Disclaimer: Rio is mine... Kao-ri is yohko-lily's... Nikita is Wolfy's… and GOD I wish I had Kai, Tala, and Rei. -. -

"Talking"

"Thinking"

Stress a word

Flashback or Dreams


Shadow

Chapter 6


It was about an hour and a half later that Kai found himself sitting quietly with Rio and the others waiting to find out how Rei and Tala were doing. Unfortunately, since it was a busy city, the hospital had been very crowded when they arrived and asked for news on the injured men.

In no time, Kai and the three girls were ushered out of the main waiting room and into a smaller conference room that they all assumed was used for doctors' conferences. After being asked to wait there, the nurse who had escorted them disappeared. As each minute passed, the blatant fear in the small room seemed to develop. Feeling his nerves beginning to wear away, Kai continued to fumble with his hands through his hair. Rio and Kao were leaning against one another, close to tears. Nikita was waiting patiently, masking her emotions from them all.

"Stupid...Kao-ri you stupid bitch...look what you've done now..." thought Kao-ri clenching her fists tightly. Her hands shook at the pressure she exposed upon herself. Kao couldn't see through her tearing eyes. And Rio was the same, except she found her nerves betraying her as she started to shake with fright. The more time only could me more trouble.

Their silence was interrupted as they heard the door creak open. Four pairs of eyes turned to see a man in a white coat enter the room with a file in his one hand. Closing the door behind him, he looked over towards them all and asked, "Are you here with Tala Ivanov and Rei Kon?" Kai and Rio jumped out of their seats.

"Yes!" squeaked Rio.

"That is us," declared Kai.

"How are they doing?" asked Nikita as calmly as she possibly could.

"Sit down please," said the doctor, taking his own seat at the head of the table. Rio and Kai fell in line and sat themselves back down. The doctor put the paper down in front of him and folded his hands together as he looked between all of them. "First I must ask if anyone of you are related to either of the patients?" They all looked between one another and shook their heads.

"No," replied Kai. The doctor shook his head.

"Than I can't give out the details on either patient's conditions," replied the doctor in a sigh, immediately getting a jumping pair of Hiwataris and Kao. "It is hospital policy for the patients' protection of privacy. I am sorry but all I can say-"

"They are both valued employees of mine," explained Kai, interrupting the doctor. His eyes were closed and his voice was stern. Rio had opened her mouth to say something, but it snapped shut right away. "And I am the closest thing to family that Tala has." Kai's eyes opened as he looked over towards the doctor with a serious look on his face.

"Then I have a question for you," said the doctor, looking between the four of them. "Would you please tell me what exactly happened?" His voice was curious while at the same time stern. Their answer would probably dictate the information or not. They all looked between each other, unsure who would tell, but Kai turned to the doctor once again.

"We were at the charity banquet on the governor's cruise liner, when out of no where Tala screamed out to everyone as the glass wall in front of him shattered. By the time we got him out, we realized Rei was still inside. He came out a few minutes later clutching his right shoulder," he retold, reliving the memory.

"What is it Tala?" asked Kao. Tala brushed his finger over her mouth to silence her. The ticking was growing more rapidly and louder. Turning to look at the glass wall, he noticed flashing red light.

"GET DOWN!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Everyone in the room looked towards him, and Kai stood up in his seat staring at Tala, as the Russian pushed Kao behind him.

There was a huge explosion and the glass was shattered, sending the stray pieces flying. Rei quickly, with his neko skills, pulled Rio to the ground and jumped on top of her, shielding her from the flying glass. Everyone else fell to the ground, and covered their wrists, necks, and eyes.

The glass shards settled on the ground and the crowd of people ran out of the cruise liner as quickly as they could, finding any possible exit. Kai instructed the governor and his family to leave the area as soon as possible. Taking his advice, the man and his relatives left the smoking room. Tomoe followed them, under Kai's orders. Kai jumped down from the platform and ran towards the dance floor, crushing more glass as he ran.

"TALA! RIO!" he shouted into the smoke, coughing as he inhaled some of it. He came across a coughing Nikita on the ground. Helping her onto her feet, "You OK?" Nikita nodded.

Tala was lying on the ground on his back; rolling side to side as his right hand was covering is agonizing eyes. The pain was unbearable and taking over his whole body. Tala seized to feel anything other than the burning sensation in his eyes. He couldn't feel the warm crimson blood covering his hand and seeping through…

He made it to the docks and then slowly down the ramp. The crowd gasped and Rio looked up with her blood shot eyes. Rei made it halfway down the ramp before his missed his step and fell down, rolling down the ramp onto the docks, landing in a clutter.

