I\'m a father?

Title: I’m a father?

Subtitle: Change of plans

Author: Lady Snowblossom

Rating: PG-13

Pairings: Rei/Bryan, Kai/Tala, Spencer/Ian, Max/Tyson, and various other pairings.

Note: Max’s accident has put him out of the tournament, and Kai has a problem.

Disclaimer: Not in the mood.


~*~

Twenty confused minutes later found the White Tigers, two Bladebreakers, and a Demolition Boy rushing into the emergency room of Lenox Hill Hospital.

Tala, who had been waiting for them, straightened up from where he had been leaning against the wall, and rushed over to meet them.

“How is he!”

“What happened.”

Rei and Kai spoke at one, and Tala held up a hand to stem the flow of questions. “We’re waiting on x-rays, but the doctor doesn’t think its anything really serious.”

“That’s a relief!” Rei exclaimed, relaxing a little. The ride to the hospital had been tense with Ian supplying them with what little he knew. And that was Tyson showing up on their doorstep, pale as a ghost, screaming that Max had had an accident and they needed an ambulance. Spencer had called Mr. D, who’s secretary told them she would call Lenox Hill, and have the emergency vehicle dispatched.

Then Tala had come home and when he learned about the accident had order a cab and sent Ian for them.

Now, the Neko-jin looked around and said, “Where is everyone?”

“Max’s mother, Mr. D. and everyone else is in the waiting room, this way.” Tala turned and headed down the hall, everyone falling in behind.

The redhead led them down a short hallway and turned left and proceeded down a new hall to a glass door; he glanced back to see if he had lost anyone, finding all present; he gestured toward the door. “We’re here.” And pulled it open.

When Rei entered the room, he saw that when Tala had said everyone, he meant everyone! Arranged along the wall and in the double row of seats down the middle of the room, were the All-Starz’s, the Majestic’s, Mr. Dickenson, Judy, Kenny, Spencer and Bryan. Missing was Tyson and his grandfather.

“Where’s . . .” the question died on his lips, as the door at the far end of the room opened and Grandpa Granger came through it dragging a struggling Tyson whim.him.

“Gramps, let go! Max needs me! Ow!” Tyson stared up at his grandfather who had just slammed him into a seat.

The old man stared down at his grandson and all traces of his usual bantering tone gone, growled. “No, Tyson, he doesn’t. What he needs now is to concentrate on what the doctor needs him to do and your caterwauling is only distracting him. Now, you need to sit there and keep your trap shut!\"

One moment the old gentleman was fussing his grandson out out, and the next he was being put aside, by a firm hand.

“Kai?”

Ignoring the older man, the phoenix stood in front of his teammate and began to tap his right thigh with a finger. “What happened.”

Lee stepped to Rei’s side and watched as Tyson turned the color of cream, then the brunette bolted from his seat and tried to run for it. Kai simply reached out and grabbed Tyson’s collar: halting him in his tracks. Without a word, Kai threw him back in his seat.

“I asked you a question.”

“He fell out of a tree.” Tyson mumbled, finding the ground between his toes very interesting.

“I see.” Kai said.

‘Amazing,’ Robert thought as he watched the scene. ‘How intimidating such simple words can be, when he uses them.’

“What was Max doing up in a tree?”

Tyson gulped, his nerves steadied by the stern look in his captain’s crimson eyes. “Max and I were out in the backyard relaxing by the pool, when we heard the kids in the yard next door yelling. So, we went over to see what the noise was all about. They were playing badminton and their birdie had somehow got stuck among the branches of this tree! Max decided that he could climb up and scoot out on the branch and bounce up and down and make the limb bob; that way he might be able to dislodge the thing!” Tyson waved his arms and grew alarmingly red in the face.

“Dammit, Kai, we’ve all seen Rei bounce around tree limbs like a fricking chimp and nothing ever happened to him! So, we thought it would be safe to do it, but Max lost his grip and fell!”

“Hey!” Rei exclaimed from the other end of the room, where he had taken a seat between Lee and Mariah. He half rose from his chair, only to be gently restrained by Lee’s hand on his forearm. “You can’t blame me! I grew up ‘bouncing’ as you put it!”

