Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Once A Thief ❯ To Catch A Thief - Part IV ( Chapter 5 )

Kali notes:  Know what? I'm not even going to keep counting. I give up… There will be umpteen parts with the same chapter name. *scowls* Anyway…I'm finally working up to actual explanations! *le gasp* Aren't we all excited? Not. I do apologize for the space between updates now, however. I'm back in classes, and I have a part-time job now, so I have even less time than normal to update things. But never fear! I will do my best to get it out as soon as I can - and I would appreciate it very much if people would not demand updates from me immediately. That has begun to get on my nerves and just to be obstinate, I feel like not updating at all. Let's just all avoid that, shall we?

 

Disclaimer:  No own! No sue!

 

Warnings:  Yaoi (means lemons, people - unless you're on ffnet; then you get shounen-ai), language, dramatic angst, and other adult content.  Don't like it, don't read it! This chapter: not much of anything, really.

 

Pairing:  TyKa; others include Tala/Hilary, Rei/Mariah

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

Chapter 05: To Catch A Thief - Part IV

 

Takao winced and held the phone away from his ear.

“Hilary, would you lay off and let me…” he tried, but the female voice screeching at him from the other end didn't let him continue. After a couple more minutes of that, a headache forming behind his eyes to match the ache in his stomach, he shouted back, “Hilary! Shut up and listen to me!”

Out on the balcony, Kai frowned and turned to look back inside at the annoyed yell from the bluenette.

On the phone there was sudden silence, much to Takao's relief.

“Thank you. Now…yes, I was supposed to call Kenny two days ago. No, I couldn't call before now. Yes, I'm okay - sort of. And no, I don't have time to talk business right now. I need to talk to Kenny, Hil. Is he still there?” Takao sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he listened to the answer. “Then please put him on.”

“I can't interrupt him, Takao. He's in with a client right now.” Hilary informed him primly, still stung from being yelled at.

“It's what? Nearly 6 pm there? He's not with a client…it's his mom, isn't it?” Takao smirked when he heard her grumble under her breath. “That's what I thought. Look, let him decide if I'm worth interrupting him, okay? Go in, tell him I'm on the phone, and tell him its an emergency - that I need to speak to my lawyer.”

“Fine. Hold, please.” There was a soft click and he got an earful of boring elevator music. As he was waiting, Kai strode back inside to eavesdrop.

“Kenny is your lawyer?” He couldn't help inquiring, and he was unable to keep the curiosity out of his tone. “I thought he'd go into computers or something.”

“He did. He specializes in electronic thefts, computer crimes, frauds, etc.” Takao informed the older man absently. He straightened when his old friend came on the line. “Whoa! Easy, Chief! Breathe, buddy, breathe.”

A deep breath let out slowly preceded the reply. “Sorry. Hilary said it was an emergency and I panicked. Are you alright? You're not in a hospital or anything are you?” Kenny wanted to know, worry and concern lacing his voice.

“No. I'm okay, Chief. My stomach's acting up again, but other than that, I'm healthy enough.” Takao sighed as his eyes met Kai's.

“Take some of your medicine if it's bothering you again, Takao!” Kenny admonished. “You're supposed to be trying to keep your stress levels as low as possible.”

“Yeah, well, if you were where I am now, facing life imprisonment, you'd have difficulty doing that, too.” Takao scowled, looking away from Kai with a pained expression.

“Say what?! Where are you, Kinomiya Takao?” Kenny demanded to know.

“I'm still in London, Kenny, though I'm told I'm going to Paris very soon.”

“Why didn't you get the hell out of there when you were done at the museum? Are you crazy?”

“Because I needed to forget for a few hours, okay? I met Wyatt at a pub and we had a good chat over some drinks and finger-food.” Takao ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “Listen…” he paused when he heard the distinct sound of clicking keyboard keys. “What are you doing?”

“I'm tracing the call because I want to know where you are and why you're trying to give me a heart attack.” Came the somewhat snarled reply. “What the…Hiwatari Enterprises?! Are you completely INSANE?! What are you doing there?!”

