Title: Innocence
Author: PandaPjays
Chapter Title: Brother Dear
Rating: T
Warnings: See Chapter One
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Author Note: Heyhey! Fast update this time! And scarily enough not at 4am/Dances around like a maniac/ One more chapter to go! HEY! One more chapter to go! YAY! Also, thankies to animeobsession for being a wonderful person and proofreading this chapter
Rei looked upwards at Tahlia, his mind trying to find some solution to their ridiculous situation. So far, he was drawing a blank. Instead of being helpful, his mind was running around in circles of panic and guilt. Panic, because of the gun against his head, and guilt because it was his fault that they were in this situation.
Hell, if he wasn't here, Kai would still be armed. Rei shut his eyes against the looming presence of the gun. Just shoot me dammit! Then Kai can get everyone out without worrying about me. He yelled silently at Tahlia.
Tahlia kept her gun trained levelly against Rei's head. "Kick the gun away." She ordered Kai.
Without hesitation, Kai did as he was told, kicking away his only weapon. He shot Tahlia a poisonous glare before turning his attention to Rei.
The neko-jin had closed his eyes, seemingly trying to stay calm and ignore the immanent threat on his life. Good. Kai though, satisfied. Better that we're both caught alive than a massacre. This way we still have a chance. What the hell was Rei thinking when he told me that we had to try and save that menace?
Said menace took two steps away from Rei, keeping the gun trained on his head. "There are zip ties on the table beside you Kai", she told him without moving her eyes from her target.
Kai glanced sideways at the table, locating the bag Tahlia was talking about. "Yes?" He asked.
"Take one and tie up your boyfriend." Tahlia smirked when Rei's eyes snapped open at the last word. "I'm right about that too, yes? After Kai's almost sickening display of nobility back there I was pretty positive about that one. Especially after how you were acting after you got out of that room."
Rei blinked then hung his head. He hated this. If he had been able to hide his feelings- or at least been able to make them less obvious, this wouldn't be happening.
No. Rei thought, angrily. I won't let Kai be caught because of me. Rei stood up, ignoring Kai's yell of "No, Rei! Stay down!"
Rei spread his arms, presenting himself as a target for Tahlia. "Shoot me, dammit! When she remained still, Rei smirked. "You can't do it, can you?" Rei sighed and took a step toward Tahlia. "You're not this type of person. I know that and so do you."
In answer, Tahlia turned the gun away from Rei and fired it past him.
Kai let out a yell of pain as his hand flew down to his leg.
Tahlia rolled her eyes. "Please, it only grazed you." She turned back to Rei. "Whatever you think you know you don't. What I know is that if you take another step I won't miss him again."
Rei swallowed and remained still. He looked over his shoulder. "Kai, are you ok?" He asked.
"I'm fine." He growled, removing his hand from his leg and inspecting the damage, It didn't look too bad. It was bleeding sluggishly but only burned slightly.
"Now, Rei, since you probably want to go and check on dear Kai, you just got the job of tying him up… again." She added as an afterthought. When Rei still didn't move, Tala growled and shouted, "NOW!"
Rei nodded and turned around to find the ties. He located them and walked over to the table to pick them up. Having done so, Rei then rushed to Kai's side.
Kai gave him a small smile and held out his hands for Rei to tie up. "You really do like tying me up. Can't say much for the timing, though."
Rei returned the smile with his own sad one. "Are you sure you're ok?" He asked, taking Kai's wrists in his hands and pulling them behind the Russian's back.
"I'm fine, really. She was telling the truth. It only grazed me." Kai told him, glancing down where the bullet had hit him. The scariest thing about it was the intent that it represented. Tahlia was willing and able to hurt every person in the room. The thing that scared Kai the most was that he didn't know why.
Rei sighed as he tightened the binds on Kai's wrists. "I'm sorry", he whispered, rubbing Kai's wrists consolingly with his thumbs before stepping out from behind the bluenette to face Tahlia. "Done." He told her flatly.
She nodded in satisfaction. "Good, now radio Vladovinsk and tell him to come in here. Kai," She said, turning to him. " I'm sure that by now you know how to get back to your comrades. Go."
Kai sighed and began to make his way back to everyone else, limping slightly. He reached a spot on the ground near the Bladebreakers and sat down, not without difficulty.
"You and Rei?" Tyson asked him in a hushed voice, gambling on the fact that Tahlia was to concerned about watching Rei to pay any attention to him. His gamble paid off.
