Title: Untold Truths
Authoress: Ladya C. Maxine
Rating: PG-13
Summary: see chapter one.
Warnings: see chapter one.
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or any of its characters. All unrecognizable characters belong solely to me and are not to be touched. I am not making any money off of this and I write with the sole intention to entertain.

"Hiwatari Kai?"

He turned to find a police officer that stood somewhat unsure behind him. The man looked like he had just come out of training and normally he would have been amused at the sight of a nervous officer, had his sight not been blurred with unshed tears.

"Yes?"

"This way please."

The man turned and pushed open the metal door, bidding him entrance. A cold air swept over him and he took a step back, staring with a torn expression at the gleaming door.

He feared what he would find past it. He wanted nothing more then to open his eyes to find that it had all been a very bad dream. That everything was as it used to be.

Taking another step back, he wanted so badly to just turn around and return to the limo. He wanted to tell Jeremei, who was sitting in the front seat, wiping away tears with his pocket handkerchief, that everything had just been a very big misunderstanding. He wanted someone to walk up to him and start laughing, telling him that it had all been just a sick joke.

It wasn't.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Natasia asked, reining her tears.

The teen looked lost and confused.

"I don't want to go..."

"The longer you wait, the harder it gets."

His shoulders sagged in resignation and he nodded.

Natasia turned to Ivan who was speaking with another officer. Of course, he too was in deep mourning and had shed tears when they told the news to him. However, now he called upon his military training to contain himself enough to give a clear description of the missing Saskia. He had a recent photo of the small girl, which the police took to put in the files.

"We're..." She couldn't say it so she just nodded towards the door.

The butler nodded, giving his young master a pitying glance.

A wave of death swept over them as the two of them followed the officer into the cold room. The corners were hidden in shadows that seemed to close in on them. Yet he didn't give a damn about the darkness.

Releasing Natasia's hand, he stepped closer till he stood next to the table on which the lifeless figure laid, white sheet pulled up till his chest. Those dark lashes, which he had always found impossibly long, but beautiful, for a boy caressed the smooth cheeks where they rested. The once lightly tinted lips were pale blue and impassive, so unlike the smile they were usually curled into. The smile he had last seen but a few hours ago.

"Ata."

This was not real. It couldn't be.

"A-Ata...I..."

His chest convulsed painfully as the tears regrouped in his eyes, causing the delicate features of his friend's calm face to blur. It was as if Ata was fading away from him.

'He has faded...He's gone...'

He reached out to run trembling fingers down a ivory cheek.

A voice spoke up as he had unknowingly scanned Ata when he touched him.

: System 201121 fails to exist :

The words dug deep and he quickly drew away his hand.

"I should have been there," Kai swallowed as a few tears freed themselves from his lashes. "This wasn't supposed to happen. Not...Not to you. I should never have allowed you to come here."

Crimson eyes clamped shut as the truth finally sunk in, seeping in deep.

Ata was gone. He would never see his friend smile. He would never hear him laugh. He would never hold him. Ata would never speak, hear and understand ever again. Ata...Ata was no longer Ata.

And it was all his fault.

Falling to his knees, Kai took hold of a hand as the tears finally broke free, running down his face as he held Ata's hand, sobbing as he felt the cold skin beneath his.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

The figure remained unmoved.

"Don't leave me! Please!"

He rarely cried out loud. The only time he had done so was when his parents had been killed. Since then never again. Not when he had been beaten at the Abbey. Not when he had escaped and was forced to face the big, cold world on his own. Not ever. He threw all this in the wind.

"Come back to me! You said you would always be here for me when I needed you!"

He outburst combined with his current state was too much and he felt weak yet he refused to let go of Ata's hand. To release it would mean giving up Ata forever. His voice was a mere whisper but that made it even more heartbreaking for the others to hear as he made a final plea.

"You swore. You said that you'd be careful. That you'd take care of yourself. You never break your promises. Ata...I need you."

His body was trembling with emotions and his face was streaked with tears but this time Ata couldn't comfort him with a warm hug and wise words. For the first time ever, the cause of his distress...was Ata himself.

He felt the warmth of another body and smelled Natasia's perfume as she knelt down beside him, pulling him into her embrace. He looked up at her with red eyes.

"He's gone, Natasia. I lost him."

"Ata never meant for this to happen. You have to be strong. That's what he'd say."

"I can't. I am not strong enough to let go of him. I want him back. I want him safe," he near begged though it was not in her power to grant him that wish.

"We will get through this, Kai."

Her own tears tried to contradict her words but she forced herself to contain her sadness in order to comfort her young charge.

