"Are you sure this is the right place?" The ever sweet ever innocent looking Max gazed around at the collection of seedy nightclubs and bars that made up the bad downtown area of Bakuten Tyson's hometown.

"Maxie, Maxie, Maxie! I know this is all new to you but Kai's in a self destructive state right now, this is where he will be." Tala shook his head "Look Kai's gonna be around here somewhere and we need to find him. If you aren't able to do this…."

"It's Kai" Max told him "I've seen him when he gets self destructive and I don't want him to hurt himself. Of course I can do this"

"Alright" Tala nodded feeling an odd sense of admiration for the way Max said this, he was beginning to gain new respect for the blonde. Max was grieving just as badly as the rest of them but he always managed to put that aside in order to help Kai "everyone take a bar text everyone if you find him, do not try to handle him on you own"

There were nods as the Blitzkrieg Boys and the old Blade Breaker teams all headed off into the different bars to look for Kai.

"Another one" Kai held out his glass waiting for the bartender to pour some more sake into it.

In this last week it had become a ritual for Kai at the end of a long day of sitting by the beach staring into the horizon to wind down in one of the worst bars in town where he was likely to find alcohol and usually a fight.

"Are you sure?" the bartender asked looking concerned, it wasn't unusual for people to come to this bar to get trashed but there was a sense of despair in the young mans eyes that worried even the most hard hearted of people.

Kai said nothing merely giving the man a look that was reminiscent of the ice sculpture Tala had created during his beybattle.

"Ok" getting the message the bartender poured him another shot of the rice wine

Kai knocked back the drink with remarkable ease smiling as he watched a couple of guys squaring off against each other. He could tell that this would soon turn into a free-for-all fight where pretty much everyone in the bar would join in and quite a few people ended up spending a night in the cells.

So far Tala had come down and bailed him out twice, Kai still had seventeen stitches running down his arm where a broken bottle had slashed into him. This last week he had suffered a broken nose, two black eyes and three broken fingers, the hospital had prescribed him four different types of pain killers and he hadn't taken any of them. The thing was he liked the pain, it was easier to bear than the numbing emptiness he felt within, the pain was good.

"So here you are" the voice beside Kai made him groan, the last thing he wanted right now was company.

Not even bothering to look at the newcomer Kai muttered "I thought that by being here no one would find me"

"Yeah well it's a small world" Tia took a seat beside Kai and nodded to the bartender "just a coke, I'm driving"

"And another for me, I'm paying for both" Kai handed over a bank note and was poured another drink "Keep the change. You'd better not tell anyone about this place"

Shaking her head Tia sighed "Kai if they need to find you…."

"Promise you won't tell" Kai looked at her his eyes so deeply troubled that Tia just didn't have the heart to refuse him

"Alright I promise, but if I need to find you again I'm coming back here and I'll bring Mariah with me, with her hormonal state she could kick your *** from here to next week."

"OK" Kai was unable to stop a smallsardonic chuckle from escaping as he nodded "Still you shouldn't be in this area, its dangerous"

"I knew you'd be around here, what with the guys always scouting your usual territory" Tia shrugged, she'd travelled to the next town to find Kai tonight "And as for it being a dangerous area I'll just depend on you to get me home safe"

"No one should depend on me, Hilary depended on me, look where that got her" normally Kai didn't talk about Hilary but in the alcoholic daze his wall dropped and he would talk

"You were in another country" Tia told him shaking her head "you couldn't have done anything"

"I shouldn't have left her. I shouldn't have left her knowing that she was still in danger" frowning angrily Kai clenched his hand around the glass wishing he could break it..., he couldn't the drink he had consumedwas beginning to weaken him numbing him physically as well as mentally.

"It had been weeks, we all thought that it was over"

"No" Kai shook his head downing his drink "I know my grandfather, I always knew he didn't give up that easily. I wish I was dead"

"I know how you feel" Tia agreed smiling as the barman finally handed her drink she took a small sip "Thank you. I just wish I'd been around her for longer, I lost so many years of being her friend"

"Why did you and Hilary lose contact for so long?" Kai asked interested, he knew Hillary well enough to know that she didn't give up on friendship easily.

"I had an abusive boyfriend" Tia told him shrugging "She told me he was bad news I didn't want to hear it and stopped all contact with her. She was right of course."

"She was always right" he muttered unhappily

"Yeah...,well almost always. HeyKai can I ask you a question and promise you won't be offended?"

"What's the question?"

"I don't know how to put it so I'll just come right out and ask. How often have you considered throwing yourself off something?"

"At least once every waking hour." he replied totally honestly

Tia nodded "Right! Should I be worried? I don't think Hilary… I just want to make sure…."

"I'm not going to do it." he told her taking a swig of drink

"Good, just wanted to be sure.I'm not that bad myself, but it is like a part of me's missing, even when I was away from Hilary just knowing she was out there somewhere made me feel good about myself. The idea she's not in the world anymore makes it such a scary place to be."

Kai nodded understandingly "There are only two things that are keeping me going right now."

"What are they?"

"That after the funeral I'm going after her killers and that at night…" Kai broke off taking another drink from his glass before holding it out to be refilled "at night she's in my dreams. She's with me every night and it is a comfort sometimes" the glass was filled and he threw down a twenty muttering 'just leave the bottle' the bartender took the money and left the bottle.

"Only sometimes?" Tia asked

Kai gave her a confused look "What?"

"You said the dreams were 'a comfort sometimes' why only sometimes?"

"If the dream was particularly real I wake up and for a second I forget, I forget that she's gone and when I remember that she is gone, and I won't ever see her again it hurts more than ever." Kai frowned angrily, what he didn't like to tell her was thatsometimes he woke up in a cold sweat unsure of what his dream had been. It made him feel weak and useless but most of all he missed waking up and not having Hilary there. True they weren't always together but he had grown accustomed to her warmth and company, he missed her so badly.

"I have to say something at her funeral" Tia told him changing the subject"I've got to write it, I don't know what to say"

"Don't look at me for help, we never even had a song." Kai frowned "I never knew that was important but according to her cousins all couples should have a song."

"Only couples in movies have songs these days" Tia told him "her cousins just don't know what music to play, I've helped them pick out loads"

"I guess the closest we have is..." Kai paused taking another sip of drink

"What?"

"Bruce Springsteen's born to run, it's the only song we sang together"

"Very romantic!" she snorted a little

"Very true of who we were at the time, we'd done a lot of running and we had a load more to come"

"What song would you say suits you now?"

"Linkin Park's Numb"

Tia laughed "I'll remember that"

"No" Kai shook his head "I guess that song No Air" he paused before taking a swig from the bottle of drink "The whole bit about losing you is like living in a world with no air. When I last spoke to Hilary she said she loved that song"

Behind them the fight Kai had been looking forward to started up, glancing over at his companion Kai shrugged picking up the bottle of sake "I guess I better get you out of here huh?"

"You can join in if you like" Tia gave him an understanding grin but Kai shook his head before standing up (a little unsteadily) and offering his hand to his companion, smiling at the chivalric action Tia took his hand allowed him to get her out of the bar.

Sitting in the hotel Mariah was waiting for Ray to get home, he had gone out as usual to make sure Kai got home ok and she didn't resent that in the least but she worried about him. She didn't like himgoing into dangerous bars where he could get into a fight. Lucky for her Tia, Millie and Max were staying in the same hotel and Tia would visit a lot usually bringing something with her to distract them all. This week it had been a really simple book all about the nine months of pregnancy, they had spent ages pouring over it and occasionally laughing at something that struck them as pointless. The first chapter had explained that being pregnant mean there was a new life growing inside of you... well duh!

