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Suzanne: Thanks ever so much for the review, Yeah some of the questions get answered and we find out more about Tony...I think, I reread this chapter about a week ago and I can't remember the content - Brain like a siv. Hope you enjoy this chapter and continue to support it!

I know, I know, I should be updating Hateful Pleasures, Breathless, Bones Reborn, Human...pretty much every story I have on this website. But I just can't summon the energy; I've got stuck in to writing one of my own stories (with my own characters) which I've become very proud of, then I got I completed a short Bleach fanfic, continued another and returned to a third Bleach fanfiction that I had lost interest in. It's all thanks to watching the second Bleach movie (which I think is brilliant!) because my head was full of Bleach characters and my favourite Bleach pairings.
GO Gin x Toshiro!
GO Ichigo x Toshiro!
GO Ichigo x Uryu!

And I had to do all that in between working on my home study course, looking after my family and planning for Christmas...I say planning...what I actually mean is letting me mother deal with all the plannning while I buy Christmas presents most of which are for me ;) Seriously, I'm not good at buying presents; I went in to a charity shop (because I'm a cheap skate) the other day in search of a present for my mum and came out with a Muse CD for me...What? You can't seriously expect me to walk away from a Muse CD? It's not possible.

Anyway, before I completely get sidetracked, here is the next installment which I hope you all enjoy!

WARNINGS: Bad language. The ever possible mistake. Grammar is a little touch and go.

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, nor any of its characters. Any unknown characters most likely belong to me.

Please enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-One: Human Again

"OWW! OW THE PAIN!" Tyson wailed as he rolled on his back and cawed to the ceiling above; Kai winced at the sound but he had to admit Tyson was doing a good job with little resources. Around the dragon Max, Hilary, Daichi and Kenny were howling in alarm and panic, calling out for help and generally doing what the Bladebreakers did best: creating havoc.

Bryan was watching this with a slight ill feeling and he felt a headache coming.

The door crashed opened and a guard skidded in "what's wrong!" he snapped.

"It's Tyson!" screamed Max "he's…he's-"

"OW! THE PAIN! IT'S KILLING ME! HELP! HELP! IT HURTS!" howled Tyson as the guard approached cautiously "I CAN FEEL IT MELTING MY INSIDES! THE PAIN! THE PAIN!"

"Where does it hurt?" asked the guard quite unsure what to do.

"EVERYWHERE! EVERYWHERE!"

"What's going on in here?" demanded a second guard marching in to the room "why is everyone shouting?"

"He's in pain" the first guard informed him over Tyson's cries.

"Well get him a fucking painkiller then!" sneered the second guard looking round at the other prisoners.

The blonde American was by his friend calling for help.

The girl was screaming at the guards trying to make them see Tyson was dying.

The small genius kid was crawling to a corner crying as loud as he could.

The small monkey guy was shouting at Tyson to keep as still as possible.

As for Kuznetsov and Hiwatari-

The second guard looked round the room once again in growing alarm.

"Where's Kuznetsov and Hiwatari?"

The first guard sprang round in a circle as he too realised the absence of the pair.

The guards looked at each other in panic.

They looked back at Tyson.

Tyson chuckled and hefted himself up on to one elbow.

"Why have you stopped screaming!" squeaked the first guard.

Tyson laughed again "because, my friend, you have been duped by the oldest trick in the book!"

The snow crunched under Kai's boots as he reached the front side of the mansion; he looked around for any guards but it was clear, no one was in sight.

No, that wasn't quite true.

There was movement by a carefully pruned tree.

Kai slipped back in to an alcove and peered out; Boris too was sneaking round the gardens. Kai watched as Boris slipped over to one of the cars parked out at the front; Boris unlocked the car, gave a quick glance around before sliding in to the driver's seat and starting the engine.

The phoenix watched and waited until Boris had shut his door and sped out the driveway of the mansion, wheels spinning on the slippery snow. Kai frowned.

Where was Boris going?

He stepped out from his alcove. He didn't have time to think about that now, he had to reach Ray before Tony did; careful to keep out of sight of the front doors he stole his way to the other cars. However, now he was here he wasn't quite sure what to do next.

"Looking for these?"

Kai span round.

Bryan was leaning against a black Mazda car swinging a set of keys round one finger; he smirked at Kai and watched as Kai straightened from behind the car "I believe this car belongs to your mother"

"Where did you get those?" Kai asked.

Bryan shrugged "pick pocketing ain't exactly hard" he turned back to the sleek black car and looked at it critically "so, are we going?"

"We're not going anywhere" Kai growled "I will find Ray by myself, I don't need your help"

"I don't give a damn about the fucking neko-jin!" sneered Bryan "but if it's true and Tony is alive, then I want to see him"

Kai pursed his lips.

