Dark League chapter 10: A Breakthrough.

Hello, Chapter ten is out, Enjoy!

BETA: Bonnie-San

Rating: M

Warning: Violence, harsh language, possible character death, alcohol, smoking and sex scenes.

Paring: Kai/Rei. Maybe others.

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters in this story, only the plot and some of the weapons. ^^

"Talking"

`Thinking´

#Speaking Russian#

"Rei telling the story"

On with the story!

(29 days left until test)

"You heard the boss yesterday, now step it up!" Tala called as he watched the raven swing back and forward in the rings. He made a vault before swinging up his feet into the rings and let go with his arms. It seemed effortless but on the inside Rei's chaotic thoughts spoke a different tale.

"But how am I going to be good enough in twenty nine days?" He said as he jumped down from the rings. He didn't want the regular training anymore; he wanted to learn the important stuff.

"First of all, stop complaining about it. Then you will have more time to train." Tala said and looked over to another pair of rings higher up and then to the wooden bars on the wall. "Do you think you can jump from a higher distance?" He asked and pointed at the wooden wall bars. Rei looked up as well and got the hint. "Yeah, I can try." He said as he walked over and started to climb. In the meantime, Tala walked over to the storage room and pulled out a very dusty and old mattress. "It's not much but it will have to do."

Rei laughed nervously as he felt the wooden bar at the top of the wall cracked under his weight and he looked out on the rings before him. "Ok, I can do this, I can do this..." He said and closed his eyes to focus. It took a couple of seconds but when he opened them he felt determination so he jumped out without hesitation. He timed the rings perfectly and grinned in victory. He swung back and forth before swinging his legs up and switched to the upside-down position he recently learned.

Suddenly the door opened and he saw Bryan entering the room. He tried to ignore it and worked on his body to reach up to the rings again.

"I'm wondering if there really is any hope." The falcon said as he stopped by Tala's side. "There is when I'm training him." The redhead answered and didn't flinch as he sensed the warm breath by his ear. "We have a job tonight."

"Got it, can you fix the preparations?" He said back as they looked at each other.

"I can. Btw, Kai is starting to calm down after a new phone call from Spencer so avoid him for a while and we will hopefully have some calm days before us unless the newcomer finds a way to piss him off."

"Let's hope so." He agreed.

A sudden yell from above made them look up but Rei fell down and landed on the mattress, making all the dust to fly and surround them both. Bryan and Tala stepped back and was coughing while Rei looked up from his position with a guilty smile before. "Eh… sorry about that…" he said before sneezing when the dust rained on him. Bryan coughed one last time before putting a patting hand on his comrade's shoulder. "Don't have too high hopes."

I was very grateful for Tala's attention in my training, but that was before I found out he would tear me apart and build me up again as a new person.

"Does Bryan always order food from the same place?" Rei asked as they entered the training room again after dinner.

"Mostly, why?" The redhead asked as he was looking over his whip for damage.

"Don't you get tired of eating the same food every day?" The raven was jumping up and down to warm up for the next workout. "Not that I missed him very much, but why didn't he join us today?" He asked.

"Food is only fuel in my opinion; I don't put much thought in it. And Falcon is busy. Now, do you have more questions or do you want to get started?" Tala said as he walked over to the open floor.

"Sure!" Rei said and started to walk over to the rings. But a sudden whistle in the floor made him turn around questioningly. "The will be no more rings today Rei. Come here."

The raven looked at in him suspiciously and slowly made his way over with hesitation, making the Russian to roll his eyes. "You don't have time to be nervous. Your time is running out and you have tons to learn, so stop wasting time and just do what you have to do." He said firmly.

"Fine!" Rei said and tried to be more inspired. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Simple, avoid my attack." Tala said and raised his new-checked whip. The raven's eyes widened, the little confident he had already gone. "H-how?"

The redhead couldn't help but to smile a little. "Trust me, your body will know what to do and you will move away from the pain."

"How much pain are we talking about here?" Rei gasped and jumped back by the quick crack in front of his feet. "Heh, never mind I think I get it..."

"Good. Get ready, we start with side movements. It's the basics to avoid an attack. I want to see you put effort in your legs and be one with the movement." Tala instructed and raised the whip again.
The raven was moving his body but he was very awkward and had a tense posture. Every sound from the whip hitting the floor made him flinch a little, which caused the instructor to become very annoyed. "REI!"

"I know, but it will hurt!" He said in his defense and cried out when the whip made contact with his leg. "SON OF A BITCH!" He yelled and held his knee.