Resting a hand on her stomach and contemplating the new life growing inside of her Mariah sighed, all this had seemed so much easier when Hilary had been there she had known all the medical details and found it easy to explain everything to her friends. A tear had dropped on her hand before she even realised she was crying, she had already decided that Hilary would be the closest thing to a godmother as her baby would get. Asides from Lee Hilary had been the closest thing Mariah had to family.

"Mariah?"

Looking up Mariah was surprised to see Ray standing by the door "you're home sooner than I thought you would be" she brushed away her tears and gave him a half-hearted smile.

"Tia called and said she'd found Kai and was driving him home, it's kind of annoying that she went out and found him so easily while we usually take a few hours"

"Should never send a man to do a woman's job"

Ray walked over to the sofa and sat next to her placing his arms around her shoulders and holding her close "Are you ok?"

"I just wish…" Mariah trailed off feeling stupid

"What do you wish?" Ray looked so concerned that Mariah decided to pour her heart out.

"I wish I felt like she's really gone. I know she's dead but something inside of me makes feel like she's still…" Mariah trailed off again shaking her head "I just don't totally believe that she's gone, I know that they released the post mortem results for us to see but... I was meditating the other day and Galux seemed to show me... It was like she was still alive, that's all"

"You just miss her, it's hard but we'll get through this" Ray told her comfortingly

"I just miss her" Mariah agreed nodding sadly "maybe that is it. I lost so much family recently and I thought Hilary would be there when the baby was born, she promised to help us find a home, she was going to help me decorate. She even wanted control over the baby shower. I can cope with my mum and dad not being there for all that, but Hilary… she was family in a way they never were."

"You still have Lee, and me" Ray told her "I know we're both guys but… but maybe we can help you through this"

"You do help, I just don't feel very secure without her, she was like a safety net. She was family"

"Marry me?" Ray asked

"What?" Mariah stared at him "Why…what, that's a big thing to just casually throw out there"

"It's not casual, Mariah I planned to ask you before I knew you were pregnant, I even have a ring….somewhere, when I found out about the baby I thought it would seem forced but I'm asking you now because I love you, and life is far to short to worry about how things appear. I love you, so will you marry me?"

"I love you too, and yes I will marry you but not till after the baby's born."

"What? Why afterwards?" Ray asked

"Because if we did it before my parents might forgive me"

"How's that a bad thing? I was kind of hoping we'd be a family, the Kon family!"

"The baby will still have your last name, don't worry about that, but I want my baby, our baby, to know that everyone around at it's birth loved it no matter what."

"I like that" Ray approved dropping a kiss on her pink hair "So we get married when you can fit into a nice dress?" he teased

"Well a girl wants to have her special day." Mariah smiled back kissing him on the lips.

It wasn't the most romantic moment of their lives but it afforded them both a little comfort in a time when it was sorely needed.

As Tia's car pulled up in front of the Dojo Tyson and Tala were standing waiting, they looked so like a pair of bouncers waiting at the door of a club that Tia had to laugh. She climbed out of the car and indicated the backseat where Kai had thrown himself in and concentrated on finishing his drink, he had passed out only a few minutes ago and she was glad she wouldn't be expected to carry him in.

"He's out cold" she told them with a shrug

"Where was he?"

"I'm not saying" Tia shook her head "I promised"

"Tia!" Tala hissed exasperated, then he pushed past her to open the car door. Lying on the back seat Kai hugged a sake bottle to his chest while snoring lightly.

"You both OK?" Tyson asked giving Tia a worried look, she no longer needed a stick to walk with but every now and then her leg would bother her and she would need to rest it.

"I'll be fine once I get back to the hotel" Tia told him with a smile before turning to make sure Tala didn't hit Kai's head as he got him out of the car, for once he had come home completely uninjured and she planned to keep it that way. Tyson walked forward to help pull Kai from the car and between the three of them they managed to drag Kai into his room.

They dumped him (Sake bottle and all) unceremoniously onto the bed, Kai didn't awaken from his stupor merely muttering 'a yellow kitchen' before rolling onto his side and snoring loudly.

As Tyson and Tala walked with Tia back to her car the girl stopped to ask

"What did he mean about a yellow kitchen?"

"I dunno" Tala replied quickly " back before all this happened while we were in his house in Russia he was talking about painting his kitchen yellow. God knows why!"

"I know why" Tyson muttered

"Oh yeah?" Tala asked sarcastically "and how would you know him better than me?"

"I never said that" Tyson spat back

"Guys there's no need to fight" Tia tried to placate them feeling awkward but Tyson shook his head

"It's not a case of knowing Kai, it was a case of knowing Hilary, when me and the guys were helping Hilary to redecorate the kitchen in her house, we painted it yellow because she said…. Because she said…." he sniffed "That kitchens should always be yellow….." he laughed darkly through his sadness shrugging slightly "Because that way they're bright and sunny in the morning no matter what the weather" he finally finished smiling "He was going to do that for Hilary"

"I get it" Tia said gently while Tala nodded

"I wish I had jumped in after her" Tyson said "I wanted to, I needed to, I was going to but Hiro wouldn't let me"

"No" Tala shook his head violently "Tyson you would both have drowned, there was nothing you could have done. You'd have died too"

"I'd prefer it that way"

"No Tyson" Tia moved forward instinctively placing an arm around him "don't ever say that, life is cruel and unfair but Hilary loved you and she would have wanted you to be happy, she would have want you to live life."

"Would have being the operative words" Tyson pulled away from the embrace "you guys don't get it it's my fault"

"It's not your fault Ty" Tia tried to say comfortingly but Tyson pulled away again and ran back into the dojo leaving a hurt and confused Tia standing watching.

"He gets like that whenever anyone says that"

"When someone says that its not his fault?" Tia asked confused

"No, the exact words have to be 'it's not your fault Ty' I don't know why but he hates to hear that sentence" Tala looked at the doorway Tyson had disappeared through "but he'll be OK, they both will."

"How's Kai doing really? I mean he's not working… his money situation must be…"

"He's pretty well off Tia" Tala reassured her "He's Hiwatari enterprises"

"Oh, so he's very well off" she laughed a little, strange she had never made that connection herself.

"Yeah, someone else is looking after the company for now, he knew he couldn't do it so he signed up for someone from within the company to look after things for him. It's the one thing he's being responsible about"

"Well I guess it's because other people depend on him for that"

Tala nodded in agreement "Well I'm gonna go in, sure you don't want to stay? I'm going to spend the night making sure Kai doesn't choke on his own vomit while he sleeps"

"You really know how to charm a girl but no… Hilary's mother asked Mariah to speak at the funeral but she can't do it so I'm up. I also have to meet with Hils' family early tomorrow I've then got to help her mother decide what outfit Hilary will wear in the coffin, it should have been done ages ago but her family couldn't bear to do it. Want to trade? I'll watch Kai you can do my stuff…."

"My job suddenly sounds very pleasant" Tala joked they both laughed a little but it didn't last long, feeling bad for her Tala moved forward placing a hand on Tia's shoulder "We'll all get through this you know, we just need to take it one step at a time!"

"One step at a time" Tia nodded "I just wish we could all step backwards instead of forwards" They stood for a bit longer in silence before Tia finally shook her head "I better get to bed."

"I guess I'll see you the day after tomorrow, at the you know….funeral"

"Yeah, by the way….after the you know…. funeral….you might want to watch Kai a bit more….um" Tia felt bad, she wanted to warn Tala that Kai might do something stupid but she didn't want to totally betray the heartbroken Kai.