"Well, your story does match the inquiries that my team and I have come to," said the doctor, opening the file and sifting through the papers. "Rei has suffered from a gunshot wound through his right shoulder. He has ceased with the bleeding, so we are not worried about any problems with blood loss or clotting.

Rei also was suffering from a fever we believe to have come from wound and shock. Currently, he his stabilized and is under medication to reduce the pain. But we are going to require him to stay overnight just to be sure his temperature does not raise again and his wound does not open over night." Rio could feel her knuckles turning white as she gripped her chair handles tighter and tighter. Rio could feel a hand placed gently on her shoulder. Looking over she saw Nikita's face full of concern.

"What about Tala?" Rio managed to peep out in a squeak.

"Ivanov-san is in much worse conditions than Kon-san. He has major, deep lacerations to his face, neck, chest, and arms we inquired at first to be from an explosion. Your story of it being a glass wall warranted our suspicions. We currently have his wounds wrapped to help stop the bleeding. Each laceration is deep and needs stitches to help him properly heal. But he is not making it easy for us." The doctor shook his head in frustration at the actions of the Russian patient, completely unaware of Tala's reasoning.

"You wouldn't either if you went through the same trauma that he did last time he was here…" thought Kai, remembering that day that Tala last stepped foot into a hospital.

"But we were able to restrain him to work on his eyes. I am sorry to report to you all, but Tala's chances of sight are minimum to none."

"NO!" "TALA!"

"Once we removed the bandages, we found many glass shards cutting into his eyes which makes your story more believable to me. We have discovered that his corneas have been severely damaged and are basically dead to him."

"But you said Tala still had a chance to see," choked Rio. Kao-ri's heart skipped a beat and she started to feel sick to her stomach.

"Yes I did. With our given technology we are able to replace the damaged corneas in Ivanov-san's eyes. It is an expensive and risky operation." The mood in the air lightened a bit at the sense of hope, but no one could bring himself or herself to actually express themselves about it.

"What kind of operation?" asked Kai, eyeing the doctor. Tala never was going to go along with this, just as much as he was going along with being near this building of death anyway.

"Basically it is a surgical procedure done with a laser to replace his damaged cornea with a pair of health ones that someone has donated. If we did proceed with this, I would have to call a friend of mine from Russia. None our current staff is comfortable with performing this operation as he is."

"Do it," bluntly replied Kai. "If it is going to help Tala, I'm willing to pay anything for my brother…"

"Now, mind you this is not a guarantee mister…"

"Hiwatari."

"Yes, Hiwatari-san. There is the chance that his body would reject his new eyes and then we would have to operate again before his body's reaction is strong enough to kill him. You see, the body has a natural defense against foreigners to the body. If Tala's immune system just so happened to no accept the corneas, they will attack them with the intent to destroy them.

In so, Tala would be in danger and his body would be too busy fighting off these foreign things that he would be highly susceptible to minor diseases that could kill him even with our help. It is also not a given that he'll regain full sight again. He might only be able to see shadows or nothing at all. The eyes and brain are always risky areas to operate on." Kao and Rio looked between one another and then over towards Nikita, who was trying her best to comfort both girls, but it was rather hard when she was hearing the troublesome news herself.

"Do the operation. Call the man, do what ever you have to." Kai was firm with his decision. He would just have to find a way to break it to Tala. And it wasn't going to be easy.

"Yes, Hiwatari-san. I shall phone the doctor immediately and arrange all necessities."

"Can we see them?" asked Kao meekly. The doctor nodded and waved his hand towards the door.

"Yes, but briefly. Rei is in room 43 on the third floor. Tala is currently in room 49 on the same floor." Just then the door opened and in appeared a nurse. She walked over next to the doctor with a grim look on her face.

"Doctor, we tried to calm down Tala Ivanov because he started to worsen his injuries. He's not being tolerable. We sedated him under Dr. Miyou's order, but he's till resisting," she said. The doctor nodded at the words of his employee.

"Alright, Yumi. Maybe his friends will be able to ease him. A nurse will let you know when visiting hours are over." The doctor stood up and so did the others.

