Title: Innocence

Author: PandaPjays

Chapter Title: Russian Roulette

Rating: T

Warnings: See Chapter One

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Author Note: Heyhey- sorry for leaving you all on a cliffie last time… who am I kidding? That was fun! Anyways Nothing major has happened in the past week since I've updated so hopefully I'll be able to keep going at this rate and finish off this story before you know it!

Okey dokey! I'd like to thank jayhay for being an awesome person and for proofreading this chapter even though it's 4am and he wants to go and die in bed.

And on with the story

Rei winced as he felt his fist connect with Kai's cheek. Kai's head snapped sideways before he fell over from the force of the impact. The Russian let out a grunt of pain as he hit the ground.

Rei's eyes widened. "Kai!" He knelt beside him. "Are you ok?" He asked plaintively, ignoring the pain in his own hand from his actions.

"Ouch", was the only reply he received. Kai opened his eyes and slowly removed his hand from his cheek. It had flown there on reflex when Rei had hit him. As his hand left his cheek, it revealed a large red mark. Rei winced again as he looked at it. It was already beginning to bruise.

"I'm going to feel that in the morning." Kai said, grimacing at the pain moving his jaw caused.

"Looks like you're feeling it now." Rei said, sympathetically, reaching out to touch Kai's cheek.

Kai jerked his head away from the Chinese boys hand, hissing in pain. "Ouch." Was the only explanation he offered

Rei nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry." He said, standing up and offering his hand to help Kai up.

Kai reached up and grasped Rei's hand. Rei smiled and began to take a step backward to pull Kai up. It was at the moment that all of Rei's weight was on only one of his feet that Kai struck, pulling the neko-jin's arm sharply. He gave a surprised yelp before falling forward on top of Kai.

Kai grunted as Rei's weight landed on him. "Ouch. That worked better in my head."

Rei kissed Kai on his non-bruised cheek. "I'm sorry." He said again. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Kai nodded. "I know. I'm sorry for making you. Thank you."

"That's the first time someone's thanked me for hitting them." Rei said with a wan smile.

"That's the first time I've asked someone to hit me so go figure." Kai told him, bringing up one of his hands to touch his cheek gingerly. "Where the hell did you learn to punch like that?"

"Biovolt."

"Shouldn't have asked."

"No." Rei sighed and rested his head on Kai's chest. "We have to go out soon."

Kai echoed his sigh and wrapped his arm around the boy lying on top of him, absently playing with his sash. "Not yet though."

Rei closed his eyes and relaxed against Kai's chest. "No. Not yet."

(-)

Boris's head snapped sideways when the door to the conference room burst open. Rei appeared in the doorway dragging a limp Kai. He struggled to manoeuvre the Russian to the wall next to the doorway. Having done so, Rei dumped Kai next to Tala and made his way over to Boris.

Kai slumped sideways, falling on to Tala's shoulder. He was careful to keep his eyes closed and all of his limbs loose. The pain in his cheek had faded to a dull ache. He was grateful to Rei for doing it. He knew that it would have been hard for the neko-jin. Kai also knew that he couldn't have done the same.

Did that say something about him? Did thinking that mean that he though less of Rei because the neko-jin had hit him? No. He could never think less of Rei. Did it mean anything at all then?

Kai suppressed a sigh. He had to remember that when he was stressed out to the max it wasn't a good idea to reflect… or to think at all, really.

To distract himself, Kai pulled out the knife that Rei had given him before they left the room and began to cut the bonds Rei had retied. Kai felt a warm fuzzy feeling in the bottom of his stomach, thinking of Rei when they decided that they really should leave the room.

"You like tying me up, don't you?" Kai asked as Rei once again moved his arms around to his back. Rei walked around to Kai's front and grinned.

"What can I say? I like being in control." He wrapped his arms around Kai's neck and pressed his lips against the Russian's

Rei nibbled on Kai's lower lip, seeking entrance. Kai granted it unhesitatingly, moaning deep in his throat as Rei slipped his tongue between his lips. They battled each other, both seeking dominance. Rei fought valiantly… and lost miserably- eventually succumbing to Kai's natural authority.