Tyson glared at him.

“Rei’s not the only one who can ‘bounce’ around tree limbs, Tyson. Mariah can, I can and Kevin is slipper than a snake. Gary’s the only one of us who is ground bound.” Lee said, mildly. “Most of the kittens of the clan start learning how as soon as they can grip a branch and hang on. So, its’ no big deal for us, and you really shouldn’t try to do something just because someone else can, that can get you hurt, as unfortunately Max has found out.”

Oliver tilted his head and looked quizzically at Lee. “Excuse me, but I don’t understand kittens? Why are you talking about baby cats?’

Mariah laughed, “Kittens are what babies are called in our village. They aren’t called children until they’re four years old.”

“That’s why to call someone over four ‘kitten’ is an insult, unless you happen to be using it as a pet name for your mate.” Kevin smirked, before wandering over and sitting down next to Kenny and staring intently at him.

~*~

Rei tuned out the conversation about kittens and ‘kittens’ and stared at Bryan. There was something strange about his lover; he couldn’t quite put his finger on. It wasn’t until Bryan shifted uneasily in his seat that Rei blinked in surprise. Bryan was sitting on a pillow! ‘Why is he sitting on a pillow?’

Before he could pursue the thought any further a man entered and he turned his attention to what he had to say.

~*~

“W-W-what are you staring at?” Kenny asked, nervously. Kevin shrugged, “Never seen you without your other half before; where’s the computer?”

“Dizzi is not my other half!” Kenny yelled, and immediately blushed and lowered his voice, “Besides I left her at home; she needed to recharge her batteries.”

“Oh, why?” asked the Chinese imp, “Wear her out?”

Snickers swept the room, and Kenny began to clench his fist and growl. He was saved from spontaneously combusting by the entrance of a man in a white coat bearing a clipboard.

“Mz. Tate?’

Judy got to her feet; helped by Michael and Johnny and she approached the questioner. “I’m Judy Tate, how is my son?’

“Mz. Tate, I’m Doctor Richard Morgan.” He stuck out his hand and she shook it. The raven-haired man consulted his clipboard. “Max has a fracture of his left ulna and bruising of his ribcage. And we would like to keep him overnight to make sure he doesn’t have an concussion.”

As Kai listened carefully to the doctor’s report, one thing became clear. Max would not be able to compete in two days time and that meant; Rei would have to or they would have to forfeit!

~*~

Rei also realized as the doctor talked that he would now have to compete or watch his team go down in undeserved defeat. He sat quietly wondering how he was going to get through the coming days.

~*~

Mariah’s eyes narrowed, as she watched Kai and Tala whispering together over their lunches. They had all left the hospital after the doctor had allowed them each a moment to peek in at Max and say hi. Mr. Dickenson had then insisted that since Robert had picked up the tab for dinner the night before, the BBA could foot the bill for lunch.

So, here they all were again, except for Max’s mom and Tyson, who wouldn’t leave his koi, eating, drinking and joking together like they were all great friends and that bastard was flirting with his whore and ignoring poor Lee all together!

She just couldn’t understand why Lee was letting him get away with it! Speaking of Lee, she looked over at the other table their party was occupying and spotted him talking to that large stupid oaf of a Russian, Spencer and his fashion challenged companion, Ian.

As for Rei, he was sitting next to Lee, but his attention was on that creep that nearly killed him at the Worlds. Why was he watching him, and why did Rei seem to glow?

She glared down at her dessert and viciously attacked it with her fork. “Hey, Mariah, it’s dead already!” Startled, she looked up to see Enrique grinning at her. The Italian shook his head, “That is a waste of a perfectly good piece of chocolate truffle cake.” He mourned.

“Mind your own business!” She snapped, as she hacked off another piece of cake and mashed it.

“What’s the matter with her?” Enrique said to Oliver as the Frenchman winced as another piece was dissected and mauled.

“I don’t know and I don’t want to find out.”