Guessing that Kai had spoken of his vengeance plan as he so often did when he was drunk Tala grinned nodding "Don't worry I know what he plans to do, I'll keep an eye on him."

Tyson sat in his room feeling angry, everyone kept saying that it wasn't his fault but it was! He hadn't minded everyone being so kind at first because he expected something form Kai. He expected Kai to at least hit him…. But he hadn't.

Even when Tyson had told him everything Kai hadn't hurt him in the least.

Of course maybe now that Kai was drunk….when Kai was sober he was his usual cold calculating self but when he was drunk…

Tala hadn't come in yet, he was still outside talking to Tia so Tyson found it easy to sneak into Kai's room.

"Kai?" he hissed but there was no response from the prone figure "Kai!" he said it a little louder

"Get lost Tyson" Kai muttered without moving "I know what you want but I'm not going to hit ya."

"Why not?" Tyson asked seriously "It's my fault, why won't someone let me take the blame?"

Groaning Kai sat up and stared at his long time rival "Tyson we all know that if you could go back and save her you would. I am also guessing that the reason you get so pissed off when someone says 'it's not your fault Ty' is because that's exactly what she said to you."

There was silence and after a few moments Tyson nodded "Those were her exact words, she was hanging by her fingertips, she was about to fall to her... and she told me it wasn't my fault….. how did you guess?"

"Because she always put other people first, even when she was dying Hilary would have thought of you and your feelings. Do you remember the robbery?"

"The one just before we left for the tournament?"

"Yeah that one."

"Yeah, I remember what about it?"

"I was fighting someone they were on top of me with a knife and Hilary hit him with a lamp and her first words were 'is he dead?' she was terrified that she had hurt him. Never mind the guy had a fucking knife at my throat. She was worried she had hurt him "

"Typical Hilary"

"Yeah, now **** off and let me sleep, and don't ever try to make me hit you again, one day I may lose it and hurt you and I could really hurt you."

"I'll keep that in mind"

"It's too late for this, what's going on?" Brady had once again been escorted to his Fathers presence, he had arrived to discover his father trying on a black suit.

"Brady. Finally" signalling for the security guard to leave them Horatio indicated a chair for Brady "Please sit down"

"I'm good standing"

"Very well, I have news for you"

"What?" Brady asked not really caring what his father had to say, he looked away from the man wishing he could be somewhere, anywhere else.

Horatio stared at his son for a little while knowing almost exactly what he was thinking "Brady would you listen? Tomorrow we put the plan into action"

Brady's head snapped up "Tomorrow? Jeeze you haven't even buried her properly"

"She isn't going to be buried, they intend to cremate her, the funeral is Thursday" Horatio said with an air of finality " and she will be cremated tomorrow" he then turned back to the mirror

Confused the scientist stared at his father "Tomorrow? It's Tuesday night..., you just said that the funeral isn't until Thursday"

"She will be cremated tomorrow" he repeated

"You can't even let them do this their own way can you? This funeral must be on your terms not theirs!"

Regarding himself in the mirror Horatio ignored his son "I think this must have shrunk a little, it's very tight around the shoulders"

"You just don't care do you?" Brady looked at the man ahead of him "I thought you had sunk to the lowest of the low in my estimation but now I see there are new depths to which you can lower yourself"

"I do not need a lecture from you"

"Well tough you're gonna get it, you killed an innocent girl, your own flesh and blood and you don't give a damn. You are putting your entire family through hell not to mention what this must be doing to everyone else that cared about her and for what? This was all to create the perfect blader, do you realise how pathetic that is? And now you won't even let them organise the funeral their own way, they need to grieve it's easy for you, you aren't grieving but they are. How can you be so cold?"

Now would be the perfect moment for Brady to turn and storm out of the room unfortunately if he tried to leave the room before his father called the security guards to take him away he would be escorted straight back in.

"She must be cremated" Horatio responded, "if not…."

"If not they could find out what you've done, forgive me but I'm not on your side with this one." Brady looked his father up and down before saying spitefully "And the suit hasn't shrunk, you've gained weight!"

Kai woke up groaning, he rolled for a second restlessly in his bed before sitting up and rubbing his eyes. The curtains were closed but there was a narrow opening between the curtains were a shaft of light seemed to blind him, after a few moments of doing nothing Kai pulled himself off the bed and stood on his feet trying to get his bearings. He was back in his room at Tyson's, he had no idea how he had gotten here but he vaguely remembered Tia arriving at the bar and getting into the back of her car.

"Kai?" there was a knock at the door

As evenly as possible he yelled out "Just a second Tala" immediately Kai regretted the yelling as the sound and effort it took to yell made the pain around his temples tighten up and intensify.

Swallowing down a couple of pills Kai schooled his face into an expression of cold indifference, he opened the door and stared at the redhead on the other side "What?"

"Good morning to you too!" Tala held out a plate, on it sat a plain slice of wholemeal toast, in his other hand was a cup of tea

"Nothing thanks, I'm not hungry"

"You will eat and drink this or I will force it down your throat."

Kai raised an eyebrow

"Spencer, Bryan and Hiro have offered to help. If things get really bad Tia suggests I call Mariah, apparently she's hormonal and in need of kicking…."

"Kicking someone *** from here to next week?" Kai finished remembering what he had been told last night

"So I've heard" the redhead gave a small smile and held the plate and cup out a bit more "Kai you need to eat"

Looking down at the small and very plain breakfast he shrugged "might as well" he picked up the slice of toast from the plate and took the cup, then turning back into his room he kicked the door shut and sat down to eat.

Once he had finished eating Kai couldn't help but admit that he felt a little better, he got washed and dressed deciding that he needed to get out. He had arranged to meet Renaldo today and he couldn't afford to be late, After all he was depending on Renaldo to help him track down his grandfather and to keep tabs on Hilary's. Horatio Tatibana was bound to be at the funeral but Kai had promised himself for Hilary's sake that he wouldn't ruin her funeral. It was all he could do for her now.

Her funeral, a part of him still felt numb whenever he thought that.

He picked up his cell phone and dialled a number, he waited a few moments following the instructions on the other end and then waited

"Hi Kai" her voice sounded so close, so happy "I'm just calling to tell you that Tyson's changed the venue for today's training. I know I know he's annoying, and actually the only reason he's changed it is so he can get free food. Anyway we're gonna be at the BBA so if you could meet us there that'd be great! Bye….. Love you!"

As soon as the message was finished he saved it again,

"Love you too" he whispered gently, then shoving his phone back into his pocket he left to meet Renaldo.

author's note:-

Welcome to the sequel to 'things are changing' if you haven't read it yet you will need to in order to understand this one! This is the sad and a little depressing first chapter, it will get a little more cheerful eventually but this will be a bit of a darker story.

so if you are new go check out season one

things are changing!!

Stony faced and silent Renaldo stood at the docks staring out at the water it was a rough day and any normal person would be inside in the warm right now. He was not looking forward to seeing his next appointment or the other friends he had in this town. He had been due to arrive weeks ago but had been unable to make it because of a work problem, now he wished he had just come to Japan when he was supposed to. That way he could have seen his friends happy, he would have seen Hilary with her constantly happy and welcoming smile. Two weeks, she had been dead for over two weeks now, maybe if he had been here he could have done something..

Pressing the heel of his hand against his forehead Kai groaned, hangover's were the worst! Looking up he saw the man he was looking for, he could only see his back as the man stared out at the water but who else would be hanging around here at this time and on such a cold gloomy morning.

"Travis?"

