XP: Sorry for making you wait so long! Kinda got mindblocks :/

This time we start with Ian! :)

Thanks to ppurpple, charlotte, ash1692 and Kiray Himawari for reviewing! :)

**Begin with Our Little Sneaky One***

Ian sneaked out of the window, closing it behind him with a soft 'click'. He smiled impishly, pulling out his bag of supplies as he prepared to leave. Inquisitive emerald eyes spotted him, from another window, and the boy's mouth opened in surprise. Ian quickly placed a finger in front of his lips desperately. Brooklyn was obviously about to tell Kai, his body half turned. Ian begged with his eyes, wanting to do this. He waited for Brooklyn's reply as he contemplated, before Brooklyn frowned, but nodded, waving at him. Ian breathed a sigh of relief, and mouthed a silent thanks before running off into the city.

Ian looked at the complicated looking device in his hand, using his fingers to touch the screen. It was a touch-screen device he made, much smaller than a laptop but with the same properties. He smirked proudly as a beep sound was heard and small red dot flashing on the screen. "So that's where you are, Tala," Ian mumbled to himself, clutching the device a little tighter. "So close…"

Ian ran to the abbey, remodeled as a church. However, what he was searching for wasn't on top. No, it was underground. He went in warily, stepping into the eerie silence of the place. "There should be a secret passage somewhere," Ian muttered, looking around, fishing in his bag for a flashlight. He took it out, and shined it around him, looking for anything suspicious. "Well, if I know Boris well enough…"

Ian walked towards the grand stature in front of the room. He examined the marks left beside the statue which was against the wall. "Should be this. Now, where is the red button?"

Ian searched the table. It was under the table. Ian rolled his eyes, how typical. He pressed it, and the stature started to creak, moving to the side, revealing a shadowy entrance. Ian went in hurriedly, and the statue closed behind him, enclosing him in darkness, with the exception of the torchlight. He walked down a damp and dark hallway, slowly starting to smell blood and fear as he went deeper. Yes, he was at the correct place. He reached a door which required a password, and he rummaged through his bag again, taking out his favorite device.

"Do this for me, baby," He cooed, sticking the device onto the pad where he was supposed to scan his card or input a password. After three seconds, the door flung open. It was his trusty hacker; it could hack and help him gain access to anything electronic. "Awesome," Ian breathed, removing the device and going deeper into the abbey, walking down winding steps. He could now start to hear faint screams. Ian shivered, as bad memories moved through his mind. He remembered when those screams belonged to him.

Taking a shuddering breath, Ian carefully stepped past the places with typical traps, but they did not activate because they did not find him a threat. They thought he was an authorative figure, he had passed the door which needed a password afterall. The security was seriously quite weak. Ian scoffed, wondering if the guards were slacking off. Since when could one enter the abbey without getting detected for at most a minute? Ian stared at the device in his hand.

He had found a way to connect to Tala's internal chip. It required a fucking long password, and a whole week without sleep to make a device to hack the connection. But now, he knew it was worth it, he would be able to meet Tala again... And save Tala out, if he managed to disable the chip. He knew he could, with his hacking abilities.

Tala. He remembered the first time he had been introduced to Tala. He had only heard rumors of Tala and Kai before. He already knew Spencer, as they were in the same abbey division, and he saw Bryan hulking around the abbey looking bad-tempered and unhappy. When he and Spencer were introduced to the trio, and unexpectedly told to form a beyblade teams, he remembered how Tala's blue eyes lighted up with excitement and anticipation. Bryan just looked angry at having to team with a twerp, as Bryan called him, and Kai seemed rather nonchalant. Ian knew he himself was not captain material. Nor was the silent giant who stood beside him. Nor the volatile Bryan. So he was glad when Tala was appointed the team captain.

Tala had looked so proud, and when they were left alone afterwards to somewhat bond, Tala was the one who initiated contact with him, who asked about his name, age, beyblading style and bitbeast. Kai just listened at the side, while Bryan sulked and Spencer occasionally took part in the conversation. They were an odd team, and Ian had been feeling dreadful when he was told he would be put into a team, but Tala dispelled all those feelings and instilled in him joy and hope. He believed Tala could lead the team to victory at the world championships.

He was, however, shocked at the cold, cynical, and often sarcastic attitude Tala gave to everyone else not in their team. His first impression of Tala was that he was a friendly and warm person, rarely seen in the abbey. It made him feel ...different, kind of special , even. Tala took extra care of him, in a way. Tala was the one who cared most about his thoughts and feelings. Tala was an important part of him, a part of his team, a part of his life. Tala was the one with him through the dark days, like the rest of his team, but Tala was the one who had always defended him the most, getting hurt himself.

