"Crossword" by thebirdgod

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or the characters contained within Beyblade. Also, most crossword questions came from the Courier Journal, a newspaper in Kentucky.

Pairings: JohnnyxRobert, MiguelxKai, TalaxClaude, SpencerxBryan

Notes: Here is the second chapter in the story, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I wrote it. Again comments are welcome, but I'll be honest when I say I don't care for flames. thebirdgod

Chapter 2

21 Down

It was a rainy Thursday morning when the three teams stepped into the airport. Enrique, Oliver and oddly enough Robert, had left very early to prepare the jet, leaving their fiery Scotsman to rally up the Blitzkrieg Boys and the Battalion. He'd had a fair amount of trouble, who knew Kai was such a heavy sleeper?

Johnny knew exactly which terminal to head to; Enrique always used the same one every time he visited; and so the Scot herded the group in that direction, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. His mind wandered as he led them through the airport, thinking about the most peculiar disappearance of Robert. The German never went with Enrique to prepare the jet; it just wasn't something the amethyst haired man was good at, and he'd be the first to admit it.

The Scot stopped the group at some seats near a large glass window, where he could get a good view of the jet as it slowly pulled up to the terminal's loading dock. Frowning slightly, he really wondered why Robert was with them.

*~*

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Robert, you wouldn't want a certain someone finding out you have a particularly strong crush on him would you?"

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"Yes, yes I am, now put it on Robert. Oliver's wearing it and he's not complaining."

"That's because you dress him up all the time," grumbled the German, looking at the ridiculous outfit in his hands. 'I can't believe he's going to see me in this.' With a deep sigh, Robert found himself slipping on pristine white pantyhose, a tight navy blue pencil skirt, black heels, a button up white dress shirt, tie, and a navy blue jacket with half sleeves. He looked at himself in the jet's bathroom mirror, idly thinking he didn't look too bad. His legs looked stunning at least, and the little hat on his head did look kind of cute. He would not, however, be forgetting Enrique's blackmailing.

Gritting his teeth, the German stepped out of the bathroom and moved to take his place at the front of the jet to greet the travelers.

*~*

The teams followed Johnny down the carpeted tunnel towards the jet, and Kai could almost tell something was up, and that was before he heard voices drifting up from the jet end of the tunnel.

"…Awe, come on Robbie, you look great!"

"Can it, you back stabbing piece of Italian garbage."

"He doesn't mean that sweetie, he's just having a bad morning."

And that's when they came up on the entrance, and Johnny's frozen form. His eyes were too busy trailing up those stocking covered calves to the form fitting skirt.

Putting on a surprisingly delightful smile, Robert began greeting them, as their hostess. He first led Johnny to his seat, putting his bag in the overhead bin, whispering something deadly in German. Not that the Scot cared about the threat, his eyes were glued to his friend's ass and the way the pencil skirt hugged it as he moved about seating the other teams.

Robert, after situating them all in their seats, stood before them at the front of plane, demonstrating seatbelt safety and how to work the overhead lights and such. The jet was luxurious, with spacious leather seats with built in LCD televisions on the back of the headrests. The German made sure to point out the various controls for said televisions, and where to find headphones, before he too took a seat back next to Johnny, letting Enrique and Oliver pilot the plane out of the airport.

"Do I want to know how they got you in to this?" Johnny asked, his gaze on the newspaper in his lap; it was the only way he could keep from ogling his best friend's legs as they crossed themselves appropriately.

"I was blackmailed, which is why I think you should help me throw Oliver out of the plane."

"But it's a lovely outfit."

"This is not funny."

"I agree with you. It's not funny, it's damn sexy. Now help me with this question. One of the Karamzovs? I never read the book."

"Hmm. How many letters?"

"Four."

"Ivan, then."

Johnny scribbled the answer down, flicking the pen between his fingers as he continued to eye his crossword puzzle.

The seatbelt light dinged off, and Robert unclipped his, hearing the telltale hollering of Ian and his demands to use the bathroom. He stood up, brushing off his skirt before moving to step out of the aisle.

"One more real quick," Johnny requested, "Kind of identity. Six letters, third letter is an 'x'."

Robert thought for a moment, his eyes lingering on the chiseled features of his friend's face. "Sexual." He responded before moving off to go get drink orders from the passengers.

Back up front Oliver has already begun taking drink orders, and shoes away the sulking German, asking him to go sit with Enrique so the Italian could apologize for the get up the amethyst haired man was in. So Robert did just that, and strapped himself into the co-pilot seat.

"I'm sorry Robbie, I shouldn't blackmail you. It's just that from the look on Johnny's face seeing you in that, there's no way he couldn't like you. His attraction was so obvious it hurt."

