Notes: *huggles Mindy* ^^ Yeah Max and Ray, Ray and Max! ^^ *Kisses the cat and he bites her* Ow x_o; Gomen Mind… ;.; poor Sarah-chan… please R & R!

Chapter Nine – Said The Spider To The Fly

Outside of Voltaire's new hideout; Tyson, Max and Ray were battling against Tala, the ex-Demolition Boy leader.  Tala had spotted them outside and sent a message through and received the order to take them out, but they wouldn't let up on him and finally Dragoon and Driger prevailed and slammed Tala's Bitbeast into the red-haired teen and sent him flying.

"Oh my! Tala!" Ray yelped and ran over to see if the boy was okay.

Tyson and Max picked up their Beyblades and joined Ray, Tyson leaning down to check to see if the boy still had a pulse.  It was there… but it was faint.

"Leave him… he's okay.  We need to get Kai," Tyson said gruffly, pulling Max along by his overall strap.

Ray raised an eyebrow and followed the two Bladebreakers into a disguised entrance into the large building.

"Doesn't Voltaire know we're here?" Max murmured softly as they snuck about, ducking behind walls and hiding the shadows made by the absence of lighting in the narrow passages.

"If this place is anything like his last, he would have spotted us by now on the security cameras and sent reinforcements… so obviously there are no cameras here," Ray replied softly, touching the blonde boy gently on the side of the face.

Max smiled gently at the older boy and looked up ahead at Tyson who was striding rigidly forward at a hurried pace.

"Do you think Tyson will be okay?" Max asked, taking Ray's hand.

Ray blushed at Max's action and was glad it was dark, "I don't know Max… Kai hurt his feelings… but I think Tyson will still love him… he'll always love him.  You can't fight those sort of feelings."

Max squeezed Ray's hand and replied faintly, "Then I know how he feels…"

Ray stopped walking and Max stopped also when Ray wouldn't let go of his hand, "What do you mean you know?"

Max tenderly reached out for Ray and traced a finger down the side of his face, causing Ray to shiver in surprise, "Haven't you figured it out yet Ray?" He leaned forward, ensnaring Ray's lips with his own.

The astonished Ray kissed back and after a moment they broke apart, taking deep breaths.  Ray put his arms around the blonde boy and pulled him to his chest.

"Max… I think I just figured it out."

***

Kai crept past two guards on his way out and paused, drawing a phone from one of them men's pockets and slipping it into one of the large pockets in his pants.

He slid around the next corner, quieter than even a mouse.  He came into view with a room that was made mostly of glass.  He made sure no one was around and glided quickly over to have a look.  When he peered in, he gasped.

Strapped onto a white hospital grade bed was Sarah, her eyes and mouth bound shut with what appeared to be duct tape.  Kai felt his heart wrench and suddenly he could sense Sarah's pain as though it was his own.

There was no way he was leaving his new link behind, so he stealthily made his way to the door and put his hand on the knob, only to find it locked.

'Figures,' he thought.  Of course Voltaire wouldn't leave the girl exposed like that. No, that would make things too easy.

Being glad of the time he spent with the Blade Sharks, Kai pulled a paperclip out of his pocket and flattened it out.  With a skilled thief's ease, he worked the bit of wire into the lock and jiggled it around until he heard a 'click' and the glass door swung slowly open.

"Bingo," he murmured and rushed over to the bed.

He didn't want to do this to her, but Kai ripped the duct tape off of Sarah's eyes and mouth in one fast tug.  The girl's eyes popped open and Kai was horrified to see that they were bloodshot and she had bags underneath.  She went to scream, but Kai clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Sarah… Sarah it's me.  Kai," he said, but the girl didn't recognise him.

'Dah you baka,' he inwardly slapped himself.  Even though he had her memories, Sarah had no idea who he was because she probably had never seen him before.

The girl tried to say something in reply, but with his hand over her mouth, she couldn't get it out.  Kai looked at her frantically and made her nod in promise that she wouldn't scream when he took his hand away. 

Once he had Sarah repeated herself, "What are you doing here? Please tell me you're going to get me out of here?"

There was a desperate quality to her voice, that scarily reminded him of himself way back when he was at the abbey, pleading with Boris to let him go… only to get slapped and locked in his room.

He nodded and started undoing the straps around her wrists and ankles. Sarah let out a sigh of relief and then a groan of pain.  Kai noted that her arms were no longer in plaster and he hoped that that they were healed.

Sarah spoke up again, "I… I had a dream about you…"

Kai looked up sharply and wondered if Voltaire had tapered with her as he had done to him.

"A dream?"

Sarah sighed and sat up awkwardly as Kai undid the last strap, "Yes… I dreamt of your accident… the cat… it was the same cat Maxie saw before…" the girl trailed off and Kai felt deep remorse for her and walked over, pulling her to him.

"I know… I 'dreamt' of your accident too…" he muttered, Tyson's image popping into his head.

"Oh…" Sarah leant her head on his shoulder, "But… how? Why did you say it like that? You stressed the word like you didn't mean it."

Kai propped her up so he could look her in the eyes, "We didn't dream of each other… the old grey-haired man… Voltaire, he did this.  He implanted our memories into each others' minds… in the hopes of making us believe we were the other."

Sarah's eyes widened, "He was trying to make me think I was you?!'"

Kai nodded sombrely, "That's correct… and he actually had me convinced I was you… until I injured myself again and figured it out…"

He pulled Sarah off of the bed, apologizing repeatedly when she let out a cry of pain.  He held her up and looked at her, "Can you walk?"

Sarah shrugged and tried to step forward, but she was lost to the pain in her legs and collapsed, only to be caught quickly by Kai.  He frowned and looked around until his eyes landed on the wheelchair that Boris had used to bring Sarah to his cell.

"You'll have to use that," Kai nodded at the chair, positioning Sarah on the bed again and walked over for it.  He brought it back over and helped her in.

"Let's get out of here," Sarah murmured.

"You're not going anywhere!" a voice exclaimed.