First day of the Easter holidays so I'm pretty happy! Two weeks of no school!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

The Car-Jacking

His eyes were rimmed red when he caught the ghost of his reflection in the rear view mirror. Kai noticed that his tired skin had paled a little from the non-stop driving he and Tala had endured since Hilary left them. Tala hadn't mentioned her at all and for that he was grateful. He didn't trust himself to talk about for he didn't know what his mouth would say. He didn't want to blaspheme her name. Thinking about her helped. Wondering where she was right now and such things kept his mind from paranoia and where the demons would take it forever.

They'd stopped listening to the radio. Tala figured it was the best option considering their situation at the given moment. Any new bulletins would panic them and it was already lingering in both of their minds that they already had an idea what car they were driving and their new appearances. It wouldn't surprise them if they were already in Texas, scouring the state as they tried to find out where their route was. It made Tala more nervous than he liked to think possible. The police certainly weren't fools; they weren't the bumbling, doughnut eating idiots that were stereotyped on television. Not these ones. These ones had overheard choppers that Tala had seen once or twice circling the area and then flying away and they had more state cars than he cared to know about.

To think that another wrong move could cost them their lives scared the living God out of him, if he was even still with him. He noticed that his fingers had a slight tremble to them as he held the map to navigate for Kai and if his companion had noticed, he'd obviously chosen the right to remain silent.

Another thing to worry him was that it needn't even be their move that alerted the authorities. How well had they known Hilary in the short period that she'd been with them? Not at all, was the correct answer. Kai seemed fairly – if silently – confident that she'd keep mum but Tala wasn't entirely convinced. She seemed like the sort of girl who wanted to see justice done and would that mean giving up where they were and a detailed description only she had? He didn't like to think so but he knew it was more than likely. Mentioning this to Kai would be only cause him to become distracted and at a crucial time like this that was something they really could do without. Until they'd crossed that sweet Mexican border into the land of sombreros and tacos they would need to tread carefully. They were on thin ice and the cracks were beginning to show.

There was a crash of thunder in the darkening night sky that caused Tala to jolt back from his thoughts. The rain was falling down. He wasn't sure when it had began but it was coming full pelt. He noticed Kai leaned forward slightly to try and peer through the distortion from the water that even the windscreen wipers couldn't correct.

"Nice weather," he commented dryly.

Tala grunted. It looked like one hell of a storm was coming and they were caught directly in the middle. He thought how ironic it was now that Little Miss Sunshine had left them the darkness they had been hiding had replaced her.

"How far along are we?" Tala asked Kai, more for the conversation than the actual information. He didn't like it, but he was beginning to get really worried now. It was the weather that was creeping him out. Bad omens, it seemed to bring. He needed to hear the sound of Kai's voice to let him know that everything was fine. If Kai began to panic too then he could flip out totally.

Kai shrugged. "I have no idea. I want to say half way. Probably more than that, considering we've not exactly been driving slowly. Check the map to see, but I think if I keep the gas on we might just make it their before noon tomorrow or hopefully sooner."

Tala did just that, trying to remember the last town they'd been in. A sudden burst of relief broke through when he say that, according to the map, they were just under three quarters of the way there. He hadn't realised just how fast they must have been driving but he was grateful for it. Their freedom seemed to be just that much closer now, so close he could almost reach out and grab it with two arms. He wasn't going to fool himself though; they weren't out of the woods yet. In fact, they were in the very heart of them.

"Do you think we're going to make it?" He asked.

At first Kai didn't answer. "I'd say what I really want to but no one likes a pessimist."

Tala met Kai's eyes and looked away. It seemed to Tala as if Kai had almost already admitted his defeat and was waving the white flag. His eyes had lost that edge to them which showed his free will. Now they just looked defeated and he had a feeling Hilary was entirely to blame. She'd been spurring him on without even knowing it for she gave him the inspiration to grasp his freedom if only to get a chance to see where they would go; how far they'd get to before calling it a day – if that ever even happened. Now, he wouldn't have a chance to do anything more than kiss the girl. For a brief second of insanity, Tala almost felt his pain. What would it be like to let your mind wander through all the things you could do with some one only for them to walk away the way she did? Of course, she couldn't exactly be blamed for choosing not to stay. In her position, Tala knew he wouldn't have and was fairly certain it would be unanimous for Kai too.

Another bolt of lighting lit up the car in a magnificent white light and Tala let out a small scream as he saw the back of the car in the rear view window. The sudden sound made Kai press on the brakes in a panic and the car came to a total standstill. The only sound that could be heard was the rumbling of thunder nearby and the pelt, pelt, pelting of the rain on the car's metal structure. The only thing Tala could see was darkness for his eyes were closed shut.