"Keep talking and see what that will get you." The Russian said and lashed out again, this time the raven jumped out of the way. "I didn't mean you!" Rei said and held up his hands in surrender. The whip hit his fingertips making him cry out again.

"Never give up like that, what is wrong with you!" Tala growled and started to move towards him, making Rei back away to keep the distance between them, but it was all in vain.

"Ok, I'm sorry!"

"Never apologize, it's a sign of weakness!"

"I'm sorry!"

"WHAT did I just tell you!"

"I'm sorr... ALRIGHT I GET IT!" Rei screamed and without thinking he vaulted to the side on his hands and landed on his knees.

"Good, use your acrobatic skills. Move around, be more flexible. You need to use your movements even when something is distracting you." Tala said and lashed out with his leather again. Rei flew to his feet and jumped slightly on his spot, not really sure what direction he should head for. The stress in his body was blocking his thoughts and he felt the adrenaline building but he didn't know how to use it. "Tala, you are starting to freak me out!"

"Good, then you will be prepared to face an enemy someday. Time to bring this up a level. Move around!" Tala yelled and dashed for him.

Rei did all he could, he fled for his life; Jumping, ducking, screaming and hissing every time the whip hit him. He tried to protest a couple of times but decided against it as Tala increased the speed every time he tried. He wondered if the redhead had snapped and just wanted to hurt him. Maybe Kai had asked him. After a while of hurting he fell to the floor as the whip hit the side of his foot. He groaned in pain and put his hand over the spot, while trying to breath. He yelped as the leather met his thigh and he crunched down in a defensive position. Tala didn't stop to let the whip hit him over and over making Rei protest even more as the pain slowly became overwhelming.

"Do I really need to say it! Get up; you are not getting away from the pain on the floor. Never put yourself in a vulnerable position." He said and hit again.

"ARGH! Damn it hurts, please give me five minutes!"

"Don't beg."

"I'm just…"

"Don't!" The sound of the whip struck again.

"OUCH!"

"GET UP!"

"You are killing me here!"

"No, I'm not, you are still screaming."

Suddenly Rei felt anger take the best of him and with a growl he jumped to his feet and avoided another hit. His golden eyes turned to slits and his white fangs were showing with a low growl.

"Interesting." Tala commented, this was a new side of the raven.

Without thinking about anything else than to stop the whip, Rei lunged at the redhead who let the whip whistle through the air. Rei avoided that hit and thought he had done it. Now only a couple of steps from the redhead he went in for an attack and it were the confident miscalculation that became his downfall. After making a big sidestep, Tala quickly formed his whip into a circle and threw the loop around the raven's neck. Rei growled as the leather got tense around his throat and he didn't have much time to do anything about it before Tala took another sidestep and yanked hard enough to make him crash to the floor. They stayed like that for a while; Rei was panting and glaring at the dusty floor for his total failure, he didn't want to believe that he was finished yet.

Tala saw that the Chinese had had enough for now, so he was starting to gather the leather to pull it back and that was what gave the raven a new idea. A new sparkle appeared in his golden eyes and he grabbed the material around his neck and held on tight. The action caused the Russian to raise an eyebrow. "Doesn't it make you vulnerable if someone gets a hold of your weapon?" Rei asked with a confident smile, deep inside he was quite proud that he had made that discovery about his strict teacher. The thing he wasn't ready for was the fact that Tala just calmly smiled back. "Rei, I'm never vulnerable." The Russian swiftly lashed out with the handle and more braided leather material. Rei thought he was trying to make him confused and snickered as the whip flew past his face. But the smile quickly vanished when a small rip burst open his old gash on his cheek, making it bleed. His eyes widened and he gasped as his hand flew up and covered the now open wound. He didn't understand what just happened and he quickly followed the whip with his eyes all the way up to the handle that was back in Tala's hand, but there was nothing there that could have cut him. "How did you do that?" He asked but the Russian just held out his hand. "You have much to learn."

The raven groaned as he got to his feet with Tala's help. "Damn…" He muttered. "Is it over?"

"I have stuff to do so yes, it's over….for now. We start over tomorrow morning." He said.

Rei nodded and followed the redhead out from the training room. He was glad to be let off the hook a little earlier; cause this last work out had been a pain to say at least.

