And yes, I'm officially still alive-I've been working on this pretty much all summer, but due to about three original novels I'm writing, a collab that I just started with a friend of mine, and a crap ton of other stuff, I haven't posted anything in nearly forever. So the few of you still holding out for the Beyblade fandom (and for me, for that matter), I commend you for your faith. I have another story that'll probably show up sometime in the next week, too, if you're interested.

AAAAANYWAY. This might turn out to be a Kevin/Ian, depending on how badly the late xChewy corrupts my soul before I'm done. xD It will turn nasty by the end, so be warned. It's rated M for a reason.

Disclaimer: I own my blanket, my backpack, and my demons. Nothing else.

Kevin Ki and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day

Kevin eyed the bucket of suckers with a mixture of longing and trepidation. Mariah was, of course, standing right next to him, and he couldn't very well make a move on them without her seeing and making him ask if it was okay with the bank teller they were stationed by. And, by doing this, he would inevitably look stupid and feel like he was the shade of an overripe strawberry for at least a day and a half afterwards. And then, Ian would tease him about it forever, and... And...

Stealing a glance at Mariah as she chatted with the teller, Kevin decided to chance it. He pulled his left hand out of his pocket, edging a little closer to the bucket. His fingers flexed, ready to snap back to his side with their pilfered treasure. He reached out, inch by inch, his eyes darting from sweet suckers to unsuspecting guardian and back again.

"Kevin Ki, don't you dare."

He sighed, dropping his hand back to his side and shoving it in his pocket. Mission failed, gentlemen.

The teller, a jaded-looking platinum blonde in her early forties, chuckled. "Honey, he can take as many as he likes. Doesn't cost me anything."

Kevin gave her an agreeing nod and a grateful smile before pulling a handful suckers out of the bucket and shoving them in his pocket.

Mariah sighed and gave her the weary 'my-god-what-have-you-done' look usually reserved for a mother looking at a waiter who just offered dessert. "He really should've asked if he could first, you know."

"He was asking with his eyes, honey. And the way I figure, if that's all he's getting into, you've got a pretty good kid."

Mariah sighed again. "He's not actually mine. He's only four years younger than me, at least, even if he looks younger."

"Hey. Hey now," Kevin said in protest, affronted by the challenge against his age.

Mariah laughed, looking slightly less wearily maternal.

The automatic doors slid open. Kevin, out of habit, glanced at the door, watching two men walk in from the cold November weather. Both wore dark jeans and black hoodies, their hands pushed into their pockets to keep their fingers warm.

"So where are you kids from, anyway? Don't usually get yen conversions out this far."

Kevin glanced back at the teller before returning his attention to the two men. One of them, a pale man with a rat-like nose and cloudy, slightly bloodshot blue eyes, kept looking at the door and around at the field of desks in the middle of the open room. The other kept his hands in the pocket of his hoodie and had to consciously lift his head a couple of times as his posture drooped into a suspicious slouch. Kevin's eyebrows lifted a little in curiosity. Wonder what they're up to.

"...We're actually here for a meeting with our sponsors, but we came a little early to get some sightseeing in. Right, Kev?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sightseeing."

"He's kind of spacy," Mariah apologized. Kevin thought about protesting before his attention was drawn back to the two men.

They approached the teller at the end of the row, looking like they were going to make an ordinary transaction. The pale one trailed several steps behind his friend and kept watching the door as his friend engaged the teller.

The pale man looked around the room, and found every bank employee to be occupied. He looked at the windows behind the teller and nodded at someone.

Seconds later, three men burst through the door, shooting out three florescent lights and a computer screen.

One of them, a short, surly Mexican, shouted as he swept his military rifle's firing path over the heads of everyone in the room, "Everyone on the floor! Keep your goddamn mouths shut and no one'll get hurt!"

Mariah ducked, looking around like a frightened rabbit. The teller pulled her over the counter and out of view.

"Kid, c'mon," an urgent female voice said somewhere to the left of the panicked haze surrounding him. A strong grip clamped on his arm and pulled him down under a desk.

Kevin looked up to find a redheaded woman with an inconvenienced scowl on the bridge of her nose, peeking around the edge of the desk. She leaned back and rested her head against the back leg of the desk. Looking at him, she said with a strangely calm displeasure, "We might be here a while."

"Oh." Somewhere in his haze, he pushed his hand into his pocket and felt his fingers brush against the lollipop sticks. He pulled them all out and fanned them like a candy store display before holding them out to his companion. "Want one?"