Kai shook him, feeling more than unnerved by the erratic behaviour. "What's wrong?"

Tala shook his head furiously. "She's not there. She's not fucking there."

"Who's not?"

His eyes opened suddenly to reveal to reveal dilated pupils. They zoned onto Kai. "You know damn well who."

Kai had a feeling that he did but didn't think he could say anything. It was rare but not unheard of that the guilty should hallucinate about their victims haunting them. But they weren't guilty so their case must be a first.

Slowly he looked behind him and saw nothing there except the space where Hilary used to sit now empty.

"It's gone. Whatever you saw Tal is gone," Kai said.

Tala closed his eyes again and rested his head against the head rest. "I'm losing my fucking mind. I'm going fucking insane."

"No you're not. You're just…jittery. There's a lot to worry about and your mind's playing tricks on you. Just ignore it."

He opened them again and Kai felt relieved to find that the correct proportion of his icy blue irises and black pupils had returned.

"Have you seen her?" Tala asked.

"No…" Kai lied. "I've not."

Tala was silent for a few moments. "Let's get going again."

Kai nodded and turned the key in the ignition. It stalled. He tried it again. It stalled. Feeling his chest tighten he kept turning it but the car failed to start again.

"Shit." He whispered. "Shit, shit shit." He tried once more but there was not joy. "Shit, shit, shit!" He yelled and banged his fists onto the steering wheel.

Tala shook his head, feeling numb. "No. This can't be happening."

But it was and he could see that clearly by the way Kai was steadily losing his cool.

"We need to check the oil. Maybe the oils out of something. The gas is fine." Kai said and got out of the car. Immediately he was drenched but the onslaught of rain but he didn't feel anything. His entire body felt numb. He went to the bonnet of the car and propped it up, hoping to see something in the dark. A flash of lightning allowed him to locate the oil container and found it to be full.

Tala, who'd followed him out, cupped his eyes against the rain. "Do you see anything?"

"No, I'm not a fucking mechanic."

"Okay, here's what we're going to do." Under the circumstances, Tala's coolness unnerved Kai and he noticed it wasn't the first time he'd been able to do that in so many minutes. "We'll flag down the next car that comes along to help us. Then we'll take it and drive like fuck."

Kai shook his head, trying to deny what he knew was their only real option. "That's another black mark against our name."

Tala quirked an eyebrow and even in the dark Kai could sense his flippancy. "We've already murdered. What worse can we do? Some one will be along soon. This road hasn't exactly been deserted." As if he could sense Kai's displeasure at this plan, Tala put his hand onto Kai's wet shoulder. "It's for the greater good, Kai. You know that."

"I suppose I do," Kai replied, brushing Tala off.

"We'll leave the car unlocked so they've at least got somewhere to sit until they get help, if that makes you feel any better. Go get our bags and I'll stay here and turn on my charm."

What charm? Kai asked himself as he watched three cars drive by consecutively, none stopping. Shaking his head, he reached into the trunk and hauled out the two suitcases. The rain had gotten even heavier and from the sound of the thunder, the storm was getting nearer them. It was the least of his worries, but Kai felt better to concern himself with that than with the real problem at hand – what would happen if they don't find a vehicle to hijack?

Another fifteen minutes passes and from the five cars – Kai counted them as they drove by, determined that when it got to twenty they start to walk – that had passes, none of them had even indicated that they saw them boys standing in the pouring rain clearly having vehicular problems of their own. Finally, after a further ten minutes, a blue mustang pulled up beside them and a middle aged man rolled his window and peered out at them. Kai noticed that he seemed like a well to do kid of guy who seemed as if he always wanted to lend a hand. He had that sort of pleasant but not memorable face. Kai wondered that they'd even remember it when they drove off after leaving him stranded. He also wondered wither or not the man would have a cell phone with which he could call for help with. He hoped so.

"Car trouble fellas?" The man asked with a Tennessean touched that came out as 'caa traable fellers'.

Kai didn't have to look at Tala to picture the act he was putting on. His face turned sheepish as he rubbed his arm. "Yeah, we can't get her to start and in this weather we can't even see under the hood enough to find out what's wrong. Don't suppose you have a flashlight on you?" The man nodded slowly and fished a torch out from somewhere in his car. Tala accepted it with what Kai suspected was gratitude and Tala looked under the propped up bonnet with the aide of the luminescent light. Kai saw that he was one hell of an actor as he screwed up his face in puzzlement. "I can't seem to find anything the matter. Don't suppose you know anything about cars?"