Kai strained against his restraints, every instinct of his telling him to take the neko-jin in his arms and hold him. Instead, Kai had to content himself with exploring each and every one of the delicious curves of Rei's mouth and committing them to memory. Eventually he pulled away, giving Rei a small peck on his lips as a parting gift.

Kai smirked. "I think this gives new meaning to beating you with my hands tied behind my back."

Rei pouted playfully. "You do know I let you win, right?"

In answer, Kai leaned forward and kissed Rei on the end of his nose. "Whatever you want to believe, Tiger."

Rei scrunched up his nose in response to the name. Instead of replying, he leaned over to the table, his body coming within a millimetre of brushing Kai's hip. Rei picked up the knife he had used earlier to cut Kai's bonds. He placed the handle into Kai's hands, allowing his fingers to brush the small of Kai's back as he withdrew his hand. "Put that somewhere you can reach it. Also, try not to cut yourself."

Kai smirked as he tucked the knife into the waistband of his pants; alongside the gun Rei had given him. "I'll try not to." He assured Rei, amused.

Rei sighed and wrapped his arms around Kai's waist, resting his head on the Russian's shoulder. "Are you ready?"

"No. But let's do this anyway."

Kai felt a sharp pain in his neck, snapping him out of his trip down memory lane. His muscles continued to complain about being held in such an awkward position for such as long time as he strained all of his senses apart from his sight to try and get some clue about what was happening around him.

All he heard was the occasional shuffle of clothing as people moved around the room. The apparent silence of the room was interrupted with a very familiar, very loud stomach voicing it's protests at not being fed in the past hour or so. Tyson Kai thought in grim amusement.

Max poked his boyfriend in the ribs, rolling his eyes. Tyson jumped and twisted around to face Max. He opened his mouth to protest but was stopped by the panicked look in Max's eyes. Max shook his head vigorously and indicated with his head toward Kai. Tyson followed his gaze and gulped. That was why he wasn't speaking.

Kai looked bad, from what Tyson could see. His hair and clothes looked even messier than usual and he was sporting a deep purple bruise on one of his cheeks. That, and he still hadn't regained consciousness since Rei had dragged him out of that room. Tyson turned to glare at Rei. He didn't know what had possessed the neko-jin to switch sides and, frankly, he didn't care. Rei had taken to concepts of friendship and teamwork and flushed them down the toilet. Tyson sighed and slumped against Max's back. He could ponder Rei's betrayal after he had finished being starved to death by an evil corporation.

Rei sighed softly. He had to try and figure out how to stop Boris long enough to free everyone. That, and not become a bullet magnet for Boris's minions. They really should have planned that part. Too late now.

"Rei? Tahlia? Go and check on the progress of our captives' heroes," Boris ordered cryptically.

"Yes Sir." They chorused before turning to look at each other. Rei frowned. Who the hell was Boris talking about? He mentally shrugged as Tahlia beckoned with her head, telling him to follow her. The redhead leaned over and snatched a device from a table before turning around and heading out a doorway.

Rei followed her at a trot, still trying to figure out his dilemma. When he entered the doorway he was greeted with the sight of a long, steep stairwell. He began to run up the stairs, two at a time. When he reached the top of the stairwell he felt like he had just sprinted a 40km trek up a mountain. He opened the door at the top and stepped out on to the roof of the building.

Tahlia was already standing on the rooftop, playing with various dials and knobs on the machine she held.

Rei watched her for a second. "Um… What are we doing here?" He asked tentatively.

"What do you think?" Tahlia retorted, angrily, still spinning the dials. She blinked and sighed. "Sorry. We're looking to make sure the BBA hasn't caught on to us yet." She growled and slammed the thing she was holding on to the ledge of the roof. "Useless piece of crap!"

Rei jumped at the noise and Tahlia's sudden outburst. "What's wrong?" He asked when he was certain that his heart wasn't going to leap out of his throat at any moment. "He absently wandered over to the ledge Tahlia was standing next to and picked up the device, looking at it in puzzlement. What is this thing?

"Nothing." Tahlia said, shortly, snatching the object from Rei's grasp and walking to the opposite side of the rooftop.

"What did you do to Tala?" Rei asked, trying to figure out what was bothering his friend.

