Chapter Text
He hadn’t known. He should have known.
Gripping the door-frame tight enough to turn knuckles white a shadow falls over Kai’s face.
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Two weeks. It had been two weeks until the official start of the Beyblade world tournament. The excitement could practically be tasted in the air and Kai was at his wits end trying to enforce some form of control over his ragtag team.
They’d been at the last stretch of their training; the BBA headquarters cooling system the only thing keeping the unbearable heat at bay, when the doors slammed open and a tiny figure stepped through.
Kai immediately recognized his former teammate. It had been a year since he last saw him, but Ian’s purple hair was as vivid as ever and his nose distinct on his currently scrunched up features.
“Where’s Mr. Dickinson?” He’d asked, eyes resting squarely over their shoulders. He wasn’t meeting anyone’s gaze; his frame strangely rigged and....... Kai should have known something was up. Should have recognized that pinched expression as worry, as barely disguised bravado.
He’d known Ian for so long. Had seen the kid cry and shake in horror and then seen him learn not to cry and shake in horror because the Abbey didn’t take kindly to weakness. He’d known Ian. No matter how flimsy his memories of him was. He’d known him.
He should have noticed.
Should have figured it out, but he hadn’t. And-----
“Right here my boy,” Mr. Dickinson had chirped, walking towards the teen with his ever so present kind smile and the familiar curiosity dancing in his eyes.
At this point the whole team had stopped practicing. Their attention squarely focused on their former enemy. Interested as to why he’d made the trek all the way to Japan. Kai was just about to snap at them to get back to work, when Ian reached into his back pocket and fished out a crumbled letter.
The BBA invitational letter for the world cup to be exact. The bright colors and the official insignia couldn’t have been mistaken for anything else.
At Mr. Dickinson’s curious gaze, Ian stepped forward, shoved the paper in the old man’s chest and stated loudly. “I’m here to inform you that the Blitzkrieg Boys are officially withdrawing from this year's world tournament.” His voice was steady, eyes narrow and shoulders hunched. He looked determined.
Kai should have known he looked scared too.
The kid hadn’t even waited for a reply, turning heel and briskly walking away; Mr. Dickinson left to flounder behind him.
“Are you sure my boy?” The old man called after him. “Where is Tala? Perhaps we ought to talk about this in my office?”
Ian doesn’t dignify the question with an answer.
Kai would be lying if he’d said the withdrawal didn’t take him of guard. Face blank but eyes widening just a fraction, he stood there and stared after the kid’s retreating back.
They were withdrawing? Tala was withdrawing?
Tala hadn’t told him.
They may not talk anymore; after he chose to stay with the Bladebreakers, but he at least assumed Tala would call him about something like this. If only to inform him albeit snidely that any victory Kai achieved in this tournament was directly due to them not participating.
But just as quickly as that thought comes, he shoves it away and slams the door shut behind it. What Tala did, what any of them did was none of his business anymore. Their actions weren’t his concern and withdrawing from a Beyblade tournament was hardly anything to write home about.
He should have known better.
But he hadn’t.
So when Tyson launches himself forward and grabs Ian by the arm, Kai walks back to the dish and gets himself ready to practice; barking at the others to stop playing around and get serious.
He ignores whatever explanation Ian choses to dignify Tyson with. Ignores the almost too quick to notice look Ian sends his way, ignores Mr. Dickinson’s futile attempt to make the kid stay, ignores how very stiff Ian is..... how very small.
He ignores everything, because..... he was here now wasn’t he? With the Bladebreakers. The Blitzkrieg Boys shouldn’t be his concern.
So what if they decided last minute that the world cup wasn’t worth their time.
So what if they didn’t deem it necessary to tell him.
It's been months. He hadn’t seen or spoken to them in months.
They didn’t owe each other anything.
So he ignores all the signs blaring at the back of his mind and grits his teeth.
3, 2, 1
“Let it rip!”
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He should have known better. Nothing was ever that simple with them. Nothing was ever easy. If the Blitzkrieg Boys withdrew from the tournament it had to have been for a very important reason and----
There he is. The very important reason.
Kai doesn’t step into the room. Instead choosing to linger just on the outside, unable to bring himself to do what he’d come here to do. Not yet. He... not yet.
Righteous anger had ruled him all the way to the tiny apartment in Moscow. He was frustrated, annoyed, angry.
Bryan had been missing.
More specifically, Bryan had been kidnapped.
According to Spencer, kids started going missing in a very similar patterns to how the Abbey used to operate, and it was Tala’s not so brilliant idea to put a stop to it. The whole scheme had had Abbey scientists written all over it, and Tala hadn’t liked that one bit. The Blitzkrieg Boys had been dismantling what’s left of the Abbey this entire time apparently, and it makes something deep within Kai burn with.... indignation, with disappointment. Because he hadn’t known.
To have been left out of the foolish decision all together. To be blissfully unaware as his former teammates risked their lives to make right what was done wrong.
He’d been in Japan. Leading a business enterprise and captaining his team, but he’d thought..... he’d only been a phone call away!