"Ata died knowing he had done his best to help you. Don't make his sacrifice go to waste. Saskia needs you as much as you need her."

Holding the boy out at arm's length she wiped the tears from his face.

"Ata wouldn't want you to mourn his death. He would want you to get Saskia back and live the life you always told him about. He died giving you that chance; don't waste it. You can still save Saskia. You can't help Ata anymore, Kai."

"It's too hard to let go," he said, tightening his hold on the fragile hand.

"Then don't. Ata will always be with you if you simply remember him and the times you shared together. Remember all he taught and told you. You never lose someone you love. Ata is still with us. He is out there with Wolborg and he is finally at peace." She gave him a tearful smile. "We will live on, and so will Ata. In our hearts."

He said nothing but he knew she was right. He knew that Ata would have kicked him if he didn't pull himself together. He was powerless to change what had happened. He just had to accept that, as hard as it was.

Rising to his feet, he leaned over the still body, tracing the angelic contours of Ata's face with his eyes.

"I will never forget you, Ata. I hope you know that. I know you did your best, so thank you. May your soul find its home, wherever that is. I love you, my friend."

Leaning forward, he pressed a light kiss once on the lips and then on the forehead. Then, summoning all his courage, he released the lifeless hand, memorizing the features for one final time. In life as well as death, Ata was the most beautiful person he had ever had the honor of knowing, both inside and out.

The morgue worker pulled the sheet over to cover the pale face. The last time the world would see Ata "Tala" Ivanov.

"It's time to go."

Natasia guided him back out, noting that with each step they took away Kai's hand on hers tightened until almost painful but she didn't comment on it. Looking around, she spotted Ivan down the hallway to their left so she steered Kai towards him.

Ivan walked up to them, worried eyes on his young master whose eyes were downcast. He hated to add more weigh to what Kai already carried on his tired shoulders but there was another pressing matter that needed to be tended to.

Clearing his throat, he got the teen and woman's attention and nodded towards a door behind them that stood slightly ajar. They followed wordlessly, looking into the room when he pushed the door fully open. It was an office, unoccupied by its owner though someone else was sitting in the chair behind the desk.

Black hair hung limply around shaking shoulders from a bowed head, which was buried in the teen's hands. Small sobs echoed loudly in the otherwise silent room though their footsteps on the wooden floor didn't go unheard.

Ray raised his head, eyes puffy and red as he studied the solemn trio before him. It took a few seconds for him to properly identify them. Rising to unsteady feet, he hesitantly walked over to them, looking like a lost kitten that was afraid to approach anyone.

"Ray." Natasia held out her arms.

His breath hitched and he quickly moved in, allowing her to envelope him in a deep embrace, holding her hopelessly.

Rocking his slightly, Natasia kissed the raven head, relieved to at least have him still with them. Many would have thought her reaction as illogical, but she had grown very attached to the golden-eyed boy. Children were terribly precious to her. She had none of her own, so all those who came under her care were treated as if. Ray was no exception.

They had all been there that morning, sitting around the table and eating and laughing. Kai had been silent as always but keeping an eye on his sister to make sure she didn't over do it on the pastries. Little Saskia had been so animated about going to the zoo, pink eyes wide and laughing. Ray had been the one laughing along with her. And Ata...he had simply been the happy-go-lucky teen she had cherished since the day she first met him.

Now she was left with two mourning friends, one missing angel and one stolen soul.

When Ray finally managed compose himself somewhat he released her to turn tentative eyes on Kai who had yet to speak to him. Pushing the bangs away from his eyes he nervously looked up into the scarlet orbs.

Seeing that the two needed some time alone to talk things through, Natasia prodded Ivan who caught on.

"We'll be waiting for you in the limo."

Taking Natasia's hand, as she had finally allowed herself the tears and sobs, he led her out the door and closed it behind them.

Neither boy really registered the adults' departure. They could do nothing but stand there and look at each other. Ray didn't want to be the one to break the silence but knew that if anything it was he who owed Kai an explanation.

"I'm sorry…"

He stepped forward but Kai took a step back, eyes not betraying his feelings. Ray stopped his advance, hurt by the bluenette's reaction.

"Kai? Please talk to me."

He couldn't. He wouldn't know where to begin. Ray was apologizing but what good did that do? Words wouldn't bring Saskia back. Words couldn't bring Ata back. Ray was only trying to excuse himself and that was not what Kai wanted to hear.

Crossing his arms he turned to face the wall.

The gesture buried the knife of guilt deeper into Ray's heart, its sharp blade cutting the last rope that had held his emotions in check. He had lost two people he had grown close to and now the remaining third, the one he felt the most for, was distancing himself.

