Nowhere is Safe | Pt. 12 Reasonable Doubt

[owned_by_a_cat]

Title: Nowhere is Safe
Pairing: JaeMin / MinJae
Rating: NC-17
Genre: AU, Suspense, Romance, Army!fic
Summary: Invisible up close, able to kill from a long way away… when an elite sniper operates in your neighbourhood nowhere is safe. To Major Kim Jaejoong, being a sniper is more than a job. It's a mindset he needs when the people around him fall prey to a shooter with a high-powered rifle and his new partner, Captain Shim Changmin from Army Intelligence, turns out to be as much a distraction as he is a help. Undeniably both smart and gorgeous, the man has issues. And an attitude. And he's about as subtle as mortar fire in showing his dislike of Jaejoong.
Thrown together by the crisis, both Jaejoong and Changmin struggle to reconcile mutual dislike and mutual attraction. But when events escalate and the stakes get higher, they must put their attraction and differences aside and work together.

A/N: Jaejoong opens his mouth and the whole story goes off the rails. Oh well…

Under Attack || Return to Base || Pissed and Pissed Off || Do Over || Attempts at Apologies || Discoveries || Close to Home || Backfoot || Traps || Confession || Plans and Pleasure

Reasonable Doubt

"You're saying he's manipulating our response." Colonel Seong towered over the two men seated at the low table by the window. His voice was clipped. Anger radiated from the set of his broad shoulders, though he was considerate enough to stop Jaejoong and Changmin before they could rise when he did. "Four men in the morgue. Eleven more in hospital. All to appease a…"

"Gamer, sir," Changmin cut in, chopsticks halfway to his mouth. He'd woken in Jaejoong's bed, wrapped around the sleeping sniper—a first in more ways than one—and had yet to regain his customary equilibrium. Finding an extensive breakfast laid in the colonel's office when he and Jaejoong had gone to report wasn't helping with that. Neither was Jaejoong's tense silence.

The man had woken smiling, but had lost the smile and acquired a frown dark enough for a serious weather warning in the time it took Changmin to get showered and dressed. Changmin had asked for the reason, but hadn't gotten more than a brief, silent shrug in response. Not knowing whether Jaejoong regretted the time they'd spent together, or whether something had happened that he wasn't yet aware of kept him off balance. Having to explain and justify their plan in minute detail to a man who grew angrier by the moment only added to his stress level.

"Ran Joon has always displayed gamer tendencies, sir. I just didn't realise until recently how strong they really were. He blames Jaejoong for his dishonourable discharge. That I know for a fact. And now he seems to want revenge. I'd say that he'll take any chance he can find to manipulate our response."

"Including killing innocent bystanders?"

"That's no longer in question, sir," Changmin nodded. "He's already done it. I believe he will continue to escalate his provocation until we provide the response he desires."

"And you think he wants to pit himself against Jaejoong."

"Yes, sir."

"I'd like to believe otherwise," the colonel sighed, "but Dr. Mae agrees with you."

"I don't."

"What?" Changmin stared across the table at Jaejoong, forcefully reminding himself to close his mouth. The food on the sniper's plate was almost untouched, though the coffee pot by his elbow was three quarters empty. "We discussed this last night! We both agreed that—"

"I know." Jaejoong waved the comment aside. "But the more I think about it, the less sense it makes."

"Why not? We have pretty damning evidence. The charm is one of a kind. Well… two, but you get my meaning."

"I know, but…," Jae topped up his mug with more coffee as if marinating his brain in caffeine would help him explain his misgivings. "Ran Joon isn't that sloppy. He would never have made it through sniper school if he were."

"Huh?"

"So that's what's bothering you," Colonel Seong said, a deeply satisfied tone in his voice. He resumed his seat and reached for his own mug of coffee. "Rin's been bending my ear about it, too."

Changmin's mind skittered over all the evidence in search of anything that could be classed as sloppy and not finding anything. "Explain," he demanded.

"He missed five out of seven shots. Maybe even six. Ran Joon is better than that. Much better. He doesn't miss." The confused frown on Changmin's face clearly wasn't lost on Jaejoong, because he continued without Min having to prod him. "The shot that killed Jong Ki was perfect. Then he took Min Chul over the right eye. Rin is still alive and the shot he fired next hit the wall beside the cafeteria door. I'm not sure if the gas tanks were his objective, but the two shots he fired at us didn't even come close. All from a position with excellent sight lines, in calm weather and good visibility. Without the charm we found on the roof I wouldn't even entertain the idea what we're dealing with a trained sniper, let alone Ran Joon."

"That's exactly how Rin reasoned it last night," Colonel Seong agreed. "Did you speak to him?"

