Whew! Took a while, eh?

This is almost finished! Whee!

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Kai and the rest of Neoborg watched Tala carefully over the coming weeks, trying to see any change in him. To their disappointment, they saw nothing. The redhead was just as rude and distant as ever. The only change was that he often left classes, or never even attended, on the pretences of a headache.

" I don't see how it could've failed!" Bryan growled, slamming an open hand on the table before him. They were in geography class, supposed to be working on their new project. Instead, they were discussing their latest plot.

" Are you sure – " Ian was cut off by Kai's audible snarl.

" I am positive!"

The teacher gave them a disapproving look, and Kai continued in a softer tone.

" We've been over this. I know what I saw."

" I hate to say this, but how are you sure? Hope can make you see strange things." Spencer shrugged.

" Don't believe me. You obviously don't care. I can bring him back myself." Kai said coldly, abruptly standing. His chair was knocked back, and it slammed into the desk behind.

" How can you say we don't care?" Bryan stood too, his ice eyes glinting dangerously. His already considerable bulk swelled in rage, creating an intimidating figure.

" How? Well, I can open my mouth…" Kai trailed off, crossing his arms.

" That's harsh." Spencer rose with Ian, their eyes narrowed. It was three against one, but Kai was unruffled. He stared back evenly. The tension around the four was almost palpable.

" That's enough!" Their teacher had moved to their desks unnoticed, and stared them all down. " Sit down and stop creating a disturbance in my class. I expect you all to be using this time to be working on your mapping assignment."

Spencer and Ian slid down, and after a moment, so did Kai. Bryan bristled, but for some reason, looked towards familiar lime green eyes. Calypso stared at him from across the room, her eyes afraid, but her chin tilted defiantly. With a snarl, Bryan sat.

There were no more disturbances, but no working either. All four men refused to speak or look at each other for the rest of the period. When the bell rang, the teacher dismissed them impatiently. This was high school. If you chose to slack off, so be it.

Bryan stalked through the halls, instilling more fear in onlookers than he had in ages. The anger seemed to radiate off him in dark waves.

Reaching his locker, he opened it with such force it hit the adjoining compartments with a huge bang. He dug for his trigonometry books, but then dropped all his things in his already messy locker, closing it. It'd be better if he skipped. He was in no mood to measure cosines and tangents anyway.

About to head to the back of the school to be alone with his vodka bottle, he heard a commotion in a nearby corridor. Frowning, he took a detour to the arts department.

Forcing himself through the gaggle of drama, music and art students, he came upon a peculiar sight. He blinked, processing what he saw.

Tala was writhing on the floor, clutching his head so tightly his knuckles were white. His face was screwed up, and he was emitting small shrieks of agony.

But the oddest thing was Calypso. Yep, the green-haired girl was standing next to Tala, her face white and drawn, but determined. Her eyes were bright, and her hair hastily bound back. In her white hands was her leather clarinet case, which she was using to repeatedly bash Tala over the head with.

Bryan was dumbfounded. He never thought Calypso…He looked up to see Spencer and Ian push their way through, incredulous looks on their faces.

Bryan shook his head and strode forward. " Calypso, what are you doing?"

She looked up, fear evident in her lime eyes. " What he wanted me to do."

Bryan was pretty sure he was hearing things. " What?"

" He said the pain kept his mind clear. If I stop, he does it himself, and harder than I would." Calypso yelled over the noise of the crowd, tears showing in her eyes, her white arms lifting again and again.

" …" Bryan opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He looked down, wincing at Tala's high-pitched screams.

No one knew what to do. All the clustered people just stood, helpless and unsure. They looked at each other uncomfortably, hesitant before this show of mental instability.

Suddenly, the yells stopped. Tala crouched on the floor, panting heavily. Sweat shone on his face and arms, and soft whimpers came out of his pale pink lips. His eyes were wide, and like melted ice.

Bryan dropped to his knees, pushing Calypso out of the way. She stopped hitting the redhead, and just stood by, confused.

" Tala! Tala, are you okay?" Bryan whispered urgently, laying a gentle hand on the trembling boy's shoulder. Tala nodded with great effort, his mouth opening and closing in little exclamations of pain.

Bryan glanced upward, seeing Spencer push past a drama student dressed as an orange rutabaga to cross over to him. The big blond man bent, and gathered Tala in his strong arms.

" I'm going to the nurse's office." He said quickly.

" Stop!" Ian rushed over. " You can't. If the nurse diagnoses him, it'll bring other people into this."

Spencer sighed, halting. He knew Ian was right, they couldn't afford for the rest of the world to become involved. Who knew what would happen to Tala if his…'condition' were revealed?

" What're we going to do with him?" Bryan furrowed his brow in concern, looking at the shivering redhead.