"Hiwatari" recognising the voice Renaldo turned, seeing his friend he was shocked by the state Kai was in. When he had last seen him Kai was only just recovering from a life threatening illness but still he would have described him as having been in peak physical condition. Now the Russian's pale skin was sallow as though he spent all his time in doors, his hair was a mess, not that Kai ever spent a lot of time on his hair but somehow even his two toned mane was looking depressed. It was extremely windy and cold but Kai wore no coat preferring to allow his skin go almost blue. There were bruises around the grey eyes his left arm had a long and painful looking scar with stitches. "You look like hell"

"Well that's where I've been spending my time lately" Kai gave his friend a half hearted smile and received an equally weak smile from Renaldo.

"Kai I'm so…."

"Don't" Kai shook his head "if you want to help you know what I want"

"Kai I don't want to be responsible for your death" Renaldo told him sadly "is there no other way of…."

"You want her killers to get away with what they've done?"

"No but Kai…."

"Don't" Kai commanded again, he went forward walking to stand at Renaldo's side "instead look down, look into the water"

Doing as his friend asked Renaldo stared down, it was a rough day today and the dock was drenched with water, as he looked down onto the waves below him he wondered what point Kai was trying to make.

"See what that's like?"

"Yeah" Renaldo nodded

"The cliff top where Hilary fell the waves below it were just like this, there were rocks but she didn't get knocked out on her fall, they say she was awake struggling against the currents and fighting against the waves before she drowned. It says that from her bruises it looks like someone held her down, the police think she and Lando fought in the water, that he held her under until she stopped moving. She was awake and she was being attacked when she drowned, she would have felt that last bit of control go, you know the bit? Where you've been holding your breath for a long time and you know that if you don't breathe soon that's it, your lungs feel pressured and painful. She'd have felt that and she'd have died desperately struggling to get to the surface to breathe."

There was a long silence, Renaldo realised that what he was thinking now was probably what Kai thought about all day. He also realised that until his friend got some sort of vengeance he would never move on at all.

Kai watched Renaldo closely before simply stating "Now tell me that I should let this go."

For a few minutes the two of them stood there staring down at the water, finally Renaldo nodded "I can got you the gun for free but the rest of it….it's expensive and I lost of money helping you guys out…." before he could sat anymore a wad of cash appeared in his line of vision.

"When you want more I'll get it to you, I'll give you cash nothing else and none of this will get traced to you. I promise"

"I trust you" Renaldo took the money and shoved it into his pocket

"I'll need the gun Friday"

"Kai that's quick, if we want a gun that can't be traced to either of us…"

"Just you…I don't care if it can be traced to me. As long as I do what I need to before it can be traced to me."

"Yeah well about that….Voltaire's still missing, we got no lead on him."

"You're coming to the funeral right?"

"Right" Renaldo nodded, he hadn't been sure before, the last thing he wanted was to see Horatio but that didn't matter now. Not really.

"Horatio Tatibana will be there, he will lead you to Voltaire"

"I'll do what I can. Kai…. I am so sorry she's gone"

"Not as sorry as they're going to be." and with that Kai turned and walked away.

Renaldo didn't move for a few moments, he was waiting for Kai to get away before he turned around. Once he was sure his friend was a safe distance away he turned and regarded him with a critical eye, Kai was thinner than he had ever remembered seeing him before and he had never been a bulky type. The muscles on Kai's arms weren't as tight as they once were and he was walking with a slightly stooped posture. It didn't look good.

Right now the only thing keeping Kai going was determination and vengeance. Once his need for revenge was satiated Renaldo wondered how long the determination would last, Kai was on a path that eventually would lead to his destruction and Renaldo was helping him along the way.

Abigail Tatibana stood with Theodora Davis in the upstairs hallway of her house, in front of them was the doorway to Hilary's bedroom.

"I can't do this Tia" Hilary's mother whispered "I keep trying to go in there but I just can't"

Against all her better judgment Tia gave the woman's arm a squeeze and whispered "Do you want me to do it?"

"Could you?" eyes filling with tears Abi moved away from the door "I just can't"

Tia watched as the mother of her oldest and best friend fled down the stairs, reaching out Tia tried to place her hand on the door handle but just couldn't bring herself to do it. She stood there one arm outstretched, she inched forward forcing her hand closer and closer until it rested on the handle.

Alright! One hand now resting lightly on the handle all she had to do was get up the courage to open the door.

"Now you turn it" a helpful voice behind her recommended

"Millie!" Grateful to have someone else there Tia turned and hugged her cousin "What are you doing here?"

"Mariah told me about what you had to do, Hilary's mum let me in" Millie took her cousins hand on the handle again "you can do this. It's just a room."

"I know, but it was hers." Having her cousin beside her Tia finally felt strong enough to slowly open the door and walk in.

It was the smell that hit her first, that smell a person has, it's not always a specific scent but a mix of odours that somehow becomes associated with the person. Inside Hilary's room it still smelt of her, that mix of spray on deodorants, moisturisers, the lavender pouch's she kept in her clothes drawers. Tia could feel the tears come to her eyes, she looked around at the room, it was exactly as she remembered it, the floor was tidy, the bed was made but on the desk was an unusually untidy clutter of stuff. As she looked at the mess on the desk she remembered the night Hilary had gone to Tyson's they hadn't been able to find her keys. Tia had made the point that Hilary could just knock when she got back but Hilary had been insistent that she ought to find her keys as Tia might decide to have an early night.

The keys had predictably been at the bottom of Hilary's bag all along and after emptying out the bus tickets, small change, tampons, make up. hair accessories, and for some reason a pair of striped socks Hilary had grinned sheepishly and leaving the mess on her desk to be sorted out later ran out the house yelling goodbye to her friend. For Tia it was such a trivial but important memory, the last time she had seen Hilary.

"Lets find that outfit" Millie interrupted her cousins reverie and guided her to the closet, they opened it and Tia grinned. Coats and jumpers were at one end followed by trousers, then skirts, then shirts and finally dresses. "Well that makes things easier" Millie remarked thinking of her own messy wardrobe where most of the stuff hung half off the hangers.

"She always was too tidy for her own good."

"Have you any idea what she'd want to wear?"

"Yeah actually" Tia reached in and pulled out a blue and white halter neck dress, "she was going to wear this for when Kai came back. He had promised to take her somewhere special and she went and brought this. She only wore it once and that was to show it to me. She looked beautiful."

"Nothing else, no coat or…?"

"No" Tia shook her head "she'll wear this. Mariah agreed that it would look good"

"How is Mariah? She was a little distracted today I know that with the funeral approaching she's going to be upset but… I don't know. She was acting odd."

"She's ok, she said something weird the other day though…. honestly bit beasts are more trouble than their worth" Tia scrunched up her face as she packed the dress into a protective covering

"What did she say?" Millie asked curiously, whatever Mariah had said was obviously bothering both of the girls.

"She said that she didn't feel Hilary was really dead, she said…" Tia shrugged it off "it doesn't matter. I even saw the body in the chapel of rest, that was Hilary no question…, it's not a big deal, once the funeral is over she'll realise everything's real. And lets face it there's no way Kai or I or anyone else for that matter could have mistaken that body. It just doesn't seem real to Mariah yet."

"What else did she say though?" Millie felt bad as she pushed her cousin for answers but obviously Tia was bothered by what had been said and Millie had had an odd feeling about everything for some time. "What did you mean about bit beasts?"