“Uh…long story, Kenny. To make it short, I found Kai last night. Well, actually, he found me…”

There was a loud silence on the line for a moment then, “KAI?! The son of a bitch finally reappeared after this long?! What the hell, Takao?!”

Kai's crimson eyes narrowed, having heard that quite clearly, and reached out to swiftly pluck the phone from Takao's startled hand. “Care to say that to me personally, Kenny?”

Takao snatched it back and glared at him. “Suck it up, Kai. He doesn't know. And I'll thank you not to interrupt my conversation with my lawyer.” He waited until their youngest of friends wound down his angry ranting before speaking again. “Chief, I'll tell you everything later, I promise. But right now, focus, please?”

“Sorry.”

“Look, I need my lawyer - you - to pack up and fly over to Paris as soon as possible.”

“Why? Did something go wrong at the museum and they found you?” Kenny had become abruptly serious and lawyer-like.

“No. That went smoothly, and you can be sure to tell Gideon in the email you send him that I acquired number fourteen and I have plans for fifteen.”

“Fine. But why need a lawyer?”

“Because Fate hates me, Chief. I've been caught by two UNA agents - totally out of the blue.” He could almost hear Kenny's brain working.

“Oh. Well, shit, Takao.” Kenny swore. “How'd they know it was you?”

“One of the agents is part wolf. He recognized my scent.” Takao gripped the phone in his hand tighter. “What advice do you have, counsellor?”

“Say nothing until I get there. No doubt they'll tangle you up in red tape to delay releasing you - and they'll have to because last I checked, scent is not enough evidence to make a case on.”

“Uh…they have a confession, Chief. That's enough for a case.”

There was another long, distinct pause before Takao had to hold the phone out in front of himself while Kenny blasted the airwaves with curses. “WHAT?!”

Kai raised an eyebrow at the particularly nasty obscenities the brunette was tossing out. “I didn't know he had that kind of vocabulary.”

“I'm wishing he didn't.” Takao sighed, sweatdropping heavily. “Kenny!” He finally shouted back, a vein beginning to throb at one temple. “Shut up and get over it! What was I supposed to do?! Lie?!”

“Yes! Kami-sama, you moron!”

“NO! I'm not a liar. And I wasn't about to lie to Kai.”

“Agh! Do you realize just how much you've screwed this up?!” Takao could picture Kenny in his office at his law firm, resisting the urge to bang his head on his desk and probably trying really hard not to yank out fistfuls of his hair. “What do you mean about Kai? Are you saying you told him, too? Kai and the two UNA agents that caught you? Why not just take out an ad in every newspaper in Europe?!”

“What'dya mean `too'?” Takao shot back. “Kai is the agent that caught me! Pay attention, Kenny.”

“Oh…bloody hell.” Was all the young lawyer could say.

“Look, just come to Paris, Chief. Please? And…call Max and tell him…I don't know what to tell him.” Takao slumped backward, letting the island counter support him and keep him on his feet. He just felt exhausted now, any energy he might have had left drained away. Running a hand through his hair, he continued, “Tell him I'm okay, but things are going a bit slower than expected and I don't know how long I'll be, that I'll be in touch when I can, and…could he please keep watering Gramps' bonsai trees for me?”

“I'll call him. Takao…” Kenny hesitated. “I should tell him the whole truth. Maybe there's some way he can help. His mom is UNA, too…”

“I thought we agreed not to drag him or his family into it. Same with Rei. He has Mariah and Rin to think about.”

“That was then. This is now.” Kenny responded seriously. “You're too close to setting everything straight again, Takao. You need allies now…friends. I really think we could use the help.”

Takao closed his eyes. “I don't like it.”

“I know. This whole mess sucks. Let me talk to Kai, please. I need information - you know, lawyer stuff.”

“Yeah. And Kenny?”

“What?”

