Kit: Ok, here's another chapter. Sorry this one took so long to work out. You know how school is…(sigh)

Tala: Kitten has been working hard on this story, so go easy on her. She loves this story as if it were her child…

Kit: (glares warningly at Tala) Not going there…Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter…Oh, and mostly after this I have the rest of the story already planned out, and I'll warn you now, you may need tissues…

Disclaimer: I no own; you no sue. It's that simple!


Chapter 9
The Thunder Rolls

When Rayne woke up, she was surprised to find that she still had her mask on. She felt at her stomach, feeling the stitches under the pads of her fingertips. Kai had stitched her up? Had he done it just to be a good citizen, or…did he know who she really was underneath the mask? She prayed he didn't. That information alone could lead to catastrophe. What if someone found out? A villain could use the information to his/her advantage and kill her while she was sleeping or something, for pity's sake!

Deciding not to think on the pessimist's side, she looked around for Kai. She'd fallen asleep while he had been stitching up her wound. How she could fall asleep amid all that pain was beyond her, but she'd still managed to do it. Of course, the rest she was thankful for. It had done her a world of good to sleep, but she didn't know exactly how long she'd been 'out like a light'. That's what bothered her. Who knows what Kai had done when she was defenseless and exhausted? He could have done anything, taken off her mask to see who she was then put it back on, poisoned her, etc. That wasn't even half of what he could have done, and she wouldn't even have known about it unless he'd let it slip that he'd done it.

Rayne sighed, You've gotta stop thinking like this; you'll end up driving yourself into depression, Rayne. She thought to herself. Carefully raising her head, she looked down at herself. She still had all of her clothing on, mask included, and her stomach had gauze wrapped all the way around it, back as well.

To tell the absolute truth, she was amazed. Kai had done all of this for her, without even knowing who she was, or having a reason for that matter. Do you really need a reason to help someone? She mentally argued with herself, trying to figure out which side of the argument to believe.

She was snapped out of her reverie when Kai stuck his head in the door way into the room she was in. A surprised look slid onto his features when he saw she was awake, "You're up? I was expecting you to be asleep for at least two days, three at the most."

She shrugged, masking her voice, "I recover quickly. A silly stab wound won't hold me back…But, thank you for helping me out." She nodded her thanks, and he gave her a nod in reply.

Kai pulled up a chair next to the bed where she lay, and sat down, giving her a curious look, "I feel like I know you from somewhere…I almost recognize your voice somehow, like I've heard you talk before, but this is our first time meeting…" he looked at her suspiciously.

"Well, you know one juvenile-delinquent hero, you know them all…" she gave a nervous laugh, but it seemed that he didn't notice.

Kai shrugged, trusting that if she didn't know him than he didn't know her, other than the fact that he knew her to be Cat Woman, but as to who was under the mask he wasn't sure. For the time being, he was fine not knowing who she was. Sure, it was beginning to knock on the door of his curious side, but he could handle not knowing for now…That is, if he ever found out.

Suddenly, they both looked up at the window adjacent to the bed as lightning tore through the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance. The night held a foreboding aura and the sky seemed to get darker than pitch as clouds full-to-busting of rain moved in to the area. (A/N: This is foreshadowing, people! Bad rain storms are always used to foreshadow a bad event, so get ready…You might even want your tissue boxes out…)

Great…they both though in unison, although they were both unaware they had thought the same thing at the same time. Rayne sighed as she made her move to sit up, ignoring the pain that shot through her abdomen, "I'd better go before it gets any worse out there. I need to get home." She told him, hoping he would let her go.

Kai stood up, gently pushing her back down, "You can stay until you are healed. I can take care of you here, and it's not a problem for me, if that's what you're thinking." He told her soothingly.

She sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to let her go. She knew Kai was far too sensible to let her go out there in her condition. By now, it had started to pour down raining, the tin roof of the apartment building making tens upon thousands of 'clink' noises. It was almost like music…in a strange, nature-ish kind of way…

"Fine then. I'll stay long enough to get on my feet, and then it is of the utmost urgency that I go. Do you understand?" she asked him, speaking clearly as if she were talking to a child.