"Thank you sir," said Kai, as he let the girls passed him. Rio and Kao almost tackled one another to get to the door first, and Nikita had to help them keep on their own two feet. Kai was about to leave as well, until the doctors called him back in.

"And one more thing, Hiwatari-san. It does not seem Tala is insured."

"I'll pay off all debts both men will have but do whatever you need to help Tala," said Kai. It wasn't like he didn't have the money to do it anyway. Besides, Tala was worth more his weight in gold. The red head had been with Kai and Rio through all their life, the good, and mostly the bad. It was Kai's fault Tala was in this business, so he would pay for it.

-----

Rio had gone off in Rei's direction, after a quick hug from Kao-ri and Nikita. The two girls waited for Kai to appear behind them. They stood outside the door for a second, peering inside through the little window on the door to see the room only occupied by one patient. They each cringed at the sight that they saw. Stepping back, they let one of the nurses out of the room, mumbling to herself in frustration.

Tala was resting on one of the two beds that could have been occupied. It was clear to see under the dismantling blanket that Tala was only dressed in scrub pants and had his chest bandaged. His arms were bandaged as well from his hands to his shoulders and they could see the tainting of red in a non-pattern. There were bandages across his eyes, and along his cheeks and chin were multiple cuts and blood drippings. His wrists and ankles were tied down with restraints to the ends of the bed, and tubes attached to IVs were inserted under the wrappings. Kao covered her mouth, Nikita looked away for a second, while Kai's fists were geld tight in anger.

"Tala..."

Nikita looked down at Kao-ri, noting how distressed the poor girl was. She leaned forward and whispered softly, "Are you alright Kao-ri?" Kao-ri looked up to the elder with watering eyes and shook her head.

"Yeah...just fine..." With that, they all entered the room, Kai leading. With the opening of the door, Tala snapped his head towards them. Of course he couldn't see, and that fact made it harder on the others. Tala was baring his teeth as if he was a wolf in anger.

"I told you, leave me the fuck alone!" shouted Tala. "And to stay away from me! Couldn't you get that through your dense skulls?" Kao-ri bit her lip in her fear, and Nikita placed her hands over her shoulders.

"Tala, it's just us," replied Kai as calmly as he possibly could. Tala's expression changed and his mouth turned into an "o" shape, as he once again started to pull and tug his whole body against the restraints.

"Kai? That you?" They all watched as Tala fought a useless battle. The restraints had been secured and he was now pulling his own strength away from himself. Kai started over, and so did Nikita, who had to give Kao-ri a gentle push forward.

"Yeah," replied Kai. "Nik, and Kao are here too." Kai pulled up a chair that was near the bed, and sat down on it, right next to Tala. Kao and Nikita stood behind him, Nikita keeping an eye on the trembling Kao-ri and also on the struggling Russian.

"I really shouldn't be here..." thought Kao-ri, ready to chew her fingernails off. Nikita looked down at her, and wrapped an arm around Kao-ri, rubbing her arms comfortingly.

"Hey Tala..." she said quietly.

"Where are you guys?" asked Tala, tossing his head side to side. Kai reached out and placed his hand gently on Tala's shoulder, which caused the man to jump in shock. Kao-ri choked another gasp. Tala's breathing was rapid as the fright was taking over his body and mind.

"How are you feeling, bud?" asked Kai reassuringly. He patted Tala's shoulder slightly until he saw his best friend cringe. Kai immediately pulled his hand back.

"If you were anything of a friend, Kai. You'd undo these restraints and get me out of here!" exclaimed Tala, struggling once again. The pain in his shoulders and arms was growing in the fire as he could feel his wounds opening even wider underneath the bandages.

"I'm sorry..." whispered Kao-ri, turning on her heel and walking out of the room. Kai and Nikita watched her leave, both letting out a sigh. "I can't...stand seeing him like that..."

"Kao?" Tala turned his head back and forth across the mound of pillows under his head, looking for her. But Kao was already out of the room. He could hear the door shut, and he felt the fear again. He couldn't tell if another doctor was entering the room or not. He didn't want that. He had to get out of there. "Get…me…out…of… here!"

Kai shook his head as he watched Tala pulling against the restraints. "Sit still. You're not going anywhere, they are sending for a doctor-"

"NO DOCTORS! NO NOTHING! Just get me out of here!" Nikita glanced at Tala sympathetically. Her head turned once again to the door and her frown grew. Walking over to the door, she went over to Kao-ri.