If Tala had swallowed his pride and called, he could have talked him out of it. It was just like the redhead to try and redeem himself by throwing himself headfirst into trouble. And of course the rest of the brigade would follow suit without an ounce of self-preservation between them.
Kai could have talked them out of it. Could have provided assistance. Could have done something, but Tala hadn’t asked and..... didn’t that speak volume of where they currently stood.
They didn’t trust him. They had no reason to. But----
He would have been fine with that. He didn’t much see himself wanting to rebuild burnt bridges either. But...... when things went too far. When they got in over their heads. When Bryan went missing..... why hadn’t they called him?
Did Tala really think he was so terrible that he wouldn’t even want to..... after everything. After all the chances the redhead had thrown his way..... Was he unwilling to trust him in the one moment it mattered most?
‘I could have done something, ’ he thinks, glaring at the very still figure of Bryan Kuznetsov. ‘They might have found you sooner if---’
“What are you doing here?” The words are soft, but the coldness laced within them is piercing. Tala doesn’t turn around to look at him, instead remaining seated by the bed, fingers idly playing with Bryan’s Beyblade; skimming over the surface before turning it around and examining the metal.
“Spencer called me.” Whatever anger he’s feeling, it doesn’t show. His face is as blank as ever and his emotions...... Kai had long since learned there was no place for them in situations like these. He needed a win here.
Whatever he may think of their foolishness, saying them out loud now would put an unnecessary halt to his current plans. He couldn’t afford that. Not when----
Bryan is so very still.
His face is even paler than usual. His often-messy lilac hair cropped short and.... the bandages around his left eye..... Bryan was missing his left eye.
The rest of his body was scarred and bloody and his breathing hitched every time he took in a lungful of air. Lips busted, face marred blue and green. Sunken cheeks and shaking limbs and.... and..... he looked so vulnerable even as a breathing mask covered half his face.
The Bryan Kuznetsov.
Bryan who cackled at the face of danger. Bryan who took beatings with a haunting grin and bloodthirsty glee. Bryan who knew death and murder and violence, but also friendship and loyalty and trust. Bryan who never came out of the other side of a fight not being victorious.
Bryan Kuznetsov.
Kai feels sick.
Because Bryan is so very still.
The Abbey had been a nightmare, he knew that. But from whatever fragmented memories of his time there he’d managed to put together, it never amounted to this. If Bryan had ever been this hurt before, Kai couldn’t remember.
Maybe that was a blessing, maybe it was a curse.
“-ai! Kai!”
His eyes snap back to meet piercing blue. Had Tala been speaking to him this entire time? By the look of the furrowed brows and pursed lips, apparently so.
“Yes?” he says, not missing a beat; ignoring that anything else might have been said in the span of time he’d been spiraling into the depths of the abyss.
If Tala had said something of importance, he could repeat himself. Kai wasn’t going to ask.
“I said what do you want.” Tala hisses. He tries to sound calm but his annoyance bleeds through and Kai quirks an eyebrow at that. Somethings never change.
“I have a proposal for you.” His eyes have already drifted back to the figure on the bed, no looking all that interested in meeting Tala’s gaze anymore. “Spencer told me that Bryan’s kidnappers, at least some of them; those you didn’t manage to brutally murder remains unsaid, are still out there. Former Abbey scientists, right?”
“Spencer has told you a lot of things it seems.”
“I guess someone has to,” he fires back, and if the slightest edge of bitterness coats his words, Tala doesn’t mention it.
A blanket of silence falls over them then. It’s almost comfortable, and Kai wouldn’t have minded leaving things there if he could.
But they both snap to attention when Bryan suddenly lets out a tiny whimper and shifts in his sleep, eyes clenched shuts and teeth’s gritting in obvious pain. Tala’s arm shoots up to stop him when Bryan nearly dislodges the morphine drip and he keeps the hand there; splayed across the other’s chest until Bryan eventually calms back down.
“Tala,” Kai says, keeping his voice low. “You can’t stay here.” His eyes are firmly focused on Bryan. Unable to tear his gaze away from the struggling rise and fall of the other’s chest. “You know that.”
Tala doesn’t answer him. Instead turning Falborg back to her master, gently folding the bandaged fingers around the blade.
“Tala.”
“I know Kai.” His former captain mutters. “We’re setting up a new safe house. We’ll be out of here in two days' time.”
Why was Tala being so fucking difficult.
“You can’t stay here in Moscow.”
Did he have to spell it out for him.
“I know.”
“Tala you---”
“Kai. No.”
Apparently not.
Tala’s back is rigged. His body is turned away from him, but Kai doesn’t have to see his face to know Tala’s eyes are narrowed and his lips pulled into a ferocious snare.
“With Bryan’s condition,” Kai starts up again; stubborn as ever. “And with--”
“We don’t need you,” Tala growls. The words cold, deadly, calculated. Kai doesn’t react. Only digs his fingernails into the door-frame till they throb with pain and takes a deep breath.
We don’t need you.
