Windstar: I'm posting this a bit earlier then intended. In all honesty, since I only get about five reviews anyway for this story - I figure after I get around that amount it's meaningless to hold out any longer. Especially because this story is delightfully finished. It's good to see that everyone's all curious about the rings. Hearing everyone's enthusiasm on the topic has even got me excited. This is an "explaining" chapter I suppose. I hope you all enjoy!
On another note, thank you very much to everyone who's expressed their regards to my current situation. It means a lot to me to hear your kind words. Best wishes to you all!
Disclaimer: Same.
PS: A quick quiz: which line has been repeated in both this chapter, last chapter, and OTT? A cookie to the winner...metaphorically at least.
Chapter Thirteen:
Three was bored out of his fucking mind. The most that he'd been accomplishing over the past few hours had been staring up at the ceiling and counting the various nicks in the masonry. It wasn't a particularly enjoyable task, nor was it at all entertaining, but it had its purposes. (Although it did have him thinking about the Cask of Amontillado, which soon had him thinking about how good it would be to feel totally plastered right now.) Still though, he had amusement in other ways as well.
For instance, if someone asked him: how many nicks are there in the ceiling; he could answer without a doubt that there were four thousand seven hundred and ninety two nicks in the ceiling. Why this had any importance at all was easily answered by; 'it shows that I'm simply not doing nothing'.
Of course none of this made him feel entertained, or even made him feel at all at ease with the situation as it stood. He was annoyed at the fact that he had been able to count all the nicks, and he wondered if he had counted too many or too little. That train of thought made him decide he was going to count them over again. A vague question of insanity flitted through his mind, but he ignored it. Still, counting was hard. When he was at seventeen hundred and fifty nine nicks the door to his cell was thrown open and he came face to face with Ivan Papov. The small man raised his eyebrow at the sight, but didn't otherwise react. He marched in the room and handed him a plate of food.
"Why thank you." He said politely as he reached for it.
"Don't thank me, thank the family." Three found himself laughing at that and nodded along.
"I will when I see them, and who might you be, Mr. Guard?" The other frowned.
"I'm not your guard. More of a delivery boy while the others are helping out a friend."
"Well that's very nice of them. I hope everything works out." He smiled brightly, the only part of his face that Ivan could see and the other nodded along.
"You're rather polite considering your situation."
"Oh I just take things with a smile."
"I can see that."
"Besides, at least this way I get fed semi decent food opposed to the awful muck I usually ate back home!"
"If you can call that food." Ivan motioned towards the plate of mush and the bread the other was using to absorb the gook.
"It's very good – nutritional too!"
"Right...well...I'm going to be leaving now."
"I hope your friend is doing well." Three said smiling up at him, and Ivan nodded briefly, clearly odded out by the exchange. The door closed and locked and that was that. Three sighed and the smile faded from his face. He looked back at the mush and felt his stomach tense slightly as he thought about eating it. "Bastard midget didn't give me any pepper in my gook."
Down the hall somewhat, Two was not counting ceiling nicks. In fact, he was contemplating how the hell to get out of this hell hole. His chest burned from where they had put a brand on it, and even though it had been months he'd gotten far too many infections there for it to fully heal.
He'd been extremely close to dying that one point, and so his immune system hadn't been up to keeping infections from the sore. His hand pressed against it and he hissed slightly as he tried to ignore the burning sensation. The door opened and he glanced over towards it.
"Ian?" He could hardly believe what he was seeing, and the other stared at him for a moment before frowning.
"What happened to mission protocol?" Ivan asked simply as he glanced over to him.
"Didn't realized getting captured on a mission meant that I was still adhering to it."
"Well now you do."
"When did you come back in the fold?" Two asked as he pushed himself up from where he had been laying down and stared at Ian intently.
"Since you two decided to get caught." He answered back with a frown.
"Nice to know we're so loved. How's everyone doing?"
"They're doing fine, if you don't count the fact that Kiril's in the hospital." Ivan murmured softly as he looked at the other. Two shot up faster then the eye could see. He was on his feet and he was heading towards Ivan in a flash.
"What the hell do you mean he's in the hospital?"
"He saw you two get caught...he went into shock and has been in a coma for the past eight months as far as we know..." Two's face was paler then pale. "Doctors haven't said that anything is wrong with him besides, more like he's taking a nap or something..."
"Adrien?"
"He's been watching out for him."
"Adeline?"
"She's in hiding." Ivan looked at Two closely. "Look, you need to be careful, do you understand what I'm saying? You can't just talk to us like everything's okay. We're all on mission here."
"Yeah, I know, but-"
"Calm yourself, we'll take care of things on our end if you take care of things on yours." Two nodded, biting his lip. "You can't let them know that we know you two are in here. Kai told Anna about you, but you cant let anyone know that she's on the look out for you both."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. She looks good." He was smiling. Ivan nodded.
