A/N: This is an important message. Not an update, EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, nonetheless. I am so sorry for not updating recently, but the fact of the matter is that I simply and frankly cannot. My dad, being the tyrannical bastard that he is, has proved to be an extremely destructive adversary. I'm completely without email, IM, my files, EVERYTHING IS GONE. All because my dad doesn't approve of my stories or my friends. Damnit.

I'll be doing everything that I can in order to get back to you, but it is more than likely that I will not be back for quite sometime. I am soooo sorry. I have no intention of stopping my writing, but as I explained, I am practically under house arrest. I really am sorry for any inconvenience and I hope you will all stick with me on this. You've been wonderful.

And please, spread this around to all of my reviewers…I really don't want RETARDED flamers who don't check up on these things. And pissing me off right now would not be good for your health.

FDA approved.

Rei's hands gripped the steering wheel so tight that, for a moment, Kai was sure he'd split his knuckles. Without thinking, he reached up and placed his own hand gently over the tiger's, rubbing his thumb soothingly over the tanned skin. The neko didn't relax at first, but as they came to a stop at a red light, Rei leaned back easily, taking a deep breath. Letting his hand fall off the wheel, he laced his fingers with the others.

"I'm sorry about all of this," he apologized as he waited for the light to turn. The Russian teen just shook his head dismissively.

"Don't be."

"If you want, I can drop you off at the hotel..." the Chinese teen offered slowly, as if he really didn't mean what he was saying. Kai smiled shortly to himself, tightening his hold on the tiger's hand.

"I'm fine," he answered, turning his gaze out of the window as they started up again. "So, where do you think he is?"

Rei narrowed his eyes, feeling them slit down the middle. "Oh, I have a pretty good idea I think." With this he pulled into a small parking lot in the back of an only slightly larger building. Two perfect eyebrows arched over crimson eyes as the older teen took in the place.

"Dragon's Den Comics? Why would Max be here?" he asked incredulously slipping his hand out of the neko's, to unbuckle his seat belt and step out of the car. When the doors had slammed shut, he waited patiently for an answer.

"To see his boss. And if he didn't call, it must have been one helluva meeting..."

Tapping his foot anxiously, Rei waited for Tyson to come down the stairs and let them in. It had taken him shouting through the intercom for a good two minutes before the blunette had decided their presence wasn't a figment of his imagination. This fact was not so comforting to the neko.

Leaning back into Kai, he tipped his head up, muttering into his lover's ear.

"I'm gonna kill him...I'll both if Max is up there..." Laughing shortly, the older male held the Chinese teen close to him in the dark, the only light coming from the streets ahead of them.

Suddenly the door burst open, and Tyson nearly tripped out the door to land on top of them. Instinctively the Russian pulled his partner away, stepping lightly to the side so that the other teen could land on his own face instead.

"Oh man..." the Japanese teen groaned, rubbing his forehead as he began pulling himself back to his feet. "Those stairs are murderous!"

Pulling away from Kai, Rei growled low in his throat before hoisting Tyson up the rest of the way by the collar of his shirt. "Is Max here?"

"Well it's nice to see you too!" the blunette cried angrily, dislodging the neko's hands so that he could take a step back. "

"He asked you a question." Came a smooth tenor as the stoic teen pulled himself out of the shadows. Tyson simply turned, glaring the intruder down. Or trying to. He didn't know that the other teen had way more experience.

"And who the hell are you?" Kai didn't answer, merely rolled his eyes when the light of realization dawned in the stormy gaze attempting to intimidate him.

"Oh." Was the only answer he could think of to give.

"Yeah, oh." Kai mocked, before crossing his arms over his chest. "Now answer the question. Is Max here, or not?" The Japanese teen nodded slowly.

"He's here, so what's up?"

"Where is he?" Rei asked abruptly. If possible the slits in his eyes became narrower when Tyson rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Well, uh...you see, it was..." he stopped, gulping when Kai took a step closer. The neko did as well.

"Tyson. If you---"

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" the blunette hollered, holding up his hands. "I don't even want to hear the end of that sentence! Gimme some credit would ya?" Unconsciously, the tiger breathed a sigh of relief. Kai however, wasn't so easily swayed.

"Then what's the story?" he only half snarled.

"Max came over and we had a few beers. He fell asleep on the couch about an hour ago."

"Then why didn't you call me?" Rei stepped in again. Tyson crossed his arms over his chest.

"I use Max's cell number when I get in touch with him," he shrugged. "Never really thought about his home phone." At this, the Chinese teen reached into his pocket, producing his notebook and pen.