" That…" Spencer cut himself off, unsure. " I don't know…"

" Tala! Oh my god, is he alright?" Aya came running up the hallway, passing a surprised art student with a sculpture of a phallus-shaped object in her hands. " I heard –" She stopped, panting.

The said boy lifted his head weakly, his translucent eyelids fluttering. " A-A…Aya…" He whispered, and his head rolled back.

" Tala! Oh, take him to my house! After all, he did leave some of his things there. You'll have a change of clothes and everything!" Aya exclaimed passionately.

Spencer and Bryan exchanged a look, and nodded, it seemed reasonable.

The two strong young men helped carry the unconscious boy out of the crowd, with Aya trailing behind. Bryan looked back at Calypso, and nodded impassively.

A bright smile broke out on her tearstained face, and her light eyes shone.

Maybe she had more spine than he had credited her with, Bryan thought.

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His heart burned as he walked, each step jostling his bones and scraping his tender throat. Brooklyn was a wreck. He looked composed on the outside, but inside, his throat ached with unshed tears, and there was an enormous pressure behind his eyes. His chest was heavy and felt aflame with the guilt and heartache he carried.

He'd seen Aya's reaction to Tala's apparent recovery. He hadn't wanted to look; he told himself it was only platonic concern. But he knew it was futile to deny what was right in front of his eyes.

His eyes were glued to his white boots, watching his feet move forward, one at a time in a mechanical, standard fashion.

It looked like he was going to go ahead with the plan. After all, that was why he was here, skipping the last period of the day. Brooklyn felt a momentary twinge of regret; last period was science with Aya, and he was her lab partner. He would be missing out on a chance to be with her.

Brooklyn shook his head lightly; no, if he didn't do this, he'd never be with her again.

A cheerful white lattice fence soon entered his field of vision. He wearily raised his head, looking at the café he was supposed to meet his partner at. It was a quaint place, with outdoor tables, and a fence surrounding. Brooklyn looked around, but he didn't see his host. With a heavy sigh he opened the swinging fence door and sat down at a table nearest to the entrance.

A waiter was with him in a matter of seconds, brightly listing off the specials of the day. Brooklyn cut him off halfway, and glumly ordered black coffee, a drink he detested.

The coffee arrived in a chipped mug, with some spilt in the saucer. Brooklyn's clouded eyes stared into it gloomily, noticing the coffee grounds that floated on the surface.

He stayed like that for twenty minutes, until a shadow cast over him.

He looked up into cold jade eyes. A faint, bittersweet smile crossed his face. " Mr. Valkov."

Nikita grinned. " It's nice of you to wait. I was…held up."

Brooklyn nodded slowly. " Of course." His words slurred slightly together, as if the real part of him had withdrawn so far it was hard to form words. He sat slumped, wallowing in his future sin.

Nikita pulled out the chair across from Brooklyn, and sat down. " Your coffee is cold." He pointed at the untouched beverage unnecessarily.

Brooklyn said nothing, but straightened slowly, as if sudden movements would hurt his spine. His spiky bangs waved a little as he shook his head, clearing his mind.

" So." Nikita began after a long pause, running a pale hand through his fiery hair. " About our…" He searched for a word to put it delicately.

" Murder?" Brooklyn offered dully.

Nikita pursed his lips and shook his head. " Plan."

Brooklyn leaned back, an amused smile on his face. He was operating entirely on autopilot now, his consciousness huddled in a guilt-ridden heap in the darkest corner of his mind. " About that. I want the girl."

Nikita blinked. " What?"

" Aya Karishnikova. I want her alive." Brooklyn shrugged simply, threading his fingers together.

A faint crease appeared between Nikita's eyebrows. " That would…increase the difficulty of the situation."

" I can do it." The younger man said confidently.

" Hmm. The girl has ties to Tala." Nikita said carelessly, noting with interest the dark look that crossed his companion's face when he spoke.

Brooklyn's next words came out forced and gritted. " I can make her forget about him, especially if my idea works."

" Your idea?" Nikita arched an eyebrow.

Brooklyn told him, in lethargic, low tones.

" That…" Nikita leaned back. " Is interesting. It would certainly give me cause to send Tala out of the country."

Brooklyn nodded, and the two men leaned forward, working out the kinks in hushed whispers.

Across the café yard, behind a rose trellis, another shadow lurked. Cold mahogany eyes glared at the two behind slate bangs. The person had been too far away to hear anything, but the scene was incriminating enough.

Kai Hiwatari leaned back against the trellis. He'd followed Brooklyn out of school, disturbed by the odd look in the boy's eyes after the commotion at school. His instincts told him to go, and he did. And look at this.

Kai's hands clenched into fists. Brooklyn Kingston was going to pay for ever messing with his friends.

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