Tahlia remained silent for a long time. "Nothing he didn't deserve." She answered, eventually. The twisted a knob fiercely and gave a cry of delight as the machine whirred into life.

Rei walked behind her, still trying to figure out what she was holding. He saw a small screen with what looked like a news program displayed on it.

"-Has lost contact with the teams of bladers in this city who've come here to compete in the tournament to begin tomorrow. BBA Chairman, Stanley Dickinson, has issued an exclusive statement to our channel saying that it could just be a coincidence that all of the teams have left the places they were staying on the same night. Nevertheless, the BBA have contacted the police."

The news announcer turned to a young blonde women sitting next to her. "What do you think of this turn of events, Mel? Do you think this is a bit of an overreaction?"

Before answering, Mel tucked a stray piece of her already wild shoulder-length hair behind her ear and then combed it out to fall in front of her face again. "I don't know. Lately, the BBA's had a few hard knocks. I don't blame them for taking this threat, real or imagined, seriously. Personally I-"

Tahlia switched off the portable television. "Crap."

"What?" Rei asked, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"That station has a semi-illegal tap on the police station's line. They're the first to know anything and everything. The BBA's looking for us."

"But they said it could have been a coincidence." Rei protested.

"I don't believe in coincidences- do you? I'm betting Mr Dickinson doesn't either. They're going to be searching for us."

"Then shouldn't we post more guards outside?" Rei asked, seeing his chance to escape becoming a bullet-cushion. He walked to the edge of the roof, scanning the ground surrounding the building. "The people out there are evenly spaced but there's nowhere near enough of them."

Tahlia sighed. "Yes, but we can't."

"Why not?"

"What if the prisoners do something? Our only advantage over them is the guards and their weapons and training." She sighed again and walked over to stand beside Rei, staring into the night.

"We have weapons and training too, you know." Rei told her. Which reminds me… He thought, eyeing the small holster attached to Tahlia's leg. It was meant to be hidden by her pants but they had ridden up while she was climbing the stairs, leaving the gun visible to all.

"Doesn't mean that they still couldn't overpower us." She told him matter-of-factly.

Rei rolled his eyes. "Who do you think would have that kind of strength?"

"Kai."

Tahlia watched, interested at the change that came over Rei when she mentioned Kai's name. The neko-jin stiffened slightly before turning to face her and leaning toward her.

"What about Kai?" Rei's eyes flashed with an emotion Tahlia had never seen in his eyes as he said Kai's name. You're so easy to read. She thought, echoing her words from earlier that night.

"Just that he would be able to overpower both of us if he so chose."

"Except for the fact that he's not only unconscious but also tied up."

"-And that you've already proved that you can beat him once already." Tahlia told him.

"…Yeah." Rei said, looking back over the city.

You were never this easy to read. What happened in that room? She asked silently, unable to ask aloud for fear of raising Rei's suspicions. "Ok then, I see your point. We'll ask Boris."

Rei nodded. "Ok."

(-)

Kai was at the point of contemplating ripping off his own neck to stop the stabbing pain shooting through it. He thought it might blow his cover as an unconscious person, though. What the hell is taking them so long? He wondered. From what he could tell, Rei had left the room with Tahlia to go and check on something. That had been ages ago.

Rei walked behind Tahlia down the stairwell. On the third last step, before Tahlia had reached the door at the bottom, Rei stumbled over his own feet. He fell on top of Tahlia who was on the last step. Both teens fell in an undignified heap at the bottom of the staircase.

Ouch. That wasn't one of my best plans. Rei thought grimly as he took advantage of a temporarily stunned Tahlia and reached down to take her gun and tuck it into the back of his pants.

Tahlia groaned. "Owww…"

"Sorry. I fell." Rei pushed himself up front the ground to stand.

"Couldn't tell, really." Tahlia grumbled as she stood up and opened the door leading to the main hall.

They made their way to Boris and Tahlia quickly explained what they had found out and what they thought they should do.

When she had finished, Boris nodded slowly. "I don't know how they caught on so quickly. They're too paranoid for their own good."

Or just paranoid enough, Rei thought but stayed silent.

After another moment of thinking over the facts Boris beckoned to Vladovinsk. The tiny Russian walked over to Boris from his self-appointed post near the main doorway. "Yes, Sir?"