Tala always knew just what to say to make it hurt. He knew him too well. Just as Kai knew exactly what to do to make Tala comply. Years of shared pain had guaranteed that.
We don’t need you.
‘Well if you didn’t need me, why the hell is Bryan half dead,” he wants to hiss back. ‘Why are you hiding injuries, and why is Spencer reaching out to me!’
If you didn’t need me, why are you hurt?
He doesn’t say any of that. Instead biting his tongue till he tastes the metallic tang and keeps all those words to himself. Getting into a fight with Tala is exactly that the other wants. He’s looking for a reason, any reason to clam back up and kick him out.
And Bryan couldn’t afford that. None of them could.
So his tongue aches and his fingers throb, but he manages to somehow be the better man and keep his mouth shut.
Kai silently wishes Spencer was here. Silently wishes that he’d thought this thing through before he; upon hearing the news had taken the first flight to Moscow in pure rage and marched his way into the apartment building intending to drag them back with him by the ear. This wasn’t like him. He planned ahead. He thought things through. Maybe not to the extent of Tala but this, this was a rookie mistake.
All the plan he had left was a flimsy one he managed to cobble together at the front door.
Pathetic.
If Spencer was here.... the older Russian would at least be willing to listen to what he had to say before making a decision.
Still, Tala also had a chink in the armor he wore so fiercely, and Kai wasn’t above exploiting that.
“You might not need me,” he says, eyes resting on the rising and falling of Bryan’s chest. “But Bryan does. And right now he’s vulnerable here. No matter how well you think you can protect him, he is a liability and whomever took him are still after him. He’ll be safer in Japan. At least until he recovers.”
Tala tenses. Shoulders coming up to his ears and frustration coming off of him in waves.
He clearly doesn’t want to listen to him. Doesn’t want his so called‘charity,’ but Tala is also Tala and the redhead had very rarely put his own wants ahead of his team’s needs.
It’s who he is.
Kai may not remember much of the Abbey on his best days, but he remembers that.
There is nothing his former captain wouldn’t do for his team. No amount of violence and sacrifice he wouldn’t commit to keep them safe.
A natural born leader Boris had called him as he twisted his arm. Tala unwilling to allow himself to scream as his eyes firmly rested on the dead guard who he’d killed for laying a hand on of the younger boys.
Tala killed so Ian didn’t have to. He took the lashes so Kai wouldn’t get punished in his feverish state. Tala was a fighter, willing to charge ahead. Willing to do the right thing even when the Abbey had tried it’s very best to beat it out of him. Boris used the team against Tala because the team was Tala’s one weakness.
So Kai knew he would do the right thing now.
Even if Kai’s betrayal still stung.
Even if he didn’t trust him anymore.
This was no longer about beyblading. This wasn’t a game.
The Abbey may have made a killer out of them all; some more than others, but it had also made them a team. So Tala, no matter how much he hated him now, would do what was right.
For Bryan.
For the team.
So when the redhead sighs in obvious defeat, Kai feels a tiny flicker of satisfaction lick at his heart. He still knew him. Still knew him because somethings never changed.
“Bryan can’t fly.”
It’s framed as a question but Kai answers it nonetheless.
“You’re going to be picked up by a private jet. All the necessary medical equipment will be in there.”
“When?”
“The day after tomorrow at the latest. We can’t linger.”
Tala nods. It’s a jerky motion. Barely there. The redhead didn’t want to agree with him. “I will talk to them.”
Kai nods back, even if the other can’t see it. “See that you do,” he mutters and then turns around and walks away. Eyes firmly planted on the ground. The longer he looks at Bryan the more his gaze would draw to his face and he didn’t want to..... the busted lip, the fresh scar running down his nose and—the eye, he--
Swallowing thickly, he pauses, only a couple of steps away from the tiny bedroom. “How long?” he asks; the question loud enough that it pierces through the quiet comfort of the apartment.
For a second, there is nothing. And as the time ticks by, Kai wonders if Tala would even answer. But then---
“Six day, fourteen hours.” The words are emotionless, almost too quiet to hear and empty. Kai clenches his fists.
“Has he woken up yet?”
He’s still facing away from the room, still far enough down the hall to have to raise his voice, but Kai doesn’t want to go back. Doesn’t want to see Bryan. Whatever composure he has remaining may very well crumble if he does.
“No, not yet.”
Kai doesn’t linger after that. No word of farewell spoken as he exits the living room and walks out the front door.
He briefly wonders where Ian is, but quickly dismisses it. If the kid had gone missing Tala wouldn’t be wallowing in self-pity by Bryan’s bedside. No, he was fine. Probably with Spencer or something.
They were all fine. And they would all be safe as soon as they left Russia. Kai could make sure of that.
Stepping into the black car by the front gate, he indicates for the driver to head to his grandfather’s former estate.
There were few things he would have to take care of there now that he was here, but as soon as the Blitzkrieg Boys were ready, they would leave.
Tala had put his trust in him once more, and Kai wouldn’t let him down. Not this time. Not when lives were at stake. Not their lives.
If they all owed each other something, he had yet to pay his dues after all.