"Yeah...she does...now you should get some rest. You've got a long hard day ahead of you." Two nodded and watched as Ivan walked out of the door. Sighing heavily he closed his eyes and prayed.
Prayed for the little boy that was at such a complete loss and was so completely alone in the world.
It would be another two months before anything of significant happened next. In that time, Kiril Ivanov was finding that he was growing more and more pissed off at his family members.
"I'm telling you, I don't care what they're doing I want to figure out what the fuck they're up to." Kiril hissed as he stalked out of the hospital and straight into the car that they had prepared to take them back to the campus. Adrien was trailing behind him feeling foolish, but he just couldn't help it. He didn't know what else to say. "You don't know where they are?"
"All I know was that they're in Mecca. I don't know why."
"Well I'm going to find out."
It didn't take long for them to make it to headquarters. The driver hadn't been exactly keen to let them go in, but they hadn't really given him a choice. They got out and they made it into the building. After a few minutes of fumbling around and avoiding guards, the two boys made it to Bryan's office.
They figured he'd be the best bet since he was the last one that had left. He would have the most information on what was going on. Kiril sat down at the computer, and once again they closed the blinds to the room and waited in silence as Kiril did his work.
Bryan's computer was a little bit harder then Tala's, and it took a bit more time, but in the end – Kiril got in just as he had before. He'd had been trained in the past on how to get into things like this, it was just one of the many things they learned in the Abbey. His brother's and Kai's were the hardest to get into without the password. They literally set up firewalls that were impossible to get through. The very fact that Kiril knew his password was the only reason he got in. Now though...now was just a matter of good hacking.
He opened up a series of files and started to look through them, when one file in particular caught his attention. FO1MIA. Freedom Officer 1...Tala...Missing in Action. He double clicked it, and waited, his eyes running through it as slowly his heart dropped into his stomach.
Kiril stared at the file he had just opened. Adrien was standing just a little ways behind him, his face pale and his eyes wide. Clearly he was having difficulty accepting what he was watching as well. Kiril though…he was in shock. His heart had all but stopped in his chest. A few things stuck out in his mind. First and foremost:
One – Anna Jones was alive and well in Mecca.
Two – She was working for the same people who had been responsible for Marcus' death all those years ago.
Three – Tala was supposedly killed by that same group.
Four – He might still be alive. They may have captured him…and by capture (he was using the term lightly) he meant enslave him, pin him down to a table, and torture him until he was so delirious from pain and so close to actual death that there was a chance he really wasn't alive in the first place.
Photos had appeared before him. Images of a delirious red head who was being branded cruelly with an iron that was more appropriate for cattle then in relation to any type of human. Kiril wouldn't have wished this on his worst enemy – which at the moment was turning very much into Anna herself. His heart was literally burning with hatred for her as he read the file that was discussing the actions that she had done over the past few years; actions that had led to the horrible mistreatment of Tala and included young Alessandar who was still MIA along with his commander.
Blue eyes haunted Kiril as he stared at the photos that appeared on Bryan's desktop. Blue eyes that were dizzy with pain and wide with shock. At twenty eight years of age, Tala was completely and totally broken as he stared up at the camera. He looked horrible and he didn't look like he was at all, in any way, capable of trying to get a hold of his faculties.
Anger coursed through Kiril's body as he read the information that was presented before him. Hot burning anger ate like fire to wood as he stared at the screen. His brother stared back, stared back in a pleading way that he had never had in the past. After everything that had happened in that man's life, this had to have been the worst. Kiril had never once seen his brother beg. He'd never once seen his brother plead for anything. Tala easily took what he wanted without caring in the slightest about what it took to get there. In that photo though…Tala was broken.
He hated Anna for daring to be involved with the group that had caused this. Inadvertently her involvement had to have in some way affected Tala who was pleading with whoever it was that was watching to stop the actions that were occurring to stop. He had fallen from grace…and it was her fucking fault. It was her fault. She had been responsible for it. He knew it! He knew it!
Tala, who had lived a lifetime of pain and suffering, was dying or dead. It wasn't pretty either way. None of the images that were on Bryan's computer were pretty. The redhead had suffered, could still be suffering. For ten long months sweet Tala…gentle Tala…had been going through this treatment.
His brother, his father, his role model, and the one person he wanted to impress more than any other. Anna had torn out his soul. Now she had played a part in destroying his body. She had played a part in this torture, even if it was simply her interactions with the organization that was responsible for it.
Ever since the crash all those years ago, Tala had had a bad reaction to fire. He had always been fine with it before; Kiril could easily recall times in that once happy life that Tala had been playing with it. He would laugh and joke around with Kai. They would act like nothing could hurt them. For what else could? What else could hurt them now that they had survived the Abbey?