“Thank you.” Takao said softly. “For everything. I'm so sorry.” He held out the phone to Kai, ignoring Kenny's protests, and went into the living room to curl up on one end of the sofa. Kai watched him for a minute, speculatively and fighting his first inclination to go over, gather the bluenette into his arms and just hold him.

But until he had the whole tale, he couldn't risk getting any more attached to Takao than he already was because it could only end in more heartache and pain - for them both.

The front door opened and Tala walked in, face grim, just as Kai was hanging up after his conversation with Kenny. The dual-haired man rubbed his face wearily before inquiring, `What did you find?”

“Where's…? Oh.” Tala spotted the bluenette, who appeared to be (in a word) broken. He was staring at the fireplace distantly, knees drawn up to his chest and chin resting on his knees as he hugged them defensively. Tala frowned and looked back at his partner. “I don't think he's lying. I studied the tapes, and the security cameras from the first floor offices that look down on the street caught an unmarked black car with tinted windows parking across the street a minute and a half after you and Kinomiya entered the building. No one got in, and no one got out. It was still there when I went across the street this morning for breakfast, and I'll bet if you go look down from the balcony, it's still there.”

Kai shook his head. “Why bother? So what do we do about it?”

Tala crossed his arms and went to the living room, taking a seat in the sofa-chair adjacent to the couch. Kai followed and sat next to Takao, who looked back and forth between them with an expression of defeated resignation.

“Whatever we do, it has to look like nothing is going on. I would suggest sneaking out somehow, but I don't think we want to do it that way. Too risky.”

The bluenette unfolded himself and rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants' legs. “So there is someone out there?”

“A very suspicious car, yeah. Doesn't mean we completely believe you about the rest of what little you have told us, but we're going to act as if we do.” Tala replied in a warning voice. Takao nodded his understanding with a tiny smile of gratitude.

“Thank you.”

“Don't thank us yet, Kinomiya. When we get you to Paris without incident…then maybe you'll have time for gratitude.” The redhead eyed him consideringly. “So how do you plan on getting out of here?”

“I need to get my stuff from my hotel before we leave London.” Takao said quietly. He looked down at his hands and shifted in discomfort. “I need my medication or I'll wind up in the hospital. Again.”

Now Kai got concerned. “Medication? Hospital?” He reached out to turn Takao's face toward him, but the younger man shrunk back away from him, and his hand froze in mid-air. “Taka?”

“Don't. I can't…I don't think I can handle your kindness or concern.” Takao looked at Kai with pleading stormy-blue eyes. “Because of all the stress, the near complete lack of sleep I've been getting for the last ten and a half months, and the amount of travelling and bad eating habits I've formed because of it, I developed an ulcer. There's medication I take regularly that helps alleviate everything, but…”

“Alright. So you stop off and get your stuff. That's reasonable.” Tala spoke up before his partner could demand explanations. As much as he was on Kai's side and wanted to do whatever he could for his friend, he was unwittingly beginning to want to help Takao as well. There was no way the bluenette could be this excellent an actor and be faking everything, not with Tala, at least. Maybe he could have been fooling Kai, but not the wolf. He met the bluenette's gaze and tried to sound neutral and reassuring at the same time. “What do you suggest we do?”

Takao thought for a moment, staring at the Dranzer statue on the coffee table. “I will go with Kai to the hotel to get my stuff. I think we should take the Chunnel train to get to Paris. So Tala, because he won't be recognized by anyone following me around, can meet us on board the train.” He said eventually, thinking out loud.

“That has merit. Then I can follow whoever it is following you around all over instead, and maybe catch a glimpse of them.” Tala nodded. “I'll do that. Are you okay with this idea, Kai?”

“Hn.” Kai stood up and turned to head for the bedroom. “I'm going to pack up. Call the Director, Tala, and tell him we're coming home - with a solved case.” He said without turning around, before walking away with two pairs of blue eyes fixed on the spot between his shoulder blades.

