Windstar: Finally starting off on the last arc of this story. I hope you all enjoy it!

Special thanks to Mika for being my 100th reviewer!

Disclaimer: Same.

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

As they sat in the hospital, no one talked. Tala had his head in his hands and he was steadfastly refusing to look at anyone. He just needed to think. Bryan and the others who'd been on the outside weren't injured. Kai though had been taken off to be looked at. No matter how much they tried to explain the situation to the doctors and nurses, they insisted his unsteadiness could be fixed and whisked him away.

Adrien was taken off in the same direction though and so it worked out the best that it could be. Kiril was resting in the bed in front of Tala, sleeping off the effects of a sedative as they tried to figure out a way to keep him alive. The redhead was trying to think, but he wasn't getting anywhere. As far as he knew, there was nothing that he could do about this.

A little hand touched his, and he looked up slowly. He blinked at the bright blue eyes that were staring up at him. Taking in the tiny baby face he couldn't help but force a smile. The boy was trying to make him feel better, and it was working...somewhat.

"Do you want a hug?" The boy asked sweetly in Italian, his head tilted somewhat.

"Why do you ask?"He replied in the boy's language.

"Mama-Annie says that if someone's sad you give them a hug. You look sad!" The kid explained lightly. Luka reached out and gently put his hand on the child's 's head.

"You're a good kid you know?" The boy smiled brightly.

"Thanks!" He put his hands on Tala's legs and pushed himself up. The Commander grimaced slightly and just picked up the boy and helped him settle. It was better then having the child continue to knee him in all the wrong places. "My name's Dmitri, what's yours?"

"It's Luka." He introduced softly. "Or Tala, either one you prefer really."

"I don't like either." He blinked once, twice, and then cracked a small smile. He was so stressed out that this boy was starting to make him feel better just because he was playing as a distraction.

"You don't? Why not?"

"They're girl's names." The boy replied patiently.

"Oh really?"

"Mmhmm...are you my daddy?" He asked at long last as he looked up at the Commander. Tala sighed softly, his arms wrapping around the boy and giving his son the first hug he'd ever give him. The boy's little arms wrapped around his neck. "Mama said I looked like my daddy."

"You do." He admitted easily. "I'm sorry...I wasn't there..." He said softly, feeling foolish as he apologized to a six year old.

"I'm not mad." Dmitri smiled. "I just wanted to know." He looked over to Kiril. "Is he my brother?"

"What did your mother tell you?" Tala asked softly, unconsciously taking in each breath in time with the boy in his arms. He used to do this with Kiril when he was this small. Hold him and breathe in time with him. It was almost as though he were convincing himself that he was still alive. Dmitri snuggled closer to him.

"That I looked like my dad...and that I had an older brother that my dad was close with. She said that he's not my dad's son, but he was always like his son."

"He's my younger brother." Tala explained lightly. "He was just a little younger then you when our parents died. I adopted him and have been raising him since then. Your mother helped out. She adopted him with me. On paper you could be siblings, in reality he's your Uncle. You can call him whichever." They never really worked out a good nickname. 'Bropa' worked for Tala, but any other combination just sounded freakish. Dmitri nodded and swung his legs as they dangled.

He really was a tiny thing. Even though he was six he could easily pass for three. Tala still hadn't stopped hugging him, and the boy still didn't seem to mind. It was almost as if they both understood they were making up for lost time. They were drawn to each other.

"So you are my dad?" The boy clarified as he yawned slightly.

"Mmhmm..."

"Annie says you were from far away. R-something?" He didn't even think on the fact he'd just called his mother by a much more childish version of her her first name. He was a creature of habit after all.

"Russia."

"Where's that?"

"It's...hmm...north of here. Do you know which way is north?" The boy giggled and pointed in front of him. Tala glanced out the window. Pure east. He shook his head. "Nope." The boy frowned.

"Yes it is! You're wrong!" He grumbled.

"Oh really? Why do you say that?"

"North's always in front! It's on the map. It's always in front of you." Tala couldn't help it. He laughed. The boy glared at him, and he laughed harder. The boy was already perfecting the blue eyed glare. Somehow he knew his progeny was going to eventually get one of those.

"So if I turned you this way..." He picked up the boy and spun him about so he was on the other leg. "Which way is north now?" The boy opened his mouth and was about to point in front of him when he crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

"I already said!" Tala nodded.