He rolled his eyes at the way she treated him, "Of course I understand, I'm not as dense as you seem to think I am." he said in defense of himself.

She smiled and gave a small laugh, "I'm just joking, but I must go when I am able to walk." she said to make sure he knew she wasn't joking about that. She received a nod in conformation.

She settled herself back onto the bed to get comfortable. She suddenly gave a jump as a loud clap of thunder sounded overhead, before the lights flickered and went out. She looked around, trying to get her eyes adjusted to the sudden light predicament—or lack there of. She could make out Kai's silhouette against the lighter shade of which the wall was colored. She heard Kai shift and then get up, "Where're you going?" she asked.

She heard Kai stop again and saw his silhouette stand out against the wall nearest the door, "I'm going to get some candles. Do you need anything?" he asked, and she could hear a hint of concern for her in his voice.

She shook her head, then remembered he couldn't see her, "No, I'm alright. Just go get the candles, it'll make this easier on the both of us…" she said. She saw the door being pulled open, and heard Kai's steps on the plush carpet get farther and farther down the hall. She yawned tiredly; this sudden darkness had brought an exhaustion-induced sleep close at hand. But then again, she didn't want to fall asleep. Something could happen. As herself, she would have fully trusted Kai not to pull anything…sneaky. But, it was of utmost importance that her identity at this time be kept a secret, even from her friends.

She looked up as she heard Kai coming back down the hall, and the door was pushed open from where it had settled back into a place to stay after Kai had pulled it open moments before. She saw him pull out a lighter as he sat down. She heard the clicking sounds of him trying to get the lighter to work, along with seeing the sparks that flew up every time he did it, but no fire appeared. Finally, a flame appeared at the tip of the lighter, lighting up the room slightly. He touched the flame to the candlewick and watched as the wick went up in a flash. He did the same to another candle and set it on the table next to the bed, so they would both be able to see to an extent. He cut the lighter off and set it down on the bedside table near the candle. He then picked up his own candle and held the small saucer it sat on. The one on Rayne's table also had a saucer to sit on.

Lightning lit up the night sky once more, and Rayne looked out the window. The weather had gotten worse; the wind howled with immense fury, the rain surged down like a sea of tears, and the thunder and lightning reminded her of a song, The Thunder Rolls by Garth Brooks. From the looks of the weather, it suited this night.

Although, little did either of them know that more of the lyrics would be taking place tonight…(A/N: For those of you who know that song as well as I…RELAX! She's not gonna shoot him!)

Kai followed her gaze out the window, "From the looks of this, the storm could go on for a while." he told her as he looked out the window at the chaos developing just beyond the safety provided by the glass of his window.

She glanced over at him, then let her gaze fall back on the ongoing storm, "How can you tell?" she asked nonchalantly.

Kai looked at her, "It's been raining for a good while now, and the storm hasn't even let up by a drop, and the clouds still look as dark and rain-filled as ever." he explained calmly.

She nodded to show she'd heard him, but her gaze remained on the window. She still watched it as it went on, amazed by the fury-filled show Mother Nature put on for her own entertainment. She hadn't seen a storm this bad in some time…It had been at least three or four years, five at the most. With luck, the roads wouldn't be flooded tomorrow and the day would be bright and sunny, instead of rainy and gloomy.

She stole a quick, unnoticed glance at Kai; he too was watching the great show of Mother Nature's power and stamina. He didn't seem as amazed by it as she did, but he still looked as if he respected the forces that had created this strong storm system.

A newspaper flew up from unknown parts and smacked up against the window. The candles made just enough light to make out the front page story of the paper: Cat Woman? Heroine or Hell's Angel?

The paper was the jerked roughly from the window before Rayne got the chance to read the rest of the articles. Why did they torment her so? Her intentions were all good and no one in the city had to be worried over her. Hadn't all the good deeds she'd done so far proved that she meant no harm to the good innocents and their city, she was only interested in the villains.

It appeared that Kai had not seen the article, because he said nothing about it. He just continued his staring out the window, as if he were in a trance. She thought about questioning him as to if he had indeed seen the newspaper, as she suspected he had, but she kept her mouth shut. It was in her better judgment to just leave it as a 'he hadn't said anything, so I won't bring it up' matter.