"Shut up Tala," Kai said forcefully. Tala immediately stopped, but he was shaking a bit in fear. Kai had rarely seen Tala like this. The redhead was strong, one of the strongest and bravest people he knew, but he was traumatized once before when they were young in a hospital. Tala never would get over that, and Kai understood that. "Listen, don't make me get Rio in here..."

"Rio? Where is she?"

"With Rei," replied Kai lightly. Tala's immediate response was growling. He felt his anger build inside.

"Hey," said Tala, trying to calm down his voice. "Listen I'm fine, just let me out of here. No big deal." He let out a light but fake chuckle. Kai knew better.

"You're staying right there, Tala," replied Kai with a sigh as he watched him struggles still. "I know you can't stand this place, But the more you struggle the more you're going to be stuck here..." Kai's eyes shifted over towards the door.

"Just...get...me..."

----

Kao-ri sat on a bench outside of the room, her elbows resting on her thighs as she buried her face in her hands. She could feel the tears finally powering down her face. This was all her fault. If she didn't go to that stupid banquet Tala never would have been near that glass wall. She should have been the one stuck next to it during the explosion.

"I put him in danger...he's in there suffering because I was too stupid to get over Juro...I didn't even like him that much..." Kao-ri let out a loud sigh and looked up to stare straight ahead of her. Nikita sat down next to Kao-ri and looked at her with a motherly expression.

"I can tell there's something wrong Kao...do you feel like talking about it?" she asked keeping her voice calm and low. She didn't want to bring any attention to the poor girl but she couldn't help but want to help her.

"I just feel..." began Kao-ri. "…Like it's all my fault...it was my fault for not letting go of the fact that Juro was cheating on me...and know what...I really shouldn't have cared...cause I didn't like him...and now Tala's hurt and in the hospital..." Nikita placed a hand on Kao-ri's shoulder.

"Kao...Tala being hurt is not your fault..." Nikita assured her, knowing that it would probably be impossible to get that through the girl's head. "And Juro has nothing to do with this...you can forget about him."

Kao-ri let out a sigh, "Yeah it is...but nice try...but I guess it was pretty rude of me...for walking out...without even really saying hello...I just...hate seeing him like this..." Nikita was surprised; Kao-ri actually did the opposite of what she had braced herself for. She blinked a few seconds before smiling and nudging her shoulder with her fist.

"I think Tala might like it if you did go say hello to him though..." Kao-ri looked over to her with a big smile and her eyes closed. Kao-ri nodded and stood up, entering the room once again.

----

"If you say 'get you out of here' one more time I'm going to slap you Tala Ivanov!" exclaimed Kao-ri trying to hold her smile as she heard Tala pleading with Kai some more. Tala stopped his struggle and looked over to the direction that Kao-ri's voice had come from. Kai looked up.

"K-Kao?" Nikita smiled softly, walking back in to the room after Kao. Kai noticed her look and smiled towards her. The smile he used to give her, back when they were together. Nikita glanced at Kai for a moment, and then looked away again, remembering that warm feeling she always got when he smiled at her like that.

"Stupid idiot...you're not going to get out of those restrains...so you might as well just deal with it..." stated Kao-ri walking over towards Tala's bedside. Kai stood up and offered her the chair. Kao-ri took it and sat down, leaning over to move a strand of Tala's hair from his wrapped face.

"Listen, there are glass shards in your eyes, and if we don't operate on them as soon as possible, you are never going to see anything but that darkness again..." said Kai, breaking the news as best as he could… bluntly. Tala gulped and just lied on the bed frozen.

"So you better stop complaining...or else...I-I'll..." Kao-ri felt more tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. Nikita looked at Kao-ri oddly.

"I really hope she'll be ok, Tala too..."

"I want..." started Tala, his body starting to shake once again. The same shaking as a frightened child. That's what Tala was now. That child inside of him who had been tormented was back.

"I know. But the only chance we have at you not being blind is getting this operation... I know... I remember what happened to her..." said Kai nodding his head. Both Kao-ri and Nikita were curious.

"I wonder what it is that happened to 'her'..." thought Nikita.

"Who's 'her'?" "Stop being so selfish you stupid idiot!" stated Kao-ri, poking Tala lightly. Tala winced once again in pain.

"Don't..."

"Careful, Kao-ri," said Kai warningly.

"Meep...sorry...sorry...sorry..." she whimpered lightly wishing to take that back.

"Nah…it's ok, Kao... It doesn't hurt..." replied Tala. "Too much."