But after the crash, after that plane had fallen to the ground and scorched him brutally and left him with a severe disability for the longest time – he was different. He was very different. He couldn't play with the fire like he used to. He couldn't laugh and joke and tease Kai about it. He couldn't even look at it. He maintained a terrible and severe fear of fire that was prevalent in almost anything he did.
Kai used to tease him. He would send a puff of smoke here, or a blaze there. Now he was lucky if Dranzer could even be seen. There was something in Tala's eyes that ignited such a fear when he saw the flames of burning embers. His fingers would inch towards his legs and he would cast his eyes downwards. Shame seemed to play through his body when he saw Dranzer.
The bird oddly wasn't teasing any longer. It wasn't happy and cuddly like it used to be. Whenever she was around the ice child, she would gently rest her head on Tala's shoulders almost enveloping him in her wings. Tears would always fall from Tala's eyes and he would always apologize. Again and again, sobbing heart-breakingly to the bird for reasons no one but Kai ever seemed to understand. Kai would look away and if someone was caught watching the sight he would send them away.
No one was allowed to view those private moments in which Tala's heart broke…and no one understood why it was that such occurrences happened in the first place. Kiril never did. He never understood it. Perhaps it was because the last time he'd witnessed such events had been right when he had at long last returned to the school and he was so heart broken by everything he couldn't understand.
The Officers probably knew what had happened…but that didn't matter. Ian buried his head in the sand and walked out on them, Bryan and Spencer never talked about it, and Kai was the all knowing and all concealing.
So no one could explain why it was Tala had always apologized to Dranzer. Kai never spoke about what he'd done to help Tala walk again…to heal his wounds. Kai never said anything about how he'd saved his brother's life, but from the horrible sadness that would overcome them whenever Tala was near the bird of healing, one could only guess.
Besides Dranzer though, Tala couldn't handle even a small flame. Candles even made him start awkwardly. It was why the branding truly had been a needlessly cruel show of torment towards the young man who was broken enough by any and all thoughts of fire.
Tala's eyes had grown wide and in the photo one could easily see the rigid fear that raced through his body. He was hyperventilating. Tears were in his eyes. He gasped – you could see it! You could see his terrified gasp of fear as he stared at the brand as it came closer and closer.
That burning hot iron that would crease into his skin and mark him for the rest of his life. It had been cooking right in front of him. His wrists were tied down to the table. He was struggling. You could see the blood seeping from his wrists as he stared at the brand that was coming closer and closer. Sweat had started to bead on his forehead. He was already horribly wounded from the explosions, and now this...
If you watched the pictures in sequence you could see it all. You could see the horrified widening of his eyes, the muscles on his stomach tightening as his abs tried to push himself up. You could see the muscles of his arms rippling as he tried to tug at the bonds that held him down. He screamed to the gag – you could see his throat constricting!
The sounds it must have made, you could hear the Arabic now; the Arabic and Italian that was mixed together into a conglomerate of dark and overbearing words that were all aimed at frightening him. Were they laughing? Yes, Kiril could see it in the background. They were laughing at him. Laughing at the man that was going to be marked like cattle. The wolf that was chained down like a dog.
Kiril only had to close his eyes and he could imagine the fighting spirit his brother must have maintained. From what he remembered, his brother had been half out of his mind. He had been thrown heavily into various walls; he'd been shot numerous times. He was bleeding painfully. He was in so much pain before that he was concussed and unfocused. He had been delirious then.
Now…what was he now? It didn't take much to guess. Now he was even worse.
They had branded his chest as a warning, but Kiril couldn't help but note that all it did was give him the brief bit of hope that it meant that his beloved older brother was still alive.
You could see the horrible pain. You could see the terrible fear. Kiril's heart broke as he stared at his gentle brother's clear trauma. A part of him wished that he were dead. At least then the redhead wouldn't be so scared…
But he wasn't dead. He was still alive…they didn't show them killing him. They showed them branding him. Branding him as though he were livestock…but branding him none the less. He was alive…and there would be no point in branding dead livestock. It was an oxymoron.
"Adrien." Kiril ordered as he closed everything down and looked up at his friend. The younger teen nodded to show that he was aware. "We're leaving."
"Where to?"
"Mecca. How's your Arabic?"
"My French is better... yours?" Kiril smiled.
"Like my brother would have let me slide with anything less then perfect." Adrien nodded. He'd been modest before, he was perfectly fluent – same as Kiril.
The dark anger that coursed through Kiril could not be denied. Even Adrien understood that. Despite their constant fighting, Tala was Kiril's world. He was Kiril's everything. He wouldn't be able to handle it if he didn't get his revenge. He wanted to know the facts. Was Luka alive? Was he dead? Could he kill Anna because she killed Luka? He was pissed off. He was seething mad, and he was seeing red.
Damn Anna for being so cruel. Damn her to hell! Tala didn't deserve what she had given him.
