A/N: Er, please don't kill me? I had a weird system bug thingy that stopped me from saving anything, so I couldn't do much. All better now, and here's the next chapter. Peace? I wrote this chapter in three sittings or so; in one I was happy, in one I was kinda depressed and in one I was just plain shit tired. So this chapter doesn't exactly hang together very well, unfortunately. I'm also terrible at writing emotional scenes - I'm an unemotional person on the whole, so I'm pretty terrible at writing the stuff. Parts of this came out so wrong, but it took too much effort to write this so I honestly can't be bothered to go back and change it. Sorry. --
Warnings: Vomit. Lots of sickness. You'll see what I mean. Tiny amount of blood. Tiny bit of language. Shounen-ai, bad prose. Tiny bit of Mariah bashing.
Review Responses:
Pyro-At-Heart: Eh, I thought I put the pairings in the summary in the first chapter, but here you go It'll be Kai/Tala (yay! ), Spencer/Ian ( There have to be some of these out there! I don't suppose you know any?) and eventually Bryan/Rei. There won't be much of a focus on Kai/Tala, but I will try and put as much as possible in. There's lots of Spencer/Ian interaction - a chapter or two will most likely be about Kai playing matchmaker . The Bryan/Rei won't come until slightly later, I think, I have some issues I'm gonna put him through. sadistic grin Hope that answers your questions, thanks for reviewing!
Rejiita: Yup, the Demolition Boys and Kai rock. The DBoys are especially underappreciated, in my opinion.
Himeko Sukie: Yes, I made Mr Dickinson a bastard. I just don't like him much. Sorry if you're a rabid fan of him! giggles but I needed someone for the DBoys and Kai to push around. '
Devlinn Reiko-sama: Thanks blushes. See? Update! Just ignore the 'soon' bit...sweatdrop Thankyou for reviewing!
Here you go then, please read and review/ignore/flame etc. Next update will probably be in a week - the only evenings I have free are now Friday, so I'll try and post on Saturday.
Chapter 2: Genetically Enhanced Cyber-Soldiers In Withdrawal Can Be Moody
"Sweet!" Ian cried, making a direct beeline to the couch and the T.V. Tala rolled his eyes.
"Ian, you're even starting to sound like Tyson. Stop it. It's bloody scary. One Tyson is far too many, thank you very much." Ian sniggered.
"You're just sore 'cause you lost to the idiot." Tala glowered threateningly at him and he shut up, turning all his attention to the television as he played with the remote. Spencer sat down next to him, and the two promptly started an argument over who had the most right to the remote. Bryan scowled at them in particular and the world in general and leaned against the wall, unconsciously mirroring Kai's favourite pose. Tala smiled inwardly, wondering if that was just the official pose of cold moody bladers or something they'd picked up from the Abbey.
He looked around the small flat they'd been assigned. It wasn't bad; a lounge leading to a small kitchen with an eating table, and a small corridor with four doors leading off. Tala walked over to investigate, Kai following on behind. A quick inspection revealed that three of the four doors led to bedrooms. The door closest to the lounge proved to lead to a small bedroom with a single bed, undoubtedly meant for the 'observer'. The next door across from the first led to a room with two single beds: the Demolition Boys were expected to share two to a room. The third door didn't lead to a bedroom; instead there was a small bathroom, tiled in a nice shade of artic blue that made Tala feel chilly just looking at it. With lovely pea-green highlights.
With a certain amount of justifiable trepidation, Tala opened the last door, Kai following on his heels with morbid curiosity. However, he was greeted with a perfectly normal room almost identical to the double down the hall. The only difference was the plain wooden door on the left hand side, which led onto an en suite bathroom, fortunately tiled in white this time. Tala shrugged and turned back to Kai.
"I guess me and Bryan can share this room, you can take the first room and Spencer and Ian can take the other double. Sound okay?" Kai shrugged right back.