"Wonderful, the only thing Johnny is attracted to is my body. Thanks Enrique, I feel so much better," the German said sarcastically, crossing his arms.

"Oh please, Johnny asks you all the crossword questions, even when he knows Oliver and I know them. He totally prefers you over us."

"Or perhaps he's the smart one and knows that you'll go so far as to blackmail your friends into playing out your sick, twisted fantasies."

*~*Meanwhile*~*

"Claude, do you think you could help me for a moment, Robert's up front and I can't carry all these drinks by myself."

"Sure," Claude replied, following Oliver to the back of the plane, where the hostess station was housed across from the bathroom. The silver haired man was slightly surprised to see Tala standing outside of the bathroom door with an annoyed look on his face.

Seeing Claude's inquisitive glance, Tala felt the need to explain himself to the gorgeous man before him. "Ian refused to use the bathroom unless I guarded the door. Doesn't wanna get locked in I guess."

Claude smiled warmly at him, and turned to find Oliver had disappeared. Just as the Battalion member began to look around, Ian made his abrupt emergence from the bathroom, slipping out and to the side, pretending to investigate the drinks before him.

"Oh, now where did Oliver go?"

"I didn't see him leave."

All of a sudden the plane tilted hard right, and Tala went crashing into the bathroom with Claude, the door banging shut behind them. Ian could be heard snickering from the outside as he barred the door, the plane slowly straightening back out.

"I think we've just be had."

*~*

"God damn it Enrique what was that for!" Exclaimed Robert loudly from his position sprawled across Johnny. He had headed back to his seat when the plane tilted and sent him flying. He would've slammed his head into the window had Johnny not caught him.

Their current position was awkward, but Robert didn't mind so much because he could smell the intoxicating scent of the Scot he was laying on top of. The redhead's heat was soothing his frayed nerves, and he felt himself sinking into the embrace.

"You alright?" Johnny asked, helping Robert slowly sit up. The skirt slipped up and showed off the silky white garter that was attached to those pristine stockings. Afraid he'd be caught starring (or something far worse, as his pants tightened) Johnny pulled the skirt back down over satin thighs, his knuckles brushing against the stockings, causing a light blush to creep its way onto the German's cheeks.

"I'm fine, thank you for catching me."

"Not a problem. Maybe you should buckle up. No more moving for you if Enrique's gonna fly blindfolded today."

A cry of alarm was heard from Mathilda, "He flies blindfolded?!"

"It was a joke," Johnny called back, looking a little sheepish as he glanced into garnet eyes. "Kind of…"

"No he's not blindfolded, just being an ass," Robert replied, situating himself down into the leather seat. "Where'd Claude and Tala get to, anyway?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. Crossword puzzle has my attention."

*~*With Claude and Tala*~*

"You know, for such a nice jet, the bathroom is awfully small," Tala commented, his back pressed against one wall of the bathroom, his eyes connected with Claude's, who was pressed against the opposing wall. Their legs were entangled together, and it was taking a lot of Tala's will power not to press up against him.

"It's so you can have more room for the seats. Typically jets like this don't do such long distances that the bathroom is heavily frequented."

"Yeah, I guess your right…" Tala mused, before asking; "You realize we probably won't get out of here until we approach the next airport right?"

"I am well aware of the fact, yes," Claude replied, blushing slightly as he tried to avert his gaze anywhere but from the handsome man before him.

Tala had to take a calming breath; the smaller man was really too delicious for his own good. And that delightful blush crossing his cheeks was just tempting the redhead to move closer. Against all better judgment, Tala did just that, his hands falling against the wall next to dazzling silver hair; his larger body pressing lightly against Claude's as he dipped his head down to catch a pair of rose tinted lips in a cautious kiss.

When it dawned on Claude that Tala, the Tala was kissing him, he almost couldn't believe it; almost because he could feel the velvet tongue glide over his bottom lip, felt his own lips open in response. His arms moved of their own accord to wrap around the muscled neck above him, his fingers winding their way through fiery red locks as Claude tugged Tala closer, letting him pin him harder against the wall.

Outside, Ian heard a 'thunk' and the muffled sounds of harsh breathing, and he knew his plan had worked; so quietly, so very quietly, he unbarred the door and returned to his seat, not knowing that his captain had heard him.

Releasing Claude's lips, Tala whispered into the shell of his ear, "The door's unbarred now, but if you don't mind, I'd like to stay here just a few more minutes…"

The shorter of the pair nodded, his breath ghosting against Tala's neck before a delicate hand moved to catch the Russian's chin, pulling him into another searing kiss.