"Alright then..." he trailed off writing down two numbers. Tearing out the page, he thrust it into Tyson's hand. "This is our apartment number, and the second one is Max's friend. He was supposed to go over there tonight so I want you to call her and tell her that he won't be coming got it?" The Japanese teen paled considerably.

"Hey I'm really sorry, he didn't say he had anywhere to go." The tiger forced himself to calm down, letting his eyes shift back to normal.

"It's fine," he paused a moment to adopt a wicked smirk. "But don't let it happen again. I know where you live."

"Hehehe...yeah," Tyson laughed nervously. Faking a cough, he was suddenly strangely mature. "Right, so if he ends up staying the night what time should he be home Mr. Tate?" Rei pretended to ponder this.

"Noon," he answered decisively. Nodding with a laugh, the blunette waved them goodbye before leaving. With a smile the neko turned with Kai to leave, when suddenly Tyson came barreling back through his door. With a yelp, the tiger jumped straight into the Russian's arms to avoid being hit.

"Gods, what the hell was that!" he cried, glaring at the Japanese teen. Grinning sheepishly, the blunette looked up.

"Uh, well, you didn't mention Max's friends name and I didn't think she'd appreciate that." Relaxing, the neko loosened his arms around the stoic teens neck, though he made no move to get down.

"Her name's Miriam."

"Okay! Thanks!" he cheered, racing back up the stares. With a sigh, Rei rested his head lightly on his lovers shoulder.

"I'm gonna kill them..." A soft chuckle reached his sensitive ears.

"Wasn't that the plan before you jumped into my arms? Not that I'm complaining...but I didn't think he was all that scary." The Chinese teen blushed deeply before leaping out of the hold.

"...I did..." he pretended to pout, fiddling with the end of his braid. His eyes glittered when Kai smiled again.

"What?" the older teen asked tensely when the tiger's golden gaze lingered on his face. Rei just smiled softly, reaching up to trace his jaw line with a slender finger.

"You should do that more often," he replied after a moment. His lover caught his hand, holding it in place against his pale cheek.

"What was I doing?" Leaning up, the younger male captured his lips in a short, passionate kiss. Pulling back slightly, he then pecked him on the nose, laughing when the blunette sneezed.

"You were smiling."

Tala sat at his desk, laptop glowing in the dim light. His fingers were trained on the keys, the light tapping the only sound in the entire suite. Leaning back, he picked up his glace of water, sipping at it while reading through one of his files. Wiping his mouth beforecontinuing, he resumed his typing.

'This is no good...' With a small tap of the delete key, the file disappeared. 'No. That doesn't help either...' He groaned, again resuming his typing.

He had checked and re-checked all files that were in his possession, and after a few quick keystrokes, a few that weren't. But nothing he came up with was helping, and it seemed that, despite his best efforts, the last piece of solid evidence he needed was blatantly eluding him.

"Where are you?" he hissed at the screen, calling up another file.

Growling when he'd come up short again, he slammed a fist into the table. Boris was not an easy man to track, and his evasiveness was keeping Tala from finding the one record that could wrap up Kai's case. The one thing that they hadn't taken into account at the time; the one thing that they had left for the world to see...and somehow the old man had gotten smarter.

'But there has to be something!' he argued with himself. 'You're just not looking hard enough!' With a sigh, he placed his hands on the keypad, choosing his entrance carefully.

Sifting through Boris's defenses, he launched himself into the heart of the old man's research. 'It's here...I know it is...but, where?'

'Where did it go?'

---Flashback

Tala slipped quietly through the door when he was sure that Boris and Voltaire had left. He'd taken off his shoes outside, and carried them with him now, making sure not to let them drip on the perfect tile floor. Walking briskly through the corridors, he made his way down to the basement level, setting his shoes down on a dirty piece of cardboard as he came off the steps. The old man rarely took notice of anything down here; it would be safe.

Reaching into his pocket he produced a small lock pick, and kneeled down in front of the door, squinting in the darkness. Boris and Voltaire always left every Sunday morning, to review their progress on Kai. It sickened him to think of what went on during the rest of the week, but until they returned at noon, the smaller youth was left alone. He smirked as the door unlocked.

Before turning the handle he knocked gently.

"Kai? It's me, Tala." After a few moments, he heard a soft sound---a barely suppressed sob---but the younger boy never answered. His instincts were shouting at him to turn around and leave, but he had frozen, his fear for the smaller male peaking in his chest.

"Kai?" he called out again, a little louder this time. With each passing second his heart dropped further and further into his stomach until finally, Kai answered.