Frowning the taller blonde turned to the smaller girl and whispered "she said that Galux showed her something weird while meditating, she showed her that Hilary was alive, I don't know cause I've never had a bit beast but… just for a second I hoped she was right even though I know she can't be"

Nodding Millie watched as her cousin picked up the covered dress and left the room, she then turned to survey the room carefully. Pulling out her Beyblade she looked down at the bit chip, 'well Tara got anything to say?', there was no reply so Millie shoved her blade back into her pocket. She missed, the Beyblade fell to the floor and rolled under the bed.

Groaning Millie dropped to her knees and felt around for the missing blade, as she was doing so she pulled out a large black book, she recognised it instantly as Brady's journal, opening it up she found the letter Ianto had written shoved into the front. She scanned it carefully stopping as she read a certain paragraph

You see my wife didn't have an accident or kill herself, Grandfather arranged it,

he knew what it would do to a junkie like me. He is a cruel and heartless man,

you do well to escape from his net, never go back to him no matter how bad

things get.

I am sending you all this because Brady told me something that caused me to

believe that you're in danger.

Ianto had believed Hilary to be in danger…. But what from?

And he said in danger but he didn't specify what type of danger. Why didn't he just say Grandfather wants you dead?

And if Horatio Tatibana could arrange for someone to die and make it look like an accident or suicide how come he messed up this time?

As she pondered this she heard Tia calling her from downstairs, yelling back a response she shoved the heavy journal into her bag and ran down to join her cousin.

It's odd that you can live in a town all you life and remain oblivious to the location of a large amount of places. Tyson had never once been to the crematorium, but he knew there was one, he drove through the streets carefully. Just over an hour ago he had received an agonised phone call from Tia begging him to get to the crematorium quickly. He was driving dangerously half staring at the map on the seat next to him as he tried to negotiate traffic. It was a good thing the streets around here were always so quiet.

Finally looking up Tyson discovered a sign and following the directions posted by the road he arrived at a small building with a large car park. He got out of the car and walked hesitatingly up to the front door, he was just a few yards away when the door opened and Tia came bursting out, tears were cascading down her cheeks and her face was red from crying

"Oh my god" Tyson ran forward and opened his arms allowing her to run into them "what's happened?" for a little while he got no response from the girl but eventually calming down a little Tia pulled away sniffing.

"It already happened" the blonde whispered tragically

"What? What already happened?" Tyson was confused, he stared at her, it had to be something bad for her to lose it like this.

"The cremation, they say there was a mix up! She's gone" Tia wailed "she's gone, they already cremated her."

Tyson was shocked as he heard this, he gently stroked the girls hair hoping to calm her down. He looked at the doorway to see Millie stood there, he raised an eyebrow questioningly and Millie nodded. In his mind Tyson swore violently but he quickly turned his attention back onto the girl in his arms and he fumbled in his pocket for a packet of tissues. Just recently Tyson had been making sure that he always had a packet of tissues on him.

Watching her cousin cry Millie began to feel angry, how could anyone be so foolish as to make a mistake like that? Sure the Tatibana's were talking about suing but that didn't seem enough somehow. Millie wanted answers. There were a lot of things that didn't make sense about everything that had happened recently. She walked back inside to allow her cousin time to cry and found herself alone in front hall. Obviously Hilary's parents had been taken to one side in order to discuss this all rationally.

Pulling out her blackberry Millie opened up her e-mail and began writing.

"Hey you!" Millie turned, behind her stood a tall man with greying hair and ruby eyes, he was dressed in a black suit and looked very like an old version of Hilary's father.

"I beg your pardon?" Mille asked cocking her head to one side and studying the man

"Look I don't have time for this, are the Tatibana's here?"

"Yes…"

"And…?"

"And what sir?"

"Look you don't have to bullshit me, did you manage to get the body cremated before they got here?"

Millie felt speechless, she had never seen Hilary's grandfather and he had never seen her, was this him? She looked down at herself for a moment and realised that her smart black heels, black skirt and crisp white shirt had led this man to assume that she worked here. The fact that she had been using her blackberry had probably been the clincher "Yes sir, the body has been cremated"

"And no one saw it?"

"No" she shook her head "you'll be Horatio Tatibana?"

"That's me"

Making a wild guess Millie smiled saying "I assume you're dropping off what was agreed?"

"Of course" the man handed over an envelope and then looked around "where are the Tatibana's?"

"They have been taken away to have everything explained, if you would just wait here?" she indicated a seat suddenly aware of the dangerous game she was playing, this man could kill her if he wanted to. "I'll go get them"

"No you idiot they can't know I was here" he turned snarling insultingly as he rushed off making his way out of the balancing and away.

After watching him go Millie stood and after deeming her situation safe enough she looked into the envelope, inside was a form of some sort and a large cheque made out to the crematorium from an I. Batat. She was just resealing the envelope when she found herself face to face with the actual receptionist, like her the receptionist was blonde with very long hair, she even wore a similar outfit.

"Hi" Millie gave her a smile "great shoes"

"Oh thank you" the receptionist gave a giggle

'Oh yeah' Millie thought to herself 'Dumb blonde' maybe she could get away with this "Look Mr Horatio Tatibana arrived"

"Oh no! I wasn't there to meet him, I'm so fired!"

"No, I totally covered for you, he wants this to go to your boss and he wants to see the Tatibana's"

"Oh thank you so much" she smiled thankfully making Millie feel momentarily guilty, then Millie reminded herself why she was doing this. She needed answers!

"Our little secret" Millie gave her a grin, she left quickly after that running from the building to talk to her cousin.

Tyson and Tia still stood there but Tia looked a little calmer now, obviously they hadn't noticed Horatio Tatibana sweeping in and out of the building, Tyson was talking about going in and having a go at the crematorium people as well but Tia was shaking her head hopelessly.

Arriving with the grief-stricken couple Millie got their attention, she opened her mouth to tell them what had just happened when she realised that right now the last thing Hilary's friends needed was more mystery. She closed her mouth again deciding that she couldn't tell them what had just happened, not yet anyway.

"Are you ok?" Tyson asked

"Actually I'm not feeling too well" Millie told them, "it's all this crematorium stuff it's kinda creeping me out. Can we go home? I know you might want to stick around Tia"

"No" Tia shook her head "I'd prefer to get going I'll tell them we're heading home"

"Yeah thanks" Millie gave a slight smile but she was very uncomfortable. She waited with Tyson but didn't say anything about what had happened, she wasn't sure if she had done the right thing and she was even less sure as to her reasons for doing it. The only thing she was sure of was that something odd was going on and she was going to find out what it was.

"Your son Martin is here to see you"

The voice crackled a little over the intercom and Horatio leant forward pressing a button saying curtly "Send him in" Horatio sat back in his chair carefully schooling his features into a believable look of sympathy and grief.

Waiting patiently in his office Horatio wondered how his son would have reacted to the 'accidental' early cremation, he had been annoyed to discover that the Tatibana's weren't the only ones here. Outside he had recognised Tia and Tyson immediately but he wasn't sure how much they knew about him and what Hilary had been up to. Luckily enough they had been too busy talking to even notice him, still he did wonder how much they actually knew. He knew that Tia had been hurt in the chase but he didn't know how much she knew about why the chase had happened.

Finally his son came bursting through the doors looking pale but his eyes flashed with anger.

"Martin, what's happened?" he asked feigning surprise

"There was some sort of mix up and she was cremated just a few hours ago" Martin flung himself into a chair, his eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, he was paler than ever before and the dark circles under his arms honestly proclaimed that he hadn't slept properly since all this started.

"Oh my god" Horatio looked suitably shocked "well what have you said to them? Do you want me to do anything, is there anything I can do?"

"No" he shook his head sorrowfully "there's nothing that can be done, we're still having the funeral there tomorrow but the cremation has already happened. Abi was very upset but we'll both be alright."

