Sorry for taking so long to update! This chapter was being a serious pain in the ass!

Also I decided to drop the sectioning in the chapters and try to write in one flow, to be honest I feel pretty comfortable writing like this so I am eager to hear what you guys think!

Hope you enjoy!

The moment he opened the door to the truck he sensed an odd sensation, his instincts alarmed him about something. His eyes scanned the horizon looking for the source but he could not spot any. Looking up at the darkened sky his suspicion started to grow, that aura was something he had only felt around the abbey, and now it started shadowing over Moscow as well.

"What's wrong?" Julia asked him from the inside of the truck.

Shaking the thought he got up in the driver's seat. "Nothing." He replied to her in a low voice.

Stretching her arms above her head she let out a small yawn. She rested her elbow on the armrest and closed her eyes humming along with the radio that was quietly playing in the background. Within just a few hours' time she had grown very comfortable around him and she prayed that he felt the same way. Peeking from one eye she noticed that he looked rather relaxed and not his usual scowl.

"You're staying at the Olympic hotel right?" He asked her.

She nodded in reply. "Yeah, most of the teams are staying there, but there is an entrance in the back in case you don't want to run into them."

A small smirk appeared on his face, he could do with teasing her a little. "Why, don't wanna be seen with me?"

In an instant her face reddened. "N-no! Crazy man, you know that is not what I mean." In fairness she would love to be seen with him and just shove it in their faces. Especially Raul's since he was treating her like a child when it came to her romantic interests.

Amused by her reaction he let out a small laugh. Julia blinked in surprise. Did he just… laugh? Oh my that is the cutest thing ever. Squealing on the inside she tried hard to keep a straight face but Tala was way to perceptive and saw through her right away.

"Besides… you never gave me an answer." She said whispering under her breath, knowing him he'd have extremely good hearing but still she prayed she hadn't said it out loud.

Holding down his breath he stared blankly to the front. He truly enjoyed having her around him, in some way when she was near he felt less on edge it made him feel human again. There were very few people he really cared about. But dragging her down in the life he had, he would never be able to forgive himself. Maybe in a different life. He let out a halfheartedly chuckle.

The hint of hopefulness in her eyes quickly faded. Again.. the silent treatment. Still she was not willing to give up on him. Perhaps giving him some more time and space and he'd come around eventually, for now it was probably best to put her energy in the coming matches.

Their silence was cut by an incoming call on the car kit. "Seriously Spencer, again…" Rolling his eyes in annoyance he pressed the green button.

"is it bedtime already." Tala said bluntly.

"Listen this is urgent, where are you right now." Spencer's voice sounded serious.

"The 45, why."

"Ian was near the abbey."

"You what!? I told you guys not to come near that place." It really started to get on his nerves that they were acting on their own now. He never minded them doing so but there were moments where he acted like their captain rather than teammate, Julia backed away a little although she could not understand a word they were saying to each other she could tell that something was wrong.

"Hold your horses.. or dogs, whatever. We found the relation with those headaches, Wyborg is sensing tremors in the ground and they originate from within the Abbey. They appear at the same time the moment you feel them. But that's not all…" Spencer paused for a moment.

"There's a fissure opening soon." Tala stated.

"How'd you know?" The blonde sounded a little surprised.

"Because I just know." Taking a sharp turn to the right he adjusted the side mirror so he could see better from the rear. What he already feared was happening and a thick fog was slowly catching up to them. Julia glued herself to the chair and was a little spooked by the sudden movement.

"Hold tight." He said calmly to her.

Static increased on the line and fragments of what spencer was trying to say managed to get through. "Ta… h-…..w…" and the line fell dead.

"What's happening." A hint of worry in her voice.

Cursing under his breath he noticed how a dense blanket of fog was surrounding them. The last time he encountered a thing like this was over a few years now, it occurred a good distance away from Moscow so they called it off as a one-time thing. But now he thought it more through and started to wonder if these things where connected to each other. Something was luring them closer to the city and he had a few theory's on that.

For now he had to act rather than think because soon they would be overwhelmed with shades. Looking quickly to his side he noticed her a little shaken, not that he blamed her. I just need you to hang on a little longer though.