So, Ian took a deep breaths and went to the place where hysterical sobs could be heard. The screamings had stopped. Perhaps the kid had died. Or got quietened down forcibly. Either way, Ian didn't want to think about it. He treaded lightly past the metal prisons, and the abbey kids stared at him, some clinging onto the bars, crying and begging him to let them out. Those were the newer abbey kids. When he went deeper, the kids were more submissive, staring at him in stony silence, or just deep in their own thoughts. Some threw themselves against the bar and snarled at him, flinging their limbs violently, what Bryan might have become if he had stayed longer. And, when he reached the last, cold metal prison, heels clicking quietly on the floor, his cell vibrated in his pocket. There were two messages from Kai's number, an old and a new.

Dn't go. BORIS.

-B

That was from when he just went out of the house.

Ian, pls reply!

-B

Ian cursed under his breath and looked up, and sure as hell, Boris was smirking at him. Frightened, Ian turned heel to run, getting blocked by many guards.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ian hollered. "I thought all the security systems were too weak to be true!"

Boris waved a sheet of paper in front of Ian's face smugly. It was covered in doodles of butterflies. More importantly, it had the neat, cursive handwriting of someone. "Guess what this is?" Boris sing-songed.

"Pfft, I always knew you had an IQ of an idiotic child," Ian snorted, eyes darting about, looking for ways of escape. "But I never knew you had an girlish obsession with butterflies!"

Insulted, Boris seethed. "No! This are the fool-proof strategies Brooklyn Kingston provided! Heh, for a little whore, he sure had some brains."

Ian's eye twitched. He recalled the dark circles under Brooklyn's eyes, the unmistakable fear, the thin, fragile looking body, the horrific looking scars on his wrists, the painted on, shaking smile and the way Brooklyn hugged himself and stood very close to Kai. "You fucking bastard! Why did you have to do that to an innocent outsider of the abbey! You perverted bitch!"

"Why, are you standing up for him?" Boris snorted. "He caused you to be caught. He created this plan to make you think you were a genius, to crack all the codes and be lured to the deepest cell."

"It's not Brooklyn's fault, and you know it!" Ian snarled. "I know you threatened him!"

"Bribed him, really," Boris purred. "I had so many days of fun with him. And all I had to do was promise not to touch him for a day, and he writes me an elaborate plan. I have many left up my sleeve!"

"You sick bastard! Where's Tala?" Ian demanded.

Boris held up a fake metal chip smugly. "Your precious captain? Oh, he'll come back soon if he knows you're with us. Hah! You call me an idiot, but who's the trapped little rat? You hacked into the fake chip!"

Ian's eyes widened as he backed into the wall. He had insulted Bryan for recklessness, and here he was, due to his impulsive plan, which failed horribly. From Boris's words, he meant that Tala had escaped, temporarily at least. Ian was doing more harm than good. "But how... it had so many files on him, it had his stats, his feelings... how could it be fake...?" Ian murmured disbelievingly.

"It seems Brooklyn is a much better genius than you. Perhaps I should hunt him down and get him back," Boris suggested with a wicked grin. "He made the chip himself!"

"Brooklyn did...?" Ian said in disbelief. He really was a genius. Everyone had underestimated him. He was a genius not only in beyblading, but in many other things no one knew about as well. Suddenly, he felt a sharp prick at the back of his neck, and he knew he had been shot by a tranquilizer dart.

"Y-you..."Ian stammered, eyes already drooping, legs becoming weak.

"Me?" Boris smirked. "Guards, put him in Brooklyn's old cell."

"Brooklyn? What are you doing with my phone?" Kai asked suspiciously, having just finished showering. He had a towel on his head as his hair continued to drip water droplets down onto his shirt.

"Huh?" Brooklyn jolted in shock and turned with a guilty look on his face. "Nothing!" His fingers moved quickly to delete the messages he sent, but Kai was faster, and he wrestled the phone from Brooklyn's tight and desperate grasp. Scrolling down the screen, Kai's face started to turn darker and darker.

"Brooklyn. What is this about?" Kai asked angrily. "SPENCER! CHECK IS IAN IS IN HIS ROOM!"

"I...I..."Brooklyn's eyes darted around nervously, trying to look for an escape. His breath quickened, his chest heaving up and down rapidly as though he was about to hyperventilate.

Kai's eyes softened, and he sighed, plopping down onto the bed. Brooklyn stared at Kai, confused. "...I'm not going to hurt you," Kai explained. "So, please, just explain."

"KAI! HE'S NOT THERE!" Spencer shouted back. However, Spencer didn't sound worried at all. Probably thought Ian was just fooling around outside.

