Previously...

"Cut the crap Boris!" Kai said venomously.
"You really want to know how your going to die?" Boris's voice contained almost unbridled amusement. "I'll tell you."
Kai and Tyson both listened silently.
"The answer to both your questions." Boris announced. "Tyson, I am going to make you kill Kai!"

--

Before Ray even had the chance to stand up, a loud, bubbly voice roared at them.
"RAY! TALA!"
"Max?" Ray asked

--

The girl and two boys closed the door, throwing Hilary into total and all consuming darkness. The brunette heard a key scrape in a lock and realised she was trapped.
"Let me out!" She screamed, kicking her unrestrained feet against the door.
Though unknown to her, nothing but the quiet, dull thud of her pounding feet could be heard on the other side of that thick metal door.

--

Tyson looked over at is friend in horror. "Don't think for one second I'm going to kill you Kai! I will never-"
"Boris obviously has a plan Tyson," Kai cut in, "He knows that you would never want to kill me unless some one you loved was at stake. What if he has your Grandpa under surveilance Tyson? Or Hiro? What if he had the power to take their lives in one second and he told you he would kill them if you didn't kill me? What would you do then?"
Tyson opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out.
"That is something that Boris would do," Kai continued quietly, "Because he did the same thing with me, Tala, Bryan and Spencer. Years ago, when we lived here as his little soldiers, we would be given missions. Each mission was an assassination. One, two or three of us would be sent out to do the mission while one was kept here. If any of us on the mission decided to run away or not kill out targets, then Boris would torture and kill the one left at the abbey. So, we had to kill, people we've never met who'd done us no harm, just so we could save the life of our friend. That is why we only have one option left. We need to stall for time. We need to stall for a few days. Tala is free and he'll be strong again in a few days. Once he is, he'll get some of our old friends together and he'll sneak back in here. Tala is our only chance for survival."

----

Now...

Hilary pounded her fists relentlessly against the thick metal door, hoping that some one if anyone would come and rescue her from the confines of the tiny room. Her balled hands throbbed with pain but she didn't let it stop her. Tears streamed down her face but she refused to break down. She held strong, as strong as she could and tried to ignore the nasty voice in the back of her mind telling, no guaranteeing her, that she was going to die.

"Please!" She cried out, "Some one please let me out!"

If there had been light in the tiny room, she would have seen that the soft skin on her fists was starting to split. Though she still wouldn't have stopped her senseless pounding. She yelled the same sentence as she had before, five more times at three minute intervals but no one came to help her. Hours had passed. By this time blood was trickling down her pale arms and flicking off her elbows. She banged the door hard and suddenly gasped in pain. She had competely torn the skin of the sides of her hands and her nails had cut into her palms. She couldn't see the blood, but she could feel its warmth slowly dribbling across her skin and the texture it left on her finger tips. She touched her hands gingerly and hissed in pain. Hilary dropped her hands to her sides and looked at the large door. She dropped to her knees and let her head hang in defeat. Her tears dripped from her eyes but she could not see them through the black which dominated one hundred percent of her vision. She hadn't even been able to see the small puffs of acidic yellow gas which puffed into her tomb-like cell every half hour from a small hole in the concrete. The voice in her head became stronger and clearer.

"You're going to die Hilary. You should never have come to Russia. You should have stayed home and left Kai to his death."

"No!" Hilary cried fiercely, "I could never, WOULD never do that! I love Kai!"

"Do you really think he loves you back?" The voice whispered coldly. "Look at yourself. A crying, fragile little girl who was caught in less than five seconds. Who would love something like you? You couldn't save the man you love. You can't even protect yourself. Kai left you to come to Russia so that he could get away from you!"

"No!" Hilary cried.

"He is tired of constantly watching your back."

"Shut up!"

"You're a little damsel in distress. You act fierce and strong but you're not are you? You can't do anything right!"

"That's not true!" Hilary put her hands over her ears, trying to banish the voice from her mind. "You're lying! Leave me alone!"

"How could any one love some one as pathetic as you? Kai doesn't love you. He just didn't want his conscience to irritate him if you ever committed suicide."

A puff of blue smoke came through the gap in the concrete.

"SHUT UP!" Hilary screamed at the top of her lungs.

She breathed hard, waiting for the voice to speak again. It didn't. She sat back against the walls and started to cry, continuously muttering to herself that Kai did love her.