"Sounds fine. I don't care." They walked out back to the living room. Ian had abandoned the T.V. in favour of trying to steal Spencer's weird headband. Eventually Spencer grew tired of evading Ian's grabs and simply stood up.
"No fair!" Ian whined. "Why does everyone have to be so tall?" Kai smirked.
"We aren't tall – you're just short. You might grow out of that, though. I'm betting you'll never grow out of that attitude of yours." The short blader stuck his tongue out at Kai. Spencer moved from between the two bladers, walking over to Tala and exchanging looks of patient suffering with him.
"Hmpf. At least I'm the last to get wet when it rains!"
"On the other hand," Kai added, his eyes gleaming mischievously, "you better hope that nose of yours doesn't grow any longer, or people will be mistaking you for a runway from a Disney studio."
"Huh?" Ian frowned "I don't get it. Whatcha talking about?"
Kai grinned. "Guess you never saw Pinocchio, then."
Ian continued to glare, sure he was being insulted but not having an excuse to attack. Tala provided the excuse, being a little more knowledgeable about cinematography than Ian.
"He's insulting the size of your nose, Ian. And your lack of morals."
"Hey! My nose is not big! And I have plenty of morals!" With that, he launched himself at the blunette, who moved deftly out of the way a split second before connection. Ian was suddenly faced with a wall approaching his face very fast. A second before that connection happened, he jerked to a stop. Ian twisted around to see that Spencer had caught him by the collar as he went past. The blond shook his head with a sigh and set him back on his feet. Both Tala and Kai were grinning at the pair in a rather disturbing way. Ian self consciously tried to brush Spencer's hand away from his neck, only to jerk his hand away as they made contact. A tiny, tiny blush spread across his face as he glowered heavily at Kai. Then he frowned harder.
"Hey! Aren't morals a type of freckle? Are you implying I'm ugly? 'Cos if you are, you are so gonna get it!" Kai choked with laughter. Tala hit his head with the heel of his hand.
"That's moles, Ian. Morals are principles, ethics, whatever you want to call them."
"Oh. That's okay then. I don't have any of those either."
"No kidding. Hey, we've checked out the rooms, and you and Spencer will be sharing a room, and me and Bryan another- Where is Bryan?" Ian bounced back to where he'd dumped his small amount of luggage, only to find Spencer had already picked it up as well as his own.
"Oh, he already went into the room at the end. Looks like he didn't bother waiting for you to assign us rooms. That's Kunetsov, I guess." Tala grimaced.
"Guess it's you and me sharing then, Kai. No point trying to turf Bryan out, I'm in no mood for dealing with his homicidal urges anyway."
Kai nodded his agreement, but furtively studied Tala carefully. The crimson- haired blader looked tired, and stressed. There were black circles under his crystal blue eyes, and the eyes themselves were slightly bloodshot. He kept raising his hand to push crimson bangs away from his eyes as if they obscured his vision, but Kai could see that they weren't the cause of the problem. So...it looked like his suspicions concerning the Russian captain were accurate, as usual. The thought didn't make him feel any better. This was going to cause problems... The Bladebreaker – ex-Bladebreaker? – sighed quietly, then pushed the matter firmly out of mind and turned his thoughts to dinner. A part of his mind snickered at him getting so into the role of housemother so quickly, and an image of himself dressed up in a flowery apron dusting happily surfaced. He growled under his breath and headed for the tiny kitchen, ignoring the odd looks the three Demolition Boys threw his way as they moved their belongings into their new rooms.
####
All five bladers were gathered in the tiny kitchen, seated elbow to elbow at the miniscule eating table. Kai was continuing his discreet observation of Tala over a bland meal of pasta, Spencer and Ian were quietly and absentmindedly annoying one another while shovelling as much food as possible in and Bryan was simply eating mechanically, impassive mask firmly in place. Kai frowned inwardly and switched focuses for a second, noting how Bryan kept pressing down on his stomach under the table. The movement was so tiny, even Kai wouldn't have noticed it normally.
