Chapter 33

I'm so glad you're all happy, and it's a good note to end on. So here we go, last chapter, and then it's all over. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: See first page

"So what exactly did Boris do to you?"

Panas shrugged, brushing a dark curl from his eyes. "Just the norm, Phoenix. Beat the crap out of me, tried to degrade me verbally, chained me up and poured volts of electricity through me to see how long I lasted."

Kai nodded, watching his old friend. "I'm surprised you weren't in worse condition."

"Technically I should have been, but he laid off those last couple of days." Panas bit his lip, averting his eyes. "Let's just say something did not go as Boris planned, forcing him to cancel the proceedings."

Kai's eyes narrowed. "Equipment broke down?"

"Ah… you could say that."

They looked up as Bryan and Tala joined the group seated around the small lounge. The All Starz were no longer present, having left for the airport earlier that morning, Judy and Max going with them. The group was a lot smaller now, consisting of the White Tigers, the Demolition Boys and the remaining Blade Breakers, and with the added presence of Mr Dickenson, Aizik, and now Panas.

Panas looked up, eyes sparkling. "So you two over your lovers tiff?"

Tala made a 'so-so' motion with his hand before he smirked. "We're still trying to decide who's the dominant member."

Bryan raised an eyebrow. "Not that there should be anything to work out."

Tala glared at him. "Just cause you're older doesn't give you superiority."

"Oh?" Bryan smirked, looking up at him. "Ultimates."

"Jerk."

Mr Dickenson looked up from where he was writing, straightening his glasses. "The hospital where you stayed sent me your medical reports this morning, and I must ask if your-"

"Not something I want to be public knowledge," Bryan cut off, gaze levelling on the elderly man. "Certain people would get upset."

"Certain people meaning me." Tala narrowed his eyes, looking down at him. "What happened, Bryan? What didn't you tell us?"

"It's nothing important, Tal-"

"Tell me."

Panas looked toward Kai, lips forming a thin line. "You know that equipment that broke down?" Kai nodded. Panas met his eye and jerked his head toward Bryan, Kai's eyes widening.

Tala blinked, gaze swinging around toward his teammate. "You died?"

Bryan met his gaze. "As you can see, it wasn't permanent."

"That's beside the point, Bry. You should have told me."

"Why? So you can baby me? No way, Tal. I know you. You'd have made a fuss, like you are right now."

"But still-"

"What exactly happened?" Ian cut in. "Bryan's impossible to kill."

Panas scratched the back of his neck. "Boris turned the electrical current up one click too far."

Kai's eyes widened further. "You mean…"

Bryan sighed, shaking his head. "Fine, you want me to say it? I had a heart attack. There, I've said it. Now get off my back."

Ian swallowed hard, catching Spencer's concerned look before returning his gaze to Bryan. "So you're fine now, right? No side effects?"

Bryan growled, dropping into a spare seat, scowling. "I've gotta go easy for a while, that's it. My blood counts a little off and I have high blood pressure, but they predict it will drop within a week. Apart from that, there is nothing wrong with me. Whatever that shit Boris pumped into me stopped any permanent damage."

Kai's eyes narrowed. "Boris pumped into you?"

Bryan glared at him.

Panas sighed, running a hand through his hair before he rubbed his eyes. "I think you should tell them, Bry."

"I'm trying to forget myself, Pan."

"And I understand that, but they have a right to know."

Tala looked from one to the other, hands on hips as sapphire eyes narrowed. "What are you keeping from us now?"

"Nothing important."

"Bryan."

Bryan glared hard at Panas before looking back up at Tala. "Boris might have said something rather disturbing, that's all."

"Boris is rather disturbing." Tala looked down at him. "So what did he say?"

Bryan rolled his eyes. "You just ate, you sure you want to know?"

Ian growled. "Just spit it out already."

"Fine." Bryan shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. "Boris might have confessed that he was in love with me."

A stunned silence hung over the room as they stared at Bryan, the reality of what he had said slowly sinking in. Tyson shuddered violently, Kenny wincing as Mariah and Kevin paled. Lee and Ray exchanged a sympathetic glance, Kai shaking his head, stunned.

"Bryan." Ian swallowed hard. "How can you say that without throwing up?"

"Barely."

Tala dropped onto the arm of Bryan's seat, frowning. "But I always thought I was the favourite."

"He said you were a teachers pet, not a favourite."

