Okay, this is a ridiculously long chapter, soI apologise in advance. Rated M for references to rape, swearing, and homosexuality in later chapters.
Shivering slightly in the cold night air, Kai walked down the damp pavement, hands jammed tightly into the pockets of his jacket, his face and clothes wet with the rainstorm that had only just died down.
It had been three years since the end of the third World Championships. Kai was now living in Moscow and trying to help the hundreds of children who had been scarred, both emotionally and physically, by what Voltaire and Boris had done. As he often said wryly, he had softened up so much that he smiled more often than he glared these days.
A sudden noise caught his attention, his senses as sharp as ever. Standing still, he waited until he heard it again. Mentally locating where it was coming from, he spun on his heel and followed the sound. He didn't need to check where he was going, he knew Moscow like he knew how to beyblade.
Turning into one of the many alleyways that littered the city like weeds in a garden, he strained his eyes to see into the darkness, finally making out a figure lying on the wet concrete at the other end. He walked nearer. A few more steps, and it became a girl. A few more steps, now only a couple of metres away, and… He stopped dead, unable to believe what his eyes were seeing. It couldn't be her, it just couldn't be…
"Hilary!" The cry broke out of him as he ran the remaining distance and knelt down beside the girl's limp form. Hilary, if it was her, and Kai was certain that it was, was in a horrific state. Her short brown hair was plastered to her face with the rain, her skin was dead white, slightly parted lips almost blue. Her clothes had nearly been ripped off her body, revealing a number of painful bruises and cuts, obviously fresh that day. Her knickers had been torn partly off, only just concealing her modesty. What remained of her clothes, a bra, and the pitiful ruins of a pink T-shirt, were soaked through. One ankle was swollen and red. As Kai looked, horrified, she began to stir.
Her brown eyes opened for a second, and Kai was shocked at the fear that they held. But she was too weak and they closed again as she sank back into unconsciousness. The clinical, efficient part of Kai's brain kicked in at last, and he began to check her over. Bruises, lacerations, possible sexual abuse - if it is and I ever catch the bastard that did it to her, they won't live to see the next day, no, the next second - pulse slow and weak, temperature far too low. She's got hypothermia, and I'll be very surprised if that's all it is… Mind racing, Kai took off his coat and wrapped Hilary tightly in the thick leather. Picking her up, he readied himself for a long journey, and began to run.
Stepping inside the door of his flat, Kai strode in to the lounge and laid Hilary down on the sofa. Quickly stripping off her wet clothes, he wrapped her up in a blanket he found near the sofa. He walked hurriedly in to the kitchen and turned the heating up to maximum. Going back in the lounge, he sat down next to her and began to rub her vigorously with the blanket, trying to dry her off. He suddenly remembered something that someone had told him once. The way to warm things up fast is by using your own body heat. Cautiously, he pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She was so cold, so deadly cold… He stayed like that for over an hour, feeling her body start to warm slightly. Pulling away, he looked closely at her face. Yes, there was a little more colour in it now.
"Hilary, you will be all right," he whispered. What was her temperature now? He found a thermometer. 36 degrees. He let out a sigh of relief. Only one degree below normal. He had been that many times and been fine after a day or so in bed. Bed, yes that was the best place for her now. He lifted her up again, and carried her through in to the spare bedroom, where he laid her down on the bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. With a quiet sigh, he walked over to an armchair and sank down into it, watching her intently, the memories of everything the Bladebreakers had done together flooding back into his mind.
Hilary struggled up through the layers of unconsciousness like a diver without an oxygen tank, straining helplessly.
"I'm gonna get you, you little bitch. Oh, don't try'n kid me. I know you want it…" Rough, powerful hands, forcing her down, ripping off her skirt, shoving his hands where no man should be allowed without permission…
Kai went quickly over to the bed, where Hilary was tossing and turning, low moans of fear escaping her throat. He daren't touch her; now positive she had been raped. An idea struck him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Dranzer, placing the beyblade in her limp hand. Slowly, her fingers twitched and closed around the beyblade. A frown appeared on her ashen face as she tried to work out what she was holding.
"Dranzer…" Her voice was almost inaudible, a faint whisper, nothing more. "K-Kai?" Her eyelids fluttered. Kai sat down on the bed next to her.
"Yes, Hilary, it's me, Kai." he said quietly. "Now, you're not in very good shape at the moment, so I just want you to go to sleep, okay?" Hilary made a faint noise of contentment. Within a few seconds, the hand holding Dranzer had gone limp. Kai left the beyblade there, silently ordering Dranzer to comfort Hilary if the phoenix felt her stirring. He went back to the chair and closed his eyes. Sleep, as always, was a long time in coming.
