blackamber- O_O long chapter...
Sadie- Sooo sad! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!?
blackamber- *sniff* it's for the sake... of the story (hugs twins) I'M SORRY!!!
Thea- (blinks)
Dimitri- (frantic) MOM! HELP THE CRAZY LADY IS CRUSHING US!!!
Amy- (sigh) usual disclaimer
"How's she doing?" voices faded in and out of her mind. She could hear them, but couldn't respond.
"She seems fine… though hitting her head has done some damage. I'd try to keep her from moving as much as possible," it was a stranger's voice who came in now.
She felt pressure on her hand as another familiar voice scoffed, "Heh, the day she follows a doctors orders is the day- ow!"
Footsteps signaled the strangers exit, but she still could not open her eyes.
"It's not like her to just pass out like that," a female's voice came from somewhere in the direction of the other familiar voice.
"Hey… Tala you gonna be okay?" said voice asked.
"Any word from Spencer or Ian?" Tala's voice asked, refusing to answer the question.
His words were met with silence, and Amy imagined that it was because the other familiar voice had either shaken his head or nodded.
"Ta-la?" she croaked out, her throat feeling like a desert. Her eyes seemed reluctant to open but she felt more pressure on her hand, meaning that he was probably squeezing it.
"Yeah, I'm here Aim," his voice was anxious and laced with worry. She felt something against her head, and a stroking motion followed. "I'm here," he repeated a little softer.
"What happened?" she asked, forcing her eyes to open. The room swam before her and appeared, at first, to just be a mirage of colors. No shapes, just color. As though an angry artist had just flung paint everywhere. "All I remember was taking the twins out and then…"
"You passed out, Amy," Lissa's gentle voice came, "I found you and called Bryan, knowing that he'd be with Tala or at least could contact him if he wasn't."
"Where are the twins?" Amy asked.
No one responded, and since her vision hadn't cleared yet, Amy couldn't make out the expressions on their faces.
"Tala," her voice turned pleading, "where are they?"
Tala pressed his forehead against hers, gripping her hand as though if he let go he'd be swept away by some unknown force. "I don't know," he choked out, "we don't know. I asked Spencer and Ian to look around for them but-"
Amy began to tremble. "No…" she gasped.
"Amy, I'm really sorry," Bryan said as though he thought it would make it better.
Amy began to sob uncontrollably, how could she let something like this happen?
"We'll find them I promise," he whispered painfully.
Amy stiffened, remembering something else… a minor- or major rather- detail she had completely forgotten.
"So we meet again," growled a horribly familiar voice.
Amy froze spinning so that her silver-grey eyes met the ice-blue ones of Cole. "Are you stalking me now?"
"Not exactly," Cole smirked, walking towards her, "just distracting you."
"Wha-" Amy didn't get to finish her question when something hard came in contact with the back of her head. Her vision swam and she felt herself sinking to the floor.
The last thing she heard was one of the twins, she wasn't sure which one… maybe both, scream: "MOMMA," before it all went black.
"Cole…" she growled darkly.
Tala looked at her in concern. "What do you mean Cole?"
"He was talking to me before I blacked out… he has something to do with it…" she said. Her eyes suddenly grew wide, "Oh my god… Tala! Boris has them!" She was hysterical, the thought of the twins… no… of her babies in the abbey. "I was so careless… how could I have let him take them from me? I should have realized something was wrong the moment he appeared."
Tala shushed her, hugging her tightly. "It's going to be okay… I'm going to get them back, alright?"
"I'm going with you," Amy stated, trying to stand up. She figured, since she could finally something besides just color, she was well enough to stand.
Tala, however, had other plans, and gently pushed her back down. "You need to relax, you hit your… your head was hit really hard."
"Tala I want to-"
"I know… right now you need to worry for your health. I'll get them back you'll see," Tala tried to smile at her, standing up he turned towards Bryan.
"I'm right behind you, bro," Bryan stated.
"Don't worry about Amy," Lissa smiled at Tala, "I'll watch over her."
The door burst open, admitting a frazzled Sadie. "I just got the message! Is everything alright!? Do you need me to get anything or call anyone? Do you need me to call the police? To beat someone up? Just tell me what to do and I'll do it!"
"Sadie, stay with Lissa and Amy," Tala ordered, marching past her.
"Right!" Sadie gave a mock salute, waiting for the door to close before springing into action. "Okay! This calls for a tub of ice cream and talking to your best buds from across the globe!"