"Of course" Horatio nodded trying to look understanding, "You don't look like you've been sleeping well, are you?"

"I'm not" Martin shook his head angrily "It's so stupid, when she was alive I never really knew what she was up to, she got kidnapped more times than a Bond girl, she was involved with so many near death experiences I was beginning to wonder if she had nine lives and somehow… for some reason I never really worried. It's only now that I've lost her that I'm losing any sleep over her. I should have been there for her more, I should have insisted that either Abi or myself took time off or stayed in the country" as Martin said this last bit he buried his head in his hands and sighed.

"You can't blame yourself"

"Who else is there?"

"Well…." there was a long pause as both men thought about everything that had happened.

"Mr Tatibana?" the intercom interrupted them and both men instinctively jumped up and pressed the button and answered.

"Yes?" they smiled at each other, this wasn't the first time they had done this.

"Mr Horatio Tatibana." the amused secretary put extra emphasis on the first name "There is a Mr Voltaire Hiwatari, on the line for you"

"Thank you" Horatio picked up the phone and said pleasantly "Just a moment Voltaire" he then turned back to his son "I'm sorry do you mind if I take this? Or was there more you wanted to say?"

"Father I thought you had cut off all communication with that man"

Martin was disapproving in the extreme but Horatio smiled a little pathetically replying "My dear son, he is my oldest friend and when he heard of our loss he got in touch."

"I see" Martin's tone was still very stern and it was obvious that he didn't support the friendship.

"Hilary is gone now, it's not like he can hurt her anymore is it?"

"But you forgive him for what he did to Brady?" he didn't bother to keep the hatred from his eyes now "And how do you know he had nothing to do with Hilary's death?"

"If you remember correctly he needed her alive, he would never have put her in a position where she would get hurt."

Horatio was calm as he answered his son… too calm by Martins standards. "Father…..?"

"Yes?" Horatio seemingly un-phased by the dirty looks he had gotten merely smiled at his son

For a split second Martin wondered how he could ask his father the questions running through his mind. He knew that his father was not the good and benevolent man he was often thought to be, he had found that out long ago but….

"It's nothing dad" Martin shrugged.

What had he been going to ask anyway? 'Hey dad did you and your friend do any more of your crazy experiments recently?' yeah that would go down well, how about 'Dad did you hurt Hilary before she died?'

No, as much as it pained him to do so Martin knew that for his own and his remaining family's safety he would have to let the subject drop. Asides from anything else he needed his family around him, supporting him and after all what could his father or his fathers distinctly devious friend do to Hilary now?

"I better get back to Abi"

Martin left the room still oozing disapproval and as soon as he was gone Horatio lifted the phone to his ear "Voltaire I told you not to call me at work" he tried to sound casual but inside he was seething, right now while he was still in Japan one wrong move could result in all his plans failing.

"We had a problem with my little houseguest."

Horatio sat up straight, that interested him "What kind of problem?" he asked suspiciously

"She managed to blow the electricity, everything went down she would have gotten away if not for the dogs."

Dogs? That didn't sound good. "Injuries?" Horatio questioned cautiously.

"A few minor scratches nothing major, she managed to climb up out of the way of the dogs but it meant she was trapped. We'll have to keep her restrained fully now"

Horatio sighed before nodding assent, then realising he couldn't be seen he hissed "Alright but try to do your job properly this time. Do not let her escape." He hung up the phone slamming it down angrily. He was keeping his end of the deal damn it! Why couldn't his friend keep his?

Sitting in the dark that night Millie was at her computer looking up the name Ian Batat, she found nothing about him in connection to any anything in the Tatibana Inc files. She was frustrated, it was three in the morning and she had to get to a funeral in seven hours, just recently she had become used to getting a full eight hours of sleep a night and her body was no longer used to staying up this late. Rubbing her eyes she wondered if she should give up and then it happened, she was studying the personnel files and found something. She had wondered who I. Batat could be and all sorts of names had occurred to her but there he was Ian Batat, curious she opened the file, Ian was on a wage of £35,000 a year, he was a diabetic-type 2, he had taken a three week holiday every year of his employment and had been employed there for twelve years. There was unfortunately no mention on anything else really, it was a standard employee file.

Wondering if she was just clutching at straws Millie tapped her fingers on he desk, she browsed the file again but annoyed when she got no further help she printed off the information. And carefully exited the page making sure to close the door behind her so no one would ever know she had been there.

Studying the paper Millie began to doodle, she drew pound and dollar signs by the annual salary information, she drew a beach scene where it talked about holidays and holiday pay flowers next to the information about sick days, she was just wondering what to draw near the personal information when she paused.

Going back to the sick days she read it carefully, this man was an employee with all the history, he took his holiday, he even had a medical problem that the company was helping him pay for if he needed insurance but…. He had never taken a sick day. Twelve years of employment and this person had never taken a sick day. Of course he could be the perfect employee….?

This led her to whisper the very simple but important question "Did Ian even exist?"

"Who's Ian?" Millie jumped as the arms went around her neck and the question was asked

"Max!" she exhaled sharply "you frightened me"

"Sorry, I woke up and you weren't there" he kissed her cheek "so… who's Ian and why doesn't he exist?"

"That was a private conversation between me and me! And it's nothing just a bit of research for something."

"Something's wrong" Max studied his girlfriends face "why are you up so late?"

"I just… needed a distraction, I hate funerals and what with all this stuff at the crematorium today" Millie hated lying to her boyfriend but she wasn't sure what she hated most, the fact that she was lying to him or the fact that he believed her so easily.

Max nodded "Tia says you're worried about meeting Hilary's grandfather after all you heard about him, are going to be ok with that? Are you still ok to come?"

"Of course I'm still OK to come! I'm fine." Millie reassured him "Besides I'm not there for him, I'm there for you."

"Thank you, I love you so much" his bright blue eyes sparkled as he told her this and Millie couldn't help but smile

"I love you too, go back to bed I'll be there in a moment. I'll put Ian Batat to bed and then I'll come" Millie shrugged deciding that she was just trying to find an explanation where there wasn't one.

"Ian Batat, unusual name, spelt b-a-t-a-t right?" he asked Millie nodded "Huh" Max shrugged "his name's an anagram of Tatibana" he dropped another kiss on her head and headed off to bed. "don't stay up too late"

Millie stared down at the letters on the page and was shocked, Max was right. The name Ian Batat could be rearranged to Tatibana. How had she not noticed that?

Because you weren't looking for it, her mind told her, Max is a word search and scrabble freak, he see's patterns in letters you don't. Happy that the problem was a little bit closer to being solved and that there definitely something to be looked at as far as Ian was concerned Millie placed the papers into her laptop bag and put away her computer.

The richer ancient Egyptians would be buried in a sarcophagus, the sarcophagus would be incredibly ornate and designed in a way that depicted the person inside, the Vikings were known for placing the bodies of dead heroes and warriors on a boat and after setting fire to it letting it set sail. The ancient Greeks were big fans of a funeral pyre, a large fire set up by the family of the deceased in order to honour their dead relative.

These were the thoughts running through Tia's head as she sat beside Hilary's cousin Shane in the large black car on the way to the crematorium. Looking up at him she was surprised by how still his face was, how relaxed he seemed, she felt near to tears and he was sitting there looking for all the world as though he were simply on his way to an unpleasant day at work. Sighing she turned her head to stare out of the window, her mind returned to the unpleasant theme of burial procedures.