"IT'S NOT OK SO SHUT UP!" Kao-ri snapped out. She quickly regained herself. "Ah no...sorry sorry sorry!"

Kai looked over to Nikita. "Lets go... Listen Tala. I'll be back. I have to check on Rio... and yeah. The doctor is going to get here as soon as he can..." Nikita nodded, glancing at Tala and Kao-ri with her motherly look one last time before walking out of the room. Kai followed Nikita out. Tala could hear the moving of feet.

"Don't leave me alone!"

"I'm still here...I promise I won't leave you..." said Kao-ri lightly placing her hand on top of his sniffling back anymore tears that wanted to pour out of her eyes.

"Good," stated Tala letting out a sigh, but his body was still extremely tense. "Don't want to be alone...here." He tugged on his restraints once again, hoping they would come undone or loosen up just a tad.

"Please stop moving Tala...you're only hurting yourself more..." pleaded Kao-ri.

----------------------------------------

Kai had stopped outside the door, to look back into the room. Nikita had continued and left him, but Kai couldn't help but feel for Tala. He had been through the worst time of his life in the hospital. And there was no way Tala was going to sit still. Kai had sensed Tala's old child-self being back. The Great Russian hit man was a frightened baby. A baby who wanted to be held in his mother's arms.

"He might be a strong man, but everyone has his weakness.. have to have tight security on him... can't let Lee anywhere near here…"

Kai made his way down the hallway and didn't notice Nikita was sitting on a bench just down the hall, very close to Rei's room. She was leaning back, contemplating all that happened. It didn't seem right that Lee would strike them; his group hid underground and only came up in small spurts. Outbreaks on a crowd were not Lee's style. Pick them off one at a time. It just didn't seem right. Nikita looked up when she heard footsteps coming towards her. Looking up she saw Kai, but he wasn't looking at her. He seemed lost in his thoughts. Kai knew more about Tala and more about the Bái Hu Zu than Nikita could ever know.

"I...wonder how Kai's holding up with all of this..."

"I'm going to kill Lee... If i have to do it with my own hands..." thought Kai, clenching his hand a fist. Something caught his eye as he looked up from the floor slightly. "-- Nikita?"

Nikita stood up as Kai stopped in his tracks, looking her in the eye. She pinched her mouth shut tight. She didn't know what to say to him, she didn't have the words. That wasn't always true. When they were together, she always had something to say to him, and he always was there to reciprocate.

"Nikita..."

Nikita continued to stare right back at him, feeling the dead lock on them. It was like they were in another world, their own world, a shadow realm where the only light shown on them. Nikita's eyes shook when she came to a realization. "I can't seem to read his eyes like I used to..."

"Are you...doing ok...Kai?" Kai continued to stare at her, searching for what to think, what to say. There was so much he wanted to tell her, but he just couldn't bring himself to it.

"How can I tell you Nikita? I need to push you away... but I just..." Kai looked to the ground as he walked forward and over to the bench Nikita was standing in front of. He sat down on the bench and buried his face in his hands.

"I never should have listened to that bastard..." Nikita sat back down beside him, restraining herself from doing the comforting touches she would usually, afraid it would make him mad. Kai pulled head out of his hands after a bit and looked to the ceiling. "I didn't want to go tonight.

But Tala, he said it would be good publicity... and then look what happened. Not only are his chances of actually having this operation be a success are slim to none... but I could have prevented it... not to mention the blue suits are going to be everywhere I am now..."

Nikita stared at him, "You couldn't have predicted this would happen, Kai...so don't beat yourself up like this..."

"I should have stuck to my instincts..." said Kai, looking back down at his fists. "Like I did with you." The memory flooded back to Kai, just like it was yesterday. The day that he left Nikita, for her own good.

Nikita looked down at the floor. "What's done is done....now...you just have to hope for the best." She was trying to be reassuring, but the way Kai was confessing to her reminded her of the "good old days" when Nikita was a freshman in college and just so happened to run into a hot guy in a local club her friends dragged her into. "Though that didn't exactly work in our case..."

"You have no idea how this is paining me, Nikita." Kai looked over towards Nikita was a frown on his face. "Too bad the best is not good enough..." Nikita remained silent. What was there to say? Even back when she and Kai were a couple, when Kai had his mind set on something there was nothing that could change it. Same still held today.