"That you did. You see the sun right now?" He asked as he moved the boy back so he was facing the window. The child nodded as he looked out it. "It's early...dawn just broke not too long ago...the sun always rises in the east. Through the day it travels more southwards until finally it rests in the west."

"So it's never north?"

"Never."

"So...North is that way?" He pointed to the left and he nodded.

"You got it kiddo." There was a knock at the door and Tala looked up. Bryan was standing there. He wasn't happy either. "Hey...why don't you go find your mother alright?" He whispered into the six year old's ear. The boy frowned.

"I can't stay with you?"

"Not right now. In a little while okay?" Dmitri sighed and nodded. He slid off the man's lap and slowly started towards the hall. The moment he was gone Bryan shut and locked the door and turned to face Tala.

"You want to tell me how the fuck Mikhail and Michaels are both alive? Or how Antonio Ottilia was brought back from the dead?" The redhead sighed slightly and ran a hand through his hair. "Or how about why no one told me about this before hand?"

"You knew about Michaels."

"Bull shit. I was fed a cheap ass lie, I want to know the truth! Mikhail's seven years younger then us!"

"I know. Where should I start?" Bryan just glared, and Tala shifted awkwardly. Wherever it was, it was clear it was going to take a while.



Kai was sitting up in bed his eyes sliding to where Adrien was standing not too far away. He'd just been given the low down on what had happened to his child over the past twenty four hours, and it had made his heart bleed. The boy had a severely broken arm, there were contusions and abrasions and all the wrong place, and there were signs of...another type of abuse that he didn't even know how to bring up.

Despite all that though, the teen had refused to be apart from his father figure, and he was standing in the room with him. Mikhail was there too, looking at his son and then back at his brother every once and a while feeling completely and totally foolish.

Nobody knew quite what to say. In fact, the silence just grew and grew until it was something that had amassed over them. Nobody could say what exactly had happened or where they were going from here. Spencer knocked on the door after a while and slipped inside.

He looked at everyone and patted Adrien on the head.

"How you doing Junior?" He asked lightly. The boy smiled at him, a forced smile, but a smile none the less.

"I'm okay...how bad's the school?" Spencer sighed and took a seat next to Kai's bed. He hadn't talked to them about what had happened yet and he figured now was the best time to do this.

"It's pretty bad. After the attack, Adeline's been funding a massive rebuilding effort. The dorms that were salvageable have been renovated and put back together the best they could be. The ones that weren't are being rebuilt. Since it's been so long since the attack took place there's been a lot done to fix things. Still, it doesn't look like it'll be livable for another seven or eight months."

"Seven or eight months..." Adrien whispered softly. "That long?"

"Yeah...Ivan's been running around keeping tabs on all the kids. They're doing okay. A few of them went AWOL a while back, but he managed to track them down. They're not enjoying being away from home."

"I can imagine. Those procedures kept them safe though. Still, I'd be surprised if they didn't all leave as soon as they had the chance." Kai sighed and sat up more. He reached towards his arm and pulled the nutrition IV drip out of his arm. He stretched slightly and cracked his neck a bit. Adrien winced, looking away. He didn't like thinking about what that same neck looked like when it really had been cracked clean through. "Where are we going from here?"

"Tokyo looks like. Our government is taking over the case. We have our files and documents and we'll appear in court. Right now though, they don't need us to do anything. I was on the phone with Tyson and he said he has more then enough room for us at one of the BBA's hotels for bladers. Adeline and the kids are there too...I thought you'd like that better then being away."

Kai had fallen eerily silent at the mention of his wife. His eyes went downcast and he licked his lips. Mikhail followed his gaze and watched as the heir's fingers ran an invisible circle around his ring finger.

Kai didn't even look happy. In fact, he looked almost as though he wanted to argue against that arrangement. Adrien stood up straighter and announced that he was going to get something to drink. He left the room without another word, leaving his father figures to stare after him in quiet silence.

Spencer sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair. He looked at Kai for a minute and felt a bit like punching the idiot. With a monumental effort though, he didn't. Instead he forced himself to just sit there and wait. Mikhail had already noticed that Kai was feeling rather blue about seeing his wife, now it was time to figure out why on earth he was so down about it.

"She'll notice." Kai whispered without having to be asked.