The pair left the ISA and went back to the school. They had all watched the older boys when they prepared for missions, what did they need? Very simply:
They needed guns.
They needed knives.
They needed a communication device.
They needed a laptop
They needed mission parameters.
They needed ground intel.
Very few of these things did they actually have.
It didn't matter though. They both were seeing red and they both wanted to get vengeance for what was done to their dearest Commander. Tala Ivanov was family, and he was someone that all of Russia should have grieved for. Not just Kai who was not only losing his brother but also Adeline and -
The door opened to their room and the two looked up quickly to stare at the blonde who all but appeared out of nowhere. She was looking at them with calculating eyes that could see through everything. She seemed to be back to her normal self again, and she wasn't showing signs of distress at all, but seeing as how she was there – they were instantly chastened. They knew she wouldn't approve.
"You're going to get yourselves killed if you go to Mecca." She told them softly as she looked at what they were doing.
"We're not-"
"Don't take me for a fool Kiril, I've known you both since you were nothing but toddlers!" She snapped, walking forwards into the room. She grabbed Kiril and Adrien and forced them onto a bed so they were sitting down and looking up at her. Clearly she had more strength to her then her body made it seem like she did. For being so small, she had quite the commanding aura. Must have come with the territory when she was dubbed a Princess."I know how you both think! If you two aren't always running around causing trouble then I wouldn't know what to think. It's been four months Kiril! Four months since you woke up and you've already started to cause trouble!"
"I'm not causing trouble I'm getting out of your hair. You have enough things to worry about with-"
"I know!" She snapped, her bright eyes glaring down at him. "Don't you think I know that! Don't you think it's on my mind every second of every day!? But you're my family too! You're my nephew! I'm not going to just sit here and watch you go off and get yourself killed just because you're too stubborn to sit this one out!"
Kiril scowled as he looked up at her. He did not want to hear the family speech from her. She was not his family. Even though technically she could be considered his Aunt, she was not his blood relation...on that note. Neither was Kai. He knew that the Officers had all shared blood at some point or other, but that didn't make Kai family in anything but name. Regardless of how close Tala had been to him, they were not the same.
A cold shudder ran through his body. Then why do you take Kai's true name as your own? And he responded: Why does Tala take Kai's true name as his own? To which it replied: Because sometimes it isn't about blood.
Sometimes it was about love.
Adeline loved him, he knew that. In some odd way he knew that he loved her too. He wanted to keep her safe. He wanted to keep her from harm...
But that didn't mean he was just going to let her get away with yelling at him. He was already pissed off at Anna. Now Adeline was simply adding on to everything. He was not impressed, and he did not like it at all. He felt himself growing more and more pissed off at her. How dare she tell him what to do. She was no better then Anna. Manipulative and conniving she just wanted to be in charge of everything and she wasn't really doing it to help them...No she was just being a nuisance!
He got to his feet and his temper flared even harder as she looked down at him with clear defiance and with total cool. His fist clenched, and she simply raised an eyebrow as though she were asking him if he knew exactly what he was doing. He did. He knew he did. In his mind he saw Anna standing before him. Anna who betrayed him, who killed his brother, Anna who was responsible for all their turmoil and why he couldn't have a normal family. He drew his hand back and she stayed motionless, but even as it let it fly he knew it would never get there. He sensed Adrien moving.
The brunette caught the fist before it even thought about connecting with Adeline's pretty face. Adrien was staring at him with cool passivity, not apologizing in the least. He looked at him calmly and even though Kiril was horribly pissed off at his friend, he knew that he had done right by reacting as he had.
I didn't remember that...I didn't remember punching...I just remember him stopping me from doing it...what is this?
"Don't Kiril." Adrien told him softly.
"Are you challenging me?" It was the first time Adrien had ever done so, but the brunette was shaking his head.
"If you strike her, Kai will kill you."
"Kai wouldn't kill me."
"Kai would murder you in cold blood and not think about you for the rest of his life if you even thought about it. You know that as well as I do." He said simply. "If I stop you now, I know you're not going to be murdered later." Kiril glowered at his friend.
"You're challenging me!"
"Kai would kill you so quickly that you never would have gotten the chance to move let alone be able to apologize. You can't hit her!" Adrien said with a little bit more oomph in his voice. He was deadly serious on this one. Adeline was watching the scene with avid interest.
It looked like Adrien had grown a backbone in his time apart from Kiril.
"Fine, whatever." Kiril hissed and Adeline coughed slightly to draw his attention to her.
"Listen to me Kiril. You don't understand the complexity of what's going on in Mecca."
