Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Running Scared ❯ Fallen ( Chapter 9 )

Authoress' Notes: Well, I'm sure I hold a record now. Kicked off FF.Net three times in one year! And it's only June… Whatever. This fic just ran away on me much like HYE did! @_@ My creative mind (aka Dryad) can be annoying, you know? Ah well…not going to complain! ^_^;; I seem to be on an angst kick lately, too…wonder why?

Warnings: Same as Chapter 1. See chapter 1 if you're that concerned about it.

Disclaimers: I still don't own anything, and that includes Fallen, by Sarah McLauchlan. Obviously, that's her song.

Reviews: Wow…thanks to all of my reviewers!! @ AFF.Net: Bloody Mary, L, & Brickwall; @ my group: Weeping Sweeti; & @ Mediaminer: Flamable-Devil (Jen!). *showers all with Dryad plushies*

blah - normal speech, blah - thoughts, {blah} - telepathy, //blah// - electronic speech (com-links, computers, etc.)

Chapter: Fallen

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We ended up going outside to the courtyard to do it, for fear of breaking valuable items. Kenny prepped an injection gun with the chip and I had Rei stretch out on his stomach on the stone floor on a blanket, his tail waving in the air, betraying his anxiousness.

I knelt down beside him and lay a hand on his shoulder. "You know I wouldn't do this if there was another way. I'm sorry, my friend. I'll be as gentle as I can."

"I know. Just do it and get it over with…" He squeezed his eyes shut and I saw a tremor run through him. I gave his shoulder a reassuring pat and motioned Max and Tyson over.

"Tyson, you'll have to hold his tail still for me. Max, you'll hold him down, please." Kenny handed me the injection gun and joined Hilary off to the side, out of the way. Tyson gently caught Rei's tail after Max had straddled Rei's legs and pretty much laid down on top of him, grasping Rei's wrists firmly and pinning them to the ground at either side of Rei's head. Tyson held the twitching length of white and black stripped fur as still as possible off to the side and nodded at me.

I set the gun to where I wanted the chip to go and said, "Take a deep breath, Rei, and on three…" I waited until I saw him suck in a shaky breath then didn't bother counting. "Three!" I pulled the trigger - so to speak.

Tyson let go of the appendage as soon as I took away the gun and we heard the neko-jin make an agonized noise and saw his whole body jerk in response to the pain. The sounds he made were between a growl, a yelp, and a strangled wail. Rei's tail dropped to the ground and lay immobile, since he seemed to not be able to move it through the pain.

Max continued to hold him down as Rei bucked and squirmed, still making threatening rumbling noises. He had his face pressed to the blanket so I couldn't see his expression but I heard a sob all of a sudden and I signalled Max to let him up. The blonde released Rei all at once, quickly rolling off and away from the pained neko-jin and watching him warily like one would a wounded animal.

"Rei?" I asked tentatively. I got a low growl in response. Then…

"That hurts!" He whimpered, sitting up and gingerly picking up his tail to inspect the wound. Tears streamed down his cheeks and his eyes had bled completely to feline in shape, no trace of his human side in them. That told me how close to shifting he'd been.

Max went back over and sat beside him, hip to hip. "I'm sorry, Rei." He apologized, his expressive face reflecting great concern for the neko-jin.

Rei was licking the tip of his tail like the feline he is, soothing the hurt, I guess. Hilary and Kenny went back inside and Tyson watched them go, a strange expression on his face.

"What's up?" I took his hand in mine, linking our fingers.

"Huh? Oh, just…I got a vibe from Hil that I didn't recognize."

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at the house. "What's that?"

"I think she's falling in love." A small smile crossed his face.

I blinked in surprise and I think my jaw dropped. "Are you kidding? With Kenny?"

"Yeah. But I can't be positive. Love is the one emotion that even I can't comprehend completely."

"Well…what do you know?" Stunned, I shook my head. "I hope Kenny takes his nose off a computer screen long enough to notice."

"Me too."

A rumbling purr broke out behind us and we turned to see Max helping Rei stand up, one hand on Rei's arm that was stroking lightly and the other arm wrapped around Rei's waist to steady him.

"Are you sure you're okay, Rei?" Max inquired.

"Yes. It's throbbing but it'll go away." I don't think they realized Tyson and I were watching because Rei actually leaned into Max a bit more, tilted his head to the side, and gave the genki blonde a small lick on the cheek. "Thanks, Maxie."