----

Boris smiled in amusement and watched Hilary on a small television screen which was fed night vision footage by the tiny, insect sized camera in the solitary confinement room. Boris sat in a chair in a large scientific looking room, filled with machines and other screens with security feed from other camera's. Boris moved his hand away from a button which was on the control board in front of him. A scientist in the stereotypical white lab coat stood beside him.

"Are you sure it's necessary to subject the girl to the gas so soon? The hallucinations may cause her to try and take her own life soon."

"She wont." Boris said. "I bring her back to her senses with the antidote just before that happens. I want to crush her spirit. Make her feel that there's no hope left. Poor little Kai will be oh so torn up. It will be amusing to watch and it will make it easier for Tyson to kill him."

Boris heard the sound of a soldiers combat boots walk into the room then stop behind him. Boris' tone changed immediately from cheerful to commanding.

"Did you bring back Valkov and Mr Kon?"

"No sir." The soldier said. "They just escaped us. They made it to the road and then it looked like a car had pulled up on the side of the road and they had gone in. It started snowing and we soon lost the tyre tracks."

Boris stiffened his jaw and stood up, putting his hand on his belt. He faced the soldier who was a male teenager, no older than nineteen. He looked nervous and had obviously been chosen by the others to break the bad news. Boris's face darkened sinisterly.

"You let them escape?" He whispered dangerously. "Do you not realise that those two boys could lead the police straight to us?"

"I'm s-sorry sir," the soldier said. "It wont happen again."

"It had better not," Boris suddenly whipped out a knife from his belt and drove it into the soldiers heart. "After all, I can't keep killing my own men. Sooner or later I'll run out."

The young soldier looked at his boss in shock then fell back lifelessly. Boris took a white cloth from his pocket and cleaned the blood off his knife.

----

Kai and Tyson sat beside each other trying to absorb each others body heat in the freezing cold dungeons. Both boys shook violently with nothing but their clothes and a single blanket which the guards had generously thrown in to them.

"W-well K-K-Kai," Tyson stammered through chattering teeth. "L-looks like I'm n-n-not going to k-kill you aft-ter all. Th-this c-cold will k-k-kill us both before B-Boris even has a ch-chance to make m-me d-do it."

"Nice positive thinking." Kai muttered, trying not to let his trembling interfere with his speech.

Tyson gave a short, raspy laugh. "I am a r-real id-diot huh?"

Kai shifted his eyes to rest on his blue haired friend. Tyson looked at the ground, his shame clear on his features.

"I j-just b-b-burst in," Tyson stuttered, "L-like I w-was invincib-ble... L-like I was g-going t-to save th-the d-d-day. I w-was st-stupid! W-world c-c-class d-dick head."

"At least you were expecting to be attacked," Kai muttered. "Tala and I just walked into town as though Voltaire wasn't on a man hunt to find us. We walked out in broad day light then were captured in under five minutes. Oh yeah, we were real smart. Now I don't even know if Bryan or Spencer are even alive."

"They are," Tyson said.

Kai snapped his full attention to Tyson. "What?"

"They are alive." Tyson repeated weakly. "Well, barely... They are in coma's in the Moscow hospital."

Kai felt his heart drop a little but he was still relieved his other friends were alive.

"Tell me," He said. "How is Hilary?"

"I... I don't know." Tyson whispered. "I haven't seen her since I was captured."

Tyson felt Kai tense up then felt the crimson eyes burning into him.

"Please don't tell me she's here, in Russia."

Tyson frowned. "She insisted on coming. You know what she's like... You hadn't called for months. You really think she would have stayed home while the rest of us went looking for you?"

Tyson coughed dryly and clutched his freezing arms. Both his and Kai's lips were pale, and starting to blue. Their eyes were sunken and dark rings had formed under Kai's eyes.

"It's fucking freezing." He muttered. "There's a window open some where in here. It's not usually this cold."

"That'd probably be the window I had to smash so I could break the bars to get in here." Tyson whispered. "Sorry... Another stupid mistake."

Kai sneezed in the cold and gritted his teeth, trying to resist yawning. Tyson was on a phsycic link and yawned beside him.

"I'm getting tired."

'Me too.' Kai thought.

----
Tala ran through the halls of Balkov Abbey quickly. He had the brains of a seventeen year old, but possessed the body of a ten year old. Kai was by his side, with the younger body that Tala remembered from the days they were imprisoned here at childhood. Tala stopped abruptly and the younger Kai spoke, his voice young but it held early signs of the trademark stoicism he possessed as a teenager.

