Right, I'm sorry for my absence, I truly am. To make it up to you, it's going to be all go from now on. This is a result partly of my guilt (how long has it been since I last updated?) and partly because the new series of Torchwood has got me all revved up. Be glad that I diverted all my energy into writing this instead of lots of Gwen-bashing.

IMPORTANT! I tried some time ago to write this chapter and it just turned out crap. I felt that you all deserved a little more than crap so I revamped the story. Fast-forward a month-ish into the future and just go with the flow. My previous attempt wasn't going anywhere and I've been playing way too much Lara Croft.

I also apologise if Kai's starting to turn into a bit of a girl. It's just that he pales in comparison with Rei's greatness.

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Chapter 22 – London's Burning

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Kai clung with renewed vigour to his niche in the radio tower as a gust of wind threatened to dislodge him from his perch. He realised belatedly that he was securely attached to the tower via a cable strong enough to take twice his weight, but then he also remembered that Rei had attached him in the first place and he didn't really know if he trusted Rei or not. Every time the wind blew particularly strongly, his stomach said, very loudly, not.

But he must have trusted Rei at some point, to have ended up here. The view was spectacular, he supposed, the lights of London spread out like a rug beneath him and the crescent moon above. He supposed that the relative quiet wouldn't last long either. Sometime in the next minute, Rei would finish jamming the radio-waves and send the starting signal. Then, the mission would commence.

Tala was down there somewhere. He was the whole reason Kai was in this mess. Well, no he wasn't. He just liked to think it was. He knew for a fact that, thanks to the laptop balanced on his crossed legs, Tala was standing on top of the Houses of Parliament, waiting for the signal.

Kai wasn't entirely sure of what his job was. He knew that he was supposed to coordinate the attack from his vantage point should anything untoward happen, but he didn't really see how he was supposed to manage the entire task force with only an encrypted radio and a GPS system that white-ed out every minute or so.

Rei's voice crackled into his headset.

"Signal set. Igniting in four, three, two, one."

Something exploded far away. The fireworks mixed in with the explosives sent golden starbursts arcing into the sky, marking out the site.

Kai listened to the resulting minutes of comm chatter with no actual job to do. He wouldn't be needed until someone called his code. Until then, he watched as the oil-slicked river was set alight, an orange snake though the city, and tried not to fall off his perch.

"Eye In The Sky, this is Red-7, do you copy? Repeat, do you copy?"

Damn. His code. It could only last so long. He fumbled for his earpiece.

"I copy, Red-7."

"The Army is here. Repeat, the Army is here. They are organised. Their communications are not jammed. Over."

Shit.

"Rodger that, Red-7. Initiate Plan D. Over."

"Copy that. Over and Out."

Plan D – Bug Out And Torch Anything You Can On Your Way. His laptop screen was already showing the signs that the order had gone out. The flashing dots that showed each soldiers' positions were beginning to move outwards. Some would make for the docks and try to get a boat out. The rest would retreat into the countryside and find a different way. If they didn't arrive at the rendezvous point, a farmhouse outside Milan, in a month's time, they would be considered dead. With a jolt, he realised that meant him too.

But before he could even think about how he was going to get down from the tower, let alone all the way to Milan, a familiar voice crackled onto his headset.

"Kai? Kai, do you read me?"

"I read you, Tala," he replied, masking the enormous sense of relief he felt. "Problem?"

"Me? No. You? Yes. I can see the front line of riot shields and they're heading straight for you. Just wait there. I'll come and get you and then we'll get out of here together. Copy?"

"Copy that."

The radio descended into static after that, cutting off any attempts at contacting Tala again. Although he was very grateful to have Tala coming to get him, he couldn't help feel exposed and vulnerable. Trapped at the top of a radio tower above Leicester Square, he could see the Army moving closer, a ring of dull metal and smoking flares. They were ringing him in and if Tala didn't get there soon, they would overrun his position.

As if Fate had heard him, a rocket from the nearest tank screamed towards him and hit a building across the street. It burst into flame, showering Kai with sparks. Forget Tala, he had to move.

He shut the laptop and shoved it in his bag, unhooking himself from his seat on the radio tower. He knew his best bet would be to head for the docks. If he couldn't get a boat out, he could try for a plane out of City Airport.

He slid down from the tower using the leftover wire in an ungainly scramble and made it to street-level down the fire-escape. It was more dangerous down here, but he lacked the mechanic enhancement to run across the rooftops, for which he was now kicking himself. He ran down deserted streets, heading east, tuning his earpiece to the right frequency, hoping that the receiver was still alive.

"Red-4, come in, this is Eye In The Sky. Come in, Red-4. Over."

"I copy, Eye In The Sky. Over."

Thank God.

"I require extraction, Red-4. What's your position? Over."

"Position coordinates 44-83-10. Thames Barrier. Over."

The Thames Barrier. Perfect. Just metres away from City Airport.

"Can you hold your position until I get there? ETA impossible to pin down. Over."

"Affirmative, Eye In The Sky. Awaiting your arrival. Over and Out."