"Sadie! This is not a break-up! My children were kidnapped!" Amy shrieked.
"So… we need two tubs of ice cream?"
"Sadie," Lissa said gently, "why not call her friends, or even her brother, that might help." She then turned back to crying woman. "It'll be okay… you'll see."
"That man is going to wish he was never born when I'm through with him," Tala snarled viciously as soon as Bryan had closed the door behind them.
"You want me to call Spencer and Ian, tell them where we're headed?" Bryan asked.
"If you think it'll help," Tala said, only half listening. His mind was raging and all he really wanted to do was grab Cole by the collar and beat him senseless, and that was civil compared to what he wanted to do with Boris.
"What about Kai? Should I call Kai?" Bryan asked.
"What can he do? He is in Japan!?" Tala snapped.
"Yeah, but I think he'd want to know about something like this," stated Bryan.
"Just call Spencer and Ian."
"Right!"
"You know what… I'm booking the next flight over there!" Brook yelled into the phone.
"Brook you don't have to…" Amy sniffed, now in a sitting position with the help of Sadie and Lissa.
"Hell ya we do! That ass is going to pay for this!" Courtney exclaimed. Sometimes, having three-way calling was a pain in the ass. "I'll call Mel and Kaylie- no one does something like this to our team-mate and gets away with it."
Amy laughed lightly through her tears, "We aren't exactly a team anymore, Court."
"No matter how long it's been since we last bey-battled together, we will always be a team," Brook stated, the noise on the other end suggesting that she was packing.
"You guys-"
"Are amazing? Guilty as charged," Courtney grinned into the phone.
"Don't worry Aim, we'll be there if not tomorrow then the next morning," Brook promised.
"And if those kiddies aren't back, all hell will be let lose! Boris, Cole, and that pop-n'-fresh wannabe will be lucky if they can move once I'm done with them!"
"Court… can you please stop yelling into the phone, you're going to wake my boyfriend," Brook begged.
"OOOOoooo, what have you been doing?"
This time Amy couldn't help but laugh loudly. Especially when Brook countered with, "I'm insulted! Unlike some people I save sex for marriage!"
"And that's why you're no fun. We girls really know how to party, right Aim?"
"You said it," Amy agreed, starting to feel a little nostalgic while speaking with her old team-mates and friends.
"Well, I'm sure you have better things to do than talk Ms. Party-girl and I," Brook said, "and Amy, take care of yourself."
"You to Brook… and thanks," Amy half-smiled into the phone.
"Oh sure, say thank-you to her but not me?" Courtney fake sobbed.
"Your thank-you was implied, you lunatic."
Courtney gasped into the phone. "That's it! DISHONOR! Dishonor on you! Dishonor on your dog! Dishonor-"
"Okay, Courtney, I'm hanging up now," Amy stated.
"Bye, Amy," Brook called over Courtney who was still ranting about dishonor.
Amy hung up the cordless, handing it to Sadie and leaning back against the couch. As soon as their voices faded, the pain came back with a vengeance. Oh Thea… Dimitri… I'm so sorry…
"Did that help at all?" Lissa asked, kindly.
Amy bit her lower lip and admitted, "For a little bit… but I just…"
"I know… Sadie… why don't you call her brother," Lissa suggested.
Sadie nodded, flipping through the pages until she came upon Kai's number. "Umm… there are three different numbers here? Which one should I call?"
"Try the one labeled home… if he doesn't answer try his cell," Amy instructed.
"And if there is still no answer… do I try the office then?"
"I only call that one if it's an emergency," Amy stated, hugging the pillow to her as if it would take away all her pain.
"Okay, so I do try the office then," Sadie muttered to herself, dialing the numbers in the book. The phone rang twice when a woman answered it. "Hi, is Kai there?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, no he's not. Is there something I can help you with?" the woman asked.
"Oh, you must be Kai's girlfriend," Sadie said excitedly.
"Sadie… is she getting Kai?" Lissa asked.
"That's right, and who are you?" the woman asked.
"No, he's not home," she answered putting her hand over the speaker. She then proceeded to talk into the phone, "I'm Sadie, a friend of Amy's… I'm calling on her behalf."
"Sadie…" Amy growled.
"Oh… is everything alright?"
"Not really no."
"Oh what happened?"
"Well you see- HEY!" Amy snatched the phone away from Sadie.
"Hi, Miya," Amy breathed into the phone.
