A/N: I'd love to have this story finished in a month or so haha. Course, not counting this one, I have like 11 chapters to go so my hopes aren't very high T-T

Short chapter here

Also, guest reviewer, Ike is in this story! He's the one who designed the bug last chapter, he works intel with Ky and Gregory. And he gets a much bigger part this chapter =u=

Enjoy~

As Christophe and Kyle made their way into the dirt cellar after checking the local for Rats, they were greeted with a somber air about them.

"Ken..." Stan said, more question than statement.

Kyle shook his head slowly. "He got caught. They shot him," he crossed his arms and looked at the ground angrily. Everyone else followed suit, a heavy silence surrounding their claustrophobic environment. "I'm sorry," Kyle looked up again and glanced around at them. "I'm so sorry," he bit his lip.

"Why are you sorry?" Bebe's voice popped up. "Honey, it wasn't your fault."

"Yes, yes it was," he said firmly. "I didn't check the perimeters of the building. Rest assured I will not make that mistake again," he clenched his fists. "We're going to fucking get those bastards for Kenny."

"And just how should we do that?" Gregory asked softly. "We've vowed vengeance for every fallen team member we've had. We've yet to accomplish it."

Christophe stepped up and put a hand on Kyle's trembling shoulder. "Because, Ken would 'ave done everyz'ing eef eet was one of us," he gestured around. "We cannot afford to lose anyone else..." he paused and took a heavy sigh. "Let's just 'ope zhat Ike's bug will work."

Ike stepped up and bit his lip. "There...there may be a problem."

Kyle straightened up, staring at his brother. "What kind, Ike?"

He ran his fingers through his black hair, looking at the ground guiltily. "I...I didn't account for the nickel around the system, Ky. I'm so sorry," he looked up at his older brother with glistening brown eyes. "The signal can't reach us. We have to drop a transmitter in there with it."

Another silence echoed around the room and Stan rubbed his nose with his forefinger and thumb. "Jesus," he muttered. "We burnt up our only diversion."

"We can't even sneak back there," Clyde blinked. "How the hell are we supposed to get back in there?"

"Especially since they'll probably up the guards in that area now," Gregory nodded, stroking his chin and staring at the ground thoughtfully. "Kyle, what do you think we should do?"

All eyes turned onto the redhead and he ground his lip between his teeth. They were right. They'd destroyed the only pieces of hiding and diversion that they could have used. The trees were still there, but that would be their only coverage. It wasn't nearly close enough for one of them to get to the window before being spotted.

"I..." he heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head exhaustively. "I don't know." He walked over to the blueprints still strewn on the table and eyed around the perimeter, his fingers brushing lightly over the exact coordinates of where he watched Kenny being gunned down. His heart thudded heavily, his mind scanning over his options.

"Maybe it's a waste of time," Cartman interjected and they all looked at him. "Maybe we should just drop this plan and work on the next one."

"We're running out of plans, Cartman," Kyle said coldly. "I'm doing my best to work with what we have but so far, Ike's bug is the only thing that can possibly save us."

"And you two Jews fucked it up."

"I'd like to see you fucking do something for once, you fat piece of shit!" Ike seethed. Kyle couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride for the boy. He definitely got his short temper rubbed off from his older brother.

"All right, everyone calm down," Wendy held her hands out in front of her. "Look, fighting each other won't get us anywhere."

"God I wish Ken was here to lighten the mood," Token said sadly, leaning against the wall. "He'd know what to say."

Kyle took another wavering breath, his eyes still locked down on his plans. Kenny would know what to say. Maybe back in the day, he could have had something comforting to tell them as well. But everyone knew that his cheery disposition had run off with fighting the Rats. All he could even so much as think about anymore were battle strategies. It was the only thing he was even good at nowadays...

"Solitary run," he said softly.

The others jerked their heads towards him. "What are you talking about?" Christophe raised his brow.

He looked up at him tiredly, "We need to do a solitary run. We can't have any more than one person out on the front lines. This has to be pure stealth at night. Someone has to get into the trees and throw the damn transmitter." He looked over at his brother, "Ike, how big is it?"

Ike took a small device from his pocket, no bigger than a quarter. "This is as small as I could get it to get the signal we need," he said quietly. "Kyle...I'm sorry."

He smirked and ruffled the boy's hair a bit. "Don't be sorry. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have a prayer of getting out of here. Don't blame yourself, Ike."

"Yeah, it's Kahl's fault that Kinny died, not yours," Cartman scoffed.

"Cartman, I swear to fucking God-" Stan started.

"No," Kyle held up his hand and stopped him. "He's right. Kenny could have lived had I coordinated everything better. This is my fault, and that's why I will do the run tonight."

Tophe glared at him, "What did I say, Kyle? You are too valuable to zhe team."

"But I'm now the only fast one here," he argued. He gestured around, "Tweek and Butters are almost as fast but they're not trained for this. You and the other fielders have too much muscle and it'll make you more vulnerable to attack. I'm the only one who's lean enough to be able to climb a tree limb without it breaking and be able to hide in it without being spotted."

Stan shook his head, "I don't know, Ky. Losing Ken is hard enough. If we lost you..."

"Then Gregory takes my place," he said firmly, jerking his head over to the blonde. "Guys, I have to. This is the only chance we have. And you all know I'd rather die out there trying to get us out than die in here just waiting for them to take what little we have."

"I do not like zhis," Christophe shook his head. "You are endangering yourself and zhe team if we lose you."