Tala looked away from Kai and watched Takao watch his partner. There was an expression on the bluenette's face that made the redhead want to sigh. Takao looked…unbearably sad, lonely, and almost helpless. His eyes widened as Takao reached out and opened his mouth as if to call Kai back, then froze, seemed to change his mind - or give up - and retract his outstretched hand to cradle against his chest, looking down at his feet. The wolf schooled his face to be neutral and stood up, moving to the coat closet again and digging out his own cell phone.

Takao ignored his conversation, too lost in his own miserable thoughts at the moment to care. At least they believe me enough to let me do this my way. And I'm sure Kenny will be able to help somehow. I have to believe that. I…I have to.

~*~*~*~*~

Strapping on his helmet, Takao got onto his motorcycle and waited as Kai did, too. He had to suck in a breath and let it out slowly as Kai's arms encircled his waist and his hands gripped his jacket as the dual-haired man nestled securely behind the bluenette. Once he'd gotten his body under a semblance of control, Takao kicked the motorcycle in gear and sped away.

From the shadows, out of sight and sitting in an idling car, Tala watched the car with the tinted windows slowly pull away from the curb and follow several cars behind Takao and Kai. He waited until he could just barely see the car, and sent his own into traffic to stalk his prey in turn.

Stopping at a red light sometime later, Takao rolled his shoulder absently as he waited. There was a crick in his neck from being curled in a ball all morning, with all the tension in his muscles making it that much worse. And then he went even more stiff when one of Kai's arms was removed and a gloved hand slid under the collar of his jacket to grasp the tendons of his neck and shoulder and massage the sore area skilfully.

“Ah…” Takao let out a small gasp and shuddered, his head lolling forward involuntarily at the relieving sensation. Then he remembered just who was making him feel that much better and shrugged the hand away. Or at least, he tried. Kai stopped massaging, but he didn't remove his hand. “Kai? What?” Takao stammered, confusion lacing his tone. He didn't understand why Kai was doing this, when he couldn't possibly still care about him anymore.

“I'm just trying to ease a little tension, Kinomiya. If you're ill, then you shouldn't be so tense.”

“I know that. But…I thought…why do you care?” Takao stared at the traffic light ahead, his voice betraying his sadness and bitterness. “I'm a thief, remember. I have no honour. I'm not someone to care about.”

Startled, Kai stared at the back of his former lover's head. It was true he didn't really know what to think of the situation anymore, but of course he still cared. He couldn't just stop loving Takao. Before he could open his mouth to tell the bluenette that, however, the light turned green and he head to hastily pull his hand out of Takao's jacket and wrap his arm around his waist once more to hang on as Takao and the bike took off again.

To the crimson-eyed man's surprise, the place they pulled up to resembled more of an apartment building than a hotel. “What is this place, Takao?”

Takao took off his helmet and left it on the seat of the bike. He shook out his hair with a sigh and looked up at the building. “It's a business hotel. There are suites here with offices that companies and businesses can lease or rent for their use whenever they have business here in London.” Takao glanced over his shoulder at Kai. “Coming?”

Nodding once, Kai followed Takao inside. There was a front desk in the lobby, and his younger companion waved briefly at the three clerks behind the desk as he made his way to the elevators. After the doors closed behind them, and Takao pushed the button for the fifth floor, the bluenette spoke again.

“Max and I rented a suite for our business, once we got established and it was clear we'd be coming here often enough, since we get a lot of our stock from Britain - not to mention the auctions and estate sales. It's easier for me to get here, though, than for Max to, because I live in Paris and he still lives in Japan.” The elevator stopped and the exited onto the fifth floor. Takao led Kai down the hallway until they reached a door that had a sign with `Kinomiya-Mizuhara Art & Antiques' boldly emblazoned on it. As he unlocked the door and pushed it open, he continued, “Well, Max lives most of the year in Japan. Three or four months out of it he lives in New York near his parents.”

Kai made an interested noise - which was non-committal sounding at the same time - and looked around curiously as Takao flicked on the lights. There was a sitting area with a couple of comfortable sofa chairs and a couch, some bookshelves loaded with books and various objets d'art along one wall, and a desk with an open laptop, phone/fax machine, and a printer sitting on it. A filing cabinet stood near the desk in a corner. On the wall opposite the bookshelves was a kitchenette, and two doors - one that Kai assumed was a bathroom, and the other that probably led to a bedroom.