Not caring about the type of risk he was placing himself in, he closed the space between them and threw his arms around the taller boy, resting his head on a strong shoulder blade. The other stiffened at the contact and both fists balled but Ray didn't let go.

"Say something." His tears fell onto the thick fabric of Kai's coat, quickly absorbed but there were many more from where that came from.

Kai remained impassive.

"Please, Kai...I can't take anymore pain."

"You don't know what pain is," the slate-haired teen finally said but the words were so soft that had he not been so close he would not have heard them.

"I--"

"You've only known Saskia for a couple of days," he swallowed down the lump that had been trying to form in the back of his throat. "You and Ata only met yesterday."

"I know how you feel--"

"Do you?" Kai turned in the one-sided embrace though Ray still refused to let go. "How would you? How could you? You never lost someone you loved. Much less two in one day."

"But--"

"I have known Saskia since the day she was born. I raised her from a baby by myself. I dedicated eight years of my life to her happiness."

"Kai," he felt a new wave of guilt welling up, "I know how much you love her. What happened was--"

"You don't get it, Ray!" He roughly dislodged the arms from his waist and stepped away. "Why can't you get it through your head? I'm the one who is hurting! Not you. Me! I lost my best friend today! A guy who I have known since I was four! A guy who I grew up with! A guy who went through the same hell treatment at the Abbey but always ignored his injuries to tend to mine! You can never begin to understand the bond we shared! Ata's lying there in that cold room and he is never going to get up again! How can you even begin to imagine my pain! How!"

"I can never know how you feel! But he died in my arms, Kai! I sat there in his blood while he took his last breath! How do you think I felt! Huh! How do you think I felt!" His grief was working against him as he raised his voice as well.

"I don't give a damn how you felt! You still have your friends and family in China! You still have the Bladebreakers! What do I have! Nothing!" He slammed a fist into the wall and a web of cracks ran from floor to ceiling. Turning he pointed an accusing finger in Ray's face. "And it's all your fault!"

Ray couldn't hold back thegasp the blame brought up but Kai continued, not thinking what his words meant to the tiger.

"None of this would have if it hadn't been for you! I could have left you there to figure things out on your own at the airport but no! I helped you! And look what I got for it! You were the one who had to go and open your mouth at the table about going to the zoo! Saskia and Ata wouldn't have been in that goddamn place had you just kept out of our business!"

Looking away, Ray felt the guilt and betrayal he had been suffering earlier multiply with every passing second. This wasn't happening. He had been so looking forward to talking to Kai that morning, excited that he would open his heart to the bluenette. That was a dream. This was a nightmare.

"K-Kai...I'm so--"

"Sorry? Sorry doesn't make anything better, Ray! You killed Ata! You lost Saskia! How the hell is 'sorry' going to bring them back! This is all your fault! I can never forgive you for this, Ray! I can never look at you as a friend! I hate you!"

Ray closed his eyes at those final three words. It was all over.

Sanity finally returned to Kai and he was horrified at his words. None of this was Ray fault. He didn't have anything to do with it. He couldn't have known what was going on. He had been there when Ata died. The neko-jin had clutched the other teen heartbroken, not wanting anyone to separate them. Ray couldn't have done anything to help. He just got caught up into this private hell that was his team captain's life.

'And I'm the one who brought him here. I…I put him in danger. And then had the nerves to dump the blame on him. The person I love…'

"Ray," he started, reaching out for the stricken blader.

Ray spun around and ran out of the office only to collapse against a wall further down the hall, allowing himself to cry loudly as he leaned tiredly against the cool surface. He was tired and aching, and now lonely.

Strong arms gathered him against their owner's chest, holding him close. Resting his head on Kai's shoulder, he continued to cry, gripping the long scarf in tight fists.

"I don't know what happened in there, Ray. I shouldn't have said those things. I'm sorry," Kai said earnestly, whispering his apologies into a pointy ear. "I…I don't hate you. I'm just so messed up right now. I don't know what to do."

"If it wasn't for me you would have been able to protect Saskia. I was the one who said she could go to the zoo. You are right. It is my fault." Ray forced himself to step away, eyes watering. "You need to get Saskia back. I don't want to be in your way again."

"What are you saying?" Kai feared the answer but the only way he would believe it was if it came from Ray's own lips.

"I'm saying goodbye," he answered sadly.

"I can't do this alone."

"I don't belong here, Kai. I don't even know where to start. I really wanted to be part of your life, but not at such a price." He smiled though it did not reach his eyes. "I promised Tala that I would tell you this: I love you, Kai Hiwatari. Since we first met during the regional championships back in Japan. Through all our tournaments I could not figure out what it was but in the few days I have stayed in your home I knew that I really did love you. And I'm really happy that I could share my first kiss with you, even if it didn't develop into what I had expected. But it doesn't matter now."