"The button on the side, click it on to keep the gas steady, click it again to cancel it. Under no circumstance hit the brakes now that the roads are slippery, and whatever happens keep on driving forward." He pointed out.

"Wait.. what are you going to do?" She asked him.

"I'll explain later, just for now do as I say." With one hand he went past her and opened up the glove compartment. He shuffled through some tools and rags of cloths, from between she watched him pull out a worn down hunting knife. The handle was made of wood and it had a very dark brown color. The blade had some really bad scratches and it had hints of blotches of rust on it. He gave the knife a few spins between his fingers until gripping tightly on the handle.

The dense fog had surrounded them now and it felt as if they were separated from the rest of the world, which wasn't entirely wrong. They were just unlucky to be passing through a threshold now. "Do me a favor and take out Thunder Pegasus."

"You mean as in… launch the beyblade?" She didn't quite understood his request.

He shook his head. "Just the chip."

"O-okay.." A little hesitant she took off the chip from the beyblade and laid it in the palm of his hand. She felt a little remorse in doing so but she trusted him completely and deep down she knew he was a good guy, it's just his actions where a little different than any other person. But that was most likely the reason he had survived out there for so long. Carefully she watched him press it in a perfect cutout at the end of the hilt.

A loud growl made her shriek in fear pushing herself deeper into the seat for some comfort. She peeked to the side of the road. In the fog she noticed a pair of glaring green eyes following them from the back. It's body was like a shade but it ran on four legs, it had two sharp pointed ears and a long tail as if it was some sort of dog thing.

Opening up the window from the driver's side he pushed himself through the opening. "Take it over." He commanded her. A shock of adrenaline pushed her into action and she quickly took the steering wheel and shifted over into the seat.

His feet steadied themselves on the framework, he took in a deep breath and jumped towards the back in one go. With a thud he landed on one knee but quickly rose to stand on both feet. The hound that was chasing them from the side had joined with the rest of the group. For now he counted at least five of them. They just had to sit it out long enough for the rupture to close again.

Taking in a deep breath he began to brace himself, it would be a first time to use a completely different bitbeast without the help of Wolborg. It's not one of the borgs… so it's definitely going to suck. Back in the day he was able to hold down multiple bitbeasts, the ones from his teammates where a whole lot easier for him to wield since they originated from Wolborg. But in order to call forth the other bitbeasts he needed her as a bridge to take most of the toll away from his body. It was a gamble he knew that much and he prayed that Julia's bitbeast would be accepting of him.

You with me? His thumb trailed over the chip and he sensed her restlessness, he felt that she was eager to fight and would follow his lead. Seeing Julia fight in the past made it a little easier to have some expectation of how Thunder Pegasus would fight. She could produce massive surges of power, they would be short but nearly impossible to avoid. If Julia ever where to use that in the arena instead of using up a wide space she'd be dominating.

"It's okay Jules, deep breaths, you've got this. This is Tala we're talking about, he'll manage." Regaining her composure she took in a deep breath in and focused her eyes on the road ahead. No stopping!

She heard him whistle and a bolt of lightning ran past her. Blinking in utter disbelief she saw how Thunder Pegasus had manifested herself. "How on earth…Did he just seriously summoned a bitbeast like that?!" In order to make some sense of the situation she tried to simply speak her mind out loud whether somebody would hear her or not. She could hear him struggle in the back assuming that it wasn't something as easy he made it look at first.

He let out a pained groan and grabbed the side to remain on his feet. The thunder struck the group of hounds full leaving nothing but a burned crater in the middle of the road. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth but he knew that they were not there quite yet. He commanded Thunder Pegasus to fall back in order to preserve is own energy, maybe it was the last of them, maybe not. From previous encounters he guessed it would be the latter

From the mirror she saw him hang over the sidewalls of the pickup catching a breather. Despite the whole ordeal scaring her to the bone she felt a little thrilled at the same time. "You alright there?" She shouted to the back.

"Yeah.. yeah I'm fine." He felt the arm quiver that was holding the knife. Gripping tightly around the hilt he tried to make the tremors stop but the amount of energy he had managed to gather again in two days' time was rapidly depleting.