"In there!" He pointed a small finger at a door to the side. "Come on before they catch up!"

Tala and Kai both ran into the room and closed the door behind them, looking around for some place, any place to hide. The room was an office. Boris's office. Lucky for them, the cruel tyrant wasn't there. The carpet sank under the boys shoes and they looked out of place in the clean beige room, addorned with royal red wall drapes. Potted plants were all around the room and there was a large desk with black leather chair behind it. Tala's blue eyes scanned the room until he finally found what he was looking for.

"There!" He was surprised at how child-like his voice was.

He ran over to a large potted plant and revealed the entrance to a fire escape vent. He and Kai pulled out the mesh hatch and climbed in, carefully replacing the mesh. Kai crawled down the small passage first with Tala behind. Tala almost ran into the back of his friend when Kai stopped after only travelling a metre.

"What's wrong?"

"Go back." Kai said softly. "The tunnel is blocked. Boris barred it up. Quick, go back!"

Tala scrambled back and went to grab the mesh when the office door opened. Tala and Kai stopped immediately, unconsciously holding their breath. Tala and Kai slowly peered through the mesh and looked out into the office. They instantly recognised the onyx boots and forest green trench coat even before they saw Boris's face. He was searching his office, no doubt looking for the missing boys. Kai and Tala slowly started edging down the tunnel until Kai's back was pressed up against the close bars that blocked their path. Tala stared out the hatch, feeling the sweat drip from his face. He felt trapped and restricted in the small space. Boris's feet strode past the hatch several times. The boys prayed he didn't look in there. Finally Boris walked towards the door. Tala heard it open then close and started breathing again. He and Kai shared a smile of relief and started to move back towards the hatch. Tala reached for the mesh when some one on the other side wrenched it open and grabbed his wrist. He tried to escape but he was pulled out instantly along with Kai who had tried to hold him back. Boris laughed in his face and tied rope around his hands.

"Sorry Tala, you'll be here forever!"

"No!" Tala yelled. "Let me go you bastard! Kai! Kai run! K-"

Tala looked at his friend and froze. The little boy who had just been there had transformed into his seventeen year old form. Tala felt Boris tying him up but couldn't move from the shock. Kai was lying eagle spread on the carpet. His skin was deathly white-blue and his hollow crimson eyes stared at the ceiling lifelessly. Cut's and deep wounds blemished his whole body and his clothes were ripped and worn. A large blood blotch was in the centre of his chest and a gaping cut opened up his throat, letting the blood spew out over the carpet. Blood was on Kai's lips.

"KAI!" Tala yelled.

Kai's dead eyes looked at him. "Help me Tala..."

Blood gurgled out of the wound on Kai's neck. Tala stared at his friends talking corpse and felt Boris tying the rope around his neck.

"You're next." Boris whispered evilly. "You will die soon too."

Tala screamed and his eyes snapped opened. A light above him blinded him momentarily. He felt people around him tugging at something which was coiled around him, like a large suffocating glove. Tala writhed in a panic, his whole body was wrapped and confined tightly.

"Tala! Relax man! You're alright!"

"Just calm down Tala! It's just us! Your friends!"

Tala felt what ever was around him suddenly unravel and he fell off the couch onto the soft beige carpet. At one look at the colour of the carpet Tala yelled and sat up, breathing hard and shaking a little. He looked around the room unable to recognise his surroundings but looking for the corpse of his friend which he'd just seen. He felt a hand touch his shoulder and flinched away, looking at who it belonged to. He looked up into Max's worried face.

"Tala, are you alright man?" The blond asked.

Tala didn't answer, and he still breathed hard with cold sweat dripping from his face. He looked around him and saw a blanket on the floor around him. It was the blanket that had been trapping and choking him. He was sitting in a hotel room.

"Where am I?" He muttered.

"You're safe." Ray said.

Tala turned to face him and managed to regain a little composure. Max, Ray, Daichi, Kenny and Mister Dickenson were all gathered around him.

"Are you alright dear boy?" Mister Dickenson asked anxiously. "It was just a bad dream. Would you like some water?"

Tala shook his head. "No. Thanks but no. It was a dream? But... but it felt real..."

"What happened in it?" Ray asked.

Tala opened his mouth to answer but the image of Kai's bleeding corpse flashed in his mind.

"Nothing. It's nothing."

Max and Ray looked at each other then back to Tala.