"Well that's just a risk I'm going to have to take, Tophe," he sighed, blowing bangs out of his face. "That's all we do anymore is endanger ourselves. All of this is risky, and we all know it," he looked around at the team's somber faces. "I've done more than my share of solitary runs, you all know that. Otherwise we wouldn't have these," he pointed to his blueprints.

"You aren't going alone," Stan shook his head. "I think you should have two or three of us follow you."

"That increases the risk by a large margin," he quirked his brow. "Too many people means a lot of noise. Remember, this is nighttime. We can't count on a bird or something, and the Rat's conversations tend to dwindle with their numbers. We'd literally be working under the sound of a few crickets if we're lucky."

Tophe looked down at the ground. "Perhaps. Zhere's always zhe chance zhough zhat you need a lookout."

Token nodded, "Someone to signal you like you do us."

Kyle's eyes fled around the surrounding front-liners and he bit his lip. "We can't send Tophe. If there's the slightest possibility that myself and whoever is with me is killed...we can't lose both of us."

"Who's the next most agile?" Craig asked, glancing around.

Kyle raised his hand and pointed at his best friend. "Stan is the only one of the rest of you limber enough to be able to climb in and out of a tree with little effort. The rest of you are stockier than anything which won't serve us well in a stealth mission."

Stan stood from his seat and nodded, "Right. We'll leave whenever you think it's best."

Kyle sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "If my observations are actually fucking correct this time," he seethed, "They usually lower the amount of Rats at about 1:30. It usually drops down to about three standing at that wall by then. They figure we're in bed or whatever I'm supposing."

"Still just think we're children," Gregory sighed and shook his head.

"Zhat gives us an advantage," Tophe replied smartly. "Let zhem zhink zhat eef eet makes eet easier for us."

They all nodded together and Stan sighed. "All right, 1:30 it is. Ky?" The redhead looked up at him tiredly. "Get some rest, Dude. You look exhausted. We can't have you falling asleep on the run."

"He eez right," Tophe agreed. "Geet some rest. We'll wake you at midnight."

Kyle was about to protest before the looks on everyone's face shut him down. "Okay," he nodded. He turned to head towards the little alcove that was his room, his ears perking as footsteps followed him. He turned to see Ike standing and looking at him worriedly.

"Can I talk to you a second?" he asked softly.

Kyle smiled and led him into his bed area, the both of them sitting on Kyle's green blanket on a soiled mattress they'd scavenged from the dumpster. "What's up?" he asked.

Ike looked up at him and shrugged, "Look I know you said it's not my fault but-"

"But nothing, Ike," he interrupted firmly. He sighed, looping his arm around the boy and pulling him against his side. He leaned his head down on his and stroked his arm. "Dude, you didn't account for the nickel, I didn't account for roots. Shit happens in this field, Ike."

"Yeah but...since when do both of us fuck up?" he asked blankly. "I mean...are we slipping? Are we gonna be the ones that bring the team down? Are we-"

"Stop," he couldn't help but laugh a bit. "You're sounding way too much like a Broflovski right now."

"Well that's kind of what we are, you dumbass," he smirked at him.

Kyle returned the expression. Ike was right. They were their parents' children to the core. They were both way too smart for their own goods, way too concerned about everyone else before themselves. "You know," he said softly, looking up at the dirt ceiling above them, held up with dowel rods and branches. "I think Ma and Dad would have told us to calm the fuck down and just try again. That it's okay that we fucked up this one time, so long as it doesn't happen again."

Ike sighed, leaning into his brother's embrace. "Kyle Broflovski watch your language," he mocked their mother. They both snorted a bit and the youngest shook his head after a brief pause. "I miss 'em, Ky."

"Me, too," he mused. "I bet they're watching us. And Ma's yelling at us for not bathing enough or not studying."

"And Dad's sitting up there, reading his paper and just mumbling agreements with her," he chuckled. They were silent for a moment, just enjoying each other's company, more than happy that they still had each other in the midst of it all. Ike knew he owed that all to Kyle, who made damn sure that the Canadian was hidden behind himself at all times to prevent being taken the same way as so many others his age. He broke their silence, "Do...do you think we'll win?" he asked quietly.

Kyle was silent for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah I do." He looked down at him, a rare playful gleam striking through his evermore stoney green eyes. "Those Rat fuckers haven't had the full blast of Broflovski rage. They have no idea what they're in for."

Ike just rolled his eyes bemusedly and swatted Kyle's leg. "Don't let the fatass hear you say that, he'll never shut up about Jews and their 'evil' ways of not dying off."

Kyle snorted and nodded in agreement. "Only if you promise that you stop thinking this is all your fault. Things are getting hectic around here, let's just hope that this is one slip-up that we can actually rectify."

Ike bit his lip, "Just...just be careful tonight, okay? Don't get me wrong, you're annoying as piss, but I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here."

Kyle smiled and tightened his grip around him. The both of them stared at the ceiling, feeling the stares of their parents through the ground and up into the heavens. The boys knew that they were all each other had. That even if they won, it'd still be all. The thought of the two of them not working side-by-side in this entire operation was unthinkable to the Broflovski boys. Kyle ruffled the boy's hair tiredly and looked at him with soft eyes, "Ditto."

A/N: Short chapter I told you pft.

I love Ike and Kyle's bro-ship. They're such good brothers to each other and you know they'd still be assholes to each other in the midst of war, pff.

Thanks for R&Ring!