Takao watched the dual-haired agent wander over to the bookshelves to study their contents, trying to appear as if he wasn't really that interested. Takao knew better, of course. Hadn't he been the one to tutor Kai with his literature class in high school, after all? He knew Kai's love of books and reading. “I'll just pack up my stuff, Kai. It won' t take me long.”

“Hn.” Kai forced himself to ignore the bookshelves (for now, anyway) and pulled out his cell phone to dial Tala's number. He wanted to know how the chase was going. Takao disappeared into the bedroom and grabbed his suitcase, stuffing his clothes and things into it without really caring about folding things neatly or whatever. He went into the bathroom to get his toiletries and medication then returned to his suitcase and placed the toiletries on top of everything else before closing the baggage and wheeling it out into the office area. He walked over to the desk and picked up the carry case he had for the laptop, proceeding to unhook everything and pack it away.

“…So they still haven't gotten out of the vehicle? Geez.” Kai was saying. Takao half-listened to what he was saying. He didn't really care who it was following him, only that if their tail reported back to Gideon that Takao was in the company of - or worse, custody of - a UNA agent, then any hope he had of fixing everything was lost.

Kai listened to his partner for a moment then sighed. “Okay. Yeah, Takao's packing up his things so we shouldn't be long. We'll see you on the train, Tala. Alright. Call if anything happens.” Kai flipped the cell phone closed and turned to see Takao shaking out two pills into his hand before closing the pill bottle and dropping it into a side pocket of the leather laptop case. “Almost ready?”

“Yes. I'm just going to take these and then we can go.” Takao went into the kitchenette and poured himself a glass of water downing the medication in one gulp.

“What are you going to do with your motorcycle?” Kai wanted to know. Takao finished his water before answering, moving to pick up his carry-case and grab his suitcase.

“I'll have the clerks move it into the storage area in the basement.” Takao headed for the door. “And before you even ask, no, it's not the same place I'm keeping the stuff I stole.”

“I didn't think it would be.” Kai replied mildly, in response to the testy, bitter tone of Takao's voice. The younger man scowled at him with a disbelieving `yeah, right' sort of expression, and opened the door.

“Let's just go.” He said shortly, turning off the lights and waiting for Kai to exit so he could close and lock the door once again. Then he led the now silent UNA agent back to the elevator and out to the front desk, where he left instructions to have his bike secured again. At that point, Kai took over, leading him outside to the street to hail a cab.

Kai, in a completely casual way, looked up and down the street as he waited for Takao's luggage to be loaded in the cab's trunk, and for Takao to slide into the backseat first before he did. He'd spotted the suspicious car, but gave no outward indication that he had, as well as taking not of his partner father down the street in his car following their tail.

“Where to, blokes?” The cabdriver asked in a cheerful, thickly accented voice.

Glancing at Takao when the bluenette failed to speak up, Kai did so. “The nearest Chunnel station, please.” (1)

“Right you are.” The cab driver nodded and turned on his meter, pulling out into traffic.

Five minutes later, stuck with many other vehicles in slow moving traffic, Kai's cell rang again.

“Yeah.” He answered, recognizing the number as Tala's. “Something up?”

“Thought you'd like to know you're still being shadowed. Besides, this traffic is so damned slow I'm getting bored back here.” The wolf's voice replied, mildly annoyed. “I could have run to the station by now.”

“Patience, wolf.”

“Yeah, yeah. How's it going up there?”

“We're as well as can be expected. I'm wishing we'd grabbed some coffee or something for the road, but otherwise, we're just peachy.” Kai couldn't help the small hint of sarcasm in his voice. Sitting in traffic, it was beginning to heat up and get muggy in the confines of their cab. Kai didn't mind the heat - he actually revelled in it - but this humid, muggy kind he did not like so much. And it was making him testy again.