Rei winced as he closed the door behind him, his body hurt like hell and even before that he was feeling sore from the training. If every session would be like this, then he wouldn't make it, he was sure of it. He couldn't help but to wonder where Tala was going. Had it something to do with Bryan's disappearance too? It was funny that he thought, even if all the Russian's here were lacking in sociality skills, that it was pretty empty without them. He felt that when he was with them, even though he annoyed them, his bitterness faded a little. It was when he was alone that the dark thoughts came back… like now.

He took off his T-shirt and put it on the sofa as the light suddenly went out. He stopped with what he was doing and looked around. Nothing more than a blackout, he thought at first but then he looked out through his window; other buildings were still shining on the other side of the brick wall. An uneasy feeling woke up inside him. He couldn't help but to remember most of the scary movies Tyson had showed him during his stay. The most ended in the same way… Normally he wouldn't believe in that kind of stories about crazy serial killers but after meeting this shadow trio he wasn't so sure. He started to back away from the window, thinking that this was a bad joke from Bryan when he suddenly backed into something. "The lamp in this room is broken." Was spoken with a low voice from behind making him yell out and hit back with his elbow. A strong arm caught it and his other arm in a very firm grip and he froze in the hold.

"Easy." The voice hissed with an annoyed tone. It was then that he recognized it as Kai's. Carefully he turned his head and his breath was put to a halt when those dark eyes looked into his through the darkness. "I'm sorry." He whispered back as Kai let him go and the raven backed away. "Here…" He heard the other say and Kai picked up the towel he had dropped on the floor because of the sudden reaction from Rei. The raven could feel the red irises checking him through before the blunette reached out with the towel for him to take. "You probably would appreciate a real shower."

Rei looked at his direction and shone up as he saw Kai's intention, the check-out from Kai forgotten. "Oh, god yes, I do!" The raven said quickly and accepted the towel gratefully. He followed the shadow leader out in the hallway to a room where he had never been before. As they entered the room he found it empty. It was just an ordinary room which he didn't know what it had been used for. He was going to ask Kai, but the shadow stepped over to another door.

"I'm guessing you are used to warm water, it's not much of that but you are free to take it if you want." He said and yanked up a new very bad looking door. It cracked as it was forced open and Kai reached inside after a switch. The light was bad as well. Rei quickly put two and two together. This was an old student-dorm. Since this had been a school then people was probably living here. Kai stepped aside for Rei and said no more as he started to leave.

"Kai?" Rei called out after him making him stop and look over his shoulder.

"Thank you. I'm doing my best in the training." The raven found himself saying. For some reason he wanted something to talk about. He wanted to thank the leader for giving him a chance to join his team. After all, he knew that Kai hadn't been so fond of the idea. But that he had changed his mind was much appreciated and he wanted to be of any help if he could. For some reason he didn't know why, he wanted Kai to know how much effort he put in this. During this short stay, what Kai thought about him was very important. He knew he owed the shadow his life. That probably forms a kind of bond. To Rei at least. A bond of gratitude.

"That's good, for your sake." Kai answered simply and left.

'Wow that went well.' He thought to himself with irritation and stepped inside in the small bathroom. Even this room felt like a construction site and he pulled away a shower drapery that was used to be white but was now barely recognizable. He tried to touch it as little as possible.
It was a simple damaged room, only a part of a broken mirror that was glued on the wall in front of him with a disgusting sink under it, a toilet and the shower. No cabinets or anything else.

He put the towel and his remaining clothes on the toilet and stepped into the shower. At first nothing happen when he turned the handle but a very disturbing noise was heard and suddenly he received a wave of water in his face, not from the spot he expected it from, but from the pipe. It was ice cold, making him jump back with a growl.

"Terrific." He said and tried to stop it. It took him some moments but after a while he managed to get the water to run right and he also succeeded in getting it from ice cold to only… plain cold. He decided to use what he had because he didn't want to waste the water if there only was a certain amount. He shivered as the water ran down his sour body and he drew his fingers through the black waives of hair. He didn't have any shampoo so he tried to clean himself up the best he could.

"Not much difference than camping in the mountain in China." He said to himself, trying to keep up the positive attitude to his new life.

He was sure to stop the water after he was done and he used the towel, put on his pants he wore when he arrived, before stepping out in the hallway again. Normally you would feel the cold air hit you when you stepped out of the shower, but Rei felt like the air was warm around him, so cold had the water been. He held his long hair and tried to prevent it to drip too much as he entered his room again. He needed some well-deserved rest after this tough training.