Cracks in the ground where forming in the side of the road now and from the fissures a new wave of entities had emerged quickly circling around the truck. Julia's eyes widened as she spotted an enormous being in the far distance. She felt a shiver run down her spine. "Tala!" She exclaimed.

She heard footsteps above her on the roof and figured he had climbed all the way to the top now. I really do not want to imagine what kind of training you had to make you able to do this.. Not sure whether she should be impressed or feel bad for him but given their current situation she was glad it was with him.

"The road is splitting up soon, take the one to the right and keep following the streetlights, after a few meters you should be out of the area." Tala told her as he popped his head through the opening on in the door.

"Alright, got it." She kicked down on the gas pedal and slowly steered along taking the exit. Above her she could hear footsteps followed by three loud thuds. From the corner of her eye she saw him jump from the roof where the road was splitting. Rolling over his shoulder he managed to reduce the impact of hitting the ground.

"Is he insane?!" Slowly the snow that had dusted up cleared away and she saw him standing in front of the huge shade. Gritting her teeth in frustration she felt reluctant on leaving him behind. She shut her eyes tightly and kicked down on the breaks. The heat emitting from the metal on the rubber caused red sparks to fly from the wheels. Feeling the truck slip from side to side she ended up just doing something while steering and hoping for the best. She felt the truck slow down to an acceptable speed and she managed to turn it to a pile of snow and coming to a stop. I'm not leaving you behind! Since the door was barred by the heap of snow she gracefully slid herself through the window opening.

Feeling her legs sink down a good few inches the let out a small wince as she felt the freezing cold wrap around her legs. She pushed her legs through and pushed herself onto the back of the truck. Multiple metal crates stood at the back of it and she had seen him take out tools and other things from it a few times now. There definitely must be something in there she could use. Opening one of the lids she found a thick black arctic work suit.

The cold was creeping up on her already and the last thing she'd needed was hypothermia. Holding up the suit she thought it was her best bet of staying warm. She slid her legs through and then her arms, in an instant she felt the inside padding protecting her already and she let out a small sigh of relief. She pushed the zipper up all the way to her neck and threw the fur coated hoodie over her head. Her feet and hands where still less protected but she could deal with that now.

A little further Tala stoop facing the enormous creature. Turning his head from side to side he could feel a few discs in his neck pop back in place keeping his eyes locked on the being that was circling around him now. His willpower has overruled every signal his body gave to stop and turn, it gave him a decent window to do what he had to do but it would catch up to him eventually. He clenched his fist feeling pumped. "Still as ugly as ever.." He mused

The entity disappeared in the fog and Tala planted his feet firmly to the ground. From the back it had reappeared dashing towards Tala. Jumped to the side he managed to evade the hit but just barely. It was fast.

Again the shade hid itself in the fog. He heard a swoosh fly past his ears and he immediately looked up. The entity made an airdrop towards him but he quickly dodged it and jumped up. While he was at the same altitude as the shade he landed a heavy kick on top of its head shooting it down into the ground.

Startled by his attack the entity jumped back creating some distance between them. It shook his head and let out growl of frustration. From its back it whipped out it's long snake like tail and lashed it towards Tala sending him flying to the back.

As he smashed his back into a tree he let out a gasp of air. It did not let the opportunity slip and quickly went for a frontal attack while Tala was still staggered. With little time to act he managed to draw away from and reduce the damage but he still packed a good hit to the side.

A strand of blood ran down his mouth but he paid no attention to it. Taking in his surroundings he had to come up with a plan rather sooner than later. Right now he was a sitting duck in the middle of an open field with here and there a few stray tree's. Taking for the hills would took far too long and in his current state he would not be able to outrun it either. His only option was to avoid obstacles and finish things swiftly the moment he could take a good hit in, problem is it would mean that he was in the middle of the impact as well. He was about to brace himself to land a next attack until suddenly he heard a familiar voice shout out his name. Shit..

"Tala!" She cried out. From the distance she saw him take a full hit and all she could thing about was to get to him as quickly as she could without thinking about the consequences.

"Get out of here." He shouted back at her hoping it would stop her from getting too close.

"I'm not leaving you." She said sternly, the determination in her voice clearly stated that she was not going to listen to him. Moving closer to Tala she laid a hand on his back while he was regaining his footing. He noticed how she was wearing something more suitable for these temperatures. At least you're being smart when you decide to do stupid things.