'One problem at a time' he mentally scolded himself. 'Maybe he has indigestion or something. I don't cook too well, after all'.
Returning to Tala, the bluenette reflected that he certainly did have enough to worry about already. Tala was showing signs of increasing exhaustion, although he was hiding it incredibly well, considering. Finally the redhead rose, scraping the remainders of his meal into the bin.
"I'm going to turn in. I suggest you do the same. We have work to do tomorrow." He said shortly. Ian groaned and rose as well, Spencer and Bryan following. The team split up quietly, Spencer volunteering to clean up and dragging Ian in to dry. Ian complained bitterly but didn't try to escape, and Tala smiled tiredly at them, then left. Ian and Spencer exchanged brief glances, then shrugged and continued with the chores. Kai followed Tala into their shared room. He was kneeling over his bags, rooting through them for something when Kai entered, but stopped when he saw the other boy. Kai noted absently that his hands where shaking where they were fisted in the bag.
"Tala-" he started "Not now, Kai." Tala snapped, pulling out a small paper bag and making for the bathroom.
Only to find himself up against the wall with crimson eyes boring into his.
"Yes now, Tala. I know what's wrong with you."
"What? There's nothing wrong with me! What are you talking about?" His voice was shaky and panicked. Kai slammed him against the wall, gently.
"Oh? So how come I managed to attack you without you even noticing? How come your hands are shaking? How come you look like shit, and even Ian can notice there's something wrong?" Kai demanded sarcastically. "How come the always cool calm collected captain of the Demolition Boys is panicking like a teenage girl?"
Tala growled at the insult and tried to shove Kai away, failing miserably. Kai laughed bitterly. "Still think there's nothing wrong, Tala? You're the stronger of the two of us, always have been. Yet you're not even a challenge anymore. And I know why."
He reached down; still keeping Tala pinned to the wall, and grabbed the paper bag. He released Tala, who sagged against the wall, eyes fixed on the paper bag.
"Kai," he started "Don't-"
"Don't what? Look? It's too late for that Tala – I already know." He pulled out a medicine bottle, identical to any in a normal pharmacy. They both knew that the drugs it contained weren't ordinary painkillers or sleeping aids, though. Into the silence, Kai said softly,
"I already know you're still taking Biovolt's drugs, Tala...and I want to know why..."
####
Tala sighed as he nervously tossed the bottle from hand to hand, hearing the seductive rattle of the pills it contained.
"Tala." Kai warned from where he was reclining alertly on the other bed. "Talk. Why are you still taking them?"
"Because I have to, smart arse. They're addictive. One more measure of control by Biovolt." He said bitterly.
"That's not the only reason, Tala. We both know that normally you'd let yourself die before letting Biovolt rule you in any way now. What else?"
"Because...because without them I'm weak. Not taking them would result in severe withdrawal, which I wouldn't be able to hide the effects of even if I survived it. And afterwards – afterwards I would be- weaker. I can't protect my team if I'm not able to fight. I can't appear weak in front of my team. Not ever. They need me to be strong, and I won't let them down. Not again. Not ever."
Kai sighed and rubbed at his temples.
"Tala, do you think your team would like it if they knew you were dependant on Biovolt, however indirectly? Do you think they need – or deserve – to lose their captain?"
"What?" Tala looked confused. "What are you talking about?"
The blue haired blader looked quietly back at him.
"I suspected you were still taking drugs to enhance the changes Boris made in your body. I did a little research in Biovolt's databases before the police raids on the rest of the facilities, and found the prescription they were giving you. And a whole bucketful of notes about possible side effects and probable side effects. The drugs enhance your physical strength, by forcing your muscles to ignore their normal limits. They also enhance your endurance by doing the same thing, and speed up your reaction times and reflexes. Even with the changes to your body, your frame can't take the extra strain you put on it by pushing it so hard. Because the drugs act as a pain dampener, you can't feel the muscle pain like you should, but you do feel the fatigue. It's why you're always so tired once the drugs have worn off, even if you haven't done anything too strenuous. Sooner or later, your body will collapse under the strain, and you'll be crippled forever."
