or Sehun were at his side right then, he would have absolutely no fear as Mara directed an impossibly large craft from the sky to the ground.
“You needn’t worry anymore. You have my word that they’re safe… as long as you behave, that is.” The same crest that adorned her medallion was painted on the side of the stark white ship. At such a size, it was far more imposing. Chanyeol inhaled until his lungs burned to try and distract himself from the fact that he was so very, very fucked.