"Notice what?" Spencer questioned after a few minutes.

"She'll notice the fact that I'm different." He glanced towards Mikhail who sighed.

"And she'll hug and kiss you and screw you and I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning." He said simply. "She's the mother of your kids Hiwatari, and you haven't seen her in months...are you seriously going to just disappear out of her life because of your insecurity? At least give her the chance to tell you off so you know for sure."

Kai couldn't help it. He cracked a grin. He caught sight of Adrien walking back towards them looking miserable. There was no doubt that he'd correctly assumed what his foster father's problems were. Still, Kai knew Mikhail was right. They needed to do this. He needed to see his wife, and he needed to see his kids too.

"Come here kid...you look half dead." He invited when the boy walked in the room. The teen gave a half smile and sort of shrugged. Kai frowned. "I'm not asking because I want Vita near me. I'm asking because I want you to get some sleep."

"I didn't think-"

"Yes you did." Both parents snapped at once. He looked flustered for a moment, but nodded slightly. A few moments later he was sleeping soundly and the rest of them tried to get some rest too. They'd be leaving in the morning.


Anna was sitting outside of Kiril's room when Bryan came storming out. She looked up at him and was about to say something when he just kept on walking. He didn't stop. He just kept on going without wanting to talk to anyone. He didn't want to talk to anyone. She looked down at her hands as she bit her lip. Dmitri was playing with something or other at her feet, and she sighed heavily. Glancing inside the room she saw that Kiril was still sleeping.

Michaels walked towards her and handed her a cup of coffee. The hospital had declared that there was nothing they could do for his injury and moved on to more pressing matters. His arm would have to stay the way it was for now. She thanked him quietly and he nodded.

"How're you holding up?" He asked her lightly. She tried to smile, but it came out weak.

"I spent the better part of the past year flirting and throwing myself at a boy that I scarcely knew while the person I was in love with was slowly starting to hate me only two feet away. I'm holding up just fine."

"How's Kiril?" She glanced back to where Tala was sitting. His eyes filled with quiet sorrow. They were running out of time. He looked like he was running over all the possibilities on what they could possibly be doing. Occasionally he'd close his eyes and the tell tale sign of him using his LXCom flashed across his face.

"He's in good hands." She whispered softly.

"You should be in there too." He told her, levelling her with an intense stare. She sighed.

"He doesn't want me in there."

"Who? The boy who's unconscious and has no say in the matter since he can't even argue the fact, or the man who is in sore need of someone to be with him right now? Because I think that either won't argue against you." She shook her head.

"No...he doesn't want me to..."

"Who doesn't want you to? Your family is dead, your son is safe, and everyone's going home soon. Which one of those people don't want you around? Didn't Kai tell you that Luka only did this so he could see you again?"

"And look what's happened! He's turned around and said he hated me! He doesn't want to talk to me. He doesn't need me in his life. Kiril doesn't even want me there. I've done nothing but ruin this family."

"Your son deserves his father, and he deserves his son. Are you just going to leave? Taking that boy with you?" Michaels snapped as he looked at the little redhead who looked up at the discussion. Dmitri frowned. He crawled around their legs and looked into the room where a bright pair of blue eyes were looking back at him.

He smiled and waved, and pale fingers waved back. Even if the two adults didn't know that Tala was listening in, the little boy certainly was aware. Excited to have the attention of his newly declared playmate, Dmitri started to make his way into the room.

"It's not about me taking his son away from him, I won't do that!"

"Then what on Earth is your dilemma about going in there and being with your other son?"

"It's not a dilemma it's about them not wanting me to be there!" Tala sighed. He got the point. Picking up the little one and balancing him on his hip, the child giggled in his ear and snuggled closer to him. He started forwards and moved towards the door. An instant hush fell over the two combatants.

"If you're going to argue about whether or not I think you belong in your son's hospital room you honestly don't or at least didn't know either of us very well. Get in there and stop whining." He snapped bitterly. Michaels adopted a rather satisfied look, and Tri giggled from his father's shoulder. Anna simply looked dumbfounded.

"But..." Then she saw her little one. She looked back at the floor, paralyzed with the fact that she hadn't even known that he was gone.

"But nothing, and since you can't seem to keep an eye on Dmitri long enough to even notice when he starts wandering off, I'll just take him with me. I'm going to have a word with the doctors." The look in Tala's eyes were expectant, and from down the hall Ivan watched on in silence.