"So what? It gives me enough time to get my team sorted out, and then they won't need me anymore. I'm willing to make that sacrifice." Tala snarled back, not quite covering the shocked look in his eyes.
"You didn't let me finish, Tala. You won't live that long."
"What? Now what are you talking about?"
"You won't live long enough to become a cripple. The drugs affect your brain as well as your body. Parts of your brain will overload with the extra stress of the enhancements Boris made to them, and you'll have a condition similar to a stroke. Even if you survive, you'll be left a senile, drooling idiot. So what do your noble self-sacrificing urges say to that, hm?"
Tala stared and shook.
"You're lying, lying, lying! You have to be! Boris wouldn't have ever started me on the drugs if he knew they would kill me! He needed me! You're LYING!" He wrapped his arms around himself and stared at the innocuous bottle lying on the bed before him.
Kai rose and walked over to him. Tala looked up and flinched at Kai's closeness. The other Russian gave him the bundle of computer printouts. Tala flipped through them, eyes widening as he read through the notes, read the estimate on his life span. The papers dropped from nerveless hands.
"You aren't lying..." he murmured in shock. Kai sat beside him, and pulled him towards himself. Tala let Kai embrace him, still in shock, barely hearing Kai's murmur.
"You know how Boris is...the estimate was that you would survive another year. Long enough for Boris and Voltaire to implement their plans. What did they care if they killed their tool achieving their goals? Tools are meant to be used, then thrown away..." His voice was bitter, and he hugged Tala closer.
"What do I do...?" Kai tilted his head at the lost whisper. The drugs really had affected the other blader if Tala was reduced to asking for help. "You defy Biovolt, like you've always tried to. You show them that you aren't weak, that you can give up those drugs and walk away. Your team will not think less of you for it. And neither will I, Tala. I'll be here to help you. After all, it's why I'm here. Just be grateful I'm not the old man's original observer."
Tala pulled away, a measure of composure back on his face.
"Bad?" Kai shuddered, thinking of the stuck up prick that Mr Dickinson had recommended for the post.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, trust me."
"Guess I'm lucky then. And here I thought you were as bad as it gets."
"Hey!" Kai said in mock-offence. Tala smiled slightly, and picked up the bottle lying between them. Kai's face stilled, and he waited tensely. Tala looked at it for a long moment, then held out the bottle to Kai. His shaking, which had vanished in the flood of anger and shock, had returned, and the pills inside rattled. Kai took the bottle gently, touching his hand briefly as he rose and walked into the bathroom. Moments later Tala heard the toilet flushing and Kai returned, tossing the empty bottle into the wastepaper bin in the corner.
"So. What do I have to expect from you then?" Tala flopped backwards on the bed.
"Nausea, cramps, muscle spasms, and fever."
"All of that? Crap."
"Oh, and paranoia and hallucinations too, probably." Tala grinned lazily, as if he was talking about someone else's withdrawal symptoms.
"When will it kick in?"
"Well, I forgot to take them once, and I was vomiting by the evening of the next day, so I expect I'll be showing the first signs by tomorrow evening. Just in time to throw up another one of your glorious meals, I expect." A pillow was thrown in his direction, and he caught it, laughing quietly as he threw it back. The subject was dropped, and both bladers prepared for bed.
####
Kai watched as Tala excused himself from the table hurriedly and almost ran toward their bedroom and the bathroom beyond. Tala had refused to set foot in the other bathroom, saying the décor gave him the creeps after he found the flowery shower screen.
Ian and Spencer looked startled at Tala's sudden exit. They'd known something was wrong from Tala's occasional bouts of shaking throughout the day no matter how hard he tried to hide it, but they didn't know what. Even Bryan looked surprised. Ian tried to make a joke.