"I see your taste in fashion has improved." He said jokingly. Not that I mind, you can wear that anytime.

She pulled her face away from him to hide her reddening cheeks. The more dire the situation the more arrogant and overconfident he became. But she had noticed he only acted like that in a fight, anything outside combat felt as if he was out of his comfort zone. For now there was nothing she could do and she wondered if she made the right choice in tracking him down, what was she possibly going to begin against some monstrosity like that."What is that thing." She said while helping him back on this feet.

"It's a bitbeast, a very angry one." He groaned.

"I see." A bitbeast?! How was that even possible, there was no blader or anything in the vicinity it's not like they can be summoned out of the blue! Looking at the knife Tala was holding she pretty much answered her own question with it, until today she hadn't had the slightest idea that by using a weapon one could also call out a bitbeast. But why is it taking so much toll on his body, was this what they were researching in Biovolt?. Her attention drew back at the entitiy

The creature rose on two legs and opened its mouth. Tala's sharp senses kicked in and in a split second he grabbed Julia by the waist turning her away from the creature and facing his own back towards it.

Sharp shadowing darts shot from its muzzle puncturing the flesh in his back. He gritted his teeth feeling like needles where being stabbed in his back. She let out a quick gasp being pushed againt his chest with such speed and force, byt the time it was over she slowly realized what had happened. Julia slowly turned her head to look up at Tala. His hair had fallen over covering most of her face making her unable to read his expression.

"You… you alright?" She spoke in a shaken voice. Letting out a whimper in worry she carefully used her hand to push the hair from his eyes, but instead of seeing pain she saw him wide a wide spread grin over his face and his eyes glowing with motivation. Letting out a small gasp she felt her heart skip a beat. Was this what people talked about? Her body slightly trembled in fear whatever was holding her now, was not the Tala she knew.

His face moved towards the side of her neck, the move made her shut her eyes tightly unsure what to expect now "Don't worry, I'm the best around." He whispered next to her ear. A gust of wind wrapped itself around her and when she opened her eyes again she noticed that had gone off running towards the creature. Taking a few steps back she leaned her back against the stump that was left standing from the tree, her heart racing in her throat. His words still ringed in her ears. What did he mean by that..

Holding down the knife in his right hand he parried each attack the entity launched at him. He was keeping up easily with the speed and even managed to cut through the shadows. It would not be enough to defeat it but it was slowing it down for sure. It was lashing at him with its tail but he grabbed a hold of it with his free hand. The entity desperately tried to shake him off but he used the momentum to climb up on its back. Running up its spine he made a small leap and wrapped his legs around its neck when landing down. The creature was shaking it's whole body in an attempt to throw him off but instead it only strengthened Tala's grip. With both hands he took a hold of the knife and stretched them into the air. He let out a battle cry and swiftly dug the knife in its head. The entity was crying out in pain now and stumbled onto its side barely able to use its legs from falling completely down. Tala jumped back into the snow and created some distance between them, it was not going to be enough to end it just yet but it would probably be enough to finish it off soon.

Julia gripped the tree tightly, she was still wrapping her mind at what she was seeing, what bothered her most was that Tala seemed the enjoy every second of it, he looked so alive now. Is this what you have been doing to past few years? It saddened her heart and she felt powerless, all she could do now was stand behind a tree and wait. That thought sickened her, she hated to just simply stand by and watch. Her heartrate slowed down and she was regaining some of her focus again, instead of being scared she searched desperately for something she could do to support him. Her lack of skills frustrated her more than anything now and she vowed to herself that she'd double her training, for his sake.

It jumped up and again the entity tried to attack from the sky, Tala knew he'd probably not fall for the same trick again and simply extended out his arm holding up the knife. Making contact with the shade's underbelly it shrieked in pain and split itself in two. The force of the impact from the shade was still pressing down on his body and he dug his feet firmly to the ground.