"Ah...I'll...stay here then..." Anna murmured, chastised.

"Do whatever you want." Luka grit out as he started down the hall. Dmitri waved over his shoulder as they vanished into nothingness.

Anna gave Michaels a look that was all but declaring I told you so. Michaels couldn't help it. He sighed and shook his head. There was simply nothing he could do at this point. Anna wasn't understanding what it meant to truly be a mother, and Tala wasn't keen on passing that information on. It was clear the man was more then a little stung after the events that had transpired.

Still, even Michaels had to admit that for someone who claimed to love her children as much as Anna did, she was making a great many mistakes. A great many. She only saw her son once every two weeks since he was born. That fact alone attested to her abysmal parenting skills. In fact, they were down right awful.

If she knew how to actually raise a baby then she wouldn't have done half the things that she was doing now. All she knew was how to treat a child kindly. That seemed to be it. There was no doubt that she loved her children, but she didn't know what to do or how to actually care for them. It seemed that after she'd left, Tala had learned that the hard way. He had to be both mother and father, even if he sucked at both – he still needed to know how.

"You should have gone with him." Ivan suggested when she sat down besides Kiril. She looked back at him in confusion.

"What? He told me I should be in here."

"He said that if you didn't know where he thought you belonged then you didn't understand him. You don't. You should have gone with him." Michaels nodded in agreement. "They were going to talk to the doctor about the kids and about Kai and Kiril. If you'd gone with him you would have shown that you wanted to know more about Kiril. You weren't just standing vigil- you were trying to do what you could for your son."

Anna cried. She just didn't understand what it was she was supposed to do anymore.


The plane ride existed in an eerie silence that made everyone uncomfortable. It was something that had started ever since the discovery that Kiril was going to die in three days for good had been made. No one was quite certain what to say about that, and everyone glanced at Adrien as though he was the answer to all their problems. The teenager wasn't going to do it though, and he said so with a definitive voice that made most everyone bristle with anger. Still, they controlled themselves…or at least they tried to.

Despite the fact that Adrien was the master of life and death, his stead fast refusal to bring anyone back from the dead had made Bryan stiffen with such a passionate hatred and anger that it was almost comical to see his reaction to everything. He watched in stony silence as Adrien lay in the first class seats between Kai and Mikhail. Both of them looked like guard dogs that would snap at anyone attempting to go near him.

Kiril sat beside Tala, quiet and contemplative as he clutched his Bropa's hand. When it came down to the wire, and the boy had been declared critical, Tala had made the call and Bryan had given the teen the drug that would extend his life for another three days. No one bothered to argue with the redhead, his eyes were deceptively calm and talking back would only earn his ire. He was not someone who was to be trifled with. He had every intent in the world on making sure that Kiril was going to survive. He just didn't know how.

"What do you want to do?" He'd asked once the kid had woken up.

"I just want to go home...be with my family..." Kiril had responded. And that's exactly what they had done. They'd gotten on a plane and left for Japan. The school was still out of commission and so Japan was the next best thing. Voltaire was flying over as well to be with them. Still...it was a sad flight. That was for certain. Almost everyone believed that the teen was going to die, and that was where the trouble lay.

Just behind Tala and Kiril sat Anna and Dmitri. The little boy was sleeping peacefully, ignorant to the pain in the world around him. Anna looked ready to cry, but she was controlling her emotions for the most part. Michaels sat next to her, a presence that she sorely needed considering the pure hatred that seemed to roll of Tala so easily now when it came to her. Spencer and Ian were behind Adrien's row and they looked like they both were sucking on something sour. Their expressions were bitter and they didn't quite appear to know what they were supposed to do or say.

"I don't get it Adrien, you spent your whole life proclaiming that you would protect Kiril from anything, so why are you just going to let him die?!" Bryan shouted after the silence persisted in the plane for far too long. They young teen shrank back, looking away slightly. The man had sprung to his feet, unable to sit still a moment longer.

He couldn't take the quiet looks and the meek expressions one second more. He needed to shout and that was that. The rest of the plane looked up at him as he began his tirade, all the children that were returning home for the first time since their kidnapping appearing uncomfortable as the fight began. They didn't know what it was they were supposed to do, and they also didn't even know which sides they wanted to be on. Tala had ordered them all to stop asking Adrien to bring back the dead, and they'd followed his command. They understood it...but Bryan didn't.