Kai opened his eyes, instantly alert. Early morning sunshine was streaming through the window, the light falling on Hilary, who was staring at him, disbelief clear in her eyes.
"Kai? Is it really you?" she asked. Her voice was shaky, with none of its usual shrewd sharpness. Kai nodded in reply. Walking over to the bed, he sat down next to her.
"How do you feel?" he asked quietly.
"Like somebody just hit me with something really hard, then shoved me in a freezer." was the pert reply. Kai let one corner of his mouth twitch upwards.
"That's understandable. Why are you here?"
"Abrupt as always, Kai. I'd rather not talk about it right now, if you don't mind?" Kai simply smiled and inclined his head in acceptance.
"Do you know what happened last night?" As soon as he had said that, he instantly wished the words back. Hilary went stiff; one hand clutching the blankets, the other gripping Dranzer so tightly that Kai saw blood begin to bead on her fingers.
"I don't…I don't remember, why don't I remember?" She began to sob in panic, quietly at first, then harder and louder, burying her head in the pillows. Reacting instinctively, Kai reached down and pulled her to him, rocking her backwards and forwards soothingly.
"Ssh, ssh, everything's going to be fine, I promise. Just calm down, come on, deep breaths…that's it, that's the way…" Murmuring softly, he lowered her back down to the bed, where she lay still, eyes closed, completely drained by the effort of crying.
"I'm sorry…I'm being so stupid…" she murmured faintly.
"Nonsense." Kai said firmly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You've been through a lot."
"You have no idea…" Kai had a feeling that he wasn't supposed to have heard that whispered comment, so he got up and went into his study with a vague idea of carrying on his work from yesterday.
Two hours later, his head jerked up from the laptop screen.
"No…help…stop it…someone…anyone…help me…" He ran into the bedroom and knelt down beside Hilary.
She was in the grip of a nightmare, tossing and turning, moaning and pleading for help. He touched her shoulder gently, the ends of his scarf, now plain grey silk, brushing against her pale cheek.
"Hilary? Hilary, you're dreaming, wake up!" The moans stopped. Her eyes flickered and opened slowly. Kai patted her comfortingly on the shoulder. "You're fine, I promise you."
"Okay…Kai?"
"Yes?"
"My ankle hurts…" Kai went to the bottom of the bed and peeled the covers back. The offending ankle was still swollen, quite impressively so. He turned it gently, noticing the suddenly indrawn breath. There were no breaks, not that he could see or feel…
"I think you've sprained it, that's all." he reassured her. She nodded sleepily. "Where were you staying?" She rattled off the name of a hotel. Kai knew it well.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because you can't stay in what you're wearing at the moment, can you?" He gave her a grin. She laughed weakly. "I'll call and get them to bring your things over here. Is that okay with you?" She nodded again. He got up, running a hand encouragingly over her forehead. "In the meantime, you still need to rest."
"Uh-huh…" She curled up in a ball. Kai smiled and left the room.
The next day, when Kai went into the bedroom, Hilary was sitting up waiting for him.
"I see that you're feeling better." he said dryly. She grinned.
"Yeah, much, thanks. Are you busy?" He shook his head.
"Why?"
"I don't know…I just want to talk, if that's okay with you."
"Yeah, sure. Now, where did I put those earplugs?" Kai joked, looking around the room. Hilary gasped in mock-outrage and swatted him round the head.
"So," she started, leaning back comfortably against the pillows, "Where did you go? Everyone was really upset when they realised you'd slipped away. Again."
"They were?" Kai blinked, surprised. Hilary's voice took on a sharper tone.
"Yes, they were! There are only so many times you can forgive a person, Kai."
"Upset…like what?" Kai said slowly, already dreading the answer.
"Well, when we found out, Max went and got himself utterly sugar high, then threw up non-stop for five hours, Kenny didn't say anything for the rest of that day, Ray disappeared for the entire day, then I found him at about one in the morning, he'd made the ground outside the dojo look like a demolition site, and Tyson burst into tears and started yelling "Not again, Kai!"" She took a deep breath and clamped her mouth shut.
Hilary found her mind casting back to that day when they had woken up to find that Kai had left them yet again. She had spent the rest of that day, no; make that week, sleeping over at Tyson's, waking him up when he started crying in the middle of the night, and keeping Max away from everything that was even vaguely sugary. Everyone had been so angry and upset, her included. It was the first time she had ever heard any of them swear, and the words "that fucking bastard!" had been used far too frequently for her liking. Squashing her renewed anger down, she glanced at Kai and softened instantly. He was staring at the floor, sadness and guilt suffusing his face. She reached out and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder.