"Take all of your men outside to guard the perimeter. The BBA knows about our… escapade I suppose you could call it. We need all of our resources outside scouting and if possible defending this place. The only people to remain here will be Myself, Rei and Tahlia."

Vladovinsk nodded. "Yes, Sir." He couldn't really see the logic of Boris's plan- the BBA hadn't found them yet. Still, Boris had planned this entire thing. Presumably he was confident that they could keep all of their captives under control with just three people. He signalled to Alekzandr and explained to him what Boris had ordered before walking outside to figure out how to position his troops. The rest of the Biovolt guards followed suit, Alekzandr bringing up the rear.

That was way too easy. Rei thought as he stood beside Boris. Though, who am I to complain? That was probably the easiest thing I'll have to do all night.

"Does anyone wish to leave yet?" Boris asked, smirking at his captives. Tyson glared at him, doing the best impersonation of Kai he could muster. The effect was rather spoiled by his stomach giving off a loud groan of protest.

Rei suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. At least he could be confident that no one would give in to Boris's wishes before he had a chance to set his and Kai's plan in action. Which reminded him… he really should set the plan in motion.

With one quick glance at Tahlia to make sure she was looking the other way Rei deftly leapt into the air spun around, delivering a powerful kick to the back of Boris's head. The head of Biovolt gave a small groan and slumped forward, stunned.

The small sound alerted Tahlia that something was wrong. She spun around to see Boris's condition and to see Rei landing neatly. Is this what you were planning, ReiRei? She thought, reaching for the gun that was attached to her leg. You didn't put much thought into it if you though this was going to wor- hey! Her eyes widened in panic as she felt her empty holster. She looked back up at Rei who was pointing her own gun at her.

"Looking for this?" He asked.

"Rei." She said warningly. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Setting us free." He replied simply.

"Give me back my gun." She said, obviously he was having an attack of the simple minded if he thought he'd be able to get out of this unscathed. Short, clear sentences seemed to be the only way to go.

Rei shook his head regretfully. "I can't do that. We have to get out of here now."

Tahlia's eyes narrowed. "Give me the gun before I make you give me the gun." She hissed, taking a step toward her 'friend'.

Rei flicked the safety switch off. "I can't do that, Tahlia. I'm sorry but I can't." He motioned with his gun toward the captured bladers. "Untie them."

He frowned in confusion as Tahlia's face took on a calculating look. What the hell is she thinking? He wondered. Last time I checked, that wasn't the look that people were meant to get when a gun was aimed at their face. Not that I make this a habit.

He was shocked out of his thoughts as something his him on the back of his neck. Rei let out a grunt of pain before falling to one knee. He looked over his shoulder to see Boris, an expression of rage on his face. He held the gun he had used to give the blow he had delivered to Rei more powerful pointing at Rei.

"How. Dare. You." He said quietly, each word promising painful death to Rei.

Crap. Rei thought frantically struggling to his feet. He was knocked further off balance when, as soon as he had reached his feet, Tahlia kicked the hand he was using to hold her gun. It flew out of Rei's hand into the air. Tahlia reached up and swiped it from the air, settling it in to her grip before aiming it at Rei.

Double crap. Rei thought, trying to look at both guns at once but instead doing an impression of a sideshow clown. I'm screwed.

It was at that moment that Kai chose to make his move. Judging by the sounds that had been reaching his ears it wasn't going all that well for Rei. It had taken all of his self control not to come to the neko-jin's rescue when he had heard his first sound of distress. He knew that it would have been a strategic nightmare if he'd acted at that moment. He knew that- and yet he still had to hold himself still.

Kai's eyes snapped open. His arm snaked to the back of his pants to grasp the hilt of Rei's gun while he stood up. He blinked at the sudden brightness of his surroundings but quickly took stock of the situation.

All of his instincts told him to go after Tahlia, who seemed to be the biggest threat to Rei but instead he went for her leader. Kai pointed his gun at Boris. "Let him go." He said slowly and clearly.

If Boris was shocked he didn't show it. "Kai, my boy, what took you so long to join our party?" He moved his gun so it was trained on the other Russian.

Kai continued to walk toward Boris. "I said let him go."