"ARG!" growled Kai, slamming his fist into the wall behind him. Nikita jumped somewhat, shocked by Kai's abrupt action. She bit her lip, unsure of what was going through Kai's mind right about now.

"W-what's wrong?"

"I'm going to kill Lee-" growled Kai, his eyes narrow and rage filling inside of them. But then he gasped, eyes opening wide and he came to a realization that he was ashamed of. "Shit. I am turning into my oto-san..." Just the thought of Adrik Stanislov made Kai's blood boil. Nikita could only stare at him, he seemed distant to her once again. Kai stood up, regaining himself, turning his back to her.

"I'm sorry..."

"For what?" whispered Nikita, feeling her old emotions rushing over her. Kai looked like he was cringing a little bit as he fought himself on what to say to her.

"I can't tell her... she couldn't understand... she doesn't know what that bastard did to Okaa-san and Rio..." Kai continued to look away, tightening his fists. "…what he's done to me…" Nikita looked at him with shaking eyes.

"He seems so...hurt....but...what am I able to do..." Nikita stared at the floor blankly. Kai glanced back without moving his head, and he saw her position, her eyes through their overlapping shadow. It only made him hurt even more.

"I hurt her... whenever I'm near her..." Nikita finally found her guts and looked up at Kai, who had already looked back in front of himself. She stood up and walked over behind him.

"Kai..." she said softly. "…why can't you just tell me what's bothering you so much....I can feel that your hurt....why can't you just let it out?" She looked back to the ground.

"I have to keep her away. It is the only way to keep her safe... sacrifice. This is my sacrifice..." Kai felt his eyes narrow, his face-harden and temper rise as he snapped back towards her.

"What do you mean? I don't have a problem. Mind your own business, parasite..." he spit it out with as much venom that he could muster. Psuedo venom. Nikita jumped back at his reaction to her as she watched him take out cell phone and dial it. Kai started walking forward, leaving her behind. "Yea, It's Kai. I'm on my way over... be ready, I don't like be kept waiting..."

Nikita watched him walk away, feeling her heart breaking again for the millionth time. Every time they got so close, Kai just pushed her away, threw her into the dirt. She closed her eyes tightly as she felt them start to water up. "Why do I have to keep trying…No...no! I won't cry over him...I won't…" Nikita buried her face in her hands, shaking her head no, trying to choke the tears back.

Kai put his cell phone away and glancing back to see Nikita crying because of him and he cringed. He didn't want to see her like this. But there was nothing he could do. This was the best way to keep her safe. "I'm so sorry. I want you so badly, Nikki. I want you back with me, but I can't. The cast of my father's shadow is too deep..."

---------------------------------------------------

The door opened with a little creaking as Rio tried to be as quiet as she could. The Hiwatari had peered into the room as soon as she had seen her brother, Nikita, and Kao-ri walk off towards Tala. That was her next stop, but she had to find out how Rei was. She had to see it for herself.

She tried to walk in as quietly as she could. The room was dark and it appeared that the body on the bed was asleep. At first, Rio had thought not to go in, but she felt her heart tugging her hand towards the door. She walked in, trying to be careful not to wake him. Closing the door softly behind her, she heard the handle click into place as he back was turned to Rei.

"Hey Rio..." said Rei opening his eyes to see the bluenette goddess trying to be as quiet as a church mouse. Rio jumped and spun around quickly, shocked. She saw the weak smile he gave her.

"Rei! You're awake? I didn't wake you did I? Cause if I did, I'm so sorry," exclaimed Rio in a rush as she ran over to his bed and sat down in the visitor's chair next to his bed. Rei could help but let out a hallow chuckle at her.

"No I was awake. It's ok," he replied. "Sorry if I scared you..."

"You feeling ok?" asked Rio looking all over the room and over what was around Rei. He had the IV injections and his arm was resting in a sling around his neck. Rei's shoulder was wrapped in layers of bandages. She bit her lip at the sight of where his wound was.

"Yeah...I'm fine," nodded Rei. "Just a little sore..." Rio sighed and felt all the energy drain from her body. "And damn furious...He shot me!"

"I'm sorry," said Rio, motioning towards the bandaged shoulder in the sling. Rei looked over at it and shrugged. "It was my fault you got hurt... I shouldn't have gone to that banquet. Then you probably wouldn't have had to. I'm not stupid. I know onii-san wanted you to protect me there if anything happened..."