He wasn't quite sure how he'd get past the Army blockade, with only a vague idea where City Airport was, but the idea of Tala on his way was a slight comfort. Slight, however, because Kai knew that, even though he was cybernetically implanted, Tala wasn't up to much. Tala was designed to withstand shockwaves, falls off buildings and even nuclear war, but he wasn't built for athleticism like Rei. He knew that Tala wouldn't be able to pull off feats that Rei would find easy, like jumping over buildings whilst carrying Kai. He tried to put that thought out of his mind, but it was difficult when the sounds of gunfire drew closer with each minute.

He made it as far as Tower Bridge before he hit trouble. The Army were just streets away and crowds of screaming people were trying to cross the river over the bridge, which was starting to collapse. Glad that he didn't have to cross the burning river, he kept to the shadows and hoped that Tala would make contact soon.

He did. Kai's radio, almost submerged in static and garbled orders from the British Army and clearly on the end of its tether, came to life with a burst of white noise.

"Kai, where are you?" Tala sounded desperate and frightened, like he'd been calling for some time.

"I'm just past Tower Bridge," he replied, hiding in a doorway as a flash of light passed over him. The Army were closer than he thought. "Within sight of the river."

"Thank God. I thought you might be dead when I couldn't find you. Just stay there. Hide. I'm coming to get you, Kai. Just stay put. Everything's gonna be-"

There was the muffled sound of an explosion and another wave of static. Kai clutched the radio with a grip that was painfully tight.

"Tala? Tala!" Kai could hear things under the static: a voice through a megaphone, gunfire and heavy, ragged breathing. "Come in, Tala!"

Another explosion, more gunfire, more shouts, some screams, then white noise.

Kai held onto the radio with trembling fingers, trying to get a hold on himself. He had to get to City Airport. He had to get out of London and find a way to Milan. For Tala, he would.

After waiting for the sound of a helicopter's rotor blades to pass overhead, he left the sheltering doorway and ran down the street, his heart thumping in his chest. Pausing at a crossroads, he looked east and west and saw military forces on both sides. Both, he saw to his dismay, were backed up by tank regiments. The road to the north was still clear; maybe he could try and sneak around them. But going there meant that he had to cross the deserted road, right in front of the Army. They would shoot him for sure, but he had no choice. He'd just have to run for it.

He left his cover behind a telephone box and sprinted across the road, praying they wouldn't see him. Time seemed to slow down and the road seemed to lengthen before him. He couldn't breathe, his vision was clouding. He thought he might be drowning.

More than halfway across, his luck ran out. There was a crack of gunfire and the muffled whump of a mortar being fired. The mortar missed, but hit metres away and sent out a shockwave that knocked Kai off his feet. The gunfire didn't, and hit him in the shoulder. He felt bone shatter as he hit the tarmac.

At once, searchlights blinked at him from behind the military barricades, blinding him. It was over. His arm was broken and he couldn't run any more. He certainly couldn't make it to Italy.

"Stay where you are," commanded a voice from a loudspeaker. "Put your gun down and your hands where we can see them."

Kai didn't have a gun in his hand at the moment and he highly doubted whether he could raise his right hand.

"This is your last warning. Put your hands where we can see them."

Gunfire drowned out the end of the last statement. He was vaguely aware of panicked shouts from the surrounding soldiers and several smoke bombs going off around him, but he was on the verge of unconsciousness and he didn't really care. He wondered idly when they were going to shoot him.

Then, emerging through the smoke like a vengeful god, Rei appeared. In his pain-fogged stupor, he looked like something out of Kai's worst nightmares. His hair, a mane of jet black fire, and his eyes that shone brighter than the flames, brighter than the searchlights that flicked across the smoke, would have made a lesser man cower. Instead, Rei's face broke into a grin of relief as he saw Kai, then he gathered him up in his arms and jumped to the nearest rooftop before the smoke could clear.

"...Red-4...Thames Barrier..." Kai murmured, nearly passing out.

"I know," replied Rei, jumping over another roadblock. "I heard every word, but my microphone got smashed."

"Tala?" he whispered.

Rei either didn't hear him over the explosions and shouting, or he pretended not to. Kai clutched tighter and tried to stay conscious, but the way Rei leapt across the rooftops jarred his shoulder and the pain kept pulling him under. He didn't really remember much of the rest of the journey. He heard Rei contact Red-4 and order that the plane be ready to fly immediately, but it was muffled and distorted. If they ran into the Army again, he wasn't awake to see it.

He woke up in the seat of a commercial aeroplane, feeling slightly fogging with painkillers, his arm in a sling. Rei was sitting next to him, looking out of the window, not having noticed he was awake.

Rei really was beautiful, his traitorous mind supplied. He tried to squash those thoughts with feelings of guilt, anger and distrust, but to no avail. Rei had always been stunning. Tall and exotic, with eyes like suns, he'd had Kai's attention from day one. Now, he was exactly the kind of person Kai would go for, what with his hair unbound and the new, powerful way he held himself. Except that Rei didn't look very powerful at the moment. He was curled in the seat, taut as a bowstring.

Kai moved slightly and Rei's head whipped around at the almost indiscernible noise. He looked almost afraid. Kai just stared at him and could only whisper:

"Tala?"

Rei could only stare back, teeth gnawing at his bottom lip.

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I love all my reviewers because they are More Wonderful Than Doughnuts, Summer Afternoons And Frisbee All Put Together.