"It's okay, Kai." she said softly, then stopped. Because there wasn't anything else she could say. She knew that it had taken Ray and Tyson, the two who could be said to be closest to Kai, almost six months to start behaving normally again, and that even now, in all of them, there was still this tight little ball of anger that said "You betrayed us again, Kai. How many times are we supposed to forgive you?"
"It's not okay." Kai said shakily. "They've got every right to be mad. What I did was unforgivable."
"Which time are you talking about, Kai?" She couldn't help it, she just suddenly felt so angry… Kai stood up and prepared to walk out of the room. She lunged forwards and caught him round the waist. "Don't go." she blurted. "I'm sorry…I don't know why I just said that…" Kai turned to face her. His face was blank, tears glittering in his amethyst eyes.
"Because it's the truth," he said quietly, pulling out of her grasp. Panic flooded through her.
"No, Kai, please don't go!" Her voice had risen to a hysterical scream. Kai came back and pulled the chair up next to her, sinking into it. He placed a soothing hand on her arm.
"Calm down, Hilary. Now then, what's wrong?"
"I-I don't want…to be alone…" she whispered, tears suddenly brimming in her eyes. Kai's face creased in concern. He reached out and held her gently, waiting for her to quieten.
"Ssh, don't be scared…you're not alone, are you? Now then, take some deep breaths for me, that's it…" Her rapid breathing slowed and she looked hazily up at him.
"You've changed," she murmured, fighting the urge to fall asleep yet again. "That's more like what one of the others would've done. You're…softer, if that makes any sense whatsoever…more…"
"Human?" She laughed at the comment, and at the slight grin on his face.
"See what I mean?" she giggled. His face became more serious.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. When I left…I did some serious thinking…started dropping some of the sourpuss act, as Tyson used to call it."
"What brought that about?"
"I have no idea." Hilary frowned.
"You're lying."
"Correct. But I'm not willing to tell you, just as you aren't willing to tell me how you ended up in Russia." Hilary flushed. No, she wasn't willing to tell him, not yet, anyway. "Oh yes, I almost forgot, your stuff arrived." He went out and returned with a suitcase and three bags. "Let me guess, clothes?" He pointed sarcastically to the bags. Hilary nodded sheepishly. Kai sighed and threw up his hands in an exaggerated gesture of despair. "Girls!" He flashed her a quick grin. "I'll leave you to get dressed. If you need me, just call."
"Okay."
Fifteen minutes later, Kai knocked on the door.
"Hey, Hilary? You want lunch?"
"Yes, please! I'm starving!" came the enthusiastic answer.
"Well, come and get it then! There's a pair of crutches in the wardrobe if your ankle's too painful to walk on."
"Okay, thanks."
Hilary hobbled into the kitchen, savouring the delicious smell of hot soup. She sat down in a chair and rested the crutches against the table.
"I got chicken soup. Is that okay with you?" Kai put a steaming bowl in front of her and handed her a spoon.
"Yeah, that's great." she assured him. "Can I just ask why the heck you have a pair of crutches in your guest bedroom?"
Kai laughed and sat down opposite her with his own bowl of soup.
"Now, that's my little secret." He watched with unconcealed amusement as she attacked her soup, spooning it into her mouth as fast as possible. "Let me think…now, who does that remind me of?
Oh, I know, Tyson!" Hilary gave a quick laugh. Kai inwardly winced at how forced it was and looked closely at her. Her face was suddenly miserable, there were even tears glittering in the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to upset you."
Hilary scrubbed the tears away, cursing herself inventively for allowing herself to break down like that. She smiled wanly at Kai's concerned face, and went back to her soup.
Kai frowned slightly. There was definitely more to this. Maybe it was an argument with Tyson. That made sense. But it would have to be a pretty big argument… He shrugged mentally. When she was ready, she'd tell him. He leaned back slightly in his chair and allowed himself one completely uncensored look, as if she was a girl he was just meeting for the first time.
She was wearing a thick, fluffy brown jumper over a white polo shirt and cream leggings. Her brown hair was longer than he remembered, but had kept its spiked up, slightly punk look. Her face was still slightly pale, making her large mahogany eyes look even bigger. Kai let his eyes stray down, after making absolutely sure that she was concentrating on eating. Hm… Not a bad chest… He pulled his eyes away, the memory of why he had left coming back to him with a vengeance. He started eating his soup hurriedly.