I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped again and my eyes bugged out in surprise at the gesture. Tyson smothered a giggle when Max blinked and blushed furiously - but didn't pull away. The two stared at each other, totally absorbed, for about two full minutes before I got tired of it and coughed discreetly. They broke apart, startled, and looked at us, both turning a bright shade of red.

I smirked at them and motioned them to follow as I turned and walked back to the house. Tyson sidled up beside me with a wide grin on his face.

"I think we've started a trend." He was practically skipping along beside me.

"Perhaps. Even so, we've got a mission to complete." I sighed. "We have to get busy."

Hilary and Kenny were waiting in the lobby for us. I leaned against the newel post at the base of the grand staircase.

"Do you want us to catch a taxi or something, Kai?" Max wondered, moving to stand next to Hilary. Rei disappeared upstairs to change into the clothes he would wear for the job I'd given him - to enter the blading underground and see what he could sort out. I'd seen him work this sort of reconnaissance before and knew he could handle it. but because this was Moscow and because we were after someone I knew to be the embodiment of evilness, I wanted the extra precaution of the microchip tracking device.

"No. Go ahead and take the van." I said. "Rei won't need it." I looked at Kenny. "Everything working?"

"Yep. We're good."

"Alright. Get going, Max. Let us know immediately if you find out anything." Max and Hilary nodded and left.

"So what about my practice, love?" Tyson asked me, looking rather eager to get into it. I smiled at him.

"Don't worry, Tyson. Believe me, you'll get your exercise."

Rei came back down, dressed all in black leather - long sleeved shirt, pants, and boots - and accessorized with dark green leather straps all along his arms and legs that were held in place with gold buckles. He also wore a gold, transparent scarf around his neck rather than the usual sash he wore at his waist. He'd exchanged his red headband for a black one with a dark green and gold yin yang symbol on it and matching black, fingerless leather blading gloves with the same symbol on the back of each hand.

I shook my head at him when he smiled, eyes glinting wickedly.

"What? Not bad-ass enough for you?" He looked around. "Max and Hilary left already?"

"Yep. I think you look very bad-ass." Tyson complimented. "I'm sure Max would like it, too." I snickered when Rei flushed and stared down at the floor.

"It's not like that…" He protested.

"As if." I snorted. "You've got a thing for him, Rei. That much was perfectly obvious." He gave me a look that told me he'd be perfectly happy to strangle me at that moment if I didn't drop the subject. I shrugged and pointed at the door. "Shoo! Go find me a bad guy and be careful."

"Yes, Master Hiwatari." He growled at me sarcastically, gliding past on soundless feet, his tail unwinding from his waist long enough to flick upwards in indignation - the feline version of flipping me off. I snickered as the door closed behind him.

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For the next few hours, we remaining team members sat at that long table in the library pulling apart Tyson's Beyblade and finding ourselves surrounded by blade parts and tools as we worked to upgrade it completely. Kenny had insisted on it before I took Tyson out for his practice session when he'd seen the condition of Dragoon's blade. Tyson watched and listened avidly, learning about all the new stuff that had been developed over these last few years that he'd missed out on and occasionally asking questions. He kept Dragoon's bit on the table in front of himself while the Chief and I worked on his blade.

Tyson and I were cleaning up his new attack and defence rings when Max's com-link signalled he wanted to talk to us on Kenny's laptop. The Chief set aside his own work and patched us through.

"Go ahead, Daredevil." He said.

//We've been to all the usual places and a few new spots, Phoenix, but the best we could get was that some of the best regular bladers at the parks and indoor stadiums haven't been seen lately - in a month or so, actually.//

I frowned. I had a pretty good idea what that meant. "Great. He's already recruiting." I shook my head. "Wonderful. Come back, Max. There's no point in hanging around out there in the open."

//Um…actually, I was wondering if you could open the gates and let us in? We had to ditch the van. I don't know how they found us earlier, but we acquired some extra shadows.//

I blinked at the screen, even though I couldn't see him. "You and Hilary walked?! Geez, Max." I went over to the desk and used the computer to let them in through the side gate.

//What? I didn't think you wanted me to hail a cab and lead them here.// I heard him grumble over the squeaky gate swinging open.

"Just get back here. You can help me with Tyson's training." I said as I walked back to my lover and Kenny. "When you get here come up to the library, Max.

//Okay. And Phoenix?//

"Yes?"