"Of course I do. Isn't that why you're hiding out here with the brats?" Her face flushed slightly, and he dug deeper. "Or is it that you're ashamed to go home? Or you know that Kai is just abandoning you for another cause? This is how it's going to be Addy. Kai's going to find another moral compass and it's going to point him in the complete opposite direction of this place. Even if he comes home this time, who says he'll come back next time? Who says he'll even care?" Her eyes hardened and he glanced down at her hands where they were struggling to not clench at her sides. Bracelets and rings that all probably meant something important adorned them. He cracked a grin. "I bet you he doesn't wear one." He said as he looked at her. "What's he got to hide? Is he ashamed to have you as a girl?"
I didn't mean that. I didn't mean that! It was an accident! I never said that! I never said that!
"Kiril. You never did know when to shut up." She snapped as she looked at him.
"Oh ho! Now I know I've pissed you off, you're cursing at me." Adrien fumbled awkwardly as he looked between the two. He personally had no problems with Adeline. She was a lovely girl who was always there whenever he needed her for some reason or other. Kiril was just in one of those moods where he wanted to damn everyone to hell. Even the ones that were being nice to him.
"Kiril, what on Earth is your problem, why are you saying these things to me? Have I ever done something to offend you?"
"Yes!" He snapped as he stalked forwards. Adrien tensed, ready in case Kiril decided to let one fly towards the woman. "You had to go and get with Kai-"
"I was with him before you even met him, you foolish child!" She hissed back, face flushing as she started to get more and more worked up.
"Well you didn't need to sleep with him! You're such a fucking whore. You can't even wait to get married before you go and get-" She threw her hand up into his face, and even though it wasn't a strike, Adrien had moved to block it. He grabbed her wrist, but she didn't care. She was shoving her hand so Kiril could see it.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I was married over a year ago." She snapped, glowering at him. He stared at her hand for a moment, his mouth open. "Kai asked me May 7, 2013." He felt his anger coming back again.
"Mikhail...he asked you on the day that Mikhail died!?" He shouted.
"Yes! He asked me to be apart of his family on the anniversary of the day part of his family left! He asked me to be with him while he was feeling alone! I agreed you stupid boy! I agreed and because my parents wouldn't accept it, Kai and I got married with only five witnesses at a church in France following all the procedures that we needed to make the union true. We were married only two weeks after he asked me, and for the past year and a half he's been trying to get HE to have an office in France so that he could actually see me!"
Kiril's eyes were wide. He blinked once, twice, but he didn't know what to say...couldn't know what to say. He was at a complete and total loss. He was so confused. He didn't know which way was up and which way was down anymore. All he could do was stare. "But...I-"
"No one was supposed to know about it! Only the other Officers and one close friend knew about it originally, and the rest of my family just started to understand what happened last year. You aren't the center of the world Kiril. You may have once been a candidate for being the Prince of it, but you need to get it through your head that you're not the Prince of the World. You're Kiril Ivanov, and other people have lives besides you!" She shouted, eyes flashing in anger. "Do you realize that when I discovered what had happened I couldn't even think about telling my husband because he was trying to balance what was going on with HE and the school and the ISA all at the same time?! Do you realize that when you ran off to find Donahue, he was pulled into that mission and I couldn't distract him enough from to tell him he was going to be a father?!
"Do you understand the gravity of the situation when I tell you that I need to stay here, in hiding, because people are going for anyone and anything that can make Kai bleed – and it will kill him to know that he was the cause of something that happened to us? Can I even begin to shove into your head the fact of the matter which is very simply: Kai hasn't even been able to have a free moment just to be with his children because he's being dragged from one place to another so much?
"It's killing him that he had to leave! It's killing him to the point of insanity. He's only seen his children once in person since they were born-"
"Well that's the definition of love. I heard there were some pretty fun arguments while I was out too-"
"For the purposes of it appearing as though I wasn't going to be an impact in his life! To keep me safe! To keep Jeannine and Nikoli safe!"
"Well it doesn't sound like love to me."
"You're just a foolish child who doesn't know any better! A foolish child that's going to run over to Mecca to be killed because he doesn't know how to keep himself out of trouble. You're a complete and total fool!" Tears were stinging her eyes.
Kiril couldn't understand. He wasn't able to understand. He was so completely different and so completely unaware of what was happening around him, that there was no way that he could understand the huge sacrifice that both of them had made by doing what they had done. She had all been renounced as an heir, and he was completely being black balled every step he made in France. Her mother was trying to force them apart. She was tying her to duties and was forcing him away so his French Office was starting to tumble slightly.
Despite the benefit France could reap from the company, her family was refusing him so many access points so that he could be with his bride. That on top of everything else...her labor had been a long and hard one that had been painful and lonesome.
Kai had just stepped through the door. He was exhausted and tired and weak. He fumbled a few steps as he tried to focus and remember just where exactly this room was. He closed his eyes and tried to wave off the dizziness that was crashing into his skull. He was so tired...so very tired...
"Kai! Kai!" A boy, he couldn't remember his name for the life of him, ran up to him quickly, eyes wide.