“I had the foresight to grab a bottled water from the fridge before I left the studio, at least.” Tala was smug. Kai grumbled.

“Shut up. We'll get something at the station. You did remember to bring my stuff, right?”

“Of course I did.” Came the indignant reply. “Oh goody! We're moving. I'll see you in a few.” Tala hung up on him and Kai scowled at the phone in his hand.

“Wolf my ass. He's a damn puppy.”

Takao barely spared him a glance. He knew perfectly well not to bother the dual-haired man when he was cranky - and no doubt anything he said at this point would be like setting a match to a pile of dry straw.

The traffic was indeed finally moving, and sometime later they finally arrived at the station. They got out and took Takao's luggage from the cab, then made their way inside.

~*~*~*~*~

They were leaning against a large stone pillar at the boarding area when Tala appeared and approached them. Kai accepted his own baggage that his partner held out to him with a raised eyebrow.

“I thought we agreed to meet on the train.” He said in a low voice. Tala shrugged.

“Doesn't matter now. When they figured out you were both taking the Chunnel, they left the station in a hurry, cell phones in hand. “I watched him watch you since you got up to the ticket counter.” Tala studied his nails in a bored way. “They were standing not two feet away from you then, and heard every word you said. They heard you were going to Paris, and when they left, they walked right past me and started talking into their phones. Apparently they were talking to someone who cared.”

Takao sighed. “Did you hear enough of the conversation to know whether or not I'm telling the truth yet?”

“Uh…no. I did hear the shadows receive their marching orders, though. And march right off out of the station after that call they did.” Tala smiled, all teeth. “We're free and clear until we get back to Paris, where we will be `picked up' by a new set of shadows.”

“Figures.” Takao glanced at a huge clock and sighed. He shifted his wait in an effort to get comfortable. Was it getting warm or was it just him? “Our train should be here any time now.”

“Did you hear names or anything?” Kai wondered. Tala shook his head.

“Nope. Just a lot of `sirs' and `Boss.' What was interesting was that he spoke in German.”

“Well, that's something, I suppose. And you got a good visual of them?”

“Visual, scent, and voice patterns, yep. I'll run them through the database when we get in.”

They fell silent, and the three men stood around waiting as patiently as they were capable of for their train to Paris.

~*~*~*~*~

Twenty minutes after they had arrived at the train station, they boarded the train and found seats in one corner of one of the cars. Since the seats faced each other (two by two on each side of the train car) it was much more comfortable and conducive to conversation. However, Kai still insisted Takao sit on the inside, against the wall and window - despite the fact that there was really nowhere to go once the train started moving. To his surprise, though, Takao didn't object or protest at all. He simply obeyed without a word, and seemed to space out completely once the trip to Paris had gotten underway.

The bluenette closed his eyes after a few minutes, not feeling very well at all and deciding to try and get some sleep while he could. His medication was beginning to kick in, but because he had missed a dosage the night before and had been late taking it this morning, his stomach was very unhappy with him. Chilled now, rather than boiling as before (yet sweating at the same time), he curled into himself as best he could in his seat, trying to get a little warmer through his own body heat.

Tala frowned, noting the slight change in Takao's scent because of his illness. “Are you alright, Kinomiya? You don't look so good.” He questioned in a mildly concerned voice.

Kai looked up from his shoes (which he'd found just fascinating while lost in thought), and glanced from his partner to Takao with concern of his own.

“I…I'm fine.” Takao lied, his teeth chattering minutely. He didn't even open his eyes, but he did curl up tighter. “J…just a little…cold.”

Kai moved the armrest between their seats up and turned a bit to face the younger man, studying him critically and reaching out to place the back of his hand against Takao's forehead under his hair. Takao tried flinching away and batted weakly at Kai's hand, but Kai just caught it and held it down.

“You've got a small fever.” He pronounced, slowly taking his hand away. “Why didn't you say you weren't feeling well earlier, Takao?”