The moving silhouettes on the buildings walls was the only sign of life as the fast shadows ran through ally after ally towards their destination. "Where did Spencer get this information from?" Tala asked as they stopped to look out at the street after possible threats. It could be anything, to many cars, people who was not just passing by or cops of any kind.

"Since Kai has been in a shitty mood, I didn't bother to question him. He just said that we would find this shrimp in that bar." The silver haired Russian said and fixed his scythe that was strapped on his back under his cloak.

"Then we will have to take his word for it." The other concluded and with a last glance they quickly ran over the small street. With a vault over the fence, they disappeared into the small park and used the forest area as both cover and as a shortcut to their goal.

"There it is."Bryan said as they stopped at the end of the wooden area and looked out on another street. He pointed at a little premise in the corner. It was a typical bad place that normal people don't go to and the cops have on their nightly surveillance. The windows had the venetian blinds down and a sign with red neon letters said; closed.

The only sign of life at all were the three big looking guys that were standing outside, leaning on the wall while smoking and drinking.

"Fun to have another party to crash." Bryan commented and reached for his weapon while smirking to the other, "Admit it, it's been a while."

"Imagine that, even a cold bastard like you knows the word fun." Tala said with a big smile of his own.

"Stand back red. I take care of this." He said and was about to walk out from their hiding space when the red head's hand stopped him. "Oh I think not. You always show off, I don't want to be stuck here all night. Let's get this over with." The younger of them said and pushed him aside before going out into the open and started to cross the street. All three of them stopped talking and looked at the newcomer who pulled down his dark hood reviling flaming red hair and ice blue eyes. Strangers never approached them like this. It was probably some naïve boy who wanted to ask for directions, poor tourists… One of them; bald-headed, with a big dragon burned into his arm, dressed in blue jeans and a black tank-top, stepped forward with a big grin, he had no problem with assisting the stranger.

"Hello pretty boy. Are you lost or are you looking for some fun time?"

The redhead calmly shrugged and smiled big at the man as he approached him. "Maybe I am… what…" Then the expression changed and he sighed in annoyance. "You can't even wait for five minutes, can you?" The man frowned at the statement but then his eyes widened when a blade came out from behind the redhead and it pierced his chest.

Some of the laughing men inside stopped by the sound of screaming and banging outside. The bartender just sighed and shook his head, the last thing he needed was the cops in his pub again. They had already been there three times that week. He tried to block it out and continued to clean the glass in his hand but suddenly one man came crashing through the door and hit the floor lifeless. "What the hell!" The bartender screamed more in shock than in anger. This was no policemen.

They all looked at the two strangers who came inside. One of them just stepped on the fallen man like he was a rug and they stopped in the center of the floor in front of the bar.

The one who had just wiped of his shoes on the dead body pulled down his hood and reviled silver hair and cold eyes. Two men who were sitting by a small table to his right got up and backed away from their spot as he looked at them. They could clearly see that the stranger was unstable.

"We are looking for Tom." The silver haired said like they all were good friends.

"Who the hell do you think you are storming in here and attack my costumers?" The bartender roared and just like that pulled out a rifle from under the disk. Tala and Bryan didn't flinch. Even though the man was armed, he wasn't much without the gun. He had a slim frame, bad posture and no hair except of a black thin mustache. All in all he wasn't a big threat unless he had a really good aim.

"Wow, wow, wow, take is easy now Larry." A man said and got up from his seat in the bar. He walked forward to the strangers and smiled almost politely. He had long brown hair tied in a low ponytail and was dressed in a black motorcycle outfit.

"Why are you looking for Tom?" He asked as he approached them.

"Are you Tom?" The redhead asked just as polite.

"I'm just curious, you seem eager to see him… Can I ask-?" The man gasped as a fist dug into his stomach with high speed and a new one hit the side of his face and sends him to the floor half unconscious.

"If you're not him, then stop wasting our time." The silver haired stranger growled and kicked the groaning man he just hit. This made all of the guests to react and stood up from their seat.

Tala and Bryan quickly stepped back in their fighting stance. They put their backs against each other like they had trained to do in years. "Nicely done." Tala whispered as he looked at the number before them. It was ten men at least who wanted to fight and even more who were still deciding to join or not.

"He deserved it." The falcon answered simply.

"Oh, of course, damn him for talking."

Bryan wanted to glare at his comrade's irony but he didn't have time to look away from the other drunken criminals who approached them further.

"Let's dump this trash in the garbage outside!" Someone yelled making them laugh. They all halted though as Bryan took out his scythe and adjusted it swiftly for close combat. Tala already had his whip at hand. "It doesn't need to be like this, all we want is the one in here named Tom." The redhead said.