Dashing away to the side it merged back into a whole again but it was clearly weakened. Now's my chance. Pressing his thumb and index finger to his mouth his whistle echoed through the sky. Rumbling clouds that flashed up formed above them. He could feel the burning sensation building up on the inside. With a jolt he charged towards the creature and jumped up. Three bright flashes lit up the sky. He tightened his fist landing a punch between the eyes of the creature followed by a loud crash of lightning which ripped the entity to pieces leaving only a trail of smoke and a large burned circle in the ground. The impact pushed Tala back but he managed to stay on his feet, just barely.

Julia covered her eyes to protect them from the bright flashes, she could feel the ground beneath her tremble on the impact. The raw and violent force was unfamiliar to her and she could not believe it was from Thunder Pegasus. Is this our difference in strength?

He spit out some of the blood from his mouth to the ground and let himself fall to his back in the soft cooling snow. His breathing was quick and shallow and despite being in the cold he felt as if he was burning from the inside out. Slowly turning his head he glanced at his right arm noticing that the lightning had scarred his skin in the process. Hearing footsteps coming up to him from behind he pushed down whatever remained of the sleeve of his shirt to cover it up. He could still faintly smell the scent of burnt skin, one of the few things he still hadn't gotten used to after all these years.

The fog that has surrounded them slowly cleared up and the stains in the ground had faded leaving only a blank spot. Sliding down on her knees she landed next to him and pulled out a small piece of cloth.

"Told you I'd win." He said cockily.

"You're an idiot." Her voice sounding dull. With the cloth she carefully dapped away the blood from his face. She couldn't help but notice how he was digging his wielding arm in the snow. He must be in pain. She paused what she was doing and lowered her head. If only I was stronger he'd didn't have to do all that. But then it suddenly hit her and some of the pieces fell in the right place. He was using Thunder Pegassus because Wolborg is not around. They haven't showed up in the tournaments for five years which was right after the final battle with Brooklyn.. so somewhere between then and now, also he seemed like he knew what was happening the entire time, so in all these years he was pretty much keeping all the beybladers safe. Her hand went up to her mouth to cover a gasp, she had completely misjudged him, he wasn't weakened at all and now his words made such sense to her. The mixture of feelings she had where so overwhelming a small tear escaped her eyes.

A cold touch on her cheek woke her from her train of thoughts and she felt his thumb wipe away the moist from her face. "Your brother will kill me if he saw you were crying." She could hear his strained breathing between those words, still they made her smile.

Slowly he tried to sit and with a gentle push of her hand on his back she tried to help him up. "I'm pretty sure my brother is inferior compared to you." Biting down on her lip she desperately wanted to talk to him about her revelation but perhaps that was for another time. Her fist clenched again thinking back how powerless she was and felt, unable to do anything to help him.

He pushed himself up with his good arm and slowly rose back on his feet. He stretched out his hand towards Julia who still sat on the ground. "There's nothing you could have done."

Looking up at him she felt as if he had heard her thoughts. She laid her hand in his hand accepting his aid to get up on her feet as well. She dusted off the snow from the suit. Nothing I could have done? Come on, I am stronger than you think! Surely in 'this' situation she was powerless but that didn't mean she was completely useless. "Then teach me."

He let out a snort and turned away from her "No way." She watched him stride back towards the road and she ran up to close the distance.

"I am can handle myself just fine you know!" It annoyed her that he acted as if she was some helpless animal.

A small growl of annoyance escaped his mouth and he turned again to face her. "Which is precisely why you should not meddle in this."

"Huh! What is that supposed to mean." She hissed back.

Again he picked up his pace to continue walking. Because you are too much like me in that regard. "Walk away from it, focus on the tournament."

She kicked up some snow out of frustration and quietly continued to walk beside him. Deep down she knew it was with all the best intentions that he said those things but her own pride would have nothing of it. Letting out a loud sigh she tried to force her mind to drop the topic, Tala was her equal after all when it came to being headstrong, which in some way was really amusing but could get them in very difficult situations. "Alright then how about a compromise, teach me that attack."

That actually didn't sound that bad of a plan to begin with, it would surely bite him in the ass the day they ever decided to compete again but at the same time it would be highly amusing to watch her beat the shit out of the other teams. And if he had to watch somebody do it he'd gladly watch her any day. Flipping out the knife from his pocket he dangled it in front of her knowing well that Thuder Pegasus was still in it. "Tomorrow morning, if you succeed in disarming me I will teach you."