“I'll be fine. Just a reaction to…” Takao had to pause and catch his breath. He knew it was getting worse if he was beginning to have troubles breathing. “…missing medication yesterday. Nothing to worry about…”

“Baka.” Kai admonished, trying to sound annoyed but failing miserably, unable to hide his growing worry. “Lie down, Takao, and try to get a little rest.” He made a mental note to have the UNA's medical department take a look at him when they got there. There had to be something more they could do for him.

“Lie down?” The bluenette repeated, looking hazily at the seat. “How? There's not enough room…”

With a noise of frustrated exasperation, Kai reached out again, only this time he pulled Takao closer and made him lie on his side with his head pillowed on Kai's lap. Then he took off his own jacket and draped it over Takao's legs and waist, ignoring the younger man's protests.

“Kai! Please don't…”

“Don't care? I can't do that. Even though it would make everything simpler, I just can't.” Kai said, urging the bluenette gently to stay lying down when he tried to sit up again. He ran his fingers through Takao's midnight blue hair at the front near his face, sweeping the slightly sweat-dampened locks out of fever-glistening blue eyes that drooped. “You need to rest.”

“But I…”

“Taka, love, shut up.”

Takao gave in, unable to fight himself or Kai any longer - especially when he used the endearment Takao had wanted to hear from him for so long now. He just didn't have the strength now. His eyes slid shut and he became limp as a wet noodle as he abruptly fell asleep.

Kai sighed, a small wave of relief washing through him. He continued to stroke Takao's hair in a soothing way - for himself or the bluenette was anyone's guess.

Tala echoed the sigh a moment later before asking in Russian, “Is he really going to be alright, do you think?”

“I'm going to do my best to make him get better.” The crimson-eyed man responded in a low voice in Russian, also. “I don't like the situation, I don't know what's going on with him, but…”

“You still love him. Yeah, I can see that.” Tala's icy blue eyes dropped to watch the sick and exhausted man take in laboured, yet even, deep breaths as he slept. “he's trying to push you away. I think he thinks you won't forgive him or want anything to do with him anymore after all this. So he's trying to protect himself from more pain and heartache.”

“I know. I wish he would stop that.” Kai looked down at Takao and watched him sleep with a tiny frown of annoyance. “Even though I can hardly blame him for it.”

“Are you going to have the medical staff look at him?” Tala asked. His partner nodded. “Good. I don't think he's going to be well enough to give his statement for a little while anyway.”

“No. We'll keep him in the medical ward - at least until his lawyer gets here. He can rest and feel safe there, hopefully.” Kai ceased his stroking and simply held the bluenette, keeping him warm with the heat of his own body. He had to smile when Takao murmured and snuggled closer in his sleep.

“Shall we ditch the shadows we pick up at the station?” The wolf asked. “If so, I have a good idea how to do it without making them suspicious.”

“Do tell?”

Tala outlined his plan and the dual-haired man's smile turned into a smirk. “Technology has its uses.” Tala's final comment was a little smug.

“Better call right now, then. We're nearly there.”

Kai's partner whipped out his cell phone and began setting up their unsuspecting foes.

****************

Kali Notes:  (1) I don't actually know much about the Chunnel, and I used that little scene in the first season where the Bladebreakers battled the Dark Bladers in the Chunnel as my inspiration, so…let's just pretend I know what I'm talking about, shall we?

Again I apologize for the extreme delay in updating. As I said, it's back to classes for Kali, as well as work, so the next one will happen when it happens. In the meantime… Please R/R!!!!

 

Dryad: Thank you to all our reviewers, and thank you for your patience, everyone:

 

TechnoRanma - I'm sooooooooo sorry it took so long, Ranma-love! I hope you don't mind too much… *huggle glomps*

 

Feelin Glayish - GLAY! *is ecstatic* Thanks for reviewing! *glomps* I know it's going fast, but I didn't want this one to go on forever and ever like HYE or Majesty did. But I guess it's still early in the fic, so… lol You know me…

 

phoenixandashes - lol Tala and his nose indeed. I rather liked the idea of it, but that's just me… *sheepish grin*

 

Kai's the Best - Thanks! Keep on reading!