Five minutes later, something started bleeping. He pulled his pager out of his pocket and looked at it. Instantly, he stood up and put his plate in the sink. "I've got to go out now, all right?" he asked. Hilary nodded. "If you want to call anyone, you can use the phone in the hall." He grabbed his coat from the back of the chair and hurried out the door.
Hilary spooned up the last mouthful of soup, wondering why Kai had a pager. The only people she knew who had pagers were hospital staff, and she couldn't really imagine Kai working in a hospital. Shrugging, she levered herself out of the chair, grabbed the crutches, and went into the hall.
She held the phone gingerly, then slowly dialled a number. Ring ring, ring ring…
"Hello, this is the Orange answer-phone. The person you have called is not available right now. Please leave a message after the tone." Beep!
"H-Hello? Mum, Dad, it's Hilary. I just want you to know that I'm fine, I'm staying at a friend's for a while, so…don't worry about me. I'll ring you again later…maybe you'll be in then… Anyway, I love you, and…don't feel bad about me running away. It wasn't your fault. Love you. 'Bye." Hilary pressed the "end" button and wiped her eyes angrily. She looked at the phone through a blur of tears. Without consciously thinking about it, she dialled another number, this one much faster. Biting her lip, she slowly raised the phone to her ear. Ring ring, ring ri-
"Hello?" She shut her eyes, fighting desperately to keep the tears inside her, wondering what on earth she was doing. "Hello, who is this?" Another voice came faintly through.
"Ty? Who is it?"
"I don't know, Maxie. I think it's a prank ca-" Hilary slammed the phone down and sank to the floor sobbing uncontrollably.
Oh, Tyson…
Kai pushed open the doors of the hospital and strode through them. The receptionist had been warned of his coming, and simply handed him a slip of paper with a room number written on it. He looked at it, nodded, and hurried off.
"Let me go! I don't want to be here! You've got no fucking right to keep me here!" Kai opened the door. Instantly, the screaming doubled in volume. Kai's eyes flicked expertly over the scene. A hysterical fifteen year-old girl was writhing in the grip of two burly male nurses. Her hazel eyes were wild with anger and fear, her strawberry-blonde hair tangled and damp with the sweat that was pouring down her face. He heard someone running down the corridor behind him.
"About time, Sara," he said, without turning around. "In you go, then."
"No, you've gotta do your bit first, mate." the eighteen year-old drawled, turning up her American accent. Kai scowled.
"Do I have to?"
"Yep. You really think she's gonna pay any attention otherwise?
"Point taken. All right, get ready." He took a deep breath. "Stop that infernal racket at once, you foolish little girl!" He gagged silently, clapping a hand over his mouth as his stomach churned. Even knowing that was him speaking in Voltaire's voice didn't stop him from reacting to it. He watched as Sara ran in, her personality changing in an instant. She went over and stood next to the girl, who had frozen in fear.
"Fuck, I hate him." she whispered, her voice barely audible, her eyes flicking around nervously. The girl turned and looked at her, surprise and wariness showing clearly on her face. She looked around quickly, then nodded and whispered,
"Me too."
"What's your name?" The girl stayed silent. Kai nodded slightly. Classic suspicion. She didn't know whether to trust this strange girl, so she was just clamming up. The worst-case scenario, which had happened five times before with other cases, was that she would stay that way permanently. "I'm Sara. Why'd they put you in this shit-hole?" There was a long pause. Then,
"Some twat tried to stab me." She pulled her grimy top up to show a long, thin wound along her stomach. "I've had worse, though. And now they're not letting me go!" Her voice had risen again, and she lowered it hastily, casting a frightened glance around the room. The nurses had retreated to the other side of the room, letting Sara do her thing. Kai caught Sara's eye. She nodded.
"What'cha scared of?" Sara asked conversationally. The girl gave her a scorching look.
"Who do you think, you dumb bitch? V-Vo-Volt-Voltaire." she spat out, eventually managing to say his name. Kai half-shut his eyes. This was the most dangerous part, the part where the nurses often had to come back into the picture. Sara gave a hoarse laugh.
"Oh, that's just my mate, Kai." The girl's eyes narrowed and she half-rose from the bed.
"Then what was- Wait! You…bastards! This was just a trick!" Sara leaned back on the bed.
"Yep," she said breezily. The girl's face twisted as she tried to work out what was happening. Kai stepped through the doorway.
He walked over to her and stood right in front of her, staring down. She met his gaze defiantly, chin up.