Her heart jumped in excitement but this is still Tala we're talking about so what would the catch be. "And if I fail?"

"Oh.. hummm, you'll end up fighting the tournament without a bitbeast, but no worries there is no time limit so you have all day." She's strong but absolute shit at defending herself, plus keeping this woman away from trouble is nearly impossible.

She gritted her teeth at the demands, it felt highly unfair but at the same time she could feel her motivation rise, it has been ages since she had a challenge that was deemed impossible, and it only made her want to succeed at it more, she had to succeed. "Deal."

He was a little shocked at the way she spoke in such confidence. "You know where to find me." He mused. He couldn't help but feel a little excited to see what she was going to come up with.

They continued their walk in silence passing the stranded truck as they went. Tala checked the engine quickly but he could already tell it had sunken in the snow ditch far too deeply now. Need a tow truck, for the tow truck. He chuckled ironically.

Continuing down the road they spotted a pair of lights coming their direction. The blonde opened the window completely ignoring Tala's presence. He held a genuine smile on his face and locked his gaze at Julia.

"Julia was it right? You shouldn't be out here walking with weird men, come hop in I will take you back." Spencer could feel the death glare emitting from Tala. He knew the redhead would be simply too proud to admit it and he was going to take his time to enjoy the moment.

Already happy to see a friendly face Julia jumped towards Spencer. "Yes! You where… Spencer correct? Nice to meet you." It surprised her how natural it felt to interact with Spencer, unlike his teammates and their captain he seemed to have developed social skills where as Tala.. had absolute zero of them.

Spencer got out and opened the passenger door for her. It was then she noticed it was a two seated car. "What about.. Tala though?" She said in a low voice.

"No worries! There is a dog bed in the back." The blonde said.

Julia's eye twitched, she really was questioning Spencer's behavior towards Tala, but he had probably done something to deserve it. Perhaps this was their way to express their friendship? She let out a small chuckle and got in the seat. In the back she heard the door open to the small cargo space in the back, assuming it was Tala.

Spencer sat back in the driver's seat and shot a quick glance at her examining her features. "Are you hurt?"

She was a little baffled at his words, never in her life has she thought a demolition boy had a sense of compassion. "I-I am fine, just a few bruises probably.. but Ta-"

He interrupted her "Don't worry." Judging by her reaction towards him Spencer already filled in that she was confused, first she had to deal with a social wreck like their captain and now she faced somebody who had no problem in doing so, then again to him he was simply doing his job.

"I am a doctor by the way." He said.

A doctor? Blinking in surprise that was the last thing she had expected him to be. "Oh wow, I mean.. I don't want you to think that I don't think that you can be that.." She began to ramble.

Spencer laughed at her reaction. "Yeah I don't tell it to many people but sometimes patients still recognize me from a few years back, it's a little problematic so I sedate them before they tell people."

"Eh?" Julia chuckled nervously.

"Not really." He winked at her.

She let out a small breath of relief, for a man his size he seemed really kind. Perhaps she could even get to know him better someday, he seemed to be pretty fun to be around. "Thank you, for picking us up."

"Not a problem." He replied.

She turned her head to the back but it lacked a window to check into the cargo space. I hope you're alright in there though. She felt somewhat guilty for being comfortable while he had gone through all of the fight. All she could hope now was Spencer taking care of him, maybe if it was just them together he'd at least help his captain. At the same time.. Tala would probably not allow to help him. Man these people are hard to figure out. She shook her head in frustration.

"What made you want to follow the medical profession?" Desperate in need to keep the conversation going, silence only made her mind wander on its own.

Spencer thought about her question for a moment, he had a very good reason to chase that road but that was the version not suitable to the people outside their team. "I adore the sound of people writhing in agony." He said sounding way to excited.

Is this guy Hannibal?! Perhaps she should not… talk to him after all, no this guy seemed to be the most mental of the four.

It was just way too easy to tease her and she was so naïve. But there was probably a very good reason Tala had her around, normally he would only be around Brian to a point that Ian and Spencer began calling them the twins. So if he was having her around now it really meant something.

Nearing the hotel Spencer stopped at the parking that was a little outside the entrance. "Do you need some painkillers?" he sounded genuine now.