"No, Tyson, it doesn't hurt that much. Thanks for asking- it really show your concern for my wellbeing." Kai told him irritably.
"I am concerned with your wellbeing. It's just that mental wellbeing takes priority over physical wellbeing. You and Rei? He asked again, a hint of anger in his voice.
"Are you speaking out of your anger or out of your friendship and knowledge of who Rei is?" Kai inquired, twisting his writs to push their ties into a more comfortable position.
"You're avoiding the question, Kai." Emily told him, wriggling her nose to reposition her glasses.
"Who invited you into this?" Tyson asked.
"Who said we couldn't join in? In case if you haven't noticed, we're all dead if we don't get out of here." Lee told him.
"Really? I completely forgot about that! The other life-threatening situation took up all of my attention!" Tyson snapped, earning himself glares from several of the gathered bladers and a poke in the ribs from Max. "Ouch! What? Don't tell me you all weren't thinking the same thing! It was a stupid question!"
"It wasn't a question, Dumbass." Lee told him.
"Stop bickering, you sound like a pair of schoolgirls."
"At least they're not lovesick schoolgirls, Hiwatari."
"Shut it, Johnny." Kai told him, glaring at the Scotsman.
"If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here!"
"He tried to get us out of here- or did you miss that because you were staring at you own reflection?"
"And ended up getting you shot! Great plan." Johnny said sarcastically, ignoring Kai's growl.
"What the hell would you know about it? I don't see you getting up to try and get us out of here."
"You also don't see me up there keeping us here."
Kai decided to ignore that comment and looked across at Rei to see the neko-jin putting the radio down on a table. Rei sighed, slumping and staring at the machine for a few seconds before visibly straightening and turning to glare at Tahlia.
Kai smiled sadly. He wished that he could get up and help Rei but he couldn't. It was that fact that hurt more than the bruise on his cheek or his newly acquired graze ever could.
Sensing someone's gaze on him, Rei turned to catch Kai staring at him. Even in this horrible situation he could still feel the fanboy inside him dancing around in circles because he had Kai's attention. Rei gave the Russian a small smile before turning back to Tahlia. "Why are you doing this? We're friends…" Upon seeing no reaction from Tahlia, Rei frowned, "Aren't we?"
"I'm doing this because I have to. You wouldn't understand. And even if you did you'd call me selfish." Tahlia chuckled mirthlessly. "But then again, everyone is selfish. You only want to leave so you can go and get with your boy toy." She smirked as Rei winced at the harsh name. "And as for you being my friend? I don't want friends. I was told to be friend-ly to you. It figures, Tala leaves and Boris gets a new pet project. I guess I should be grateful. Moving up the ranks and all. Somehow I'm not." She glared hatefully at her older brother, failing to notice his hand twitch as he fought his way back to consciousness.
Rei frowned "Does that mean-" He was cut off by Lieutenant Vladovinsk walking through the doors.
"Tahlia? What's going on?" He asked, scanning the room to find Boris but not seeing him.
Wordlessly, Tahlia gestured toward Boris's body. Vladovinsk toward the point she was pointing at and growled in frustration when a table blocked his view. He took a few steps forward and froze when he saw what Tahlia saw.
He stared at Boris in complete shock. "What happened?" He asked, white lipped.
"Rei shot him." Tahlia said woodenly. Rei blinked. What? Tahlia had gone from being angry to seemingly shocked. Maybe she was pretending about being my friend… He felt a weight like an avalanche crash down on his shoulders, as he realised just how much he didn't know the red-haired girl in front of him.
"Oh…" Vladovinsk blinked as a wave of grief washed over him. He had been working closely with Boris for nigh on twenty years. While he had never been friends with the man, Boris had been in daily contact with the other for all of their time together. His death was no real loss for humanity in general but was a great loss to Il'ya Vladovinsk.
He felt a slow, cold rage begin to build in his veins. How dare Rei think that he had the right to take Boris's life? How dare he even think about taking away one of the few constants in Vladovinsk's life?
With all of his rational thinking clouded by an indescribable rage, Vladovinsk decided to avenge Boris's death in a way the cruel man would have approved of. Violence.
Without warning, Vladovinsk stepped up beside Rei and swept his feet out from under him. Rei let out a yell of surprise before he began falling to the ground. He managed to get an arm underneath himself to take his weight and to use as a spring to launch a kick at his former mentor. The blow landed squarely on the small of the short man's back, making him grunt in pain and fall forward, rolling as he did so.