"You don't actually have a choice in the matter" the falcon pointed out and he jangled the keys "it's not like you can go anywhere without these"

The phoenix narrowed his eyes "fine"

"Good" Bryan turned to the car "I'm sure Fleur Hiwatari won't mind us borrowing this for a couple of hours"

Kai said nothing; Bryan opened the driver's door and sat in the seat, Kai still stood by the passenger side growling deep in his throat. He didn't want Bryan around him. He didn't want to look at the falcon; his neck still ached from Bryan's attack and his pride had also obtained a massive bruising. The fact he'd allowed Bryan such power over him had hit him hard; never before had he let anyone so close to him, never before had he let anyone hurt him so.

Not since his grandfather had beaten him.

When had he become so weak?

Why hadn't he fought back when Bryan had reached for his neck?

"Are you coming or not?" Bryan asked from inside the car.

"Why did I let you so close?" Kai whispered to himself "why did I let you attack me?"

He sighed, opened the door and slipped in to his seat.

The flames danced in the doorway trapping them in, the heat so intense it stung their skin; their faces glowed red in the light. Ray backed to the farthest wall swallowing with fear; the smoke was thick, as the fire burnt the wet wood of the hut, and it began to seep in through the cracks of the foundations of the very building in which they were trapped.

Ray looked round desperately for Tala and found the redhead pulling up the old floorboards of the hut; reading the wolf's mind Ray dashed forward and forced his fingers between the gaps of the floor, forcing up the old and rotting wood. The smoke clogged their throats; it was filling their lungs but neither the wolf nor tiger allowed it to stop them.

They were trying to get a gap in the fire; their only way out was the doorway where the flames blocked their escape, lapping at the door and flickering on the threshold. The only reason why it was so slow was because the wood of the hut was damp and sodden, the fire was smouldering instead of roaring but it gave Tala and Ray a chance to survive.

They grabbed their wrenched up floorboards and dragged them over to the fire filled doorway; here the smoke was worse, Ray's eyes watered and he choked as the smoke clogged his throat. Tala paused to glance at him but forced his attention back to the fire. If they threw the damp floorboards on the fire in the doorway it would take the fire a moment to take its hold; the fire would be smothered for a fleeting moment and that would be their chance to escape. A blanket would have done the job much better but under the circumstances it was their best chance.

Ray was coughing; he'd been in a fire once before, when he'd been a child. Memories of flames and fears were flying back to him causing him to panic; he remembered being trapped and screaming for help. But the smoke had choked him and he hadn't been able to call; he'd been trapped in that fire all alone, scared and crying as the flames had swept their way towards him.

Even now it was still Ray's worst nightmare.

He was panicking and he knew it; he tried to control himself, tried to regain his calm but the flames and the smoke kept clogging his vision-

A hand grabbed him and next thing Ray knew he was being pulled unceremoniously through the fire on slippery floorboards; he hadn't realised he'd blacked out so uncontrollably and, as he hit the morning light outside, the snow around him seemed to shine through the smoke and the fire.

Tala dragged him on; through the mine field, he was practically dragging the neko-jin on, getting him away from the fire, out of its direction and to safety. He was aiming for the motorbike he'd used to get here; the bike was out the way of the fire which was being blown in the other direction, through the hut, away from the bike and the mine field.

Then he dropped Ray who fell to his knees retching, the neko-jin's shoulder lurched as he landed on hands and knees gasping for air and berating himself; he should have been more help, but instead he'd totally freaked and broken down.

"I'm…sorry!" he panted, "I should have been more help, I was only a hindrance. I'm sorry"

Tala didn't reply. He was standing beside his bike, thinking; he too had been in a fire, the one that had killed his parents. He remembered it only too clearly. He'd tried to save his mother, he remembered, but he'd been too small and weak to do anything; that feeling of uselessness he'd buried deep and it had only surfaced when Boris had punished him as a child for being disobedient.

But now he'd helped Ray.

Somehow that consoled him.

But he pushed the unnatural feeling away. He didn't want to think about it, didn't want to feel it.

He had better things to think about.

For one, how had the fire started?

"Tala" Ray stood and faced the wolf.

Tala leant against the bike and looked at the neko-jin with an emotionless look "what?"

Ray looked at the redheaded Russian; he tried to read the empty blue eyes that stared at him, he wanted to read Tala's mind, he wanted to know what the wolf was thinking. He wanted to know what the wolf was feeling. But, was that even possible? Did Tala himself know what he was feeling? Was he letting himself feel anything?

"Why don't you let yourself feel things?" Ray whispered, "it's alright to feel, you know. It's human to feel"

"Hn!" Tala snorted and looked away from the neko-jin, but Ray didn't let him step back.

"I think I've lost count how many times you've saved my life" Ray continued in a hushed voice as he tiptoed closer to the redhead "first on the Abbey roof, then you came to get me and now you've dragged me from the mouth of a fire" he inched closer still, until their lips were centimetres apart "why? Why do you keep saving me, Tala?"

"Because obviously you're too weak to save yourself!" sneered Tala.

Ray nodded slowly "maybe" he conceded "but, why don't you just let me die?"

Ray's eyes closed as his hands rested on Tala's chest; the neko-jin leant his forehead against Tala's heartbeat. It felt good to know Tala still had a heart pulsing in his body; it was something that told Ray there was something still living inside this seemingly emotionless person.

It gave Ray hope.

