A/N: I said that I'd update weekly and I hardly followed through, so I'd like to apologise. My schedule has been here, there and everywhere and college has just gotten that little bit harder. The end of this chapter could have been much better, but with essays due left right and centre, I can only afford to do so much. This chapter was also, supposed to be longer, but I though I'd split the goodness over two instead. crazymofogirl: Bad for Tala? No. Bad for Rei. Oh hell yeah! Ashley: You nailed it right on the head. grEMLin eVil: Yeah! I know that, but I call everybody "man". It's a habit. Don't take it personally. xCrAzYxGuRlx: That saying is from Wayne's World, I think and yes, he heard, so this chapter is dedicated to him and his moment of glory….if you can call it that.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Rei moaned desperately against Kai's lips later on in the week one afternoon as they lay upon the single bed that resided in his and Lee cell with the Russian beneath him. They had agreed to meet there for some much needed alone time and Rei could only imagine the look of his best friend's face if he happened to walk in. It was risky, he knew it, but the pair had taken a lot of risks these last few months, including in the laundry room and in the showers.

They had christened most places; places in which, up until now, Rei wouldn't have thought twice about. The Chinaman's mind had been unusually pure, even before Kai had entered, but now he couldn't get enough of his lover. He thought about him when he wasn't there and even when he was there. To say he was becoming obsessed was an understatement, but he'd never give Kai up for the world. He couldn't. He'd finally discovered himself and he had his boyfriend to thank.

Equally, the more time he spent with Rei, the more Kai felt himself devoted to the other. They usually disappeared behind closed doors where Kai could truly be himself, even if he was in some ways not too different from how they viewed him on the outside. Rei was diplomatic, calm and patient. He understood him even if they had derived from two very different backgrounds and he was attractive, which was an even greater bonus. Kai's original plan had long since flown out the window. He couldn't use Rei anymore. He still wanted to get out, to be free, but he'd have to think of another way now, even if it meant taking Rei with him.

He positioned a hand through the dark tousled locks and drew Rei's head inwards deepening the kiss, while resting his free hand upon his back, gripping the Chinese garments as if he wanted to rip them off of him. Rei, in the meantime, was not used to being on top, but as of now, he was still learning. He loved everything about them being together. Such joys he'd gotten from their many excursions that made him far from regret his decision, no matter how much Lee despised it.

He felt Kai carefully roll him to the side and grasp his leg with the freehand, pushing his body up against the other and Rei welcomed him by slipping his hands around the back of his head pulling him closer.

In the heat of the moment, however, they almost failed to here the entrance slide open. Rei, who had a natural talent for picking up such things, heard the faint creek of the door and broke the kiss off, opening his eyes to see the figure leant comfortably in the doorway with his arms folded. Kai glared and turned it around. Whoever had interrupted would get the full brunt of that stare, even if it was Lee. He hated when things were disrupted this way, especially when he was in this sort of mood.

"Am I interrupting something?" Tala grinned.

There was something different about him, besides the fact that he looked incredibly smug. His blue eyes twinkled in glee; an expression that Kai hadn't seen for a very long time. But he knew it well. Tala was up to something or hiding something. He just couldn't define what.

"What do you want?" He said dryly, as he sat himself upright and came to a stand.

Needless to say he wasn't impressed. Rei remained as he was on the bed however sitting vertically. He didn't like this at all. To him, the atmosphere was screaming danger.

The redhead stepped into the room.

"I find it highly amusing that you haven't dumped this one, Kai," He began. "After all, you have absolutely nothing in common."

Rei glared.

"And don't worry, Rei," Tala glimpsed at the Chinese character. "We all have our secrets."

Rei's eyes flew open. He suddenly became very tense realising why the Russian might have been there.

He didn't. He wouldn't. No.

"What are you getting at, Tala?" Kai stared his ex down, but the redheaded Russian seemed less than phased.

He seemed to be enjoying himself, knowing full well that he possessed all the power in that room. He could turn things inside out and with the way he was feeling, he would definitely tear it apart.