//Did you know your forest is really creepy? And silent?//

I laughed. "I've noticed that, yeah." I sat back down next to Tyson and picked up his attack ring again and the cloth I was using to clean it.

Several minutes later, Max and Hilary strolled in, looking a bit weary from all the walking they'd apparently done. I glanced at my watch and wondered how Rei was doing. As if he'd heard me, my cell phone started ringing.

"Well?" I demanded.

"As far as I can tell, they aren't based in Moscow any more. No one seems to know where they are but there are rumours of someone with money going around recruiting the top bladers from Moscow, Kiev, and St. Petersburg." Rei reported.

"Where are you now?" I asked, grabbing a notebook and pen to take a few notes.

"Double Dare. Local blading gang's club not too far from you, actually."

"You might as well come back, Tiger." I sighed, running a hand through my hair in frustration.

"I'll be back…wait a second." He paused and I could hear the low throb of music in the background. "I think I just saw someone I recognized."

I sat up straighter and put down the pen with a 'click' on the table. "Who?"

"Falcon."

"What the…? He's supposed to be in South America someplace! What's he doing back in Moscow?" I exclaimed, making everyone look at me curiously. "Chief, get into those files of yours and find out what the deal is on Falcon."

Kenny nodded and began typing furiously on his keyboard.

"Rei, get out of there. Now. I have a bad feeling about this." I ordered. My gut was unsettled and it hadn't been wrong yet.

"Sorry, my friend, but it's too late. Consider this my call for back up." He replied grimly, his voice beginning to sound more like a threatening growl. Then the line went dead and I cursed, stuffing my phone in my pocket and getting up.

"Shit!"

"Kai? What's wrong?" Tyson laid a hand on my arm.

"Rei's in trouble. Max, you and I have to get there as fast as possible. Chief, you stay here with Tyson and Hilary."

"You'd better hurry, Kai." Kenny's voice held a definite tinge of urgency to it. "Rei's vitals just went wild. He's shifting."

"Wait one second! I'm going with you." Tyson stood up, too, his newly formed blade in hand.

"No way. It's too risky, Tyson." I refused. "You're not ready for this. You don't know the sort of people we'll face in there."

"And you can't wrap me in cotton batting and stick me on a high shelf someplace for my 'protection' anymore." He faced me unflinchingly when I tried one of my glares on him. "I'm not an innocent little kid anymore, Kai! And the fact is you need me." His even gaze dared me to contradict his statement. I couldn't deny our need of him on this mission, but…

"Fine. Max, stay. Let's go, Tyson." I gave in, though I didn't like it at all. At least this way I'd know where he was and could keep an eye on him. He gave me a short nod and I knew he knew I wasn't happy. "Wait. Give me and Tyson your ear pieces, Max, Hilary." They handed them over and we put them in our ears. "Monitor us, Chief. Max, if it sounds like we're not going to make it out, take Hilary and Kenny back to Athens."

He looked rather grim about the order but he nodded. "I will."

I pulled out my cell phone and dialled. "Enrique." I said without any greetings when he answered. "Get the jet here as fast as you can. I'm not sure how many of us there will be - six, hopefully."

"Done. Oliver's piloting. He's insisting."

"Whatever." I didn't care who brought the plane to us. Max would get us out anyway.

"Let me know you're okay, Phoenix. I don't want to be dealing with your estate if you go and get killed on me." I heard the genuine concern in his voice and sighed.

"And I'd hate to saddle you with it." I replied and hung up. "Come with Tyson and I for a minute, Max. I'll show you where the keys to all the vehicles are, in case you need one."

I swear he lit up like a neon sign.

I took them down to the garages and threw open a cupboard on one wall, where an array of keys lined the inside. Max and Tyson were both gawking at all the vehicles around us; models, makes, sizes, and price ranges of all kinds. I tapped Max on the shoulder and pointed at the keys when he glanced at me.

"There they are. Use whatever if you need to." He nodded, speechless. I grabbed the keys for the Toyota 4Runner and nudged my lover, who was drooling over the BMW's. "Let's go."

"Uh huh." He followed me and hopped into the passenger seat of the SUV while I got behind the wheel. I rolled the window down as Max pressed the button to open the garage door for me, and I leaned out to speak to him again.

"If you don't hear from me or Tyson or Rei in, say, three hours, get Hilary and the Chief to the airport. Oliver's flying in my jet. Just get out of Russia, Max, and do not come looking for us, understand?"

"Yes. Be careful."

"Don't worry, kid. I always am." I slid on a pair of sunglasses and pulled out of the garage.