"I didn't mean to act the way I did."

Ray's eyes shone at that but his smile remained sad.

"I am really glad to hear that. But it wouldn't work out. You need to get Saskia back. I need to get back to China." He laid a finger on Kai's lips when the slate-haired boy tried to interrupt. "Just promise me that you will do everything in your power to get Saskia back."

"I will."

"I am going back home. I only get in the way of things." He caressed a cheek, noticing for the first time that it was not painted. "And when you get Saskia back safe and sound, promise me that you will tell her that I said goodbye."

Kai laid his forehead on Ray's.

"Do you hate me so much that you are never going to come back?"

"No. It is because I love you so much. It was an honor to have had you as a captain and it was an even greater honor to have you as a friend. We just were never meant to be together."

Pulling away he started to turn but a hand grabbed his arm while warm lips pressed against his, gently yet passionately working against them. He was quick to respond and wrapped his arms around Kai's neck and pulled the head down, responding with a deepening kiss.

Kai felt reality once more tear at him. Ray was leaving and he could not stop him. All he could do was live this final moment with the tiger. Putting all his feelings into the kiss, he pulled the other teen's body flush against his and kissed back almost pleadingly. He heard that soft purr Ray had made during their first kiss and he wrapped his arms around the waist tighter as if to restrain the tiger forever.

But forever wasn't now and with a final lick Ray broke off the kiss regretfully. Looking up into Kai's eyes he smiled softly and traced the curve of his cheek with a finger.

"Goodbye."

"Don't…" His plea was met with a shake of the head.

"I love you."

"I love you too." He ran his fingers through the long hair as a distraction but it wasn't helping.

They had finally found each other only to be forced to let go. In the space of mere hours, he had lost his sister, his best friend and his love.

Nothing that happened to him now mattered.

He had nothing left to loose.

The hooded man watched the exchange between the two boys from down the hall. He watched as the golden-eyed teen pulled away from his companion and turned to walk through the exit. The remaining boy sighed and after a few minutes followed. The place now stood completely empty and silent. The workers were all upstairs, which left him free to go about his assigned task.

"Area is clear. Both teens have left."

/Retrieve what you've been sent for./

"Yes, sir."

He turned and ran silently down another hall until the end came into view. The metal doors were freezing as he carefully opened them and slipped inside. Looking around he didn't have long to search to find what he had been sent for.

Taking long strides he now stood over the covered body. Just to make sure that this was the one he pulled back the cover slightly. Flaming red hair framed a serene face. Dark lashes kissed high cheekbones. This was what he had been sent for. Covering the body back up he then wrapped it securely in the sheet and lifted it into his arms.

"I have him, sir."

/Good. Bring him to the lab. And make sure that nobody sees you./

"Yes, sir. Over and out."

As silently as the dark robed man had entered, he slipped out and disappeared into the shadows with the white sheet trailing like a ghost behind him.

The chains on her wrists and ankles hurt when she tried to move them. Her clothes were gone, leaving her bare skin susceptible to the biting cold of the table she lay on. These people were scaring her as they injected her with needles and attached wires and tubes to her naked body. Her skin burned from all the shots and stinging fluid. Someone kept on poking at the back of her neck, pinching the already abused skin and stretching it to see how far it would go. It hurt and she was scared and miserable.

The crowd of scientist before her parted as two people moved in closer. Both seemed very familiar but she couldn't place her finger on it. Tubes near her temple spoiled her vision badly but her hearing was once again functional, if only momentarily, so she heard rather than saw the person and the voice that she knew in her nightmares.

"Welcome back, my little lab rat."

"G-Grandpa?"

"By law, yes."

"Grandpa, I'm scared. I want to go home."

"Now, now, little rat, let's not be so selfish. We're just taking back what is rightfully mine," Voltaire admonished and snapped his fingers.

An unbearable sting in the back of her neck made her entire body jerk fiercely as one of the scientists ran a scalpel across the scar on the back of her neck.

"No! Grandpa, make them stop!"

She could feel the chip protesting as the knife cut closer. The small disc that had been feeding off of her body for all these years went on the defensive as it detected the intruder which it though to be a threat.

Her body convulsed again and she shrieked when the knife suddenly pressed downwards cruelly, exposing the blinking chip that had been placed in her many years ago. She opened her mouth to cry but a sudden tightening of her vocal cords as the chip sparked made it impossible to utter a sound.