"You sure you're okay?" Daichi asked. "We were trying to wake you for ages. You'd wrapped yourself up in the blanket and you were muttering something in your sleep. Then you screamed Kai's name. You looked really scared."

"I don't get scared." Tala snapped. "I get shocked, panicked, anxious, nervous, angry but scared? Never. Got that?"

"Sure, sorry." Max said innocently. "It was just a slip of the tongue."

"What ever." Tala muttered. "What are you all looking at? Have any of you come up with any ideas to get the others out of the abbey?"

Ray, Max, Daichi and Kenny looked at each other then glanced at Mister Dickenson who looked back at them.

"No," Ray said, staring Tala directly in the eye. "Not yet anyway."

Tala nodded silently and held his head.

"I don't feel so well."

Tala staggered towards the bathroom. Mister Dickenson went to follow but Ray stopped him.

"We'll go Mister D," He saw kindly. "I don't think Tala really trusts you as much as we do. Maybe he'd feel a little more comfortable opening up to me and Max?"

Mister Dickenson thought for a moment then nodded. "If you think so Ray. I trust you."

Ray smiled and he and Max went into the bathroom after Tala. Kenny and Daichi looked at each other then to Mister Dickenson who went and sat on the sofa, rubbing his brow at the same time. Max and Ray walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind them. Tala was leaning against a wall waiting for them with his arms crossed over his chest. He hadn't bothered fixing his messy red hair.

"What do you have planned?" Tala asked. "It must be wreckless if you didn't want that old man hearing."

"We storm the fortress." Max said in a Brave Heart impersonation.

Tala rasied an eyebrow. "Great idea! Now why didn't I think of that? It's perfect. We just have to work on that tiny problem of being shot dead before we make it half way to the abbey."

Ray sighed and explained. "Kenny is going to hack into their computer mainframe and create a thirty minute loop then feed that to the camera's so that the security guard will be watching the same footage over and over again. While that is going on, Kenny will knock out all the sensors and security systems so that us three and Daichi can get in. They have probably fixed the fence where we got out so we will have to bring some bolt cutters or something."

"Once we get in, we go totally commando!" Max said, taking over. "Kenny will be our eyes and ears! He's going to hack the camera's and watch the real footage while the guard is watching the reel. Kenny will tell us when to hide and when there is only one guard who we can fight! We can take the guards weapons then tie him up and leave him somewhere. Any way, we find Kai, Tyson and Hilary, break them out run like hell!"

Tala thought about the plan. "You're really relying heavily on the nerd. What if he screws up? If he messes up, we are finished. There are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of soldiers in that place. And there is only three of us, six including Kai, Hilary and Tyson. I would hate to be caught in hand to hand combat."

"I know." Ray said quietly. "It's risky but it's all we've got."

Tala was silent and ran the plan over in his head. After a minute or two he looked back up to Ray and Max. Alright then, lets do it."

Ray and Max smiled when they suddenly heard smashing glass from the other room. Tala was the first to react and ran out of the bathroom. He saw Mister Dickenson, Daichi and Kenny hiding behind the sofa and three other people there, dressed in black and had obviously burst in through the window. They were fully locked and loaded and instantly aimed their guns at Tala. The red-haired Russian swore and ducked back into the bathroom, pulling Max and Ray down.

"They're Boris's men," Tala said, "They are the S.A.D. squad."

"Sad?" Max asked.

"S.A.D. Search And Destroy." Tala said. "The three best trackers in Russia. I doubt they have radioed the abbey. They don't speak much and are cocky. They only radio back when they have destroyed their targets."

"So Boris doesn't know we're here?" Ray asked as bullets chipped the door frame.

"No." Tala replied. "Not yet at least."

Tala looked around the bathroom for something to use as a weapon. He found a few items that could help.

----

Hilary scratched at the concrete walls numbly. Her eyes had grown used to seeing nothing but her legs refused to hold her up any longer. She sat on the floor, unaware that her fingers were raw from rubbing the concrete for over an hour.

"Help me," She whispered hoarsly. "Some one, please? Help... I need help."

One of her fingers finally cut open and she stopped stroking the wall. Tears were flowing and constant from her eyes, yet unseen.

"Kai, where are you?" She whispered. "Please, please be alive Kai... Come and save me."