"Yes...?" He mumbled as he tried to stand upright. When was the last time he'd eaten? He couldn't recall...
"It's Miss Adeline!" Instantly his focus snapped back to where it should have been all along.
"What's wrong with her, is she alright?" The boy didn't seem know whether to be excited or scared, so he settled on just excitement with the situation. Good or bad, he didn't know.
"The baby-" He paled. "They said the baby was coming!" He looked at his watch. It would take him five hours to get there if he took his personal shuttle. Then he hesitated. It was too early. It was too early. It was too early. It was too early.
It was too early.
It was too early.
It was too early.
It was too early.
He felt that dizziness overcome him again as his mind only raced through those four words. He was hyperventilating. He couldn't see straight. The exhaustion was overcoming him. He teetered slightly.
The boy in front of him yelped and started to scream for help as he crashed to his knees, hands going to his head as he tried to focus but couldn't. Someone ran up next to him and he soon felt his arms being grabbed as he was roughly turned to look at Spencer who was shaking him.
"Focus Sacha!" Spencer shouted. Kai didn't even know where he'd come from, but he started to feel everything coming down on him. Somewhere nearby, Adrien was watching from a doorway. Fear had settled on his features, and he trembled slightly as he watched his father-figure fall.
"It's too early – the baby, it'll die!" He gasped as fat tears started to fall down his face. He was shaking visibly now. Panic had set in. He was terrified.
"Well sitting here and crying about it isn't going to help you! You have a lady who needs you right now, so get on that plane and go be there for her!" Kai nodded.
"Right. Plane-" He stopped short, eyes growing wide. He shook his head slightly, hands gripping his hair. "Dear God, I can't be on a plane right now."
"Well you're not going to get very far by driving!" Spencer snorted as he looked at his brother for a moment. "Darial, get Bryan and inform him that his Corps are going to be in charge. Send him down with his coat. Tell him we're leaving." The boy nodded and ran off. As much of an inconvenience as this was, he wasn't going to let Kai get on a plane by himself when he was such a mess already. He galnced towards where Adrien was standing nervously. He motioned for him to come forwards, and the teenager flew to them.
So with Bryan and Dri on either his side, Spencer escorted Kai onto the aircraft and within moments they were flying high. The whole while he was jumpy and jittery and praying with his head down. His arms were wrapped around his adopted child's body. All four of them were praying. They just closed their eyes and prayed. For five hours straight...they prayed for the little baby that was about to be born.
Meanwhile Adeline was screaming at her family who were suffocating her with their lies and their presences. They were surrounding her to the point of insanity and as the doctors and nurses started to run about and try to help her she could only lay there and cry as she prayed too for her husband to come and for the baby to survive.
"You see! You see what a state that boy has put you in!" Her mother was shouting as she looked at her. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she tried to block them out. "You wouldn't be like this if it weren't for him!"
"He's-he's my husband!" She cried as a stabbing pain shot through her.
"He's an animal! He only wanted to claim that which was not his! He is not a suitable match!" The woman screamed, her voice shrill and grating as her daughter's pretty face became more and more drenched with sweat. "This was not like it when I had you. The union was pure then! This is God cursing-"
"Do shut up mother!" She shouted at long last as she glowered at her.
"The nerve! How dare you!"
And so it went. For five hours she sat there in misery as she tried to continue the process, and for five hours Kai was flying towards her as fast as he could. When his plane finally had touched down he was running on forty eight hours without sleep and he was struggling to keep upright, but he was moving fast.
Him and his two brothers and child raced through the streets of France until they came at long last to the mansion that Adeline lived in. His first response had been "Why isn't she in a hospital?" and Spencer hissed something about tradition.
By the time they finally made it to the front gate, the guard wouldn't let them in! He continued to say something about how he wasn't allowed under any circumstance. Well, that didn't go over too well with Bryan and Spencer who pounced on him and forcibly made their entrance. Screw it if they called the cops!
They combed the halls until finally they made it to the one that doctors and nurses and the like were rushing about towards and Kai used his last breath of energy to shove open the door and see his wife who was gasping at just about the climax of her labor.
"S-Sacha!" She shouted, one hand snapping out to take his.
"The nerve! Out! Out you mongrel!" He ignored his mother in law and forced himself to his wife's side. Taking her hand in his he kissed her as gently as he could on her forehead, and rested his free hand on her cheek. Adrien was shivering worriedly, he'd never seen his supposed grandmother this way. Whenever she'd seen her the woman had been kind to him. She'd never liked the fact that he had been adopted, but at the same time it was understood he'd never be France's heir. Seeing her howling mad was making him jumpy and he wasn't sure he understood why. Weren't births supposed to be a happy time?
"Sorry 'm late..." He slurred as he tried to keep himself upright.
"Is he drunk!?"