More scalpels came into play as they started to dislodge the chip's wires from where they had buried themselves into and along her spinal cord. A few dislodged themselves and waved around like tentacles, batting away at the sharp instruments that poked at them. The knives that were able to slip pass them snipped at the still buried tendrils, each detachment made the chip crackled angrily, shocks of electricity safely bouncing off the scientists gloved hands but wreaking havoc on the small unprotected body. The smell of burning flesh was nauseating.

"Careful!" Boris snapped as the chip let out a warning beep when one of the scientists nicked its main body accidentally. "This chip is worth more than your lives."

"I have waited eight long years for this day," Voltaire said as he watched as his granddaughter struggled weakly against the stronger surgeons with great interest. "With the chip finally in our hands we can activate the virus that will wipe out all of earth's technology and power as we know it. Biovolt will be the only source of technology and we will have the world leaders down on their knees, willing to pay anything for a mere crackle of electricity." He turned to the taller man beside him. "Are you certain that that anti-virus is no more?"

"201121 has been eliminated. I have sent my men to further destroy the body but his main functions have already shut down. Now there is nothing that can stand in our way."

"Sirs?"

A surgeon stood before them with a tray on which the crucial key to their master plan laid still covered in blood from the organism it had been hidden in for safe-keeping many years ago until they would be able to put the plan into motion. The metallic tendrils clicked loudly on the steel tray as they waved about like a small octopus.

"Excellent." Boris picked up the small device with his gloved hand. "For years scientists have attempted to create a chip of such intelligence and resource. To think that it has been walking openly in the streets of Russia for almost a decade and no one even knew it."

He handed it carefully over to Voltaire. The tendrils looped around the old man's thick fingers as they detected a similarity in the blood they beneath the wrinkled skin and the blood the chip had been feeding from for so many years. Like the bug that it was it crawled about, searching for a way to get back inside a body, feeling very unsafe outside a living being.

"They kept it in good condition too. They have just recently injected YY-23 into it. The chip must have given her quite an attack if they were forced to use such a potent solution," Voltaire chuckled as he twirled his hand while studying the creeping thing.

"It was indeed, sir. Her throat walls are torn. No doubt this attack had led to heavy coughing which ruptured the thin tissue leaving her to bleed. Had they not given her the solution she would have died right then and there."

"And we can't have that now, can we?" Voltaire smirked and looked to where the scientists were sewing back up the large gash they had left on the thin neck. The girl no longer struggled. "Had she died then the chip too would have been lost. It needs a live organism to survive off of."

"Until now." Boris took the chip back and handed it to one of the scientist. "Install it in the mainframe and prepare to begin the countdown."

"Ah, sir. There is one problem," the first scientist spoke up nervously.

"Which is?" he turned to the man with a scowl. Voltaire too glared the scientists down and he gulped, hating to be the bearer of bad news.

"We cannot start the activation."

"Why not?" Boris grabbed the man by the collar roughly. "The chip has now been removed and it can only survive outside of an organism for a few hours. We need to get it installed and ready before that time is up or it will deactivate itself!"

"I-I-I unders-s-s-stand that, s-sir. But we do-don't h-have the a-activation c-c-codes."

"She wears it around her neck, you fool." Voltaire stepped up, his face twisted in displeasure.

"B-b-but the necklace is not t-t-there."

"Impossible!"

Letting go of the man Boris stalked back to where the surgeons were busy with the child. Shoving them out of the way, he threw the switch to unlatch the restrains and carelessly flipped the limb body over.

He ran his hand along the neck trying to feel the thin necklace but found nothing except the blood that still seeped from the wound. Cursing loudly, he threw over a tray that held surgical equipment, the metal hooks and knives clattering loudly on the floor.

"Where the hell is it!"

"Calm yourself, Boris. Now is not the time to lose your head," Voltaire ordered though he himself was trembling with rage. "There are only to people outside the Abbey who know of its use."

Boris' eyes narrowed behind the mask.

"Tala," he growled in frustration. "I knew he was up to something. Before he left the Abbey with the others I caught him snooping around down here. He knew of our intentions and knew that that necklace held the codes to start the program. Damn him!"

"But he is dead. So who else do you think has the chip?" Voltaire moved to stand next to the table and with an indifferent look he turned the limp neck, allowing him to see his own granddaughters pale face. An extremely weak beat thudded against his fingertips where they rested on her neck. "She lives."

"Ever so barely. She won't last much longer. 48 hours at the most."

Voltaire scoffed and released the head, carelessly letting it fall to one side as he wiped his hands off on the paper gown.

"That gives me more than enough time to make a little phone call. Today really is a joyful family day for me. Not only have I seen my granddaughter but I believe that we can expect a visit from my grandson as well."

Tbc...

Read & Review, please.