While Rei was struggling to stand up, Vladovinsk used his temporary height advantage to its full extent. He moved over to the neko-jin and gripped his shoulder, pulling Rei forward sharply so his head ran into the officer's raised knee.
Rei cried out in pain before falling backwards to sprawl awkwardly on the floor. He rolled over and stood up to face his attacker. Or he would have if his attacker had been in front of him.
I thought I taught you to watch your back. Vladovinsk thought grimly as he gripped the end of Rei's hair, hooked his foot around Rei's and yanked.
For his effort, he received an elbow in the face as Rei fell to the ground. The Russian yelled in pain but still reached forward to take hold of the top of Rei's hair and bring him to eye level.
Rei winced and held on to Vladovinsk's arm in a futile attempt to stop the pain coursing through his scalp.
Expressionlessly, the Russian elbowed Rei in the side of his head with his free arm. He let go of the neko-jin with a sniff of disdain as Rei crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Vladovinsk looked down at his former pupil sadly, his anger from the previous minutes subsiding. He turned toward a table and picked up the portable television. "I'll be on the roof co-ordinating our people. Proceed with the plan." Saying that, he left the room through the door leading to the stairwell.
When he reached the roof, Vladovinsk allowed himself to feel the pain from his encounter. He walked over to the wall that was around the edge of the roof and sat down, groaning, with his back to it.
He produced a mobile phone and punched in a number. After speaking for a few minutes, he hung up and immediately began to dial a new number. He held the phone to his ear and waited for someone to pick up.
-Emergency Services-
"Hello, I'm calling with information about the missing Beyblade teams."
The phone went silent for about half a minute. -… Hold the line. Someone will be with you in a minute.-
(-)
Tahlia finished tying up Rei and dragged him to the rest of the bladers, dumping him amongst them without ceremony.
Kai wriggled out from beneath the pile of three bladers who had had to jump on top of the Russian to prevent him from dislocating both arms while Vladovinsk had been venting his anger on Rei.
He brought his tied hands to his front by putting his legs through the loop his arms made, not without a lot of difficulty. He crawled over to where Rei was lying. Kai kneeled beside Rei and rolled the neko-jin over so he was facing upwards and his head rested in Kai's lap.
Kai gently brushed Rei's hair out of his face and hissed in sympathy when he saw the large bruise that was forming on Rei's face. It looked a lot like his own. He brushed Rei's cheek gently. "Are you happy now, Johnny?" he asked quietly, looking down at the neko-jin's face. Despite the blemish on his countenance, Kai still found himself admiring the sheer raw beauty of Rei's features.
"Aw! That's touching, that really is." Tahlia told Kai. "I can almost feel a tear coming to my eye. Almost. Get over it. He's unconscious, not dead… yet, that is."
Tala gasped as he regained consciousness. He had been vaguely aware of what had been happening over the past ten minutes or so but only now was he able to open his eyes. The first image that he saw was that of Rei and Kai. He felt a stab of pain in his heart but forced himself to be happy for the pair. They deserved happiness.
"Tala!" Tahlia exclaimed in shock, taking two steps backwards. "What the hell?"
Deciding to play on her surprise, Tala smirked. "What? No welcome back to the land of the living this time? I'm so disappointed. You're really good and giving an… electrifying coming back party."
Tahlia scowled. "You're still not funny Tala. I'm surprised that you ever thought you were."
"I know I'm not funny. I'm down right hilarious when it comes to comparing you and me."
She held the gun up, pointing at her brother. "For Christ's sake, I thought I had gotten rid of you. Why can't you just conk out or whatever the hell you do and stay that way?"
"Because I enjoy you company, sister dear. I also love that sensation when a gun is being aimed at my head. It gives me my jollies."
"You're sick."
"I'm not the one holding a gun pointed at my beloved sibling's head." Tala retorted. "Which reminds me, how exactly did you get that gun? Where's Boris?" He asked, looking around for him. He didn't particularly want to see Boris but at the same time, needed to. It was better, in his opinion anyway, to be able to see his enemy and face it head on than to have it hidden from you.
Tahlia smirked. "He's not a problem anymore." She gestured to where Boris's body lay. "He's probably not concerned with… earthly matters anymore."
Tala looked at the corpse that had encased the man who haunted his nightmares and could not help but feel a wave of overwhelming relief wash over him. "Did you do this?" He asked quietly.
"Yes"
"Why?" Tala tore his eyes away from Boris to look at his sister. He had not, had never believed that she was capable of killing Boris. Evidently he was wrong.
"You." She replied simply.