Julia nodded her head. "No thank you, I think I can toughen this one out." She smiled while getting out of the seat. "And again, thank you so much for the ride." She really felt the weariness kick in now, the day had been such an emotional rollercoaster to her and she was even starting to wonder if she wasn't dreaming it all, it felt so surreal.

Spencer heard the back open and saw the redhead hop out walking to his direction. "I'll catch up."

The blonde pinched the bridge of his nose, again his captain was being so headstrong he was beginning to wonder if that guy's self-destructiveness was turning into a habit now, that or he was stupidly in love. "You really need to get some rest, she's fine."

Clicking his tongue in annoyance he had to admit the blonde was probaly right, although he'd rather just walk back in the soothing cold and be alone for a little while to settle his own thoughts. "Fine, give me five minutes and keep your mouth shut."

Rolling his eyes in reply he kept the engine running. At least he's not walking, we're making progress here.

Catching up to Julia, Tala walked next to her he prayed nobody would be around to recognize them, mostly for her sake, it wouldn't matter much to him but he began to feel a little protective of her. She looked up to him with a smile but her eyes where dull and tired. "Better get ready for tomorrow." Still trying to sound like a tough girl.

They stopped at the front of the entrance, it was decorated with a small fountain and some flower baskets that where completely covered in the snow. The lighting was soft and at this hour not a single soul was around except for the receptionist all the way in the back.

She moved closer towards him pausing in the middle until she was sure he was okay with it, then she proceeded the wrap her arms around him gently. She dug her face in his chest and inhaled deeply. She was glad that she didn't feel him tense up this time meaning he was fine with it, her feeling where growing by the minute now and she desperately wanted him to stay but she could not deal with the confrontation she had to go through with Raul, at least not tonight.

"Tala?" She whispered.

"Hmn?" He replied.

"This is the point where you hug people back." With the remainder of her strength she tried to force out one more bold move.

He let out a chuckle "Crazy woman." He snaked his arms around her pushing her slightly closer to him. Her face reddened, it was what she wanted but not what she had expected him to do. Her heart was racing out of her chest and she felt one hand reaching up and gently stroking her hair.

Shutting her eyes tightly she was wishing she could skip the time that was going between now and tomorrow, the thought of being away for a few hours already made her feel lonely. She could only hope that in the slightest he would feel the same. Taking in one more deep breath they broke their embrace and she instantly felt a wave of cold pass through her. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said while smiling at him.

He gave her a small nod and watched her enter the building before turning on his own feet. His eyes turned to one of the columns knowing damn well somebody was listening in on them. "Jealous that you are not getting that attention now?" Tala mused.

The wind blew up the white scarf and from the shadows Kai emerged standing in front of him. The redhead was still slightly taller than he was but that wasn't going to intimidate him, looking up to his face he noticed that he had been in a fight. "Just looking out for a friend."

"I don't recall her ever mentioning you." He shrugged. Again Kai would simply talk his way around and not get to the point, it was the second time this week and it was more clear what the bluenettes real intentions were going to be. He laid his hand on Kai's shoulder giving it a slight squeeze.

"If I find Black Dranzer I'll tell her you said hi." Walking past the bluenette he could feel the phoenix's anger rise, his face now held a grin of pride knowing that he had struck a painful nerve.

Kai would not allow Tala the enjoyment twice this week and quickly regained his cool. "You're not walking your dog today then?"

Tala's fist clenched together but he kept walking steadily. So you finally caught on. He flung the door open and got in the car where Spencer was waiting. The blonde immediately noticed the scowl on his face and from the distance he saw Kai walk away. He needed to say no more for he already could tell where this was going now.

In the comfort of being only with Spencer now Tala allowed himself to relax a little bit more. He rested his head against the metal plating of the door and began to notice the throbbing pain in his arm. A small container was tossed in his lap by the blonde.

"Normal people are knocked out by one of these, so I suggest you take four." Spencer said.

Letting out a slight groan he opened the bottle and shook out two of the pills, he could really do with some sleep but taking Spencer's advice would be a little overkill, besides he had to be sharp tomorrow, surely he was going to let her win in the end, but not without a fight. Taking in a few deep breaths he slowly noticed his head dozing off and the medicine kicking in.