"I'm just saying it's interesting to find you of all people so tightly wrapped around his finger," Tala smirked. "Especially when we all know why you're really doing it."

Rei's brows furrowed and he looked to Kai uneasily, but the Russian merely stared forward at the other, that same particularly blank yet loathing look on his face.

"Awww, did you not know Rei?" Tala turned his attention back to the Chinamen. "He's just been using you to get back at me and I think that sounds highly childish, don't you?"

"Shut up, Tala,"

"You see, he doesn't deny it," The redhead's blues were still firmly fixed of Rei, who was now staring back at him in awe. "You never really had a chance. Kai cannot love another, Rei. Have you ever heard him say it? Well, have you?"

Rei's face fell. Tala was right. He'd never heard Kai say those words at all, but then he'd always just assumed that Kai had felt something. Anything.

Kai gritted his teeth and fisted a hand, but still Tala remained confident and brought his gaze back to his former-partner and lover.

"But don't fret Rei, because you're hardly innocent in all this either,"

The blue eyes glimmered and out of the corner of those eyes he could see Rei's expression. He was looking up at him now and though he appeared neutral from this prospective, Tala knew that he was completely fear-stricken.

"You're wasting your time, Tala," Kai folded his arms. "I know you've come here to stir, but it won't work on me."

"But I'm simply here to clear the air," Tala's smile widened much like Ian's now. "Because I'm sure Rei wants to get something off of his chest." Again he turned his eyes to Rei. "Well?"

The Chinaman gripped the sheets of his bed, having paled considerably. Kai's eyes, which had previously been narrowed at Tala, had turned slightly to him, but he retracted them anyway. He wouldn't let Tala have the satisfaction.

"What's the matter, Rei?" Tala said. "Kai got your tongue?"

Rei gulped.

"Well, that's alright, because if you won't tell him, then I will," The redhead licked his lips, savouring the moment as if it were a home cooked meal.

Rei stood up. He looked as if he was about to speak. He looked from Tala and then to Kai. His eyes were pleading because he saw no way out.

"You can't believe him, Kai," He finally said. "He'll just twist everything up."

"But it's the truth is it not?" Tala smiled, returning his attention to Kai. "Ian heard everything with his own two ears."

"No it's not! Well it is, but…you just can't…"

"Stop fucking about and just tell him already," Tala said. "He'll find out sooner or later. I mean it's not everyday you find out that your boyfriend is having an affair with an officer."

Kai'eyes widened.

"And to make matters worse, he's betrothed to someone else," The redhead finished. "I never knew you had it in you, Rei. Here, Kai's using you and yet you were stringing him along anyway."

"It's not true!" Rei defended.

"You said it yourself, Rei…"

While their mild dispute continued, Kai was trapped inside the many thoughts that were swimming around in his mind. Was it true? Had Rei just been stringing him along? Kai, of course, was no better, but he had grown to like the other a great deal. He had thrown his plan out the window and yet, the Chinaman was full of his own secrets.

But he didn't have to believe Tala. Such things had never stopped him before, even when Ian had divulged information about Bryan to him in the days of old. He hadn't believed that Bryan could have feelings for anyone, yet look at where it had landed him. And now Rei was doing the same thing all over again. Rei was too good to be true.

"Leave!" He said curtly to Tala.

The redhead raised an eyebrow.

"Now that's not very nice," He said. "Here I come to help you out and you…

"Leave!" Kai said again.

Rei fell extremely quiet. The tone in Kai's voice was sickly calm, as if his Russian boyfriend would erupt at any given moment. He'd never seen Kai angry before. After all, he was always genuinely calm and collected. He never lost his cool, but Rei felt somehow that it was possible that there could be a first time for everything. He just hoped Kai would let him explain his situation and he prayed that he, himself, wouldn't loose his cool either.

"Suit yourself," Tala said and turned on his heel towards the door.

He stopped.

"A word of warning Rei," He said. "Kai hates to be made of fool of, especially for a second time now."

He grinned and then pulled open the cell door and walked through it.

The room was silent for a moment. Kai's eyes were still fixed on the door and his left hand was still fisted. Rei gulped.

TBC