"Guess even Ice-Boy agrees your cooking sucks, Kai." Spencer hit him in the stomach with an elbow to shut him up. Kai calmly got up and picked up his and Tala's plates, stacking them ready for cleaning.
"For being disrespectful to both Tala and I, you can do the washing up tonight, Ian." Ian wailed, but Spencer, who had seen the worry in Kai's eyes whenever he looked at Tala throughout the day, sighed and volunteered to help him.
Kai nodded at him and Bryan and walked out calmly. Once in the hallway, however, his footsteps quickened, and he nearly ran towards the bedroom. Tala had left the door open, and he entered quietly. The bathroom door was shut, but muffled sounds came from behind it. Kai closed and locked the door to their room, then pushed open the bathroom door. Tala had his back to the door, throwing up violently into the toilet. He didn't hear Kai's approach, and it took several minutes before the nausea abated enough for Tala to register that Kai was holding his head gently and rubbing his back. He wiped away the tears that had gathered with the force of his vomiting and the harsh stomach acids burning his throat, and smiled weakly at the other boy.
"Guess that food of yours really is as bad as Ian says it is, huh?"
"You'll be doing your own cooking soon, so make the most of mine. I'm guaranteeing that Ian's will be worse." Tala opened his mouth to reply when another wave of nausea hit, and he turned back to the toilet, sliding an arm round it to help support himself. Kai's arm helped him sit up.
"Didn't know you had a thing for toilets, Tala."
"Yep. Meet my new best friend. We'll be spending lots of time together, I'm sure of that. Perfect for a bonding session, no?"
"I feel jealous..."
####
"Still...envying the...toilet?"
"How could I not be?"
It was the middle of the night, and the nausea had grown and developed into agonising stomach cramps. Tala was lying against Kai, curled around his stomach while Kai rubbed away the muscle spasms that had started in his legs. Every now and again Tala lunged for the toilet and vomited bile. The room stank of vomit and sweat, as did both of its occupants. Tala was white, crimson bangs stuck to his face with sweat. He was shaking violently with the cold, burning hot. Spencer had already come and knocked on the bedroom door – Kai had told him to leave them alone until the morning, that everything would be fine, that Tala was just ill.
Tala threw up again crying out with the searing pain in his gut, then paled even further.
"Kai..." The blue haired Russian was by his side in a moment, and stared with horror at the blood speckling the toilet bowl.
"You're throwing up blood, Tala..." "How...ah!...observant of...you..." Tala ground out between clenched teeth.
"I should take you to a hospital, Tala. You need fluids, and treatment to stop the vomiting."
"No! I'm going to get through this on my own! I need...to know I can do this, Kai. Please?" Tala looked up at him pleadingly, huge blue eyes standing out from his pasty, sweat streaked face.
"I know, I know. But you have to drink more fluids, Tala. I know it just comes back up, but you have to try, ok? Tala nodded and turned back to the toilet, focusing on not emptying his stomach of the water Kai was offering him. He drank slowly, in small sips.
"Hmm, guess it's up to me to distract you, then. Did I ever tell you about the time Rei got his ponytail caught in a revolving door? No?"
####
They talked about anything and everything all through the night. Kai brought Tala out of his fever dreams, refused to leave when Tala screamed and thrashed, convinced Kai was the cause of his pain, and helped him keep the water down, and in return Tala bared his soul. What he didn't expect was for Kai to show his own right back. Why should Kai show weakness to anyone? Kai showed him just how wrong he really was about that. They talked about their childhood together, about how much it had hurt Kai to finally meet Tala again, only to be twisted into a grotesque parody of himself by Black Dranzer. He talked about things he'd never even considered telling Rei, the Bladebreaker he'd been closest to. Tala talked about how much he'd missed having his best friend around, about how much he'd felt violated by the changes Boris had wrought in his body and mind, and how much the knowledge that they were helping the people he hated the most had gnawed at him.