"What are you doing?" Bryan hissed. But the other didn't care. "Trying to save Spencer some paperwork." He said.

"Don't try to back out now," One big guy said and crushed a beer bottle against the table edge to make a sharp weapon. "You act like you want a fight. We all in here are up for it, so stop whine and get to it." He said.

"Fine you get it your way, bastard." Tala said to his comrade and shoved the grinning Bryan to the side and with that; the fight begun.

Rei was turning around on his sofa. He was pretty tired but for some reason he couldn't let sleep claim him. The thought about how bad it had went on the training was making him even more worried than before. He felt stress take the best of him and he got up from his sleeping spot. His hair was still wet so he settled down by the dinner table and started to make a loose braid. It was more to have something to do and to calm himself down but even his long hair ended at some point. He tied it at the end and threw it over his shoulder and started to walk out in the hallway. He still didn't feel comfortable to open a bunch of doors so he took the stairs to the level above. The next floor was pretty much the same as the other levels, torn and dusty. He couldn't help wondering if the authorities would appear with a bulldozer any time soon. That would really suck. He walked pass another door and made a quick halt. There… out on a balcony, Kai was leaning forward on the railing. Before even thinking it through he walked down and grabbed his black cloak before running back up to company the other.

Kai didn't want to admit he was surprised to hear the door open behind him. Especially when the other two was out. "Is it alright if I join you?"

"Hn."

Rei took it as a sign to go ahead. He was sure Kai would make it more clearly to him otherwise. The cloak was very warm and he pulled the hood up to protect his wet braid from the cold wind.
Kai tried to ignore the other presence who took in the view. But for some reason he wanted to be aware of what the other was doing and it didn't take much time before he was glancing to the side. Rei was smiling at the view unaware of Kai's eyes on him. It was nice to take a deep breath and just calm down from his worries. He didn't know why but Kai's presence helped at the moment too. "You know, this is a sight so different from the one I have at home in China, but it's alright." He waited for moment if Kai wanted to enter the conversation but he was waiting in vain. Not wanting to give up yet he tried again and looked down on his hands.

"So… Tala informed me about the job you do…" He said carefully. He turned to Kai who quickly turned away from him. "That was his task." The Russian answered. He took out a cigarette and lighted it. He took a deep breath of it before offering it to the raven. "You want?" Rei looked at the cigarette and furrowed as he got flashbacks to both Brooklyn and Claude. No matter who he met here, that person just had to smoke around him. In this case Kai was no exception. He shook his head as answer and gracefully jumped up and sat on the railing.

"Where are the other two?" He asked instead to change the subject fast.

"Out on a job." Kai said as he took the cigarette to his lips again.

"Aren't you worried about them when you guys are separated?" Rei continued to keep his thought away from the disgusting smell of the smoke.

"Tala and Bryan can take care of themselves. I doubt they get into trouble on this mission."

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't made a scene out there!" Tala yelled as he ducked from a fist and sidestepped another attacker. With a hard elbow in the face, the man was put unconsciousness.

"You think they would have answered if you asked them?" Bryan yelled back and pierced a man while kicking another.

"You think they will answer if they are dead?" Tala's whip lashed itself around the legs of next criminal and he pulled hard to break his balance completely. He had to move out of the way with a vault while he gathered the leather again. Just as he got to his feet he found himself trapped in a bear-hug from behind.

"Ever heard of personal space?" He growled and slammed his foot down on his attacker's knee and then threw himself forward, effectively letting his attacker to vault over his shoulder. As he grabbed the attacker's arm when the man hit the ground he didn't waste any time to break it. That scream was just one of many as Bryan slashed and hit the other costumers.

Tala suddenly caught sight of a nervous man who was staying in the background. That man kept looking as everybody else joined the fight and was trying to reach for the door instead. The man had been one of the three candidates that the redhead had suspected to be Tom when they had asked.

"Jackpot, three o'clock." He called out making Bryan to look as well. The Russian took one glance at the guy and was convinced. He sidestepped his current opponents, tackling another and dashed towards the suspect who screamed out as he was trapped with Bryan's strong arm around his throat in no time. The falcon wasted no time in taking out one of his guns and shot a hole in the roof, making the bartender go crazy in rage.

"Get the hell out of my bar!" He screamed and shot at the silver haired Russian and his hostage.