"You keep saving me, Tala"

Tala said nothing; he stood there as Ray leant against him, he didn't know what to do. He knew he should push the tiger away but Ray was so warm and Tala could feel the neko-jin's hands on his chest. In some ways he didn't like the contact, but Ray was so gentle, so tender. Tala wanted him to stay.

"I'll make it up to you" Ray muttered as he looked back up again "I promise" tentatively he reached for Tala's lips, ghosting over them with his own "kiss me"

Tala rested his eyes on Ray's and then lowered his gaze to Ray's parted lips; he ran his fingertip over those lips and tried to understand why he was doing this.

What was this new feeling?

The wind blew around them but Tala blocked Ray from the cold.

The neko-jin smiled; he snuggled as close as he could, revelling in this rare moment of quiet.

In their calm state both the wolf and the tiger failed to notice another witness to their momentary serenity.

The figure standing behind the dead tree watched them with curiosity.

Then he looked at the golden eyed boy.

That was the one he wanted.

The silence between Bryan and Kai was almost suffocating; Kai stared pointedly out the window as Bryan drove out the city, the falcon had tried to turn the radio on, only to have Kai savagely turn it off again. The phoenix seemed to know where Ray was but Bryan didn't bother asking how he knew this; it was clear Kai wasn't going to be even civil to him.

Not that Bryan cared about that.

The phoenix appeared to be in a dark mood which only darkened with each passing moment and it wasn't long before Bryan began to wonder if there was something else bothering Kai, as well as his animosity towards Bryan.

The falcon wondered why, soon after the revelation that Boris had always Tony was alive, Kai had become so suddenly concerned about Ray. What was suddenly so special about Ray? Bryan found himself becoming quite annoyed with the damn neko-jin; here he was trying to get not to think that he wanted Kai back and all the phoenix was thinking about was that neko-jin.

"Should have killed that cat when I had the chance" muttered Bryan mulishly.

Bryan had never forgotten his defeat to the tiger; even now he still saw Ray's face clear in his mind in the moment Drigger had smashed Falborg from the dish. He hated Ray and, now the only thing Kai was thinking about was the fucking golden eyed cat thing, Bryan hated him even more. Resented Ray for taking up Kai's thoughts. It wasn't fair. Bryan should be occupying Kai's thoughts, not Ray. Not that cat thing.

"Ray has Black Dranzer" said Kai.

Bryan went skidding through a red light.

Horns blared at them from all sides, Bryan had to swerve in order to escape the path of a huge lorry; the car slid on an icy patch and careered off the road. People screamed and dived out the way just in time as the black car slipped on to the pavement narrowly missing a street light.

Kai swore "Hit the break" he ordered.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Bryan snarled back "why don't you just enjoy the ride?"

He slammed harder on the break narrowly missing a small child and at last came screeching to a halt just inches away from barging straight in to a shop window.

There was a silence.

Then Bryan laughed "you know, I think I'm going deaf" he gasped as the shop owner came out screaming "I could have sworn you just said Ray Kon has Black Dranzer"

The falcon looked at Kai who sighed "you heard right"

"Ray Kon has Black Dranzer?"

"Yes"

"Ray?"

"Yes"

"Kon?"

"Yes"

"Ray Kon has Black Dranzer?"

Kai glared "how many more times are you going to say that? Yes, Ray has Black Dranzer"

Bryan blinked "are you stupid or something?" he asked in disbelief "you're actually telling me that you gave Ray Kon Black Dranzer?"

"That's what I'm telling you" Kai pushed the hair from his eyes.

"What the fuck possessed you to that?" Bryan practically howled "you give it to him as some kinda freaky birthday present or what?"

"I gave it to Ray because I thought we'd all be safe" Kai replied, he growled at himself "I knew that if I kept it I'd be tempted by the power and I'd most likely give in. but, Ray's not like that, he's not power hungry. I thought we'd be safe"

"You fucking moron!" Bryan shook his head at the incredulity of it all "I think that's the stupidest thing you've ever done!"

Kai glared "I didn't know about the Black Dranzer obsessed man called Tony" he snarled.

"Oh, so it's my fault is it?" Bryan snapped back.

"You should have told me about Tony"

"I thought he was dead!"

"Irrelevant"

"It is not!"

"If you had told me about Tony then I would never have given Black Dranzer to Ray" Kai replied coldly "as it is, Ray's out there with a madman after him"

"Well forgive me if I don't scream with fear for Ray's safety!" sneered the falcon "after all, I couldn't care less if Kon died"

Kai glared but didn't respond to this jibe; instead all he said was "just get the car moving again. We need to get Ray before Tony does"

Author's Note: I know NOTHING about cars. A black Mazda just sounded fancy so, if it's actually a tin box then just pretend it's a nice car. Ok? As far as I'm concerned a car is something in which I can go from A to B...so what if I crash it in to a couple of walls? Actually, I haven't done that since my learning days, driving around in a city where everyone seems determind to crash straight in to you has kept me on my toes, made me a good driver I think...or rather hope.

So, I hope you enjoyed.

Please leave a review.

Thanks for reading!

Kiki