Kai stood up, pausing to look down at her, "I'm going to go check the fuse box, make sure none of them short circuited when the power went out." he said and he left the room. She heard his footsteps disappear down the hall.

Suddenly, just as she heard his footsteps fade down the hall until she could barely hear them, the lights flickered back on rather quickly. She gave a surprised jump and made to get up, forgetting about the stab wound in her stomach; a costly—not to mention painful—mistake. She gave a sharp, but small, cry of pain. It wasn't loud enough for Kai to hear.

Her breath quickened as the pain shot down through her stomach and up her chest. Pulling a hand up to her head to steady her throbbing temples, she got a finger tangled in the strap that held her mask to her face. She managed to get it untangled, but at a costly price. With a shocked look across her face, she watched the black leather mask fall to the floor. She bent over in a hurry, ignoring the pain as best she could, and grabbed for the mask, trying to get it. Suddenly, she realized she heard Kai's footsteps coming back down the hall, and panic filled her entire being. She looked up as she heard Kai come through the door, and quickly realized her mistake, a moment too late.

Kai's eyes widened, "Rayne? What…? No, you can't be…" he looked at her as if he'd never seen her before.

Rayne quickly tried to regain her composure, "Kai, I couldn't have told you who I was! Then I would run the risk of you getting hurt and-" she was cut off by Kai.

Kai shook his head, not believing what he was seeing, "You aren't her, you can't be! Rayne is my friend!" he told himself before looking back up at her, seeing the same face he had moments before.

She countered quickly, "Kai, don't jump to conclusions, I just-" once more, she was cut off.

Kai glared at her fiercely, his eyes shining with anger, "I can't believe I was friends with you…" he paused to look at her. "I trusted you…" he shook his head again to clear his racing thoughts.

She shook her head, trying to get him to listen, "No, Kai! I haven't changed at all! I'm still me!" she said quickly.

Kai stared at her, "It's like I don't know you any more. You aren't the same Rayne I knew, you're not!" he shouted at her, and she jumped slightly from the volume in his voice.

She shook her head again, "No! No, Kai! I'm still the-" he interrupted her again, but this time his voice wasn't loud, and that's what scared her.

"Get out…" he said, his voice deathly quiet and calm, but she could sense the anger underneath his statement.

She stared at him incredulously, her eyes softening, "But, Kai I-"

"No, get out! NOW!" in his anger, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the front door, opening it.

"Kai, please! Let me explain-"

Before she could finish, he shoved her out the door, and said three words that broke her heart into tiny little pieces, "I hate you." then he slammed the door in her face.

He stomped back into his room and pulled out a newspaper article he had cut out and snatched a red pen from the table. He threw the article down on the table and roughly pulled the top from the pen. Upon closer inspection, the article was the one Rayne had seen earlier, clinging to the window. He growled and lowered the pen onto the paper, then drew a circle around these words: Hell's Angel. And, for the first time in his life, he spent the night crying.

Meanwhile…

Rayne stood outside. She hadn't moved an inch since Kai had pushed her out his door in a flurry of angered words and fierce looks. Her hair was plastered to her forehead, and the rain mixed with the tears hanging on her eyelashes. She looked up as a huge clap of thunder rolled across the sky, and lightning hit in the distance, the lyrics of a song that was almost like this night flashing through her mind as she fell to her knees not so gently and began to weep.

The thunder rolls
And the lightning strikes
Another love grows cold
On this sleepless night
As the storm goes on out of control
Deep in her heart…
The thunder rolls…


Note: My grandmother is going into the hospital this Wednesday for an operation, and I will not be able to go because of school. Due to the circumstances, I will be unable to pray for her that day, so I ask you, out of the goodness of your hearts to pray for her if you can. I've never been this scared in years. Please, and thank you.

Kit: That was soo hard for me to write…starts crying

Rayne: is nowhere to be found

Kai: still sulking in his room

Tala: Alrighty, then…I suppose everyone is a bit preoccupied, so I'll just tell ya'll! Read and Review!