"Drop it Bryan." Kai ordered softly, taking a deep breath and just appearing too spent to want to care about anything anymore. He was exhausted and he didn't want to have this talk. Especially in front of all the kids. Adrien glanced at him gratefully, and he gave his hand a gentle squeeze. He knew that the teen to his left didn't want to have this talk either. He was exhausted and in pain and he was suffering too much to want to do it.

"I will not! Kiril's going to die and it's all his fault!" Bryan shouted, pointing at the teenager who flinched badly at the accusation. He glanced towards his friend, green eyes shimmering with water. He didn't want Kiril to die anymore then the next person.

"It's not his fault Uncle Bryan." Kiril whispered softly. The falcon wielder spun around and stared at him in shock. He could hardly believe that those words had even dared to come out of that boy's face. How dare he?! He was fighting for him! How dare he turn around and act as though everything was alright. "It's Senior's fault. So leave him alone. Don't pressure him anymore. He's hurting enough as it is." Kiril's voice was subdued, and he didn't bother to look up at anyone. Bryan couldn't handle it though. He glared towards Tala who sighed deeply. He knew that this argument wasn't going to drop. Blue eyes glanced up towards his third and awaited the tirade's continuation.

"You're seriously okay with this?! You're okay with that little punk ass kid to just let your brother die?!" He shouted, his voice was straining, all the while he pointed accusingly at Adrien who looked like he'd rather the plane just opened up a hole and dropped him through it. At least then he'd have a quick death instead of whatever it was that Bryan seemed to think was appropriate at the moment.

Then again, he doubted that Vita would let him die. His heart pounded in his chest. He didn't want Vita to do anything though. He didn't want anything at all to happen. He just wanted this whole thing to be over. His shoulders shook slightly, and he raised a hand to his throat where he felt as though the chain he wore was starting to suffocate him. He gasped for air, but the comfort didn't come.

Kai leaned towards him, and pulled him into a hug for a moment, pressing the boy's chest to his own. The feeling faded almost instantly, and Adrien felt as though his heart would break. Why did Kai have to take Vita's powers from him in a way that made him feel comforted? Why couldn't this simply be a business transaction instead of the constant manipulative game of Kai needing the energy and Adrien feeling as though someone cared instead of the simple fact that no one did. Even Bryan had stopped caring at this point.

"Of course I'm not okay with this." Tala replied evenly. "But if Adrien never wielded that angel we would be talking about a way to help Kiril, not let him die, and torture Adrien until he brings him back. I personally would rather see Kiril not die at all, and all this talk of letting it happen isn't going to get us anywhere. Adrien has no obligation to bring anyone back from the dead if he doesn't want too, and it's stupid to dwell on something if we can try to prevent the need of it in the first place. We can talk about this when we land though, so let's just calm down and put this off to a point when we're not all stressed out." That was Tala's subtle command to drop it, and Bryan knew what he was being told, but he couldn't just drop it. He couldn't! This was someone's life! A life that he knew well! He wasn't just going to sit back and wait!

"But he'll survive if Adrien brings him back. We've tried to help someone survive this and we've failed – in case you've forgotten – if Kiril dies, Adrien can bring him back! He won't really have to die!"

Mikhail sighed and Kai released his trembling nephew slightly as he glanced back at Bryan, ready to wage war it seemed. Mikhail took over and pulled the boy back, so that he was resting at his side. One glance up at his former best friend and he knew that this battle was going to wage on for a while. There was nothing to be done about it. It was just simply how Bryan was. He just wasn't going to let this drop.

"It's not a life I would wish on anyone." Kai said softly, and Mikhail nodded, breathing in his child's smell as he nestled the boy's head closer to his shoulder. He wanted to keep being close to his son but right now he couldn't do much more then he was already doing. He knew that there was going to be trouble, but he just wanted to keep the boy away from it as much as possible. That's all he knew, and that's all he cared about at this particular moment.

As if on instinct, Adrien's hand slipped into Kai's and Bryan felt a stab of hatred towards the child. It was almost like a master manipulator – he had easily brought the great force of Kai Hiwatari to his knees. Felled by a simple revival, the man seemed to want to prostitute himself for this boy's happiness. It made Bryan sick to his stomach. How dare he?!