"Hey I chose to stay back...you didn't tell me to go in there and get shot...so as far as I'm concerned you're as innocent as day and I'm a stupid cocky bastard who can't get a job done right..." Rio could feel her tears returning to her eyes and her lips were trembling slightly.

"You're not stupid... cocky, maybe... but not stupid."

"Nah…you know I was a fool to go in there and try to take on Lee on my own..." Rei looked at his shoulder and felt the anger in his body grow. He still couldn't believe Mariah's onii-san could do such a thing. Wait… Mariah, how would she take this when she would find out?

"Who's Lee?" asked Rio looking curiously at Rei. Kai might have been her onii-san but that didn't mean she knew every mafia leader this side of the Pacific. Rei looked back over to her dumbfounded she wouldn't know.

"Shit...smooth Rei real smooth..." he thought. "He's that guy that your brother was talking with..." Rei started to cough a bit. "He's a really bad guy Rio..." Rio cocked her head at him, leaning in closer, her curiosity wanting to know more about this "Lee".

"How do you know him??? What do you mean by 'bad guy'?" asked Rio.

"Damnit!" "He...killed my family...I went in there to get revenge...I'd...rather we not go into detail..." Rei mentally wiped his brow yet again as he could see it in Rio's eyes that she was eating up every word he was saying. She pulled back and leaned back against the chair, feeling extremely guilty.

"Oh... I'm sorry." Rei smiled at her, trying to warm her up again. He didn't know why exactly he wanted her happiness, but he knew his old ideas of just using Rio were failing.

"It's ok," stated Rei. "But a wise man once said...it's best not to dwell on the past..." Rio nodded her head; one of her lit professors had quoted that a few times before, generally when he handed papers back.

"Yes... I guess so... what was it you were asking me for this... happened?"

"Now's not a good time to ask her...not while I'm in this condition it'll be too awkward." "Err...it was nothing..."

"No, Rei," firmly said Rio. "You started something... you should finish it..."

"Well..." began Rei, his brain racing for an excuse. "I was going to ask you if I could dance with you some more...but..." he let out a laugh, "I guess I won't be dancing for a little while now..." Rio started to choke on her tears, feeling them flood over her eyes. "That was close..." Then he noticed her tears and felt his stomach drop and he reached up with his good hand towards her. "Hey...don't...don't cry..." Rio wiped away her tears as she reached out and grabbed his hand, feeling Rei squeeze it weakly.

"When do you get out?" she asked. "The doctor told me, but everything blurred, when he told us about you and Tala..." Rio looked to the ground when she thought of Tala yet again.

"I'll probably only be here for a like another day or two and then I'll be as good as new," guessed Rei.

"And don't tell me you're going back to work for Kai!" squeaked Rio, sniffing back a few more tears.

"Well it's my job Rio...I've gotta go back..." Rei eyed her, but Rio felt herself growing in her anger and tears again when Rei said that to her. No, she couldn't allow it.

"NO YOU DON'T! I can get you out. I'll talk to Kai. He'll understand... Tala's already in major trouble.... I... can't risk you too!" she cried, letting all her tears pour out as she dropped her head down on the bed, crying into the sheets as she let go of his hand.

"Rio...stop...stop crying," said Rei, petting her hair. "It's a shame to mask a smile as pretty as yours." Rio looked up at him with her red eyes. "Ri I promise to be a good boy and not get hurt anymore...but...you can't keep me from doing what I do best..." Rio rubbed her eyes as she sat herself back up.

"Tala is in trouble because he's good at his job! I don't want you to have this job... you...mean too much to me..."

"What's this...feeling?" wondered Rei as he felt his heart skip a beat when Rio finished her sentence. "If...I mean that much to you...then you'd want me to be happy...and I'm happy working for Kai and protecting you..." Rio's bottom lip trembled as she started to cry hysterically.

"I don't want you to go blind or die!"

"I won't, I won't!!! You've gotta remember cats have 9 lives babe," said Rei, reaching out for her hand again. Rio gripped his hand once again in both hands and started to cry over her own. "I just...I just wanna see you smile again Rio..."

"Nine lives," repeated Rio, looking Ri in the eyes. "But what if all of them go at the same time... that's what's going to happen if you run into that Lee guy again... Please... don't go back..."

"Don't you have any confidence in me Rio?" Rio nodded her head.

"I don't want to take the chance," she replied. "I've seen too many hurt already... no more... I'm going to get Tala out of this... I want you out too..."