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I parked a half-block away from Double Dare and turned off the engine. I could see the front entrance from there.

"Chief? How're Rei's vitals?" I asked over the com-link.

//He's still alive, but his adrenaline's through the roof.//

"Well, I guess that's a good sign." I set Dranzer into my launcher and tucked it into my waistband at the small of my back. Tyson mimicked me and followed me across the street to the doors of the club. I paused for a moment outside.

"Tyson…I have to warn you about something."

He blinked at me. "What? Now? I know it's going to be dangerous in there and I've already sworn to be careful and stay with you…"

"That's not what I need to warn you about." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I just want you to be prepared for a side of me you've never seen before, Tyson. In there…I won't be the same Kai you know."

"And love." He slid his hand into mind and squeezed briefly. "Yes, you will. I know there are parts of you that I've never seen and I'm sure neither of us wants me to see. But we're past that now, love. I'm not the same as I was either. I will be fine."

I stared down at him then bent and gave him a quick, hard kiss before straightening and looking back at the door.

"Chief." I said. "We're going in." With that, I raised my leg and kicked in the double doors.

The scene inside was complete chaos and destruction. Broken furniture and glass was everywhere, there were huge holes in the walls and the floors were littered with…well, let's just say it's difficult to know how many people hadn't lived through whatever had happened. There were too many pieces to figure it out.

I felt myself slide into a familiar, empty void inside of me, a place where I felt nothing at all. I had little to no emotion and even physically I was numb to pleasure or pain - and anything in between.

"My Gods." I heard Tyson say - a prayer or a curse. "What…?"

"Rei." I said. No other explanation needed. I searched the room for any sign of movement - of life. A low rumbling growl came from my left, around a corner, and I slowly moved towards the sound, motioning to Tyson to follow and stay close. "Don't look around at it, Tyson." I advised quietly. "Pretend you don't see it and keep close."

I heard him swallow hard and sensed him move up behind me. I cautiously peeked around the corner and saw a small group of bladers with launchers in hand, surrounding a raised platform and a bar. They looked fairly beaten up. And then there was a flash of white and there was Rei, in his tiger form - a fully-grown Siberian male, golden eyes glowing unearthly despite the low light. He was prowling back and forth along the bar, cornered, and eyeing his prey consideringly. His white fur was tainted with red - blood spatters. I might have winced if the sight had bothered me even a little bit. However, I was in a place where pretty much nothing bothered me so I just turned back to Tyson and motioned at him to stay there and keep his head down.

Stepping out from my relatively safe hiding spot, I addressed the group of bladers surrounding Rei.

"Put your launchers on the ground immediately if any of you want to stay alive." I ordered.

"Whoever the hell you are, you can shove it! We aren't going defenceless against this…this animal!" One exclaimed. I narrowed my eyes at them all and nodded shortly to Rei, who was watching me now and who gave me a small dip of his head in acknowledgement.

"It's not the tiger you have to worry about." I stood there, without any visible weapons, and gave them one last warning. "I am far more dangerous than a trapped tiger, boys."

"I suggest you listen to him." A new voice advised from high above the scene. "The kitty-cat will just kill you. This one will roast you alive - a slow, painful way to go, I hear."

"Join the party, Bryan!" I invited, recognizing his voice. "The fun's just starting."

"Thanks, Hiwatari, but I'd prefer to stay right here. Your pet there has a bone to pick with me - my bones, specifically. Besides, I don't accept invitations from strangers, psychopaths, or ghosts."

"Oh, but I insist!" I let a tiny ball of fire form in one hand and spun, tossing it up into the rafters and knocking Bryan down off his perch. He managed to land on his feet, rather than his head - such a pity. "And I'll thank you not to call me a 'ghost.'"

"Ow! Goddamn! I think wrenched my ankle." He complained. The other bladers stared at me, stunned and fearful. They abruptly dropped their launchers and stepped away, hands held up in front of them.

I walked over to Bryan and hauled him to his feet. "I think we need to have a little chat." I stared directly into his eyes for a moment, letting him get the full effect of my own, long since lost to my abilities and burning intensely. He flinched and looked away.

"It's not what you think…" He began. Bryan was cut off by a warning growl and Tyson's sudden shout of, "Kai! Behind you!"