Boris smirked. "Or what? As far as I see it he's worthless to both of us. He's proven himself to be disloyal. Why, now that I come to think of it, he's betrayed both of us." He glanced at Rei, "I don't see why you'd be upset if I gave Tahlia the signal to shoot him."

Kai's eyes narrowed. "You even think about it and I will kill you." He switched the safety switch off on his gun.

Boris's eyes glinted. He knew Kai. Kai would never be able to kill him. The boy's conscience was too strong for him even to consider committing such an act. Kai knew what it was like to kill. He also knew that it was something he never wanted to experience again. He turned to Tahlia. "Kill h- what?"

"You know, you really aren't as liked as you'd want to believe." Tahlia told Boris, aiming the gun at him.

Boris's eyes widened in outrage. He opened his mouth to say something but found that he couldn't. What was Tahlia doing?

"Goodbye." She told him with finality before squeezing the trigger of the gun she was holding.

The resulting sound from the shot seemed to send time into deep freeze. Boris's body flew backwards with the impact of the bullet. He crashed into the chair he had been sitting on only a few minutes ago.

Tahlia stood stock still, trembling at the enormity of what she had just done. Boris's head slipped to face her, a small round bullet hole perfectly in the centre of his forehead.

Tahlia slowly lowered the gun she was holding until it rested at her side. "Good riddance." She whispered, more to herself than anyone else.

Kai stared at Boris's body. That couldn't be it, could it? This was Boris. Boris couldn't be killed by a single bullet could he? He always had seemed so indestructible. A mere bullet couldn't have killed him. Not the man that had caused so much damage and hurt to so many people. It wasn't possible- was it?

Kai blinked. He had to focus. No matter how impossible it seemed it was true. Boris had died. He hadn't died the monumentally painful death Kai had always imagined he would have- he had just died. Some part of Kai grieved for the evil man. He had hated him with fiery passion and yet… Well… someone had to miss him.

Rei stared at Tahlia. The Tahlia he knew could never have done that, could she? "Tahlia?" He asked tentatively. "What did you do?"

Tahlia shook her head wordlessly before realising that she had to stay in control of the situation. "Getting rid of an idiot." She told him, turning to glare at the captive bladers. "He actually thought he could use you. I think using ReiRei as the case in point wasn't one of his smartest ideas. I mean, look at him." She smirked at the Chinese boy. "You really screwed up."

Rei remained silent, glaring at her, trying to figure out a way to get them out of this situation. He was drawing several blanks at once.

Tahlia tapped her face with the side of her gun thoughtfully. "Hm… What shall I do with you all? I'm not stupid enough to believe that any of you will work for me... So what use are you?" Here, she clicked her fingers. "Got it! Your bit beasts." She continued musing to herself. "No doubt you'll all have them on you… Problem is I can't call them out on my own… I can get you to call them out though… That's a hell of a lot of energy right there… Very useful." She snapped out of her thought processes.

"Ok, children!" She said brightly. "We'll go by the almighty deceased one's rules on this. We're not moving from here until you give me your bit beasts." Tahlia nodded, satisfied with her plan.

She was certain that no one would give up for quite some time so she could decide how to use the immense power she would get from the scared creatures. At that moment she was favouring shorting out the security systems of every financial institution and requisitioning the money. Not that ambitious, considering she had just become the self-appointed leader of a multibillion-dollar company but it was a start.

"Not if I can help it." Kai said, focussing all of his attention on Tahlia and trying to ignore Boris's still form.

Tahlia smirked, "And what makes you think you can stop me?"

Kai swung the arm he was holding his gun with toward Tahlia. "Drop your gun and let us go." He told her calmly and clearly.

Tahlia rolled her eyes and kicked Rei behind his knees, making the Chinese boy land on his back with a rather painful thump. All of the air whooshed out of his lungs. Nonetheless, Rei struggled to get to his knees. He was prevented from standing by the business end of a gun being shoved in his face.

Rei gulped and stared up at the holder of the gun smirking down at him. Tahlia turned her attention to Kai who was standing frozen, still pointing his gun at her. "Drop your gun if you love him."

Rei winced as he heard the clatter of Kai's gun hitting the ground. How did she know?

Tahlia smiled cruelly. You're so easy to read, Rei.

Please tell me what you think!