"I... that time... remember that I told you I gave Boris the plan to catch Tala?" Brooklyn whimpered, pressing against the wall.

"I do," Kai said gently, patting the bed, the empty spot beside him, indicating Brooklyn should sit down. Brooklyn did, still hesitant, nibbling on a fingernail, body trembling in fear.

Kai took that hand away from Brooklyn's mouth, intertwining his fingers together with Brooklyn's in a warm, steady grip, resting it on his thigh. He waited for Brooklyn to speak with patient eyes. Brooklyn looked into Kai's eyes, and relaxed a little.

"I gave him... many other plans as well..." Brooklyn murmured, looking thoughtful.

"You... did?" Kai could be seen restraining his anger so hard his veins were throbbing. He didn't want to hurt Brooklyn. He was angry, yes, but he knew it wasn't really Brooklyn's fault.

"You can hit me if you want..." Brooklyn offered weakly. "That's the second important person I've stolen from you now for my selfishness..."

"No!" Kai roared, and Brooklyn flinched. Kai sighed harshly, before grabbing both of Brooklyn's hands. Brooklyn looked really scared now, eyes wide like a trapped animal. He was resisting the urge to run, he wanted to, but his faith in Kai kept him there. Kai looked intensely into Brooklyn's eyes.

"Brooklyn," Kai ground out. "It's not your fault. Almost anyone would have done the same. You were traumatized. You wanted to be saved. There was nothing else for you to cling to. It was a spark of hope for you, and you grabbed at it desperately. You didn't want to hurt anyone, but you were tired of the abuse, weren't you?"

"Yeah..." Brooklyn trailed off, tears coming into his eyes. "Yeah..." Brooklyn was curling into a ball now, wanting to escape from the bitter memories.

"Come on, look at me," Kai said softly.

Brooklyn looked up at Kai with vulnerable eyes.

"They can't hurt you anymore, Brooklyn," Kai said gently, letting go of Brooklyn's hands. "You're here with me. Even if I let go of my hands, you're safe here."

"You're... nice, Kai," Brooklyn sniffed. "You're just like Tala."

With the mention of Tala, Kai visibly deflated, looking very upset with a homesick kind of look on his face.

"We'll save him, Kai," Brooklyn mumbled. "I'll tell you all that I know."

"You found me," Tala deadpanned, as Boris stood in front of him, rage clear in his eyes. Tala was still sitting cross-legged in the cardboard box, and had woken up when he heard familiar, dreaded footsteps. Tala looked behind Boris and saw two guards. He contemplated running again.

"When will you stop running from me?" Boris snarled. "You know resistance is futile. What good is sitting here in a cardboard box like a discarded pet? I will always find you, and you know it."

"Mmhm," Tala hummed nonchalantly, carefully standing up and stepping out of the box. He supposed it was his way of rebelling, pissing Boris off. He knew no good will come out of it, but he had to do it anyway.

Boris growled, stepping closer. He saw the other box that was full of black and white kitties and cats, and looked at it with scorn. Before Tala could even move, Boris signaled the guards to shoot it.

BANG. BANG.

Tala's eyes went wide, and his face paled as he smelled the unmistakable stench of blood. He turned to look at the box, and immediately looked away, tears in his eyes. "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU HAVE TO DO THAT FOR?"

"Your punishment for running away," Boris said harshly.

Tala heard a soft, confused mew. His heart felt like it broke. He had ripped apart this family of cats, just because... just because they were nice enough to share with him their home. Just because he had chosen this alley to run into. Just because he ran away. Just because of Boris and his sick obsession with Tala. Just because... just because he existed.

Tala felt his mind going into shutdown mode because he was so traumatized.

"That's right, my son, anyone you know will be hurt because of you, you are a bringer of destruction and pain!"

Tala flinched from that, actually considering the words and finding it sort of true. Another soft, puzzled mew. It seemed like one of the younger ones were alive. Tala pretended not to hear it, because if he showed anything, Boris would go and finish it off.

Tala secretly took out his mobile phone and threw it into the cardboard box he used to sleep in. It had no more battery anyway, it wouldn't help him. He hoped Ian had improved enough in his technology geek skills so he could track down mobiles that had no signal or electricity as well. With that done and over with, Tala's eyes were starting to droop.

"My pretty son..." Boris cooed, catching Tala as he fell forward.

But there was still that spark of hope. That spark of hope Boris would try to extinguish, but would enever be able to. There was the trust that his teammates would work something out. And maybe it would be a short term solution and Boris would be out again, but it would be something.

***End of chapter***

XP: Hope you enjoyed it!