When buying a coffin, or casket as they have more recently become known as there is a lot to consider. The Tatibana family had taken their time picking out a casket that had a mock reed design, a basket casket as one of Hilary's cousins had joked, the lining had been of white satin and on top they had wanted white lilies.

It would have looked beautiful at the funeral but unfortunately due to the 'mistake' at the crematorium that was all gone now and a small silver coloured urn would stand at the front in place of the coffin.

A tissue was ****** into her hand before she had even realised she was crying, looking back at Shane she was surprised to see his handsome face filled with concern, she gave a slight smile and he nodded reassured that she was going to get through today. Tia was determined to be strong…, well she hoped she could be.

It was the one occasion Kenny had ever been to and not insisted on bringing his laptop along. As the bespectacled boy sat down in the chair beside Tyson he noticed that Ray, Mariah and Lee were on the same row as them. They gave each other small nods of recognition before turning their attention back to the order of service they had been given at the door. Kenny was just leafing through the booklet when he felt someone sit down beside him, at first he hadn't recognised the girl beside him but when Max sat down next to her he realised that it was Millie. She wore large sunglasses that covered most of her face and her unruly hair was pulled back into a plait like she had worn when he first saw her. She looked almost as though she was in disguise, that's when Kenny remembered what Tyson had told him about Millie saying she was having trouble dealing with all this funeral stuff and guessed that she didn't want people to see her if she broke down. Part of him was glad for once that he wore such thick glasses, at least this was no one would notice straight away when he cried.

Distracted from his reading Kenny began to look around, the place was really filling up now, there were a lot of Beybladers and people he recognised from the BBA. He also noticed a few old classmates that he hadn't seen in years, then he saw the one person they had all been on the look out for.

"Kai's here" he hissed to Tyson

The entire row heard him and turned to look for their friend. Kai walked quietly down the aisle in the centre of the room, for the first time since the death he looked like he had actually made an effort in his dressing. He wore a simple dark suit with a white shirt and black tie. His hair was back to it's old style and the bruises on his face seemed to have cleared up. Behind him Renaldo and the rest of the Blitzkrieg Boys were quietly following waiting for Kai to find his place before deciding where they would go. Seeing the row with his friends Kai faltered and finally slipping into the row in front of them took a seat in front of Ray. This circumstance left Ian in front of Kenny, it really surprised him when Ian turned around and gave him a small smile, Kenny responded in kind. It was odd but thanks to Hilary these two teams with so much history and so many differences had become friends.

Everyone seemed to have found seats when behind them music started up and Hilary's family walked in. Her grandfather was a the front and a wave of anger seemed to overtake their two rows. If it had been a panto he could imagine a lot of hissing and booing would have started up. Next came her parents then her brothers and finally a large amount of other miscellaneous family, some of them Kenny recognised but most of them were new to him. In amongst all the cousins and aunts and uncles walked Tia. She looked very pale and as she passed their row he could feel Tyson lean forward to catch her eye, Tia looked over at them and gave a small brave smile.

Kenny sighed it would be a long service.

It was at the end after a long and drawn out eulogy from Hilary's eldest brother that Tia finally stood up. She made her way to the podium and gave a watery smile

"Hello everyone, I have known Hilary since we were both four years old, we fought and argued a lot but mostly we were just there for each other. She was the best friend anyone could have and I know for a fact that anything I say now couldn't do her justice. Her family asked me to pick an ending song, they wanted Coldplay's Fix You but it has that line about 'lights will guide you home and ignite your bones,' I didn't think it suited a cremation somehow. So I talked at length with her boyfriend, and we spoke of a song that suited how we feel, I was gonna play it but… I decided on a song that she loved. This isn't the most traditional thing to play at a funeral but I think those of you that knew her well will agree with me that Hilary would have enjoyed this" Tia nodded to someone on her left and the faint beginning chords of Bruce Springsteen's Born to run started up.

Kenny felt himself begin to chuckle as he thought about what Hilary's reaction would have been, truthfully she would have preferred a song about cheerfulness, she had once joked that she wanted 'wake me up before you go-go' at her funeral or 'Walking on Sunshine' still this song seemed to suit the mood better. Looking over at Kai he watched as the tall body in front of Ray began to sag, a slight shudder ran through him.

If he was honest Kai actually preferred the fact that she had already been cremated, he wouldn't have been able to handle seeing her again and when they closed those curtains to hide the coffin as they all left he wasn't sure how he would have reacted knowing that his girlfriends body was about to burn.

When he heard the song that he had spoken to Tia about start up he felt himself sink lower in the chair he felt cold and was unable repress the convulsion that went through him. Immediately from behind him a hand was placed on his shoulder, he didn't need to even look at it to know that it was Mariah's. It was odd but though he usually disliked too much contact he felt very comforted and placed his hand over her soft one letting her know that he appreciated it.

The Tatibana family had arranged a large wake after the funeral but none of the beyblading crowd really felt like attending. Instead they gathered at the beach celebrating their friend's life with a BBQ that was filled with laughter and conversations filled with memories.

Kai wasn't there, after the funeral he and Renaldo had disappeared refusing to say where they were going and what they were doing. In truth no one wanted to ask them any questions, anyone that knew Kai knew that his mind would be running on revenge for a while, none of them wanted to get in Kai's way but also none of them wanted to know what was happening so that when questioned they could safely deny all knowledge.

Millie stood a little way away from the party thinking hard, she had not shared her recent discoveries with anyone but she wasn't sure why. Why hadn't she told them? Millie shook her head and sighed, she looked over at Max for about the hundredth time and realised the answer to her question. Hope. False hope, she was afraid to give the group of people that she had come to care for a sense of something more when there could be some stupid petty reason behind it all.

But as far as she could see there was only one reason why a person would arrange to have a body cremated before it was supposed to be and that was to cover something up. What though? They had all seen the autopsy report, Kai had seen the body and what more could there possibly have been to cover up? If only she could get another look at that report without alerting Horatio Tatibana to the fact that she was suspicious.

Still that gave her something else to consider, should she just forget about it all?

Looking down at her hands she pondered what Hilary would want her to do, Hilary would want answers and wouldn't waste time getting them but… Hilary didn't like getting people involved unnecessarily. 'Perhaps' Mille thought…'perhaps I could look into this by myself'

"Hey Millie!" Max waved to her "You want a burger?"

"Please!" she waved back and walked to meet Max as he brought her food over.

"I got you ketchup"

"You went to all that trouble for me?" she joked taking the food from him and kissing his cheek

"I'd do anything for you" he told her jokingly but there was serious look in his eyes that made her smile.

"You're so sweet" she slipped her arm through his and together they started to wander back to the group, she was only half listening to her boyfriend as he talked about what was going on but then he said something that grabbed her attention

"…I mean he read that report so many times he could probably quote it by heart but he had to have a copy made as well. I think Kai's really losing it. Renaldo says he'll keep…."

"Wait" Millie stopped walking and stared at Max "Kai has a copy of the autopsy report?"

"Yeah he photocopied it…why?"

"Oh…I just find it odd that's all." she smiled at him before slipping her arm around his waist and continuing back to the group by the BBQ

Kai and Renaldo were attending the official wake, they stayed together for the whole thing with Kai pointing out who the important people were and who else might need following. Every time his gaze fell on Horatio Tatibana he felt angry, what he wouldn't give to just pull out a gun and aim for that man. Unfortunately Renaldo hadn't provided his gun yet, still he would get his chance.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shane staring at him, he hadn't forgotten what Shane had said the day they stood in the morgue, and he would never forget what Shane had asked him to do. Turning to face Hilary's cousin he stared back, Kai wasn't really known for looking for the good in people but the betrayal of Shane, the way he was able to just walk away from this as though Hilary had died a normal death shocked Kai.