"How many years?" Kai asked quietly.
"Three…" She was unsure, Kai noticed. Her head was telling her: get up, run away, kick him where it hurts, but her heart was telling her that this was someone she could trust.
"Since you were twelve, yes?" She nodded. "I thought so. You haven't got the hard act quite right yet. You need a few years more practice." He smirked and sat down on the uncomfortable hospital bed.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
"You mean you don't know me? Most people do. I'm Kai Hitwarti." The girl gasped, her eyes growing big with awe.
"The Kai Hitwarti?"
"Is there any other?" Sara said dryly. "If there is, then God help the rest of us!" Kai scowled at her. He had a number of different reputations. To most of the world, he was known as one of the strongest beybladers in the world, and one of the few who could give the three-times World Champion, Tyson Granger a run for his money. People seemed to remember the battle with Brooklyn as well. Kai preferred to forget about that horrific event. The scars still littered his body.
To a few businessmen in Moscow, he was known as the newest rookie on the block, a cold, tactical negotiator who always got what he wanted.
To the ex-Biovolt "students", he was the first to break out of the Abbey, leaving behind him a record of disobedience and disrespect for his trainers, and the only one who had who'd then gone on to make a name for himself. Everyone seemed to forget that he hadn't actually been that good in the Abbey, or if they did, they didn't care. Kai suspected the former.
"How do I know you're Kai?" the girl asked suspiciously. Kai bent down and rolled up his trouser leg.
"By this." he answered. On his ankle was a brand, seared almost two centimetres deep into the skin. A B over a H and a V. "And this." He rolled up his sleeve to reveal a small round scar. Sara rolled up her own sleeve and jeans leg to reveal matching marks, although hers were newer, and clearly done by someone with more experience. Slowly, her eyes fixed on the four scars in front of her, the girl pulled up her own tattered trouser leg, revealing the brand. Suddenly, her face crumpled. She brought her hands up to cover her face as she wept, tears pouring down her cheeks. Sara leaned over and wrapped her arms round the trembling girl, who continued to sob, overcome at finally finding people who would understand what she had gone through.
"What's your name, sugar?" Sara asked softly. The girl blinked and sniffed.
"I-I'm Katy." She sniffed again, then straightened up, wiping her eyes fiercely. She eyed Kai, still harbouring a faint suspicion that he was lying. It was perfectly understandable. His reputation had been blown to ridiculous proportions.
"The final proof." He smirked slightly, drawing Dranzer from his pocket. Katy's eyes nearly fell out of her head.
"D-Dranzer…" she whispered. Kai closed his fist around his beloved blade and put it back in his pocket.
"I'll have to give you a test some day, huh?" He smiled at her. She nodded uncertainly, and drew an aquamarine beyblade from her pocket.
"This is Fioen." Kai smiled again at the note of defensive pride in Katy's voice. Fioen was a pure white fox.
"Ice?" he asked. Katy nodded. A thought seemed to strike her as she looked at the two other ex-Biovolts.
"Um…are you two together?" she questioned, blushing furiously. Kai grinned.
"No. We're both currently searching for the right girl." Katy frowned.
"But, surely Sara-" She broke off as realisation struck her. "You're a dyke?" Sara nodded, her face carefully neutral. An odd expression crossed Katy's face.
"That a problem?" Sara asked casually. Katy slowly shook her head. Suddenly, the shrill beeping of Kai's pager broke the silence. Kai looked at it, his eyes widening.
"Oh no…Oh hell, not her, please God!" He ran out of the room, ignoring Sara's concerned look.
Skidding to a stop by another hospital bed, he knelt down and took the limp hand that hung over the side.
"It's your time now, huh, Leanne?" he asked softly. The emaciated black-haired girl nodded painfully.
"Least Boris can't…hurt me no more…" she said slowly, forcing the words out. Kai's iron resolve faltered as he saw the eleven year-old girl's hold on life slipping.
"That's right, Leanne. He'll never touch you again." His voice nearly broke on the last word, but he forced it back. "You're safe now." He kissed the young girl's forehead. Her eyes fluttered open for a second, showing a flash of crimson.
"Bye…Kai…love…you…" Her voice faded away. Within seconds, she began to flat-line. Kai took her hand and held it tightly for a minute, before dropping it abruptly and turning away. Leanne had always been impossibly brave, never showing her feelings. He wouldn't spoil that by breaking down this close to her. Biting his lip furiously, he turned and headed home.
Wow, Kai has feelings! Loads of them! All opinions welcome, but please, no flames.