Somehow the little brat had made Kai his loyal servant. No longer the position of a friend or uncle, now he was oddly subservient towards Adrien, and watching the young teen with the two men on either side of him made Bryan flare with anger. This was not the Kai he knew. This was not the Mikhail he remembered. These were just pale shadows in comparison that were led around like zombies because of the foolish debt that they thought they owed this brat!

He snapped his hand out and grabbed Adrien's arm roughly. For a split second he'd forgotten about the teen's injuries. He'd forgotten about how the boy had been so unsteady on his feet when they'd first seen him again. He'd forgotten about how he'd desperately clung to Kai even while he'd feverishly called for his father to be with him. He'd forgotten about how he was in a great deal of pain and that the arm he'd grabbed was completely and totally broken.

He had been so honestly forgetful that he was truly surprised when the boy yelled out, trying to pull away. Instant tears had started to form in the child's eyes and he could see the pain the child was in as he'd wrenched him to his feet. He held on though, despite Mikhail and Kai's instant appearance at his side. He held on though even tighter and he forced the boy to stand up because he wanted to exact revenge on this brat. He wanted to punish him for his cruelty.

"Now is not the time or place for this Bryan." Tala commanded darkly. He too had gotten to his feet, and Kiril had followed. Shortly after that Spencer and Ian and Anna and Michaels were all standing. A fight on an air plane was not exactly the smartest thing in the world for them to be doing, and the Commander would not see them all crash. He was having enough trouble as it was on this flight and he didn't want to go through another trauma because of his brothers' idiocy!

Bryan simply held on tighter, now out of complete spite towards his companions. Adrien's face was pale and beads of sweat had started to form on his brow. He struggled to release his broken arm, but it was to no avail. Not once did he dare to utter a word though. Somehow he knew that would only infuriate Bryan more.

"I want this hypocrite to start taking responsibility for his promises. He promised his whole life that he would take care of Kiril and make sure nothing would happen to him. What, now that daddy's back you don't think you need to uphold your promise because it's his job now?! Well that's not how the real world works you little shit. You can't just bring who you feel like back to life and not keep up on your promises. Then again, considering how you've manipulated the system and made them both your little toting servants I don't know if I trust you to do shit. You're just a complete and total fuck up aren't you? You don't follow you're promises and you dick around with the people that you are indebted too!"

"I didn't want to bring anyone back to life!" Adrien finally grit out. The man glared at him, squeezing his arm tighter simply because he wanted to see the boy in pain right now. Kai and Mikhail both shouted at him, telling him to let the teen go, and Tala looked like he was ready to drop his third if he kept it up. No one was very happy with the situation and it was only getting worse. "They were going to kill everyone! They were going to kill every one of the F-Fives if I didn't. I didn't want them all to die! I didn't want Senior to kill all my friends and family because of me!"

"So you're just going to let Kiril die because no one's holding a gun to your head!? Because I can rectify that!" He dared to actually move to grab his gun from its holster and Tala snapped out and disarmed him before he even had a chance to blink. The Air Master soon found his own gun aimed at his head and Bryan actually sneered. "You're not going to shoot me. You depressurize the cabin and we go falling to our deaths, only this time there's not any convenient birds that'll fly you to safety because all of them would be defective at that point. You'd just be killing us all." The red head flinched and lowered the gun. Everyone knew he wasn't going to shoot. That wasn't the point. The point was the fact that he'd actually aimed the gun at Bryan's head with the intent to shoot.

"Bryan, sit down and shut up. Can't you see you're hurting him?" Kai hissed as he glared at the man. Adrien was struggling to keep on his feet, but Bryan's hold on his arm was doing more than just staying there, it was holding him up too and that in of itself was painful enough.

"What, you're on his side on this?! Why?! Because he's your savior? Got to repay a debt? That little brat's just manipulating you into thinking you owe him anything!"

"Because you're being an ass hole you fucking dick!" Tala snapped as he glared at him. "I can promise you that I don't want anything to happen to Chiro, but you don't see me torturing a fifteen year old child, who's terrified right now, just to save his life!" Kiril squeezed out from around his brother and moved to Adrien's back. He put an arm around the teenager's waist and pulled him up so he wasn't standing completely. Considering how weak Kiril himself was it was a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by anybody. The brunette whispered a soft thank you, and Kiril nodded before looking at his Uncle.