They both found common ground in discussing the burdens of leadership, and of putting up with Tyson and Ian. They caught up with years of separation in one night, and it helped them both.
Kai rose from the floor where Tala had been resting comfortably against him, free of nausea for the first time in what seemed like forever. Tala made a noise of protest, but Kai only reached to open the frosted window, letting fresh air in and banishing the reek of vomit, blood and sickness that pervaded the room. He sat back down next to Tala, and they watched in comfortable silence as the sun rose slowly.
"Think it's over?" Tala asked.
"There's been no vomiting for two hours or so, your fever's gone and you can keep water down. I'd say you're over the worst of it, yes. You'll still have cravings, but you can easily deal with them. Just think of how pissed Boris will be to find out you survived the withdrawal." Tala sniffed and shrugged.
"If that's the case, can we get out of here? It still smells rank in here."
"Hey, don't blame me – you're the one who produced the smell. I'm probably going to be the one that has to clean up as well. I don't suppose there's any way I can get Ian to do it..."
"Are you bossing my team around into doing your dirty work, Kai?"
"It's your dirt!" "Shut up and help me up, will you?" Kai supported Tala back into the bedroom, and dumped him onto his bed. He'd sponged the other boy off, but he himself really needed a shower. Tala wasn't the best of aims when he was delirious. Kai wrinkled his nose at himself.
"I'm going to go and have a shower. I think I'll use the other bathroom though. Spencer and Ian shouldn't be up yet, so I shouldn't have to fight them for it. Not sure about Bryan though."
"Hmm..." Tala murmured into his pillow. Seconds later he was asleep, exhausted by the long night. Kai smiled and left to have his shower.
####
The bluenette shut the door quietly, smiling wryly at the sight of Tala still sleeping. He bent and shook him gently. Tala came awake almost instantly, looking around alertly.
"Huh? What time is it? Six-thirty?! I had plans for today! How could you let me sleep that long?!" Kai shrugged unconcernedly.
"You needed the rest. Don't worry, I had the team draw up a schedule for doing chores and made them train a bit. Mostly they had a look around the area, and Spencer and Ian played their little game with each other. Bryan..." Here Kai frowned, deep in thought. "Bryan spent most of the day in his room. He attended training, but that was about it." Tala frowned as well.
"He's been even more withdrawn than usual lately. I wonder what's wrong...?"
"I'll look into it. It's what I'm here for, after all. Were you planning on getting up any time soon?" Tala growled and pulled him down to the bed, starting a wrestling match. Both boys then flopped limply on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Kai broke the silence first.
"You know, I don't think Spencer and Ian are the only ones playing a game," he murmured quietly.
"Kai?"
"Yes?"
"Don't ever compare us to Ian and Spencer again."
"You don't agree?"
"That we like each other? Yes. That we have been reduced to their level? No."
"Ah. You have a point there."
"Obviously."
"You know, that means only Bryan is alone now. Do you think he's gay?"
"Yes. The Abbey was boys-only. I never saw Bryan with anyone, but I know he thinks girls are weak. After seeing Mariah, I'm not so surprised where he got that idea from."
"She's quite a strong blader."
"She wears pink. All pink. And she hangs off Rei like a towel off a rail."
"Rei's not too happy about that, actually. One of the reasons he left his village was because she was getting more and more obsessed with him. Besides, Rei's gay."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Oh. Wonder how he and Bryan would get along."
"You had better be kidding, Tala."
"Probably..."
A/N: Oh God, what have I created? Don't answer that.
Please review and feed my newly discovered addiction to reviews...you wouldn't want me to go through Tala's withdrawal would you? Though if Kai came with the package, I might not say no...
Incidentely, does anyone know what Spencer and Ian's last names are? Bryan's is Kunetsov, I think, and Tala's is Ivanhov/Ivanov, but I don't know the other two...