Written for Cvpher Fic Fest: an AU prompt based on The Old Guard.

Time doesn't exist when you have all of eternity.

I call bullshit.

When you have eternity, time continues in the same way for us all. I have seen how fleeting life can be; I have experienced how it stops whenever I feel a bullet pierce my heart. Those who wish for eternity don't know the hardships that come with it, the people you lose, the moments you have long since forgotten. People who want to live forever have no idea how much I envy them. How much I wish that for once, a bullet would hit me, and I could finally rest.

But it never came. The breath of life was not received gratefully, not by me. Not anymore. Every breath was a reminder of how pointless eternity had turned out to be, every breath a sign that my life was insignificant.

I lost hope. I lost meaning.

And then I lost eternity.

-x-

It had been 50 years since he last saw them. 50 years since he walked out without looking back. 50 years since he had heard their voices, they had been so angry then, so hurt. He never thought going back was an option, not until they came to him.

"Hello, Hoseok."

Namjoon's voice sounded as it always did, full and robust. He looked the same too, just as youthful and lean as he always was, but his hair was grey now. He seemed tired, but the cheeky smirk that tugged at his lips showed he was at least happy.

"You just going to stand there?"

Another deep voice drew his attention. Yoongi looked even more tired than Namjoon, he seemed thinner too, and Hoseok felt a surge of concern for him. Had the years finally caught up with him?

"What are you doing here?" Hoseok asked, immediately regretting how unwelcome he sounded.

Yoongi and Namjoon looked at each other for a moment. "Can we go inside?" Yoongi nodded toward the door to Hoseok's place.

Hoseok could tell from how Namjoon's eyes kept scanning their surroundings that something was wrong, though he already had a hunch as soon as he saw them standing outside of his home.

"Please, Hobi."

The sound of his nickname coming from Yoongi was so familiar yet somehow foreign to him. But it was enough to make Hoseok unlock the door and allow them in.

"How did you find me?" He turned to look at the two men once he had closed the door behind them.

"We've been dreaming about you," Namjoon said.

Hoseok closed his eyes and gave a heavy sigh. He should have known; he should have picked up on the signs. Over the last two months, he had been thinking a lot about them. They were on his mind as soon as he woke up; he saw their faces in the strangers around him, heard their voices on the air. They were waiting for him when he closed his eyes to sleep... he should have known they were trying to find him.

"Why?" Hoseok was losing what little patience he had. "Just tell me what's wrong."

Yoongi sat down heavily on an old armchair and looked up at him. "A job has come in."

"You don't need me for a job," Hoseok crossed his arms over his chest.

"It's a big job," Namjoon sat on the arm of the armchair, his hand casually resting on Yoongi's shoulder. "We need more power."

"No, you don't," Hoseok narrowed his eyes, he knew they were lying to him, and from the look Yoongi and Namjoon shared, they knew they had been caught.

"Fine," Namjoon laughed. "There is no job."

"It's time to come home," Yoongi said softly.

"You don't get to tell me what to do," Hoseok said hotly.

"No, I don't," Yoongi pushed up from the chair and slowly walked toward him. Hoseok resisted the urge the step away as he drew closer. "But a long time ago, you asked me to tell you when you're being an arsehole..."

For the first time, Hoseok smiled, and he didn't move away when Yoongi's hand gently touched his cheek. Hoseok leaned into the touch, felt his body move closer to Yoongi. He tilted his head down on Yoongi's shoulder, and he closed his eyes when he felt his lips against his ear.

"Come home," he whispered.

"I can't..." Hoseok whispered back. "It's not the same as it used to be."

"It could be," Namjoon was standing beside them when Hoseok lifted his head. "Just the three of us."

"There can't ever be an 'us', not anymore," Hoseok turned away and walked to his kitchen. This was why he had walked away, why he had stayed away.

"Look, we stayed away because you asked us to," Namjoon joined him in the kitchen. "But it's been long enough."

"Why can't it be 'us' anymore?" Yoongi stood by the door, his arms folded over his chest. "What are you not telling us?"

Hoseok couldn't look at him. Even when no one else could, Yoongi had always been able to read him. Sometimes he knew what he was thinking, knew what he was going to do. When they had first met, it had annoyed Hoseok just how transparent Yoongi seemed to find him. But after a while, having someone by his side who knew him better than anyone else was a comfort. But at that moment, Hoseok wished to be unreadable.

"You're keeping something from us," Yoongi continued. "You wouldn't run away from us unless there was a reason."

"We can help you," Namjoon said softly. "We've always been here for each other; why is this any different?"

"Because it is," Hoseok snarled. He turned to look at them both. "You don't understand..."

"Then help us to," Namjoon pleaded.

Hoseok rubbed at the back of his head and gave a heavy sigh. "It just became pointless," he said after a moment. "No matter how many battles we fought, nothing ever got better. The world is still full of people who start wars because they want what other people have. People who kill the innocent because of their beliefs or the colour of their skin... people who kill because they can. We have fought for centuries to make the world a better place, but nothing has changed! The world is still driven by greed, by power-hungry men who only seek gratification for themselves, not the people. There is still so much evil in this world that I'm glad I..." He froze, catching himself before he said too much. But as always, Yoongi caught it.

"You, what?" He asked, walking toward him.

"Nothing," Hoseok tried to turn away, but Yoongi caught his arm and turned him back.

"Tell us."

Hoseok looked at them both, and he knew he couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't keep lying to them. He pulled a knife from the knife block and held out his hand. Yoongi and Namjoon watched him with a frown as he pulled the blade across the palm of his hand. He held his bleeding hand out for them to see.

"It's not healing..." Namjoon grabbed a cloth and pressed it to his hand. "You're not healing?"