"Rio...sometimes you've gotta take risks...in order to protect the people you care about..." declared Rei with a sigh.

"I've pretty much lost everyone I love cause of some stupid battle for something I don't even know exists... no more..." she cried. Rei's eyes widened slightly.

"Maybe...the power really is just a legend..." He pulled his hand out of hers and reached his hand out towards her and wiped her tears. "I won't die..."

"YOU CAN'T GUARENTEE ANYTHING! I don't want to make anymore risks... my whole life had been revolved around them... Kai tried to minimize them, but ever since... Okaa-san..." Rio turned her head away and squeezed her eyes shut. "...He can't help it... I don't want anyone else drawn into it!"

"I'm going back to work Rio...please don't try to stop me...if I...get hurt again...then I promise you can kick me out...but don't take me out of the game before I've managed to do something good..."

Rio sobbed, "I don't want to lose you... If this happens again... you might not come back... too many deaths... I don't want another one!"

"Stop repeating yourself...you're only looking at the cup as if it's half empty... maybe... maybe I won't die and maybe we'll make a lot of money and maybe I'll get my revenge on Lee...there's always two sides of a coin Rio..." Rio wiped her tears away once again and tried to put a smile on her face, but it didn't last very long.

"I'm sorry. You're right... I've just seen the bad side so often... and now with Tala." Her emotions failed her.

"Rio...what happened to Tala..." asked Rei.

"Remember that glass shattered?"

"Yeah and Tala protected your neko-friend. So?"

"Well when he did," nodded Rio, "…he couldn't protect himself. Many of those shards got into his eyes... and ... he's going to probably be blind for the rest of his life. They are going to operate on him, but the chances are horrible... not to mention he's going to be going crazy in this hospital!" Rio blurted everything out in one breath, not giving Rei much opportunity to absorb the information before throwing more at him. All he could do was blink.

"Why is he going to go crazy? It's just like going to the doctors..."

"When we were really little, Tala's mother fell ill and needed surgery," Rio explained. She didn't remember that much back then. She was in diapers still, and Kai told her the whole story one day when Tala injured his arm but wouldn't let Spencer take him to the hospital to check it out. "But she never woke up... the nurse overdose her on the anesthesia... deliberately 'cause of who Tala's father was." Rio shut her eyes. Dimitri Ivanov was an employee of Voltaire, and had died in the line of duty. He took a bullet for Rio and Kai's oji-san. Tala accepted that fact with the help of his okaa-san, Vera Ivanov, who reassured her only son that his oto-san died doing his job. "…And who our grandfather is... he was so traumatized, you couldn't get him ten blocks from any hospital..."

"That's harsh," blinked Rei. "And dishonorable...bloody coward of a nurse..."

"That nurse, I've heard my brother say just recently, was found out to be a member of the Bái Hu Zu... after the same thing I guess Lee wanted back on the ship..."

"From...the Bái...Hu...Zu..." Of all time to be a member of the opposing mafia… "O-Oh..." Rio nodded her head in the memory of it all.

"And…when I heard Lee talk about something he wanted from Kai, I knew what he wanted was the same thing Tala and my mother died because of..."

"I...don't....feel so well....lying...she must...but...she couldn't...she wouldn't lie to me...." thought Rei. He could believe Lee would order the death of two women over this power. True the Hiwataris had stolen it from their master, but women and children were always off the list of targets. It was dishonorable. It showed weakness to fend a woman off as a deal breaker. "R-Rio I-I don't feel so well..." Rio got up from her seat immediately.

"I'll go get a doctor..."

"N-No...I-I think I just need to-to rest a little...t-take a cat nap...ne?" stated Rei, feeling his eyelids droop a little bit. "That and the fact that I've been trying to stay awake for the past ten minute cause of the stupid drugs they gave me."

Rio nodded. "I'll come see you tomorrow... hopefully they'll let you out then..."

"I know they'll..." smiled Rei, then let out a big cat-yawn. "Let me out then..."

"'Bye Rei. I'll be back as soon as I can," smiled Rio as she left the room, shutting the door behind her. Rei felt the effect of the drugs on him and his eyes were shut. The darkness of the dreams took over Rei within seconds.

"See you...Rio..."


Definitions:

Adrik: Russian – means "dark"

Stanislov: Russian – "glory"

Dimitri: Russian – from Demeter

Vera: Russian – Russian equivalent of the virtue, "faith."

lil phoenix