Tala lashed out and caught the rifle with his leather; he pulled and caught it in his own hand. To revenge the shot the man had used at his comrade he aimed and fired three shots at the bar. The older man ducked behind the disk and screamed as the bullets destroyed his shelves and bottles. "What did you say now, asshole!" He growled and threw the rifle in the head of another stupid moron who tried to attack him from the side. Still pissed off he nodded to Bryan who had the others remaining costumers in check with his aim.

"Just so we are clear in this, you shaking leaf, you are Tom right?" He said to the shaking guy in his arm.

"...Y-es... don't hurt m-e p-lease!" The guy stuttered.

"Shut up you coward." He snorted in disgust and nodded back. "Red. We are leaving."

"Thanks for the party." Tala said with a grin, his mood changed in an insane way. He backed out from the bar enjoying the glares he and his comrade received from the remaining criminals.

Once outside Bryan forced the hostage down on the ground at gun point and beat the daylight out of him. He then quickly heaved the motionless body onto his shoulder and ran together with Tala down the street.

"You are not serious; he did approach you just like that?" Kai said as he threw away the second cigarette filter that night.

"Yeah, it was very simple for him. But I guess he could feel my desperation." Rei answered as he recalled the confident Brooklyn who pulled him into this world from the beginning. Even though the guy had been after his skills to boost his gang all along and had probably planned it, Rei felt stupid to fall for the tactic.

"He is just full of himself." Kai said and shook his head. Rei pulled the cloak closer as a wind surrounded him. "What do you know about him?" He asked.

"He is Claude's right hand and even though Claude has the leader part, Brooklyn is handling the lower groups of gangsters. Like the group who hurt you." Rei shivered by the memory and his hand reached up for the gash one more time. He had managed to clean the wound in the shower, but he still felt that it was new and healing. Kai also saw it and without thinking he took hold of Rei's chin and looked at it more closely. "I thought it was healing…" He said more to himself. Rei felt awkward being watched so intensively and he pulled away discreetly. "Well…Tala and I trained earlier."

The corner of Kai's mouth moved a little, not so much to call it a smile but it was something. "You must have ticked him off."

The raven couldn't deny that, but he wouldn't tell the leader how he failed at the training. He didn't want to give Kai the slightest reason for kicking him of the group. He wouldn't stand a chance out there alone. Come to think about it… if he failed. Would they kick him out on the street, or would they kill him?

"Well, yeah… I have a talent of that." He said and tried to smile it away. He wasn't sure if the leader was buying it but he did his best to keep a calm face.

"Have you decided on a weapon yet?"

"Huh?" Rei was pulled out from his thoughts. The question came out of the blue and he wasn't prepared for it. And it wasn't one of his favorite topics right now either.

"If I'm going to train you then I need to know what weapon you will choose." The leader said causally.

Rei hadn't thought about it more closely yet. He didn't think he could handle any weapon like the others had. He didn't have much knowledge in the area either. But at least he had something to talk to Kai about. It was a start to get a little closer to the shadow and maybe not get hurt in the process.

"What can I choose from?" He asked.

"Anything you can think of. We can provide with almost anything."

"Do you have anything that won't do maximal damage?"

Kai frowned at the question. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I was thinking…" Rei started, choosing his words carefully. He knew Kai wouldn't buy the lines that even came close to the fact that he was a peace-loving guy and didn't want to hurt a fly or something like that. It would give him a free ticket to the streets as well. "Since I'm still in training and need to be helpful out on the field, I thought I could choose a weapon for defense. Clearly the gangster doesn't hesitate to attack me out there so I probably do more good in defending myself and taking them down than just work on some attack pattern that could fail and put myself in more danger… am I making any sense?"

Kai leaned on the railing and thought about it. "As a matter of fact, you do actually."

Rei looked at him again and ignored the comment that hinted that Kai was surprised that he had thought of something useful.

"You can choose a weapon for defense. I need to see what you can do anyway and I still have Tala and Bryan for offense. It will do for the time being."

"That would be great, thanks."

Kai just grunted on response and avoided the other's grateful smile. It bothered him more than he wanted to admit and he didn't know why. There was something with Rei… something that he couldn't put his finger on. Was it the other's gratitude? His smile? His intensive stare?
Feeling himself getting frustrated he turned around with a low growl and walked inside.