"He's mortal," Yoongi walked closer.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Namjoon dabbed the cloth to the cut to stop the bleeding.

"Because I know you," Hoseok smiled at Namjoon fondly. "You would have gone to the end of the world to look for a way to cure me," he touched his cheek gently with the back of his uninjured hand. "And you," he looked over at Yoongi. "You would have been so angry that you would have cursed me and the world, and then you would have driven off into the night and come home a week later with apologies."

"At least I would have come home," Yoongi said quietly.

"Is this the anger?" Hoseok scoffed. "I expected more."

"This isn't anger," Yoongi said. "This... my heart..."

Hoseok watched tears fall from Yoongi's eyes, and he felt his own tears building. "I left because I didn't want you to have to watch me die," he said to them both.

"Bullshit!" Yoongi seethed. "You were selfish..."

"Maybe," Hoseok nodded.

"Were you..." Namjoon paused, his chin pushing forward as he tried to control his emotions. The familiar habit filled Hoseok's heart with affection. "By running away... were to hoping to die alone? To just slip away without us knowing?"

"I don't know," Hoseok closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I didn't know how long I'd live, and as time passed, I realised I wasn't ageing. But I also realised how long I'd been away from you... and I just couldn't bring myself to come back."

"Did you think we wouldn't accept you back?" Namjoon asked, the hurt evident in his eyes.

"Joon... baby..." Hoseok's voice caught in this throat as his tears overflowed.

It was Namjoon who reached for him first. His lips were on Hoseok's skin, burning a trail up his neck, across his jaw until they were finally on his own. He kissed him like he wanted to steal his soul, as though he could save it by taking it into his heart.

Yoongi's head fell onto his shoulder, his hands untucked Hoseok's shirt and slipped under it. Hoseok pulled away from Namjoon and pressed a kiss to Yoongi's temple; his hand stroked the back of his neck.

He'd missed them.

He had forgotten how it felt to be held by Namjoon. How small he felt in his arms, how safe and loved he felt. Namjoon liked to hold him against his chest as he thrust into him from behind, to bury his nose into his neck and bite at his skin. Yoongi's hands wandered up Hoseok's chest and teased his nipples, eliciting a delicious moan from his lips.

When they were together, they were all that mattered. Everything around them changed, faces came and went, but they remained the same. They were all each other had. They were each other's constant through the many years they had lived. Soul mates.

After so many years living alone, Hoseok had grown used to sleeping by himself. With Namjoon hugging his pillow on his right and Yoongi curled up on his left, Hoseok found it overwhelming to be sleeping between two people again. Even if they were the two people he loved more than anything in the world. Namjoon and Yoongi had fallen asleep quickly, sated and happy, exhausted from rediscovering the delights in each other's bodies. But Hoseok had stared at the ceiling, wondering what was to come for them in the future. Asking himself if he was brave enough to go back with them and willing himself to stay in the bed, to resist the temptation to flee into the darkness and hide.

He felt Namjoon's foot slide over his, and Hoseok smiled to himself. He turned his head to look at the man who was always there for him. Yoongi was able to read his mind, but Namjoon kept him on the right track. He was his moral compass, the one he went to when he felt the darkness creep in. Hoseok brushed his thumb over Namjoon's lips and wondered why he hadn't gone to him when he was going through his darkest night.

The truth was, he didn't have answers to any of the things he had asked himself. He doubted Namjoon would either, but he would at least know what to say to put his mind at ease.

Hoseok closed his eyes, hoping that maybe if he just kept them closed long enough, he would eventually fall asleep.

But sleep didn't find him. Something else did.

Hoseok sat up with a gasp, Namjoon and Yoongi snapped awake beside him. They looked at each other in shock, gasping for breath as they tried to comprehend what they'd seen.

"A man..." Namjoon said. "He was... he was crossing the road..."

"I saw him die," Yoongi said, looking at Hoseok.

"Why now?" Hoseok asked them both. "After all this time... now?"

"You said once before that they come when they're needed most," Namjoon said, wiping at his sweaty brow. "Maybe we need him."

"He's just a baby," Hoseok saw a flash of his beautiful young face in his mind.

"Do you remember anything about where he was?" Yoongi asked.

"He's in a city..." Namjoon closed his eyes and tried to see the picture again.

"He's Korean... but travel is so easy now he could be anywhere in the world," Yoongi ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"We need to find him," Namjoon jumped out of bed and began fumbling around for his trousers. "We all know that confusion; we all know what he's going through. We need to find him."

"How are we supposed to find him in this day and age?" Yoongi asked. "He could be anywhere in the world..."

"He's here," Hoseok said suddenly, his words silencing his lovers. "He's here in Seoul..."

"You're sure?" Namjoon asked.

Hoseok gave a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I'm sure," he got out of bed and began to dress too. "He's close. If we're quick, we can head the ambulance off and get him before he's taken to hospital."

"Tells us where to go," Yoongi said.

"I'll go get him," Hoseok said. "I've always been the one to collect them."

"That was before," Yoongi said.

Hoseok gave him a sad smile. "This is why I said we couldn't go back," he said. "Everything is different."

"We'll all go," Namjoon said. Hoseok caught the way he narrowed his eyes at Yoongi, stopping any argument he might have had. "He's going to be scared and confused; we should all be there for him."

Once Hoseok was dressed, he pulled a box from under his bed and grabbed two handguns from inside. He placed them both at the small of his back and attached a knife to his belt.

He stood up and looked at Yoongi and Namjoon, who were waiting for his order. Hoseok smiled.

"Let's go bring this kid home."

Thank you so much for reading! I would love to hear what you thought, so feel free to drop me a comment or get in touch on Twitter at RexHope3.