"Me? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Tala asked, feeling his body begin to integrate with the computer inside of him due to his heightened stress levels.
This time, he let it, even helped it along. He had become so focussed on separating the two parts of himself since that night with Dizzi that it was actually a relief to allow his body to do what it wanted to, despite the cost. Tala figured that everything that it was possible for him to lose had been lost; he may as well be able to use his abilities to their full extent.
"Yes, you." She glared at her brother. "You seem to have forgotten that while you were living it up with Boris I was stuck in a dark room with nothing to do but launch my blade repeatedly. Do you have any idea what it's like to feel forgotten? Being forgotten while your brother is the favourite? Knowing that you were passed over?
"What? You think that you had it hard? Would you rather have been Boris's favourite? I use the term favourite loosely by the way. If I ever did anything at all wrong or less than perfectly Boris would punish me, personally."
He looked across at Rei who was still lying with his head on Kai's lap "I just hope to God that Boris took a different approach to punishment for Rei. He may have gone to Biovolt by choice but no one deserves that."
Tahlia snorted. "Yes, you had it so hard Tala. Being the idol of everyone in Biovolt. How horrible for you. Don't deny it. If you had been able to beat that amateur in the finals you'd still be lording it over everyone and I'd still be locked in my room."
"If this is the way that you act when anyone pays any attention to you I can see why you got left out. No one can trust you not to kill the leader of Biovolt."
"Please, like you're trustworthy? You ran away. Not only that, you abandoned your team. Some captain you are." She rolled her eyes. "You left them there."
Tala looked down, ashamed at the truthfulness of her words. "I know that." He said quietly. He looked up at his sister, rage in his eyes. "Do you think I need that reminder?"
"Obviously you do." Tahlia sneered. "I seem to be the only one who remembers what you did. Everyone else seems have forgotten."
"At least I don't kill people." Tala told her, looking pointedly. "I still haven't sunk to that level yet."
"I notice that you seem to think that Spencer and Bryan are still alive. You're even more delusional than I thought."
"I'm not delusional- I blame myself for them being captured, but the blame lies solely on Biovolt and you for their deaths. I know that and so do you. Stop trying to put your guilt on to me."
Tahlia laughed. "I have no guilt about them. They were dead from the time you abandoned them and let them be captured. However, I know that if you had the chance you would have killed Boris. And you would have killed him with a smile on your face."
"We'll never know now will we?" Tala asked her, scanning the floor to find a weapon of some sort. He spotted the gun lying beside Boris's corpse and smiled inwardly. If he could reach that then he should be able to overpower Tahlia.
"Do you think that I can't see what you're doing?" Tahlia asked, boredly. "Stop trying to get out of here. I thought you might have learned from Kai and Rei's example that it won't work."
"Ah, but sister dear, you forget one vital fact. I wasn't awake when they failed." Tala began to sprint toward where he knew Boris's gun was on the ground, using the full power of his computer half to give him extra speed.
Tahlia's eyes widened. She squeezed the trigger of her own gun, aiming for her brother.
Tala let out a yelp of pain as he dived for the late Russian's gun. He fell to the ground, clutching his right shoulder. He still had the presence of mind enough to reach out and take hold of the gun in front of him with his left hand.
:Danger. Healing will deplete system of vital resources. Proceed:
What? It asks now? Tala thought, biting back another yell of pain as he took his hand away from the wound. YES! YES! Fix it already! He felt as the wound began to close and the pain began to fade away.
:Warning. Dangerously low resources.: His inner computer told him helpfully.
Shut up! I know! He growled as he pushed himself off the ground, swaying as the expected fatigue hit him. No! He shouted inwardly, fighting off the urge to collapse and fall asleep. He raised his gun to point at Tahlia. "Don't move." He told her.
She had the nerve to laugh at him. "Yeah, right. Don't move or what? You'll shoot me?"
"That's about right." Tala told her. He knew that he could never shoot Tahlia as much as he might want to. All he could hope for was to stall her until he came up with a better plan. Hopefully within the next few seconds. Any time now… He silently called to whatever higher powers were listening. Some of us don't have that much time so sooner is better than later.
"What Tala? Why are you stalling? It's not like you have enough time to. You're about to collapse. What if I just helped you along?" She smirked and held her gun up, a mirror image of her brother.
"NO TAHLIA! TALA! NO!" Rei yelled, having regained consciousness to see sibling rivalry taken to the next level.
A muscle twitched at the unexpected noise, causing a finger to squeeze the trigger it was wrapped around.
BANG.
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