Rei smiled in relief. Kai had actually listened to his wishes about the weapon. Finally he could stand to think about his future training. He couldn't help but to get curious now what kind of training Kai had in mind compare to Tala's. In the middle of this thought he jumped slightly as Kai suddenly and unexpectedly growled and turned away from him like he was the pest and the Russian went inside, slamming the door shut. Rei just sat there on the railing, his golden eyes reviled the shock he was in. What had just happened?

"Is he heavy?" Tala asked as they stopped two streets from the bar. Bryan grunted and changed his grip around the body on his shoulder. "Want to find out?" He growled irritated.

"I asked because I suspect you are hiding a bullet wound." The other said and pulled the cloak tighter around himself. The wind was cold this night.

Bryan snickered half heartily and shook his head. "The fool couldn't aim if his life depended on it."

"I think that bar was his life because he was trying to blow your head off…what is that?" They both turned around by the sound of a big roaring engine. "Cops?" Bryan asked.

"No, it's a jeep." Tala concluded and right on cue the big vehicle came around the corner with big spotlights on. The passengers were screaming when they spotted the two Russians and wasted no time in shooting at them from the windows. Not wasting any time Tala and Bryan made a run for it down the street.

"It's hard to be a shadow if the enemy has a spotlight." Bryan commented as they turned the corner of a building. A bullet hit the brick right after. "Yeah, it takes all the fun out of it right?" Tala agreed and turned into one of the many alleys on the street. It was small way with a container. Also a fence with barbed wire was blocking the exit.

Tala launched his whip at the wire and pulled but it wouldn't come loose. Bryan threw Tom's body on the ground and extended his scythe. With a hard hit he cut the piece of wire that Tala was stretching. "Where did they get all the toys from?" Bryan asked as the wire was removed from their path.

"I think the bitter bar owner had some more weapons stashed."

The lighter Russian jumped up and climbed up at the top and reached down as Bryan was lifting up the motionless body. Tala grabbed him and tried to heave the guy up but it was too much. "Damn this dead weight." He hissed and felt how the body was slipping from his grip.

"C'mon!" Bryan rushed, but it was useless. Tala heard the gang check the ally next to theirs and he jumped down again.

"What are you doing?" The falcon hissed as the ice blue shadow took his scythe from him and rushed over to the trash container.

"Get that piece of trash over, I cover you!" He yelled and pushed the big metal box in front of them. Bryan just cursed but did what he was told. He lifted Tom's body up over his shoulder and neck and started to climb. Tala used the scythe and lifted the lid of the container at the last second when bullets were being fired at Bryan's back. The height of the lid was good enough to cover most of his comrade. Footsteps of four guys were coming and when Tala felt they were close he pushed the metal box forward making all of them to hit the ground with curses.

Tala wasted no time to throw his comrade's weapon over the fence before jumping in and kick the criminal's guns away and tried to keep them occupied in a fistfight. Bryan got up to the top and dumped Tom on the other side before jumping down himself. His back hurt after the weight. He turned to his fighting comrade.

"It's done, let's go!" He yelled and cursed as the redhead received a big punch in the face and was pushed up against the wall by three of the men. The fourth was out cold on the ground. Bryan started to climb to aid him.

"Don't!" Tala yelled making him stop halfway and look. The lighter Russian pushed off the wall and kicked the first one in the stomach and elbowed the other who ducked.

"Watch out! Hit him! Duck! On your left! Punch him in the kidneys!" Bryan instructed making the other to growl in annoyance. "Bring him down, sweep the leg!" The falcon continued.

"Shut up!" The wolf barked and managed to hit one of them in the throat. With a gurgling sound the gangster went down. Tala then swept the leg of the other and as he hit the ground, the redhead followed and made a body slam, effectively breaking the man's ribs.

Slightly out of breath he got up to face the last one. "You know, it would be easier if you just stayed down." He said with a confident and wolf-ish smirk.

The man snickered in response. "You think you can come to our bar and do as you like? Things got consequences bastard, something you are now going to find out."

He swiftly took out a blade and threw it at the redheaded who easily avoided it and attacked him from the side. Two punches in the gut and a kick at his knee brought him down against the fence head first. Tala jumped over him and started to climb. As he reached the top the criminal used his last powers and reached up. He grabbed the redhead's foot and tried to yank him down. As he was starting to get pulled down again Tala scratched his hand on the top of the fence, making him hiss in pain. A sudden pang sound came out of nowhere and the criminal fell to the ground with a bullet between his eyes. Tala looked down at the body and then at Bryan who had pointed his gun between the holes in the fence. "You alright?" He asked. The other nodded and jumped over.