The two Majestics’ weren’t the only ones, who were watching Mariah’s actions. Kevin frowned as he finished his own dessert. Mariah had been edgy, all right, bitchy ever since they had left the hotel and the looks she kept giving Kai should have incinerated him by now. Perhaps, when they got back to the hotel, he could ask her.

~*~

Rei was growing more and more concerned, he had been watching Bryan covertly and his mate was limping and when he went to sit down, hncednced and lowered himself very gingerly. Rei was beginning to wonder if there was something going on that he hadn’t been told about, and if there was . . . Well, he had a good idea, who to blame the secrecy on. The question was who to ask to get a straight answer from.

~*~

Bryan knew that Rei was watching him, and he tried to act like nothing was wrong, but he couldn’t quite suppress the hiss of pain that escaped him, nor the wince as he finally settled. He risked looking Rei’s direction and knew from the slight narrowing of those golden jewels that he hadn’t missed a thing.

Maybe that was a good thing and it would start Rei asking questions. He could stand a little pampering from his koi.

~*~

After lunch the teams went their separate ways, and Mariah fumed even more, when Kai left with that, that creature! And poor, brave Lee just sent them on their way with a wave and a smile. She flexed her fingers; it was too bad she hadn’t been able to scar that cold-hearted son-of-a-water buffalo. That would have been a lesson he’d never forget! No one mistreats a member of the White Tiger Clan and gets away with it!

She turned from the disgusting scene and stormed to the bus that had come to take her and her friends back to the Wales. She had some planning to do.

~*~

The afternoon passed and Kai paced the floor, he’d spoken to Mr. Dickenson and had gotten the answer he’d dreaded, talk about your wrongs coming back to bite you on the ass! Thanks to his jumping ship to join the Demolition Boys and then returning to the Bladebreakers: a new rule had been passed. A Blader who had left a team had to have spun with their new team at least once in competition, before they could substitute for another Blader on their old team, which meant Lee wasn’t eligible to take Max’s place.

He only had tomorrow to come up with a plan or the team would have to forfeit. He couldn’t risk Rei’s health not with the level of competition they would be up against. He needed some advice and he knew where to get it.

He headed for the phone.

~*~

Ian laid on a lounger by the pool soaking up rays. He loved the feel of the heat that was soaking into his bones. Everything was so peaceful with only the drone of bees, whine of traffic and thng ong of birds for company.

Suddenly, the heat was cut off and he opened his eyes to find Rei standing over him: a determined expression on his face.

“Ian, I want some answers.”

Ian gulped.

~*~

Kevin knocked on Mariah’s door. When she opened the door, he slipped in and stood just inside the door. “What do you want, Kevin?

“Gary and I are going to a movie. I came down to see if you and Lee wanted to go.”

“No.” She said, “I’ve got something to do.”

“Oh, what?”

“Well, if you must know, Emily and I are going shopping.” She lied.

Kevin blinked, “B-But, I thought you didn’t like Emily! You said, she was a overrated, under talented b . . .” Mariah slapped her hand over his mouth.

“She may be all that, but she still knows the best stores in New York. Of course,” she smiled, “you could always go with us, if you think there’ll be trouble.”

Kevin backed off, holding out his hands and shaking his head, “No. No, that’s all right, I think I’ll go see Lee. Bye!”

The green haired Neko-jin spun around and barely had the door opened, before he was out and gone. Mariah laughed and went and closed the door.

Now to carry out her plan, she’d humiliate Kai and his bitch in a way they’d never forget!

~*~

“Lee, change of plans, we need to scrap Central Park and do it here, tonight. How soon can you get here?” The phone made some squawking noises and Kai listened, “Not good enough. Rei wants to go visit Max and the nee need to bring Tyson home. I need you here as soon as you can get here.”

More squawking and Kai sighed, “All right, that will have to do. Tala and I will meet you here then. See you soon.” He hung up the phone and turned to find himself face to shoulder with Grandpa Granger.

“About time you decided that the direct approach was the best.” He said, and walked away, leaving Kai to stare after him.

~*~

‘Ian, I want to know everything that has happened to Bryan since I left.” Rei said, as he sat down on a deck chair that Kai had made Tyson tote out to poolside after Tyson broke the second lounger by falling through the webbing.