She smiled, a gesture that looked beautiful and unnatural on her all at the same time, and plucked a tangerine one out of the center. "Don't mind if I do," she whispered, unwrapping it and popping it in her mouth. The woman let the wrapper fall to the industrial grade carpet and looked at the underside of the desk's top.

"I'm Kevin." It seemed like the only right thing to say, under a desk with a complete stranger as the threat of death loomed over both their heads.

The woman looked back down at him curled in the opposite corner of the space and smiled the same beautiful, unwilling smile. "Salima," she said, reaching out and pulling him against her side.

Another gunshot fired over their heads.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rei looked down at his phone again. "I wonder if they got lost," he said quietly, putting it back in his pocket with the knowledge that Mariah and Kevin had been gone for more than an hour and a half.

"Maybe it just took them a while to find somewhere that would convert yen to US," Ian offered helpfully from his position lounging on the couch in the hotel lobby.

"We had to try at least four different places to find somewhere that would convert rubles," Tala added, his eyes not lifting from the newspaper spread on his lap. "If that means anything."

Lee sighed. "Maybe they're right, Rei. Kevin doesn't get lost so we can rule that out, at least."

"Yeah. Just wish I knew where they are."

Bryan smirked. "You're such a mother hen, Kon."

"Shut it, Kuznetsov. Not in the mood."

"Oh-ho, Kitty bites back for once."

Tala folded up his newspaper and rolled it into a tube. "Knock it off, Bryan," he said, hitting his team mate on the head with a solid thwak.

Ian snickered.

"Can it, Shortcake," Bryan glared, shifting the box of Milk Duds in his hand like he was giving serious consideration to throwing it.

Rei's phone vibrated, cutting off the potential squabble. He jumped and scrambled to pull it out of his pocket, hungrily studying the caller id as soon as he flipped it open. "It's Mariah," he announced, not at all subtle about his relief. "Mariah?"

"Rei!" She heaved a sigh, sounding just as happy to be talking to him as he was to be talking to her.

"'Riah, what's going on? Did you guys get lost or something?"

She laughed quietly, sounding a bit hysteric. "I wish it were that simple." She took a shuddering breath and choked on a sob. "Rei, I think we might not make it back to the hotel. At all."

"'Riah, what's going on?" Rei turned away from the others gathered in the sitting area of the lobby, holding the phone to his ear with both hands.

"There's a bank robbery. We-" She paused to choke on another deep breath- "We might get shot. Kevin might already be, I don't know. He and I got separated when it happened. Oh my god."

"'Riah, are you okay? 'Riah!"

She squeaked quietly like she was struggling not to cry. "I lost him, Rei. He's probably scared to death, or maybe he's already-" Mariah stopped and pulled the phone away from her ear, and the muffled whispers of an unfamiliar female voice bled through. "I know, I know... Yeah, okay... Thanks."

"Who was that?"

"One of the bank tellers. She pulled me back behind the counter. She was just...reminding me of why I called you."

Rei was panicking-two of his closest friends were in danger of being shot, and he couldn't do anything about it. "What do you need me to do? Anything, I'll do anything."

"Rei, I need you to call the police. I'm guessing that someone outside probably called already, but I need you to tell them what's happening in here. Can you do that? Please?"

"Sure, 'Riah," he gulped, still coming to terms with the situation. "Anything."

"Good. Thank you." She sounded immensely relieved. "And...Rei?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. You and Lee both. ...If I don't get out of here...I just wanted you both to know that."

"Of course. I love you too. You're going to be okay-everything's going to be okay."

"I don't know, Rei. But no matter what, I love you, so, so much. No matter what." Mariah sounded like she was crying.

"I love you too, and you'll be okay. You and Kevin both-I promise."

"I need to keep my cell phone battery for later, so I have to hang up," she said apologetically. "I love you."

"Yeah," he whispered, his voice thick. "I love you too."

The dial tone droned ominously in his ear. Rei lowered his phone and pushed the end call button in a daze.

"What's the matter, Kitty? You look like you've seen a ghost," Bryan taunted.

He shook his head and took a deep breath to get his senses under his control. "Mariah and Kevin are in a bank robbery."

"Kevin is what?" Ian sat up on the couch, regarding Rei with horror and disbelief.

Tala rolled his eyes. "What's going on, Rei?"

This one is going to get worse, language and content-wise, so any of my habitual fave-ers out there (if you even still exist), think carefully about that.

Please review.