"No you pompous ass, he hasn't slept in so long that he shouldn't even be standing right now." Bryan snapped as he glowered at the pair who were doing nothing but berate these two's union. He put his hands on the teenager's shoulders in order to calm his nerves. The doctors were telling Adeline to push and that she was almost there, and so she nodded and did as they said. Kai didn't really know what it was he was supposed to do, so he held her hand and he whispered sweet nothings into her ear and told her how much he loved her.
"Who on earth are you?" Her mother asked, in awe. Adrien flinched and looked awkwardly at the two Officers behind him.
"They're his playmates dear." Her husband responded coldly, he may not exactly be thrilled in how Kai had shown up, but he accepted his presence near his child. Barging in with these two friends of his when his daughter was so exposed, however, was not exactly his idea of a good thing. "Adrien, child, come here would you?" The teenager glanced at the two Officers, unsure of what side he was supposed to be on at the moment, but Bryan released his shoulders so he assumed that meant that he was supposed to go towards the older man. The Prince put an arm around him gently rubbing his back.
Adeline squeezed Kai's fingers until they hurt, but he didn't care. He knew it would not be a fraction of the pain she was feeling. Even when her nails dug into his skin and he felt blood start to fall, all he could think of was that one day he was going to explain to his child, his child that he got those scars when he or she was born.
"I see the head!" someone shouted and then suddenly with a mighty effort, there was a baby's cry in the darkness of the room. Kai couldn't help himself, he looked away for a brief moment to see the child. A boy...he could tell that right away, but his sleep deprived mind made him blink twice as he stared at it.
Were children supposed to look like that when they were born? He didn't know. He'd never seen a newborn child.
But Adeline was still gasping for air, and he looked back at her in confusion.
"Addy?" He whispered as he stared at her. She looked up at him, panicking slightly.
"It still hurts!" She gasped, and suddenly the doctor was back.
"Oh my! You've got at least one more in there!" Both new parents looked up at the doctor as though he were crazy.
"What?!" Both looked at the squirming boy in the nurse's arms, then back to the doctor who was saying something about a head and pushing again. She screamed, tears coming to her eyes. Kai held her hand all the tighter, his exhaustion and confusion obvious as he tried to understand just what was happening. He couldn't have two children, especially not two premature children that were both liable to die at any time. He couldn't handle that. He couldn't!
"Dad?" Adrien whispered as he stared at his father. He blocked everything else out, something was wrong. His grandfather pulled him back even as he went to touch his father's shoulder. The old man wasn't paying too much attention though. He was sending scathing words towards the two Officers in the door.
Kai was teetering, his knees starting to give out as his body yelled at him. It didn't appreciate the effort he was forcing himself to go through. It didn't appreciate it at all. His vision was fading in and out and yet it was sheer will and determination that held him upright. Sheer force of will that made him stay standing long enough to hear the cries of his second child.
"It's a girl!" Someone shouted and that was just about as much as he could handle. Bryan and Spencer were still arguing with Adeline's parents who were so distracted that they didn't quite realize what was happening with their daughter and son in law. Both of whom were staring at their twins in complete and utter shock. Adrien himself didn't look like he quite believed what he was seeing.
"I-I-I..." Kai was staring at both his son and daughter in numb silence. He didn't know what he was supposed to do or say. He was completely at a loss. The doctors were checking Adel who was finally at long last starting to breathe quietly and not the labored sounds of child birth. She was being asked all sorts of questions, and she mumbled answers as Kai struggled to keep himself upright.
One of the nurses was smiling weakly at him and said something in French. Just to prove how out of it was that he was however, he honestly couldn't for the life of him understand a word of what she had said. He blinked at her for a moment and nodded if only because he didn't know what else to do. She walked up to him and pressed his son in his arms and he weakly held the boy to his chest. Adrien finally pulled free and was slowly inching closer two his adopted parents.
One of the physicians yelled for the combatants to shut up seeing as how they were only making the situation out into a bad one when it should have been a happy time. The four looked up to see Kai holding the child blankly, the baby boy staring up at him with wide red eyes that he got from his father.
The Princess's mother immediately started to harp about how he shouldn't be holding the boy like that, but he could only stare at them. He couldn't figure out what on earth they were trying to tell him. The French was getting muddled in his mind, and he was so dizzy and weak at the moment that he couldn't translate the language he'd known for over seventeen years.
He glanced up at his brothers and whispered something in Russian. Adeline reached out and he saw her do so. Out of instinct he passed his son into her arms and just as she took the baby, he fell sharply to his knees.
"Sacha!" She screamed as she looked at him. Bryan and Spencer both were at his side in seconds. They grabbed his arms and tried to steady him, but there was no helping the pure exhaustion that was overcoming him. He blinked up at them blearily and some of the doctors and nurses were starting to come around to check on him. Adrien was tugged back roughly by his grandfather who refused to let him go this time.