He nodded self-importantly and proudly. "'Bout that I do. Used to be a mechanic back in my high school days. Let me have a look at it and see if I can teach you a thing or two about a thing or two."

Kai bided his time as the man got out of his car, leaving the door ajar enough for him to slip in without being seen and the ignition running. He saw Tala watch him out of the corner of his eye as the Tennessean – or so Kai assumed – became engrossed in the gadgets and gizmos under the metal cover. Slowly, Kai put the suitcases in the passenger seat on to opposite side, watching carefully to see if the man was looking up at all.

"Tala now," Kai spoke in a calm voice that didn't sound as if anything out of the ordinary, such as a car-jacking, was about to take place. He ran around the side of the car and got into the passenger seat, ignoring the fact that he was seated on top of the suitcases. Tala shoved the man out of his way hard enough for him to hit the ground with an 'ooff' and got into the driver's seat. "Drive!"

Tala did a clean u-turn and drove at the top speed the mustang could manage. Kai watched as the Tennessean followed them as the drove off with his car in dismay. He began to laugh in relief as he sat back into the car seat in his sodden clothes. He wanted to get out of them badly but wasn't about to insist the pull over to allow him to do it. Besides Tala seemed happy enough judging by the tone of his laughter too.

"What a fucking rush man," Tala said. "For a moment there I thought we were going to have to walk the rest of the way. Holy shit…"

"Yeah, well we're not out or danger yet. He's going to alert the cops pretty damn soon and if they've got the smarts they're going to put two and two together and get four."

"By that time we'll be way ahead of them. And we can just take some of the side roads. They can't look at all of them, right?"

"If they're desperate enough," Kai said quietly, "they'll try anything." He hoisted the suitcases out from under his body and thrust them into the backseat. "We've got to get to the border as soon as we can."

"Right, right," Tala said, waving his hand in dismission that was beginning to irritate Kai. "Will you calm down? We're fine."

"We're not fucking fine!" Kai spat. "Garnet's dead, Hilary's gone and every policeman this side of America wants us to hang. I don't call that fine. I call that pretty fucking messed up."

Tala turned to look at Kai and he was silent. "Didn't they abolish hanging?"

Kai glared at him.

"Okay, I'm sorry. But Christ, you've got to relax. I've tried getting worked up and it doesn't help so the only thing to do is just take it as it comes." Kai didn't look at him and instead fixed his attention on the flashes of lightning that were dancing in the sky. "Where are we now?"

"Texas," Kai replied with some humour.

"No shit, Sherlock. Check the map."

Kai sat up erect. His hands went to his pockets but he knew it was in vain. In his mind, the image imprinted there was their map lying on the dashboard with their route clearly marked out black ink. He hadn't even any idea how the hell they could get to the border without using the roads they'd picked so a change or route could and would get them lost or in the wrong location.

"What's the chances of you lifting it as you went out the car?" Kai asked. It was Tala who'd been using it last but even if it hadn't been, Kai knew he wouldn't have thought to take it either.

Tala looked at him in sheer dread. "Please don't tell me what I think you're telling me?"

Kai, sorrowful, nodded. "It's not here."

Suddenly, Tala's mouth felt and tasted like sandpaper. "What do we do? Did you look at any of the roads besides the ones we're planning to take?"

"I didn't even think to do that."

"Shit."

"You said it," Kai agreed. "Look, its not the end of the world, right? We've just got to hope that we can get there before the cops do. I mean, they might not even look at it at first. They're going to want to interview the guy whose car we stole so that'll probably be their first priority."

"Bull. Shit. And you know it." Tala said accusingly. "The very first thing they're going to do when they discover one of the names exchanged was Tala" – at this point he gave a meaningful look in Kai's direction that was read as 'you dipshit' – "they're going to be going through everything in that car with a fine toothed comb."

"Who's the pessimist now?"

"Not the one who gave it away, that's the hell for sure." Kai could sense real venom in his voice.

"You're using a tone that I'm pretty fucking sure I don't like, Tala. They were going to put a name to our faces anyway, wither or not we gave them them."

Tala bit his lip. "I'm sorry but this is just…great. And that's sarcasm, by the way. You should know it well."

"The only thing we can do is to keep driving the way we planned and hope to God that He understands our predicament."

"You should stop talking about God, Kai, and stick where you're better acquainted. But I get what you're saying." Tala eased his foot off the accelerator to allow him to change gear. He wasn't used to this car but it ran like a dream. "No matter what, we're not going to stop for anything. If you need to piss, you do it out the window. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"Good."

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