Watching the group of mourners Renaldo made a note of who was who on Hilary's family tree, he had easily worked out who the grandfather was and subsequently dispatched one of his 'employees' to follow him. He then scouted for other likely candidates. As Renaldo looked around the room he noticed that one brunette looked particularly careless, the man in question had a blonde on his arm and was standing drinking whisky. Nudging Kai Renaldo hissed "Who's the guy over there, with the blonde?"

Kai stared and frowned for a moment, he knew that face, then he remembered he ha seen him when Hilary had found out that Ianto was missing "That's Jake, one of the cousins" he whispered back

"And…what do we know about him?"

"He's an anomaly" Kai admitted "seemed to hate Hilary but…" he thought back to what Hilary had told him about Jake and music "I don't know, he could be for either side"

"I'll keep tabs on him"

Horatio Tatibana sighed as he removed his black jacket and tie, it had been a long day and he was in desperate need of a whisky. Pouring himself a drink he picked up the phone and dialled a number. As he waited for the other end to pick up he kicked off his shoes

"Hello?"

"Voltaire, it's me"

"Horatio, how was it?" for a moment Voltaire sounded genuinely concerned

Not showing any emotion Horatio sounded cold as he responded "It was tough, but it's over now."

"Yeah, so how long before you get here?"

"Tomorrow, I'll head out first thing…by the way" he paused

"What?"

"Your grandson was there"

"Well we knew they were dating, it was to be expected that…"

"No" Horatio cut in "That's not why I'm mentioning it"

"What's wrong?"

"I was followed home today, I'm guessing he and that little friend of his Renaldo are behind it all"

"You think they know?" Voltaire felt a sense of urgency as he asked the question

"No, he was upset, at the funeral he looked upset"

"And he showed it?" Voltaire laughed "I guess she really got to him!"

"I think revenge is a the forefront of his mind right now, my guessing is he's looking to hurt someone, how's the prisoner holding up?"

"Tough, she's fighting everything we say or do, I can't wait till tomorrow when we can start everything properly and move her somewhere a little more secure"

"Neither can I, every thing will be easier when I'm there and we can do this properly. I'll be there soon… as long as that grandson of yours doesn't give us any trouble."

"We'll just have to make sure he doesn't follow you here" suddenly Voltaire felt ridiculously annoyed "Why can't he just grieve like a normal person?"

"Must have something to do with his upbringing" Horatio joked "we did screw him up pretty badly"

"Yes, well as long as he doesn't know everything we'll be alright, I'll see you tomorrow"

Both men hung up the phone feeling different levels of worry, each one had the same reasons to worry but they individually recognised further problems that they would face in the future.

In Japan Horatio sat back in his armchair knocking back his drink, he was mostly worried about Kai, there was no denying that the young man could cause more problems than they had foreseen but he did have a contingency plan for that. He put down his glass and picked up a book, he'd worry more about it in the morning before he flew out to join his friend.

In Russia after Voltaire Hiwatari had hung up the phone he began to walk out of his room and down the corridor musing certain difficulties as he went he soon found himself standing outside the last room of the house. Smiling he nodded to the two guards who stood on either side and they opened the door.

The room Voltaire entered was cold and dark, there was no electricity in this room, they had been forced to remove the light fittings and sockets after the occupant of this room almost managed an escape by blowing the entire house's electricity and in the process turning off the security cameras and alarm systems. Only the moonlight that streamed in through the barred windows gave him any source of light as he surveyed the room.

Even if there had been no light he knew where she would be, after all she had attempted escape so any times that they had been forced to handcuff her to the bed.

"Hilary?" he whispered teasingly watching as the figure on the bed suddenly sat up, he watched her move fearfully away from him "I'm not going to hurt you" he promised "I just have something to tell you."

"Tell me, then get out" the voice was hoarse but still had an edge to it. Sitting on the bed Hilary glared at her jailer wishing that she could move across the room and hurt him. If she wasn't fastened here by these god-awful cuffs she would be attacking him right now.

"Very polite…I'm here to tell you that your grandfather will be here tomorrow, we'll be moving you somewhere else, somewhere a little more comfortable."

The resilient edge Hilary had always been known for gleamed through as she looked at him, he looked so bloody triumphant she was stung into saying "My friends won't leave me here, they'll come looking for me"

Voltaire laughed, it was a mocking laugh that made his prisoner tense up even more "No…, no they won't come looking for you. You see Hilary, you're dead"

Hilary laughed "They won't just let it lie, they'll want to see a body, they won't just believe that I'm dead"

"Oh but they have seen a body, there's a reason why we waited a few weeks before coming for you again. We needed to ensure that there would be no more heroics from my idiot grandson. We cloned you, we worked for three weeks so we could clone you. Our process is not yet refined but… the clone is a perfect copy."

"What do you mean? What do you mean not yet refined?" Hilary asked trying to get her head around what was going on

"Well the clones we make only live for an hour at most, but it was long enough for us, we cloned you, then we killed you…. It…, the clone."

"Oh my god" Hilary whispered leaning back against the headboard, she suddenly felt terrified, everything else she had been through before had been bad but now….now they weren't even looking for her. She was dead to the world, alone with no real chance of escape. No one was going to come and save her this time.

She stared at her captor, watching the sick smile that had fixed itself on his features grow wider.

"What the hell do you even want me for?" she asked nervously

"You'll soon find out" was the only response she received and somehow it made her feel even more afraid.

Jutting out her chin she glared at the old man determined not to lose face in front of the man she had grown to despise with her whole being "You won't get away with this, I will get out of here and when I do you'll regret everything you've done to me, Kai and everyone else that I care about."

"I can't wait"

As he left the room Voltaire grinned, that had been fun, it had been so long since he had watched someone's face be completely drained of hope and happiness that he had forgotten how good it felt. Still she was determined to make all this as difficult as possible, he hadn't broken her yet. Whistling happily he walked down the corridor.

As soon as she was sure that Voltaire was gone Hilary allowed her façade to crumble, tears welled up and pricked at her eyes. Truth be told she had been failing for quite some time, her last escape attempt to escape had been terrifying. The dogs that attacked her had caused her to feel more panic than ever before and she was beginning to run out of ideas. She had tried to contact the outside world, she had tried to fool them into thinking she was ill, she had even cut all the vitamin C out of her diet hiding the necessary food so she looked ill but it hadn't worked. Of course it hadn't helped that Horatio and Voltaire had doctors working for them.

Fusing the electricity had been her best scheme but it's ultimate failure now meant she was even more trapped.

Curling up as best she could on the bed Hilary pulled at the cuff on her wrist, she had tried to remove it but fiddling with the lock had done nothing and it was too tight to even consider slipping it off.

Staring at the ceiling Hilary sighed wondering about her future, she was still unsure of why she had been brought here. They refused to explain why they had brought her here but while being examined she had overheard two of the scientists talking about her reproductive abilities. It freaked her out a little, just what in the hell were they planning to do to her?

author's note:

Ha, ok so she's not dead. I have said it once I'll say it again, I am no good at killing people off! Of course this was kind of planned, lets face it you can't have a KaiHil without the Hil!

To the many people who hated that I killed her I hope you're happy now! If not then please make your mind up!

Anyone that thinks this was a sell out I promise that it isn't! I truly planned all this and if anyone complains I will send you a long message proving to you how this all works and where the seeds of this story are placed in the previous story. There will be more evidence for this later in the story though, so try to keep an open mind!

Having said all that please R&R honestly