 

Ereshkigali - I'm glad you like how I'm treating his character. I find him somewhat difficult to write, because what he seems to present to everyone in his personality doesn't mesh with my perception of him for some reason. But I'm trying!

 

Serenity Cathedral a.k.a. serena429 - That's one wild guess, alright. O.o And you'll just have to keep reading, because I never give away hints… lol

 

xXxAngel VxXx - You were nervous? I kept giving Dryad these looks, like `what the hell are you thinking?' kind of looks. LOL Glad you're enjoying it though!

 

Horsegirl - Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this one, too.

 

guns'n'handcuffs - Heh. I'm coming up on Takao's part of the story, so I hope you (and everyone else) will be surprised and continue to be interested.

 

FireieGurl - Strong emotion, huh? Well, that's something I certainly try to convey when I write. As for Endure…don't count on it. That one's been shelved for a while. Sorry.

 

Destruction Devil - Uh… *sweatdrops & grins nervously* Sorry! Thought it might help… *hands you a warm, fluffy towel* I'll just have to keep going and get to more TyKa moments to warm you up, won't I?

 

NekoAnime - Well, they haven't quite gotten to know each other that well yet, after all. Still, I think it'll change a little as the fic moves on. I also figured Tala'd be the one who'd get away with calling anyone `Mom' let alone Kai's mother. XD

 

luvyagal - Don't worry! There will be lemony goodness eventually… I promise. And hey! You've dropped all your fics? O.O Are you leaving the fandom, too?

 

Jani Rieme - Is it that sad? I know it's a little on the angsty side, but not half as bad as some of the fics I've seen out there. Still, I swear things will get lighter in a couple of chapters and I always have happy endings. If I ever write a fic with a dark ending, you'll all know something is wrong with me… O.o

 

Mandy Rules - Thank you! I'm happy you're enjoying it!

 

chaos_angel - Aww…thanks! *blushes*

 

windchild - For me? Aww…thank you! That's very sweet. And hey, I can't draw very well or create stuff like animated gifs so that's great! Oh, and if you want my email, all you have to do is look at my profile (on which ever fic site).

 

icestar - lol “Tenderhooks”? There's a word I haven't heard for a long time! Great! Sorry for the delay in the update!

 

Kailover - Thanks Nancy! Hope you liked this chapter, too!

 

Fyrbyrd - I'm happy you think it is! I aim to please…

 

Blackrose - I know. I'm being so mean to Takao in this fic. I'm usually mean to Kai, but I figured this time it was Takao's turn. And I didn't want them to be all understanding just yet…that wouldn't have been very real, I don't think. I write Tala as I see him - mean on the surface but once you get past the initial layer of ice (no pun intended), he's not that bad.

 

Hannah - Oomph! *falls over* @.@ Ah… lol Yeah, the love will come…eventually. *sweatdrops* I promise!

 

silverfox - One thing I learned in my English classes - conflict makes for great plot. If there's no conflict of some kind, then I guess that would make it a PWP right? XD Which reminds me…I should write another one of those someday.

 

studio - I am very, very glad you didn't find any mistakes. LOL `Cause I sure did. But they were stupid typos that resulted from me trying to crank out that last update too quickly under considerable pressure from certain someones who were in a TyKa drought - and of course I felt sorry for them. That'll teach me. And yes…Oliver will be there. Can't go to Paris without Oliver, right? *winks* As for the rest…you'll just have to read to find out!

 

Starwarrior - Uh…get what? *confused* Glad you liked it, though! lol Keep on reading!

 

MinakoTyKaFan - Thanks! I'm happy you enjoyed it!

 

Niffty24 - Ah ha! Suspenseful! There's the word I was looking for earlier today! *glomps* Thank you! lol And thank you for reviewing!

 

 

So that's another chapter down. Thanks for reviewing everyone, and I look forward to your comments for this chapter, next! *passes out mini Driger statues*