“Everything?” Ian squeaked. ‘Where was Spencer when he needed him?’

“Everything.” Rei demanded, “And I especially want to know what happened last night after I left the restaurant.”

“Rei, Kai will kill me if I do that! And if I manage to survive Kai, I won’t survive what Tala would do to me. Don’t make me tell you!” He pleaded. But Rei was implacable. “They aren’t here, I am, and if you don’t tell me what I want to know, I’ll kill you!”

Ian looked around frantically for a means of escape, but there was none, so reluctantly, he began.

As Rei listened, he began to frown.

~*~

“Hmm, Kai sounds really worried. He didn’t mention it, but I wonder what Mr. Dickenson told him about whether or not I could step in as a substitute.”

“Knock. Knock.”

He went over to the door, and opened it. Kevin breezed past him and perched on the end of his bed. “Hey, Lee! Wanna go to a movie with Gary and me?”

“Wish I could, but Kai called and he wants me to come over there. He says, its’ important, so I’ll have to pass.” He paused to put his shoes on. “What are you going to see?”

“Pirates of the Caribbean.” Lee turned and glared at the imp. “Tiger claws! I wanted to see that! Can’t you wait till I get back and go at a later time? Or maybe, we could go tomorrow.”

“I guess we could wait until later. Gary wants to go to the movies tomorrow too, and see ‘Return of the king.’ I think he’s on an Orlando Bloom kick.” Kevin waved a hand, and then he ho off off the bed. “I better go tell Gary, we’re going later than we planned, so we’ll eat first.”

“Did you tell Mariah?”

“Yeah, but she said, she\'s going shopping with Emily, weird, huh?”

Lee nodded, “Yeah, weird is right, those two are usually at each other’s throats.” He shrugged, and went to answer the phone, that rang just then. “Yes, thank you. I’ll be right down.” He hung up. “My cab’s here, so I’ll see you later.” And he ushered Kevin from the room.

~*~

Tala and Kai sat drinking lemonade on the glider, waiting for Lee to arrive. “Well, at least, Bryan won’t be able to do much about our news. He still hurts too much to move real fast. We’ll definitely be able to outrun him.” Tala said, as he played idly with the straw in his lemonade.

Kai snorted and set his empty glass down, just as a cab heaved into view. The yellow car pulled up and Lee got out, just as Rei came through the front door.

~*~

“And that’s what happened.” Ian finished, and cringed at the look on Rei’s face. Without a word, Rei rose and headed for the house. Ian scrambled off the lounger and ran for help.

~*~

Spencer and Bryan were watching tv, when Ian burst thorough the door, screaming. “Spencer, Rei is gonna kill Kai and Tala, you better get over there!”

Not wasting time with questions, the blonde got up and rushed for the front door. Bryan was slower off the mark, but he too headed for the door to see what he could do to help.

~*~

“Rei, what’s wrong?” Kai said, as he rose to meet the Neko-jin. Rei didn’t say a word: he just kicked Kai dead in the stomach. Kai sank to the floor, clutching his middle and retching.

“Rei!” Tala dropped his glass, leapt to his feet and rushed to Kai’s side, only to get punched dead in the nose by the angry tiger. He reeled back and fell over the arm of the glider.

The snarling cat-boy stormed off the porch, pushed Lee out of the way and got in the cab. Lee stood staring, as Rei growled, “Lenox Hill Hospital.” And the cab pulled away.


~*~

I wonder what Mariah has planned.

Mariah: I’m not telling!

Yes, you will.

Mariah: Only if you make me. I’d rather show them.

Well, that is the best way.

Rei: I kicked Kai? Punched Tala?

You certainly did.

Rei: They’re going to kill me!

Nah, I won’t let them. Well, at least not in this story.

Rei: I knew it! You’re going to kill me in that other one, aren’t you!

Technically, I already have. You’ve just been reincarnated.

Johnny: Abusing God’s powers! You heretic

I told you I am God! So, I can’t be a heretic. Now, go play with Kai.

Johnny (shudder)

Until next time, bye.