"Damn, all this drama for a bar visit? They are getting more and more sensitive." The falcon commented and picked up the now groaning body and started to move.

Tom's brown eyes slowly opened as the cold wind made him shiver. He could just recognize something that could be lights, but he didn't understand the picture in front of him. Cars could be heard from under him and he lifted his hand to massage his hurting head. It was then he felt how heavy his arms were and with a scream he noticed that he was hanging upside down, from a building roof. Only a leather whip was his life line around his foot and he looked up at the two shadow figures that were standing on the edge, looking down on him.

"You!" He screamed and started to flax with his arms in panic." Please put me down!"

"You are not using particular clever words." Falcon commented and got down into sitting position. "Look here scumbag. It's just you, us and ten floors down to the 34th street. Be a smart one and admit that your options are limited. Tell us where Claude is."

"I- don't know what you are talking about!" The man stuttered.

"We know you are a member of Brooklyn's crew; sometimes it's dangerous to brag too much on the streets." Wolf said and looked over his wound on his hand. He was standing on his whip that held the man hanging. Falcon had one foot on it as well.

"I c-can't tell you! H-h-e kill m-e!" The guy screamed and started to cry. His filthy brown hair was moving in his face by the wind.

"Tough call there. Then you just have to choose if you want to die here or with him?" Falcon said and let the whip fall a little, making the guy to scream in fright. "Alright alright! I don't know where the boss is… B-ut I know wh-ere Brooklyn will be next week!"

The shadows looked at each other in question. "It's good enough for now." The falcon admitted and looked down at their captive.

"Tell us everything."

"He will be doing an exchange of some sort. He didn't tell me the details but it was something big. If you want to get hold of Brooklyn then that's where you should go; the meeting will be in North part Central Park, near the entrance."

"When?"

"In a week, around midnight… please let me go!"

They stood there for a moment, thinking about the information. Brooklyn were the second best goal, it would be easy to get to Claude through his right hand. Bryan reached down and started to pull the guy up who sobbed like a five year old. It all went fine until Tom's waist came over the edge. Then he pulled out a hidden knife from his jacket. "You can't have that information and live." He screamed and lashed out the blade against Bryan who avoided the stab in his throat with inches. The blade made a cling-sound as it hit the chain on the shadow's leash.

"FALCON!" Tala yelled and moved towards his comrade by instinct. The weight of Tom's life line was gone and his eyes widened as he fell backwards, not completely balanced with his weight on the edge. In pure desperation he dropped the knife and grabbed the edge with his finger tips and held on for dear life while screaming.

Tala checked over Bryan for injuries and the falcon recovered from the small chock from almost been sliced in the throat. His eyes went from surprised to crazy in rage. He looked at the helpless gangster who looked back at them with plea in his face. Tala looked between them and protested as Bryan pushed him aside and approached guy with a growl. He didn't hesitate. With a kick in Tom's chest the gangster flew out from the edge and disappeared down in the city chaos, his last scream was heard until his voice was swallowed by the traffic.

"Damn it, my weapon!" Tala cursed and threw himself at the edge and looked down. It had still been wrapped around Tom's foot.

"It's gone, forget about it!" Bryan yelled like it's was nothing important and turned to leave.

"The hell it is!"

The silver haired Russian turned around and called out to his comrade as the redhead ran towards the fire ladder but he was ignored. Afraid what the red head might do he followed him.

People were screaming in the street, telling each other to call the police and cars were stopping the traffic. A quite big crowd was gathering around the incident. Tom's body was crushed to nothing more than an unrecognizable piece of bloody flesh all over the side walk. Luckily nobody had gotten hurt by his downfall.

Tala stopped by the corner of the nearest ally and his ice blue eyes was glaring from under his black hood. He couldn't care less about the body but he could see his dear whip lying by the crowd's feet. How was he supposed to reach it without making a scene?

"Tal, c'mon, even I think this is too risky." Bryan whispered from behind him but he didn't want to give in.

"I can do this. They won't know what hit them." He growled in frustration as Bryan put his hand on his shoulder softly.

"Red, I don't beg, but I will if it keeps you away from that street. We can ask Spencer to snatch it from the evidence box. Please let's go."

Tala turned to him with surprised eyes. They looked at each other for a moment before Bryan broke the contact and turned to leave, expecting the other to follow. Reluctantly he did so and they were once again swallowed by the darkness in the ally.

TBC.

Watch out for next chapter: "Get ready in time!"

Take care everyone!

Sparkleshadowcat.