----

The three SAD soldiers stopped shooting and edged closer to the bathroom door, completely ignoring Mister Dickenson, Daichi and Kenny who still cowered behind the sofa. Tala suddenly burst out of the bathroom at an angle and ran at the closest soldier with a towel in one hand and something else in the other. Bullets instantly shot at him. He dodged quickly, praying not to be hit and as luck would have it he made it to the first soldier without being shot. The soldier stepped back in alarm. Tala quickly looped the towel skilfully around the soldiers wrist and kicked up at the hand, kicking the gun out of his hand. The soldier was about to strike Tala with his other hand when the teen twisted the towel tighter around the soldiers wrist and pulled it behind his back. Tala then released the towel and grabbed the soldier, wrapping one arm around his chest and shoulders, and pulling out the blade of a broken razor and holding it to the soldiers neck. Tala used the soldier as a shield and the other two stopped shooting. Tala scanned the room and saw the fallen gun not too far away. He looked back at the soldiers.

"One more move and this guy is dead."

"If he was careless enough to be captured by the enemy then he deserves death." One of the others said.

Tala felt his captive move and saw his hand going for a knife. Tala brought the razor blade straight across the soldiers neck, killing him. The other two soldiers raised their guns at Tala as he leapt away from the dead soldier. The teen grabbed the fallen gun and rolled onto his feet, firing the weapon at the other soldiers. He killed them both in two seconds. Tala panted a little then stood up, looking at the three dead bodies in front of him. Ray and Max stood in the bathroom doorway looking pale. Max looked like he was about to be sick. Tala looked at the rifle in his hands and shifted it into safety, completely nonchalant about the murders he'd just committed. Daichi was the first to burst out of hiding and look at the carnage before them. Mister Dickenson and Kenny shared a looked of fear and disgust, their faces greening a little.

"Sorry about the mess." Tala muttered. "Come on. Ray, Max, Daichi. We need to take all the weapons then dump these bodies some where. Dickenson. While we are doing that you need to wash that blood out of the carpet before it stains too much. Come on, don't stand around looking stupid. We need to move quickly before some one notices the smashed in window and comes up to investigate."

----

Kai and Tyson had stopped talking now and focussed upon staying warm. Tyson tried hard not to drift off to sleep but it prooved a harder task than he expected. His teeth chattered constantly and uncontrolably, just like the violent shivering that plagued his whole body. He managed to chance a glance over to his friend. Kai's eyes were closed, he was asleep. Tyson quickly grabbed his friends shoulders, ignoring the pain at the sudden movement. He shook Kai.

"K-Kai! W-wak-ke up!"

Kai snapped his eye's open with a jolt and remembered where he was. He looked at Tyson greatfully.

"Th-thanks."

Tyson smiled. Kai tried to control his chattering teeth and raised his chin a little.

"HAY!" He yelled as loud as he could. "SOME ONE GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

"W-what a-are y-you d-d-doing?" Tyson asked.

"G-getting us s-some p-place w-warmer." Kai muttered. "HAY! GET DOWN HERE N-NOW!"

The thudding of many boots moved along the dungeon floor towards the teenagers cell. Kai watched hoping to only see guards but to his great displeasure, Boris stopped in front of his cell, wrapped in a warm, thick snow coat.

"You must be psychic Kai," Boris said. "I was just coming down here to get the two of you."

"W-what f-for?" Tyson asked.

"Well I can't have you dying just yet." Boris said. "So due to circumstances down here you will both have to be moved into the above ground cells."

Two of the six soldiers opened the frosty barred door and headed over to the boys to undo their shackles. Kai and Tyson were too cold to attempt escape. They allowed the soldiers to unchain them then groaned in pain when pulled forcefully to their feet. Tyson gave a weak smile.

"H-hey K-Kai, at least w-we're going s-some where w-w-warmer n-now."

"I suggest you both rest up. Kai, I have decided to schedule your execution in five days."

"S-so long?" Kai asked. "C-careful Boris. F-five d-days is a long t-time. I c-c-coud esc-cape b-by then."

"I doubt it." Boris said with a smile. "I have made it so far away because one of my other little prisoners is in solitary confinement and I want to watch them squirm. No one you'd know, just some one who tried to go against my orders."

Kai had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, which was only made worse at the sight of Boris's evil smile.

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It's soo cold!!! I'm going to bed now!! damn winter!! i love it but then i also hate it. It's sooo cold, but still not cold enough to snow!! i guess thats what i get for living in the sub-tropics... and in Australia... OUTBACK GIRL! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
yeah.. i'm tired/delerious too... --'