"I'm here," he replied hoarsely. "But I-I don't think I can go with you today...y-you should leave..." Swallowing hard, the redhead stood, his hand never leaving the doorknob.

"What is it?" he asked softly, fearing the answer.

"...It's nothing." Closing his eyes at the frail answer, he turned the handle.

"Can I come in?"

"Tala, please..." he sniffed.

"I'm sorry," he said, slowly pushing the door open.

The small room was flooded with darkness, broken glass and tattered boxes littered the floor, covered in a thin layer of dust. Scrunching up his nose in disgust, the older boy stepped inside, his attention turning to the dirty bed in the corner. There was a small lump in the center of it, covered in thin, torn sheets.

Shutting the door gently behind himself, he tried to avoid the broken glass as he made his way across the room. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he winced as it creaked loudly under his weight. He heard Kai's breath catch in his throat, could see his small form trembling beneath the filthy covers.

"Where's Bryan?" The sudden inquiry made the redhead jump slightly.

"He uh...I think he said that Boris had some work for him today." The petit figure stiffened at the mention of his tutor. Tala's eyes narrowed as he placed a hand on the cloaked shoulder, quelling the trembles as best he could.

"What did they do?" he whispered. Suddenly Kai sobbed, his cries filling the small room. He couldn't answer, his throat tightening as his tears stained the sheets. Startled, the taller boy drew back his hand.

"What?" he prompted, louder this time. His hand twitched to pull the covers back, but Kai would never forgive him. The cries intensified, and he could feel his own eyes welling up with tears.

"Oh Kai..." trailing off, he laid himself down next to the other, wrapping his arms tightly about the trembling body.

For a long time the two of them just cried out their pain, Tala, letting his tears cascade over his cheeks, biting his lip so that the younger boy wouldn't hear him. But when the sobs finally subsided, neither of them had a word to say.

So slowly, Kai pulled the sheets back, and turned over to face his friend.

"It hurts...so much..." he confessed, his large garnet eyes still wet from crying. The redhead couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips at the others appearance.

His once flawless, smooth cheeks were marred by the presence of four dark triangles. They were scabbed over, blood still drying across the wounds. It stained his cheeks and his chin, washed only slightly by his crystalline tears.

---End Flashback

Tala blinked, realizing that he'd stopped his typing, and the tears that wouldn't seem to cease that day had returned, mocking his fruitless progress. Sniffing loudly he wiped them away with the back of his hand, reaching for his water. After a few long sips he replaced the glass and stood, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

If only he could find Boris's records of those days...

Bryan stalked through the city of Moscow, his large hands buried deep within his pockets, the collar turned up to shield him from the wind. Taking a sharp turn, he entered a small restaurant, checking the clock before seating himself a small booth across from two others. Pulling themselves into shadow, they all ordered drinks before starting their conversation.

"Bryan," the smaller one started. "How have you been holding up?" The lilac-haired teen shrugged impassively.

"As well as one can I suppose," he smirked then. "And a whole house to myself."

"Yes," the taller one offered. "We heard about that. Clever of you." Bryan raised his eyebrows.

"I wasn't the man behind the scenes Spencer." The larger male leaned forward, his blonde hair slightly curling at the tips.

"I won't press you any further then." At this the smaller one spoke up.

"Bry? We're..." he trailed off uncertainly, running a hand thoughtfully over the goggles he was wearing atop his head. "We're worried about you. Haven't seen you for months, and---" Spencer's large hand came down to rest on the smaller males shoulder, quieting him suddenly.

"And?" The lilac-haired Russian prompted. "Ian?"

"And we want to help." The teen finished quietly, shrugging out of his friends grip.

"There isn't---"

"There must be something," Spencer cut in. Bryan sighed, leaning back momentarily as the waitress handed them their drinks. Pausing to take a sip, he watched the other two over the rim of his glass.

"I can't let you do this."

"Bull," Ian spat. "We may be able to help, and if the opportunity arises we will take it."

"He's right," the taller male agreed, grinning at his smaller friends. "It's a first...but nevertheless, true. We're here for you."

"I appreciate that," Bryan answered with a smile. "I just don't want you guys involved. It's difficult..."

"We know," Spencer nodded, standing. Tipping his head to the pale teen, Ian flicked a card across the table.

"And we'll be there. Just give us a call."

A/N: Well, there you have it. Glares at the last sequence. I really wasn't happy with this last scene. I'll probably re-write it...anyway, now that the plot is starting to pick itself up again, things are gonna get pretty crazy, so hang on!