"Amy! Are you alright? Your friend said that something was wrong?" Miya spoke quickly, concern dripping from each word.
"I understand your worry, Miya, but I really need to talk to my brother so if you could-"
"Of course! He should be on his way home by now… you could try his cell, if he doesn't answer just call back here in ten, maybe fifteen, minutes, okay?" Miya offered.
"Thanks Miya, bye."
"Bye, Amy! Hope everything works out!"
Miya hung up the house phone just as the door to the Hiwatari estate opened. "Oh, Kai! You just missed your sister! Is your cell on? She's going to try calling it!"
Kai sighed, I'm barely home for five seconds and… "Did you say Amy called?" The siblings may be closer now than they ever had been, but that didn't mean they called each other regularly, if she had called the main house and was actually going to try him at a different number, something must have happened.
"Yup, it sounded pretty urgent whatever it was."
I'll kill him if she's pregnant again, Kai thought darkly as his cell went off. "Hey Aim," he answered.
"Now that's just creepy," Amy responded, though she was hiding it, Kai could hear that she had been crying about something.
"Miya told me you'd be calling, what's wrong?"
There was a pause of silence.
He did… she's going through mood swings and is now crying to me… that's great. As if handling one pregnant woman isn't hard enough. Tala I'm going to murder you.
"Kai… it's the twins…"
Kai froze, Okay… maybe not… "What happened? Are they okay?"
The sound of Amy fighting tears on the other end made his blood run cold. All the possibilities of what could have happened to them went through his mind. Deathly ill, had gotten into a car accident, hospitalized in some way, or even, dead.
"Boris… has them," Amy forced the words out of her mouth.
Boris hadn't been a possible threat since the Australian Tournament. And now… now he just waltzes into the picture and kidnaps his niece and nephew… If there was such a thing as a breaking point for Kai, he had reached it.
"Tala's gone to get them back," Amy continued sensing that her brother's thoughts were going along the same track as her friend's.
"If anything goes wrong, just call me alright?" he sighed into the phone.
"I will," Amy promised, "thanks Kai."
Kai let out a heavy sigh as his sister hung up.
"What's wrong?"
"The twins are missing," he stated, clenching his fist tightly.
"Oh my god," Miya gasped, "I can't imagine how that…" She grazed her stomach with her hand.
Had Kai been a different person, he would have moved to comfort her or at least offer her some reassuring words; he wasn't though, which meant he kept his mouth shut.
Miya didn't mind this, she was used to his attitude. Besides, he had his own way of showing that he cared and though it may not consist of showering her with loving words, warm embraces or abundances of gifts, she'd love him anyway. Which was probably why she savored those rare moments when he would drop his stoic behavior and do one of those three.
"Are you going to help her?" she asked.
Kai shook his head, "She doesn't want my help right now."
"Kai! She's your sister! What are you waiting for her to ask you to help her!?" demanded Miya.
"Tala's handling it," Kai shot back, "if she needed me there she would've-"
"Do you honestly think she called you just to tell you the twins were missing? Kai, she wants you there!"
Kai pressed his thumb and index finger into the bridge of his nose. Tala had no idea how lucky he was to have missed out on the first five months of Amy's pregnancy. "She'll call me if some goes wrong, and if that's the case I will go."
"So, you'll only go if she actually voices the words, 'we need your help'? She shouldn't have to ask you! You should instinctively go!" shrieked the expecting woman.
"Miya…"
"I'm going to pack your suitcase, you find the next flight over!"
"Who's going to take care of you?"
"I'll call your sister's doctor friend, she's married to an expert on expectant mothers," Miya stated firmly, "Amy recommended me to her when she first moved here."
"Claire? You should know she's crazy."
"I think I can handle it, now go book your flight!"
"Just you wait! My momma and daddy are gonna come and kick your butt!" Thea yelled, struggling in the dark haired man's grasp.
"Stop squirming you little brat," Cole hissed, trying to get a better grip.
"NO!" Thea snapped, biting his hand.
"OW! Why you little!" Cole snarled, striking her with his hand.
"GET AWAY FWOM MY SISTER!" howled Dimitri trying to lunge at Cole, but was held back by another man.
"Having a bit of trouble, Cole?" Boris mused, entering the large indoor arena located in the depths of the abbey's labyrinth.
"Nothing I can't handle," growled Cole, as Thea nursed her sore cheek, trying her very hardest not to cry.
I gotta be strong… for momma and daddy, she thought determinedly.