"There's a difference?"

"Apparently."

Tyson scratched the back of his neck. "Well, at least he didn't make a move on you, right?"

Bryan simply looked at him, an eyebrow raised as Kenny gagged.

Kevin winced. "Now that's wrong."

"Tala told me," Kai said softly. "About…"

Bryan shot a look at him. "Had a feeling he might. Did he say when?"

Kai nodded. "I'll help you kill him."

Ian raised his hands. "Hang on, let the rest of us catch up here. Does this have anything to do with how Boris used to molest Bryan."

Tala gawked, swinging around to look at him. "You knew and you didn't tell me!?"

Ian cringed. "Not like I could say anything, Tal. I mean, Boris would of…"

"Give the kid a break, Tal." Bryan looked up at him, snaking an arm around his waist to hold him in place. "He probably didn't know what he was seein'."

Mr Dickenson's frown deepened. "Let me get this straight, Boris used to molest some of the boys?"

"Not some, just one." Bryan looked up. "Me."

Lee frowned. "So he used to touch you?"

"A bit more than that."

Panas fidgeted. "Um, Bryan, aren't you forgetting…"

"Not really." Bryan nodded toward Panas. "Boris made Panas suck his dick while we were locked up these last few days. But I got a feeling that's all he did."

Fire burned in the old man's eyes. "And he made you do that too?"

"Sometimes."

Mr Dickenson's eyes narrowed. "But that wasn't all he did, was it?"

Bryan met his eye, face impassive. "He didn't like me protecting the other boys, and torturing me in the dungeon had no effect. He felt he had to make me fear him, so when I was eight he called me to his office and raped me."

Ian gagged, Spencer gaping as the others stared, Mariah whimpering.

"He's a monster," she whispered. "That man is a monster."

Tyson levelled his gaze on Bryan as he set his jaw. "How can you be so okay with it?"

"Who says I am. I hate that man with a passion." Bryan shrugged. "I guess that as it happened so often I just got used to it. The only person who knew about it was Panas because he caught Boris once shortly before I discovered Boris had murdered my parents. Tala found out from Boris himself when we were locked in the dungeon, and Tala told Kai. I didn't want anyone protecting me so I kept it to myself and used it to make myself stronger. And I think it did that, don't you?"

Kai set his jaw. "It made you cold."

"I was always cold, Phoenix. Now I'm ice."

"Iceheart," Aizik said softly. "That's why we boys call him Iceheart. Because he was so cold, so frozen, so isolated. The only ones he ever let close were Tala and Panas, and he'd known them forever."

"And now you know why." Kai plucked the blade from his pocket, gazing down at the intermixed colours before looking up. "Catch, Captain."

Bryan easily caught the blade, gazing down at it and looking up as Tala shifted.

"Before I forget," Tala said, undoing the pendant from around his neck. He reached out, clasping it around Bryan's neck before sliding an arm around his shoulders, leaning against him. "Must feel good to get all that off your chest."

"Yes and no. There were some things in my past I'd rather not have allowed everyone to know about, but it's too late now."

Tyson shifted, looking around the room. "So, what now?"

"What do you mean 'what now'?" Ian shot him a look. "Now we go on holiday, that's what. Get away from losers like you."

Tyson's eyes flashed. "Who you calling a loser, arsehole."

"Why you-"

Tala smiled faintly as he listened to them bicker, Tala resting his head on Bryan's shoulder. "Some things don't change."

Bryan nodded, shooting a small smile toward him. "Luckily, some things do."

できあがる (Dekiagaru)

For anyone wondering, dekiagaru is Japanese meaning 'finish/complete'.

Well, thank you for sticking with me for these two fics. I do hope you've enjoyed them just as much as I enjoy your reviews. There is nothing a writer needs more to motivate them than a good, well written piece of feedback, so never think that the reader is insignificant, because you're not. Without the readers, where would the writers be, eh?

I'm sure some of you are wondering 'is there more?'. For now the answer is no, there is no more as these are simply two fics. While I have in mind a fic for when Boris comes for Bryan two years following this one, I won't be writing it until I get some other fics completed, namely Believe and Resurrection. However, I look forward to seeing you all again in the future, and I promise to write more Demolition Boy fics. I just love the Tala/Bryan pairing. I just love Tala and Bryan. Well, not as much as Kevin, Lee, Kai and Ray, but still. Well, maybe Bryan...

Until we meet again.