Those foolishly brave - or rather, stupidly brave - thugs had suddenly moved, scooping up their launchers and launching at me. I spun, thrusting Bryan in Tyson's general direction and pushed outward with my abilities, blowing the blades into dust particles. "Tyson! Take Bryan out to the car and don't let him out of your sight. We'll be right behind you." I saw him grab Bryan's arm and drag the lavender-haired blader out of the club from the corner of my eye and, satisfied they were both out my way, I gave my complete attention to the task at hand.

Rei growled threateningly and pounced on one of them, sinking his teeth in and shaking the body before tossing it aside. Horrified and scared shitless, the others huddled together in a corner.

"Who hired you?" I demanded. "Start answering questions and you might keep your throats in tact."

"S…some g…guy. Calls himself B…Boris." One of them stuttered.

"And where can I find your employer?"

"He's gone to Belgium." Another spoke up. "To collect some funds for his projects."

"What exactly were you hired to do?" I asked, leaning against a broken table with one hip and folding my arms over my chest.

"T…to keep some agents from the B…BBA busy and kidnap some blader the agents were supposed to have with them."

"Name?" I knew, but it never hurts to confirm.

"Tyson Kinomiya."

I nodded and stood straight again. "Rei, go out to the car and help keep an eye on Bryan." I felt his gaze on me for a moment then heard him pad softly away.

Just to set the record straight, I dislike killing - immensely. But in this instance I really had no choice. These guys were scum who would attempt to kill me the minute my back was turned and they'd heard Bryan call me by my last name. I couldn't let them get word to Boris with that information. And while this was no justification for taking lives, it was necessary this time.

"It's a real shame that you're all such losers and that you allied yourself with that evil bastard, Boris." I affected a sigh and slowly released my hold on my abilities. The inferno inside of me was let loose in a fury of flames. They engulfed the huddled group of Boris' hired thugs - they weren't even worth calling bladers, really - and quickly spread around the club. I turned my back on it all, and walked out, the screams and the noise of the fire echoing behind me.

The entire building was burning behind me as I walked over to the SUV and slid behind the wheel again. Tyson had put one of the middle seats and both back seats down to make room for Rei and Bryan was huddled in the lone middle seat between them. Tyson was staring at the club, partly shocked and partly in relief. Rei was stretched out and licking his paws clean, grooming himself. Poor Bryan was watching all of us with wide, wild eyes.

{Kai.} Dranzer poked at me mentally. {Just destroy the building, please? Even those thugs don't deserve the slow torture you're putting them through.}

{They were going to go after Tyson, Dranzer.} I remaindered her. {And Dragoon would have been next.} The thought filled me with a cold fury.

{Perhaps. But it hardly matters anymore. Save your rage for Boris, chibi.}

I sighed and closed my eyes, snapping my fingers once. Across the street the building exploded - a contained explosion, however. Not one flame touched the building on either side. There were no people around, either - which was lucky for us, I suppose. In the backseat, Rei stopped grooming long enough to send me a glare with his ears pinned flat against his head and a growl before returning to getting the stains out of his white fur. Behind me, Bryan had jumped violently and buried his face in his folded arms, across his knees that he had drawn up to his chest.

"Don't growl at me, Tiger." I gave Rei a mild glare in the rear-view mirror as I pulled away from the curb. "It had to be done and you know it."

He crossed his eyes at me, pink tongue sticking out partially from between his fangs.

Ignoring him, I glanced at Tyson. He was pale and there was a sheen to his skin that told me he was sweating nervously. I flinched inwardly and remained silent. What could I say, anyway? I'd warned him. I'd tried to protect him from this - my life, the evil in this world…me. My rational mind told me he'd either accept me as I was and deal with it, or he'd call it quits, no matter how much he loved me.

I ordered my rational self to go to hell.

Unwinding my scarf from around my neck at a red light, I handed it to Tyson. "Blindfold Bryan, please, Tyson. He doesn't need to see where we're going." Tyson took it and undid his seatbelt, climbing over the console to obey without a word. Bryan was totally compliant - so much so that I began to suspect he was in shock.

//Kai? Are you all okay?// The Chief's voice sounded in my ear.

"We're fine, Chief, and on our way back. Get a blanket for Rei, though, please. He'll want to shift back when we get there."

//Of course.//

As I pulled through my gates an unsettled feeling passed over me. I wasn't sure what was going to happen between Tyson and I now. Things were cloudy, unclear. I'd fallen from his grace.

I guess it wasn't hard to see where my priorities lie, huh?

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Authoress' Notes: @.@ Whew! Another one bites the dust! Please R/R!