"What on earth, is he drunk?!" The mother shouted as she looked at her son in law. The woman's husband though suddenly became very stony faced as he looked at the young man.
"Kutznetsov, when did he get back from his last mission?" He asked as he looked at his lawful son who was so completely out of it by now, Adrien was struggling to get out but he held firm. Kai's eyes had slipped closed and he was breathing very shallowly. Bryan looked up at him seriously.
"Seven hours ago." He replied softly. The man grumbled under his breath and moved to touch Kai's face (all the while forcing Adrien away, the boy's grandmother took him now and he looked at her in anger). Both Russian Officers stiffened at the action and he sighed. "I may not like the fact that they were married without my consent and in such secrecy, but this child has always been a good one in my eyes. I wish him no harm."
"He eloped with our daughter!" His wife shouted, squeezing down tightly on Adrien's arm until the boy finally wrenched free, and the man looked up at her sternly.
"And he flew here to be with our daughter when she needed him, despite his obvious exhaustion. I never once doubted he cared for her, I simply wished that he would have asked me first before marrying her! But I can not, in good faith, see my grandchildren grow up without their father because of my arogance. Especially when this man has done more then he ever should have had to do for the call of duty." He looked at his wife for a long while before turning back to the two Russian Officers. "Take him, if you will, there's a room three doors down the hall to the left. If you would take him there, there's a place he can rest.
When Kai woke up the next day though, it wasn't the sweet face of his Lady that he saw first. Nor even his companions. Not even his children. It was his mother in law who was sitting beside him, her nose upturned as though he were defiling the very room with his stench. He rolled his eyes, and struggled to sit up.
"Your friends are in the precinct down town." He looked over to her, his mouth dropping in dumb awe. "The only reason you aren't joining them is because my fool of a husband seems to think that it would be detrimental to your health to move anywhere until you've been rested."
"You called the police on my friends? For what?" He scowled. He never did like his mother in law. His father in law on the other hand was such a pleasure to be around.
"For breaking and entering."
"Adrien?"
"He's downstairs, with the twins." Now that that was taken care of, Kai's eyes narrowed.
"They're ISA agents, they're most likely not in their cells any longer."
"Be that as it may, I expect you to leave this place immediately."
"I want to see Adeline and the-"
"You will do no such thing!" The woman stood up sharply and towered over him. He looked up at her with steadfast ignorance.
"And why do you say that?"
"You've told my child numerous times that you wanted nothing to do with her, all for the sake of this mission of yours!"
"Yes, well-"
"I know you did it to protect her you foolish boy!" They glared at each other. "You honestly believe that coming here did anything to dissuade your enemies from harming her or her children?!" He froze at that. He'd been so worried for her that he hadn't even considered if someone was watching him. "Leave this place. Don't you ever come back. Leave my child and stay away until you can promise no harm will come to them. Are we clear on this matter?" Kai looked away. He understood perfectly. His heart shattered, but he nodded ever so slightly.
"Alright...I'll go."
As Adeline stared at Kiril she knew that he could never understand the depths of that poor man's heart. Kai would always be someone that the boy thought he could manipulate and bend to his will. As she stared at him, she felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. Her eyes squeezed shut. There was nothing more that she could say.
Turning she left Kiril and Adrien in the room, and walked through the halls of the school to her husband's quarters where she had asked a few of the older boys to look after the twins. Jeanie and Niko were giggling excitedly when she walked in and had held their hands up to be hugged once they saw her. She thanked their baby sitters and they nodded and left after a few minutes, happy to have helped.
Not too long after that she heard a knock at the door, and she looked up to see the only other person who had been aware of her marriage. Kai had been insistent on telling the boy, and Adeline had to admit, she was glad that he had. She could only imagine the betrayal the boy would have felt once he discovered his foster father's marriage to her.
"I'm sorry I grabbed your arm." Adrien whispered softly, shifting awkwardly as he stood in the doorway. She smiled lightly up at him and motioned for him to come inside. He did so and walked towards her, shutting the door behind him. The twins smiled and giggled up at him, and he held out his fingers for them to grab onto. "I didn't hurt you did I?"
"Oh Dri...you didn't hurt me. I shouldn't have moved like that. Thank you for stopping Kiril." She said lightly, and he shrugged.
"I didn't want to see him get killed."
"You're a good boy Dri..." She like nicknames, and usually they were all bastardizations of the real names. Adrien was no different.
"We're still going to go..." He warned her, and she nodded.
"I'm still going to do everything in my power to stop you."
"Take care...mama..." He whispered the last word as quietly as he could, before placing a kiss on her cheek and one on each of the twins heads.
She too had signed on his adoption papers, and while he wholeheartedly was against being a Prince of France, he was more then happy to see his foster siblings be well taken care of. His heart was just big enough to spread his immense love for them too.