Many, many thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/put on their favorites/put on their alerts or any combination of the four on the last chapter!
As usual, excuse this chapter's presence, any and all mistakes in construction, yada yada yada. Enjoy, folks.

Edit:I read through this the day after I posted it, and noticed a glaring inconsistency time wise. It's all fixed now.

Enough

Tala poured coffee in a mug and yawned. Taking the cordless phone and his mug into the living room with him, he set them both on the coffee table and looked around for his laptop. He growled in annoyance, remembering Bryan’s habit of “borrowing” it.

Storming up the stairs with as much indignation as could be mustered so soon after waking up, he shuffled angrily down the hall and barged into Bryan’s room. The silver-haired Russian slept on, not even rolling over in response to Tala’s uninvited presence. Glacier-blue eyes wandered over the piles of dirty laundry peppered with various firearms, stopping briefly on a half-empty bottle of whiskey by the bed that he was sure hadn’t even been in the house the previous afternoon, before continuing in their search.

The metallic-black corner of the computer peeked out from under a leather jacket that had seen far more than its fair share of drunken brawls. Rolling his eyes, Tala nudged the disturbingly stained garment off and scooped the laptop up off of the desk before meandering out of the room.

He turned the computer on while half-stumbling downstairs to rejoin his precious coffee cup. After running a quick system check to make sure nothing on the computer wasn’t supposed to be there, he opened his internet browser and typed in the address of his email provider.

Several fan email replies later, the phone rang, throwing a rock right through the fragile morning silence. Tala jumped to answer it before anyone woke up. “Yeah?”

“You guys up yet,” Kai asked shortly.

“Just me. Bryan was out all night and Ian’s running a fever. I’m taking advantage of the quiet.”

“Ah. Did Bite-Size overheat, or what?”

“Bryan locked him outside last night, actually.” Hearing Kai about to go off on their devilish friend, he added quickly, “He’s been belted solidly over the head for it, don’t worry. Anyway, how’s the Battalion?”

“Worried. Constantly asking if there’s anything they can do.” He sighed wearily. “Do me a favor and find them both before it kills me.”

Tala laughed under his breath. “That bad?”

“Worse. How’re the Tigers?”

“To quote Mariah, ‘falling apart’. I don’t think I like what might be about to go down there.”

A crack that sounded suspiciously similar to Kai slamming his forehead into something hard resounded between the two phones. “Tala, for the love of all that is even remotely good on this royally screwed mudball, just ask the girl out already!”

“Are you kidding me?! Her teammate’s missing, I’m on Search and Rescue, I’d be taking advantage of her,” the redhead argued defensively.

Kai’s smirk could almost be heard in his maddeningly unruffled reply. “Yeah, sure. You’re just too much of a coward to ask some girl out.”

“She’s not just some girl, okay? There’s no way she’d go out with some lowlife like me. …And you know what? I’m perfectly okay with that. And I’m still going to make sure Kevin makes it home.”

A door slammed on the other end of the house. Mariah winced and hoped none of the pictures in the entryway were knocked off their nails by the shockwave running through the walls.

Lee stalked past the kitchen, his shoulders tense with barely contained anger. Anyone with an ounce of self-preservation instinct wouldn’t have touched him with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole.

“Hey, Lee? Did you get something for lu—“

“Shut up! You can’t tell me what to do!”

Stunned by the outburst, Mariah took a step back into the counter. “Wha-? I-I wasn’t trying to—“

Without warning, the irate older neko-jin stomped over to his sister, still frozen by fear to the counter. Raising his hand, he brought it down hard across her cheek, a blow that would’ve knocked a lesser woman to the ground easily. She stumbled several feet back and gingerly touched the wound below her left eye, slightly afraid when she found drops of blood on her fingertips.

“You’re always trying to order me around! Well, I won’t take it anymore!” He swung his foot up into her ribs with a frightening, predatory grace, his heel hitting with a debilitating crack. Watching her fall, breathless, to the ground, he readied his stance to deliver another blow.

Truly terrified now by the uncharacteristic rage gripping her usually merely irritable brother, Mariah rolled out of the way and bolted for the hallway, her sock-clad feet slipping on the hardwood floors. An irate roar ripped through the air behind her, followed by heavy footsteps that made her desperately try to quicken her pace.

Rei’s door appeared at the end of the hallway, a welcome shelter from the violent young man behind her that she once thought she knew. Skidding into the room like a baseball player in a desperate attempt at a home run, she hurriedly pushed herself up on her knees and just barely managed to get the door closed. Looking around for something she could use in self-defense, her eyes caught the cell phone she’d set back on the nightstand the day before and her brain played back Tala’s offer: “Seriously, if you need someone to talk to, just call. Anytime, I’d be happy to listen.”

The footsteps in the hallway outside were getting louder. Out of pure desperation and fear, Mariah grabbed the cell phone and a thick book from off the shelf and lunged back towards the door. She managed to settle herself so she was sitting with her back against the door in time for Lee to attempt to break down the sturdy wooden panel to get to his terrified sister inside.

Flipping frantically through the contacts list on the phone, the girl didn’t even register the name she was looking for until she’d passed it by several letters in the alphabetized list. She scrolled back up until she found it and pushed the Talk button, her fingers shaking horribly.

“Hey.”

“Bryan? It’s Mariah—“

“We’re either not home, or choosing to ignore you. Either way, you can leave a message, or call us back. But if we’ve told you not to call, then. Don’t. Call. Ever again. Now, run along, kiddies.” An almost mocking beep droned out of the phone. Tears started to pool in Mariah’s eyes, her breathing hitched from the sobs of fear and the splintering pain in her side.

Another thud rocked the door. Her fear for her own life doubled.

Satisfied for the time being, Grace?

Please review. (Or don't review to punish me for my inactivity. That works too.)