"Not about this," Jaejoong admitted. "I was too focussed on laying hands on the shooter. I started to think about it last night, when Changmin pointed out that, based on his profile, he would expect us to stake out his nest. And the pieces just didn't fit properly."

"So you want to revise your plan?"

"No," Jae's eyes flicked up to Changmin's, considering and a tad hesitant, before he shook his head. "I believe the plan is sound even if the shooter isn't Ran Joon."

"He wouldn't have a grudge against you, then," Changmin reminded. He wanted to argue, but he was convinced that Jaejoong was keeping back half the facts, so he kept his peace.

"That we know of," Jaejoong shot back. "I've probably pissed off a lot of people over the years. Whoever he is, he wants us out in the open and I'm giving him that."

"It's a risky strategy," Colonel Seong decided, eyes on the map.

"Given our casualty situation, I think the risk is justified. We need to draw the shooter out or this whole mess will only get messier."

"True. Jae, get onto mission logistics. Captain, I want you to background check everything back to the Flood if you have to. Make sure you've covered every angle and missed nothing. Rin will help with anything either of you need. Do me a favour and keep him busy. Doc tells me if I don't remove him from the hospital, he'll toss him in the brig. I want you ready to roll day after tomorrow at the latest."

Changmin heard the dismissal and stood, following Jaejoong from the room. Even spilling what bothered him hadn't lightened Jaejoong's dark mood. His steps dragged in a way that Changmin hadn't seen before, and even when the men they passed shouted greetings Jae barely responded. Changmin wondered whether he should return to his quarters for his notes, see how much of their office had survived the attack or simply follow where Jaejoong led. He'd never been one for much second-guessing, so after a while he simply asked.

"Did you just say that about Ran Joon to make me feel better?"

Jae didn't look up, but he shook his head. "What would be the point? It'd be hollow comfort. I don't deal in that. Ever."

"Okay. So you don't believe the shooter is Ran Joon. But you still want to offer yourself as bait?"

"Give me a good reason it shouldn't be me."

"I'm coming with you," Changmin reminded.

"If it's not Ran Joon, there's no need."

Changmin almost smiled. He could play that game. Probably better than Jaejoong. "Prove to me that it's not Ran Joon and I'll stay here."

Jaejoong stopped walking and finally faced Changmin. "You said yourself that he's a gamer. It could be days before he comes close enough for me to take him down. Do you know that most people can't handle solitude?"

"So what? Being a loner is a personality trait?"

"Something like that. And you don't have it."

"I like being alone."

"You like being alone on your terms. That's different. You seek out solitude for a time and when you've met that need, you'll go back to interacting with people. What I do is different and you'd struggle."

"I've been trained as well as you have."

"I wasn't implying that you were incapable, Min. That's not what this is about. It's about mind games and snipers play them more than anyone else. You think of being a sniper as a skill when it's first and foremost a mindset. You have the skill to track and hide and take down an enemy, but you're a soldier first."

"And you're not?"

"I was a sniper first, then I became a soldier. And if the shooter wants to face me alone — whether it's Ran Joon or not — then he'll track me when I leave here. I'll take him somewhere out of the way and let him take me down."

"Pretend to let him take you down."

"Yes," Jaejoong agreed. "Pretend."

There was darkness in his eyes as he said it, a darkness Changmin had seen too often in his career not to recognise. "You don't think you can do that. You don't think it will work that way."

Jaejoong didn't deny it and Changmin's mind started to race. This would be a battle between titans. Between two foes who shared both training and mindset. Changmin didn't think that fatalism was part of Jae's makeup. But the darkness in Jaejoong's eyes made him wonder if simply knowing Changmin put the sniper at a disadvantage. Would he go out of his way to save Ran Joon's life? Even if it made his job harder? Or more dangerous?

Maybe… maybe it was time to load the dice a little in their favour. Make sure that Ran Joon felt the disadvantage just as much. He crossed his arms over his chest and kept his eyes on Jaejoong just long enough to see the hint of a blush steal into the man's cheeks.

"You're afraid you can't keep your hands off me, that it?"

"What? No! That's—"

"You're a crap liar, Kim. I might not be a sniper, but you're no spy. There are reasons you don't want me out there with you. And I can think of three."

"Three?" Jaejoong's eyes widened and as Changmin smirked they darkened with something that might have been lust.

"Maybe four, if that tough cookie act of yours is just that." Changmin's grin got out of control. He leaned down a little until his words were no more than a hot breath curling over Jaejoong's ear. "What if we give him a bit more incentive? Just… knock him a smidgen off his balance."

The wave of shivers that ran over Jaejoong's frame was lovely to watch. It didn't last long though. Jaejoong's gaze sharpened and grew feral as he focused on the smile that lifted the corners of Changmin's mouth. "And what, exactly, did you have in mind?"

Pt. 13: Desired Outcomes