"Lock the girl up, we'll break the boy first," Erik ordered, waddling in and standing beside Boris.
"Whatever you say, father," Cole grinned darkly, grabbing Thea's arm non-too-gently.
"My dad'll make you pay for this," rumbled Dimitri, glaring daggers at Boris and the fat man.
"Oh, I am sure your daddy will come," sneered Boris, "but I doubt he'll be able to do anything."
"That's what you think! My dad's the stwongest beyblader awound! He'll beat you to a puwp!" yelled Dimitri, vehemently.
"It's too bad then," snickered Erik, "that we aren't going to meet him with beyblades." He turned to the guards standing around the rim of the "arena". "Go meet this boys… daddy… show him the same hospitality that his wife knows all too well."
A devilish smirk passed between the guards as most of them stalked out of the room.
"You know my mom?" Dimitri asked uneasily.
"Of course boy… who do you think gave her most of the scars she carries?" leered Erik.
Dimitri narrowed his eyes, "I'll kill you for hurting my momma!" He charged at the overweight man.
"Oh my, now this seems familiar, doesn't it Gil?" Erik grinned, nodding to a man with a lasso in his hand.
With a single toss, the rope found itself around the boy's neck, bringing him to the ground as he struggled to breathe.
"Oh yes, sir, very familiar," scorned the man named Gil, "like mother like son eh?"
Erik chuckled darkly, "Let's hope he's easier to break than his blasted mother." He turned to walk out of the room, pausing only a moment to address the remainder of the guards. "I want him to be alive, but I don't want him to be able to move without feeling immense pain. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir!" the guards saluted, grinning like a pack of ravenous hyenas.
Spencer hooked his arms beneath Tala's armpits, holding him back. "Calm down, Tala," he ordered.
"Calm down! That bastard has my kids and you tell me to calm down!" the red-haired man was now brandishing the start of a black-eye.
Before the four men was at least a dozen older men, all buff and all carrying guns. Tala recognized a few from the fort some seven years ago.
"Doesn't even come out to face you himself," scoffed Bryan, "despicable." He wore a fat-lip and a couple of other bruises.
The other two faired no better, and it was only Spencer who seemed in his right mind- or at least enough to realize that trying to fight their way in was futile. "We can't face them on our own, we need help."
Tala knew he was right, but how could he face her after promising he'd get them back.
"You should listen to your friend, Tala," a familiar voice laughed, "rescuing your brats is hopeless." Cole walked out to the front of the guard, looking quite proud of himself.
Tala let out a sound that was very much like a wolf's snarl and broke free of Spencer's hold; lunging at the younger man with killer intent. His fist sent the black haired man crashing to the frozen earth, but it also set the guards back on him. Like a pack of trained attack dogs, they charged at him to protect their master's son- who was cowering in fear from the blow.
Instinct took hold of the three other men, springing at the guards to help their teammate, friend and captain. Blows were exchanged, but it was the four younger men who were sent home, limping.
"Look on the bright side, bro," Bryan winced as his jaw was sore from a blow he took, "she can't possibly get mad at you after seeing you like this."
There was no response from his friend.
"Come on, Tala, you did your best," Ian said, looking up at the red-head.
"And it wasn't enough," growled Tala, clenching his fist. "What good am I if I can't even protect them!"
"We'll get them back, Tala," Spencer stated- with his overall size and own buff nature he was the least bruised and battered of the group- "we just can't do it alone."
"Yeah, we'll give Kai a call, maybe some of the other teams- it'll work out you'll see," Bryan grinned, opening the door to his friend's house.
Tala gave him a look stating that he wasn't in the mood to be cheered up.
Lissa came to greet them as they walked in, "Oh my… what happened!?" Her tone was frantic but her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Where's Amy?" Tala asked.
"She slipped out of consciousness after talking with her brother… oh, I should warn you her old teammates are coming," Lissa said; she didn't have to ask if they were successful, the state they were in said enough.
"Great, we need man-power and we get a bunch of chicks," Ian said sarcastically.
"Actually… this may work to our advantage," Tala mused, grabbing the other cordless phone while passing the kitchen.
"Having a bunch of girls here is advantageous?" Ian asked.
"Think of who they're linked with," Bryan said, realizing what Tala was getting at.
"Ah, I see," Spencer smirked, "we ask the girls to drag their brothers and possibly their brothers teams down here with them."
Tala just nodded, finding Brook's number easily enough; he'd let her call the others and explain the situation.