"Let him at least sit down if you're just going to continue screaming at him, he can't stand up!" Kiril snapped.

Bryan glowered at the boy in his grasp, disbelieving that everyone could possibly be on his side on this. The kid was tearing up involuntarily, and he could feel the broken bone shifting in his grasp. A part of him relished in it, but a much much larger part of him reminded him that this was Adrien! His little Adrien that was his greatest pupil and was so skilled and talented. The little boy he looked after year after year. The boy that had stood vigil over Kiril while they had all left to Arabia, the child that had been so honestly caring and considerate that he was always worried about. That Adrien!

He couldn't keep up his hold…he let go, and accepted the fierce shove that both of the child's father figures gave him. Kiril helped guide Adrien back into his chair, and the younger teen hugged his broken arm to his body meekly. Kai and Mikhail were at his sides in an instant, and Kiril backed away slightly, just managing to fit in the aisle with all the other crap that was going on.

Then…Adrien spoke.

"I won't bring back Kiril or anyone because if I did his soul would be fractured. One piece would be left behind in the land of the dead. He'd live life shattered, feeling torn apart, and unbearably empty. His senses will be dulled; life wouldn't seem natural or acceptable. He can reject the world, suffer and die anyway. That's not a life that I would wish on anyone, especially not my best friend. Kiril is like a brother to me, I wouldn't just wish him dead for anything…but I'm not capable of bringing someone I care about back from the dead. I didn't…I didn't know what would happen with Kai and Dad. I didn't know that that was what it was like. I didn't know that people were capable of clawing themselves to death because they couldn't accept the world with a fractured life. Of the eight people I brought back, four of them died within the week because they couldn't accept the world that they were in now…there's a fifty percent chance that Kiril will be like that. Is that any type of life you'd wish on your best friend?"

Bryan fell deathly quiet at that. His eyes moved to Kai and Mikhail who both were steadfastly refusing to meet his gaze. They were staring at anything and everything, but not him. They wouldn't meet his gaze. Tala reached out and touched Kai's shoulder, and the younger man smiled slightly at him. Not for the first time Tala seemed to be able to know exactly what Kai was thinking about and know precisely how to handle it.

Adrien continued his voice like ice.

"I didn't manipulate either of them. Vita's presence is soothing…I wear her around my neck and her nearness to them makes them feel better." He pulled the chain out from under his shirt and the obvious shudder that went through Kai and Mikhail's bodies was plainly visible to all who were watching. They were reacting without the intent to do so. They had no choice in the matter. The reaction sent a stab of pain through Bryan's heart though.

Even Michaels who didn't need Vita to survive because he was still living quite contently on the DNA that was entwined through his veins looked rather peaky at the sight of the bitbeast. Bryan could see it clearly, and it made him feel as though someone punched him in the gut. He couldn't understand what it was that made him feel that way, but in general he felt horrible.

Adrien hadn't reached for Kai's hand earlier to tie the man to him; he had taken his hand because he was trying to comfort him! Kai loved the boy as a son, and the child's thoughts to comfort him only made his love grow. And yet…Adrien was a terribly self conscious child. He would not have thought of Kai's attentions to him as simple love. From what it sounded like…the boy honestly thought that Kai's every action were because Vita was with him. That might have been a part of it…but surely not all of it. Mikhail was in the same boat. Adrien never truly knew his father, and to have the man suddenly hugging him and holding him and talking to him…it would not make the teenager believe that he really was being loved because of who he was.

It was all because of Vita's energy.

Bryan felt as though he'd been kneed in the groin. Adrien's father figures needed his presence to exist sanely on this earth. Or at least, they needed Vita – and as her master by proxy they needed Adrien as well. For a boy who had longed to have his parents back, to him it must seem like they stayed by him from necessity, not love. Such pain was indescribable, and by looking at Kai and Mikhail he knew that at least some what it was true. They needed Vita…but they loved Adrien for who he was, and yet there was no way they'd be able to explain that to that child. He wouldn't understand, and he wouldn't believe them. It was a Catch 22 in the hardest of ways, and Bryan felt like crap all of a sudden.

He was such an ass hole.

"Carpe Diem, quam minimum credula postero." -Horace