"Wow… twice in one night Aim, what's-"
"Brook," Tala spoke easily into the phone.
"Tala? O-kay… this is new," Brook stated, "what's up?"
"I need you to do something for me."
"This is about the twins, isn't it?"
Tala winced at the reminder of his failure. "Yes…" he answered a painful three minutes later.
"What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to talk to your cousin… ask him if he'd be willing to-"
"I get it… I can wake Lee up and ask him to pass the word on to Ray… I don't really like walking in on my cousin when he's with Mariah."
Tala was confused for a moment there, last time Amy had talked to him about her friend's lives now, she had mentioned that Brook was with some guy named Rin. Yet here, Brook suggested that she may be in the same room as Lee while he was sleeping. He gave his head a small shake; maybe he was just looking to far into this.
"Tala?" Brook's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "Lee's all for it, you want me to pass on the word to the others to bring help?"
"If it's not too much trouble."
"It's never too much trouble," Brook smiled on her end, "Amy would do the same thing for us if we were in your guys position. We'll see you sometime in the next two days."
"Right," Tala said, hanging.
"So… now all that's left is to call the big brother, huh?" Bryan said, sitting down at the kitchen table as Lissa fawned over his injuries.
Tala gave a small nod, dialing Kai's home number. He wasn't surprised when Miya picked up, the only Kai willingly answered was his cell. "Is Kai there?" he asked, not bothering to say hello to her.
"He is, but he's a little preoccupied," Miya stated, "you'll be able to talk to him soon though. After Amy called earlier I took it upon myself to force him to fly over."
The thought of Kai being forced to do anything by a woman almost made Tala laugh- he actually would have had he not remembered that pregnant woman were very terrifying.
"I'll tell him you called though," Miya said brightly.
"Thanks, see ya around." Tala hung up with a sigh, "Apparently he already 'planned' on coming."
Bryan looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean, 'planned'?" He used his fingers to put air quotation marks around the word.
"MIya," he stated simply, earning a snigger from his friend.
"She's got him whipped, huh?"
"You say that now, but just wait till you're dealing with a pregnant woman," Tala smirked, placing the phone back in its receiver and walking to where Amy was passed out on the couch. "You can go Sadie."
"You sure you don't need me for anything else?" the fifteen year old asked cautiously.
He nodded, "I can… take care of her myself." He brushed her hairline gently, not trying to wake her. He could see the tracks left by her tears on her cheeks. He hated seeing her cry and yet, because he failed to do what he- as the father- was supposed to do, he'd have to watch her break again.
She groaned in her sleep, opening her eyes. Catching the sapphire blue ones of her husband. "Tala? Are they-" she froze, catching sight of the bruise. "What happened?"
He turned his gaze from her, "I'm sorry, Aim…"
"You're sorry for getting hurt? Why?"
"I couldn't… he still has them."
Hearing those words were like having her children snatched from her all over again; as if she had them back in her arms for a minute and then watched them being taken with her being restrained. Her whole body shook. Part of her wanted to blame Tala for not being able to bring them back, like he promised, but seeing his state… she couldn't.
He had gotten injured trying to get them back; it wouldn't be fair to yell at him for failing. Instead, she slumped against him, crying into his shoulder. He wrapped a comforting arm around her, letting her cry to her hearts content. It was good that one of them could cry. 'Cause no matter how hard he wanted to… or how much he beat himself up over what happened… Boris made sure that none of his boys would ever cry.
It made him seem heartless, but he wasn't. He just- physically- unable to cry, so all he could do was comfort her and send silent curses to the bastard in that damned abbey.
"Dimka! Are you okay?" Thea demanded as her brother was dragged into her cell.
Her brother didn't respond, his face bruised and bloody. His breathing was labored as he lay on his side, barely moving.
Thea crawled over to him, cradling her brother's head. Dimka… She heard the guards speaking on the other side of the door.
"He's a tough little bastard," one of them scoffed.
"What did you expect? He's her kid," the other stated.
"Yeah, but he's just a little brat."
"Will break him tomorrow… have him begging us to stop, you'll see."
Thea hugged her brother tighter, You will not break us… momma and daddy will come and they'll make you regwet being mean to us.
blackamber- That's right Thea! Keep believing in them!
Amy- I swear to god if something else happens to them I'll-
Tala- (cracks knuckles with a dark gleam in his eyes)
blackamber- WAHHHHH!! (runs away)
Bryan- r&r