Hello, sorry, I've been so busy these last few weeks but here it is at last. Sorry if chapter one was confusing, but it will make sense .. promise

Waiting

Kenren sat on the floor of his cell feeling the sense of irony jab him squarely in the ass. He had been in this cell before: right after he had spoken out against Tentei and been dragged off to be disciplined. Only that time Goujun had come to get him out and that definitely wasn't going to happen this time, far from it. The irony of being in the same fucking chains and the same fucking cell. It was enough to be amusing and irritating at the same time.

"I wonder what the fuck's going on?" he wondered for the hundredth time, and used one bare foot to scratch at the swelling bruises on the other, glad they had left his ankles unshackled.

He felt sure had been captured early on in their stand against the army, which drove him to distraction. Chaos had erupted in the palace chambers when Goku had broken the diadem that unleashed the power of his other self: the raw animalistic power of the Seiten Taisei. All those who had approached him had been destroyed, their flesh literally melting away from their bodies, screaming. It had taken a punch from an annoyed Kanzeon Bosatsu to actually stop the kid from waging total destruction and she would have done more, if a furious Konzen hadn't stepped in and defended his charge.

They had then fled the chambers, using the utter chaos and mass hysteria as their cover. Tenpou had then taken Goujun as a hostage, an idea that hadn't lasted long as the dragon king had soon broken free, leaving them to continue their flight to Tenpou's lodgings to try and think of another way to get out of this. Going to Tenpou's lodgings had also given them access to supplies to patch up their injuries and try to do something about Goku. As the noises of the advancing army had multiplied, the quick decision had then been taken to stow Goku and Konzen away in Tenpou's quarters and for Tenpou and Kenren to try and defend them.

They had then barricaded Konzen and Goku in Tenpou's bedchamber and equipped themselves for a last stand fight. Tenpou had overturned his desk as a final line of defence and Kenren had gone on ahead with two pikes and his tranquilliser gun to prepare for the soldiers that were breaking down the main doors. They had bid farewell to each other with a simple kiss and Kenren had gone down to meet the welcome party whilst Tenpou had taken off muttering something about setting things up. The soldiers had burst in just as Tenpou left and Kenren had launched into the fight with a simple battle cry of 'oh hell'.

He had done damage. He knew that much. Many soldiers who had been loyal to both him and Tenpou had been reluctant to fight anyway and quite a few had simply left halfway through, preferring to abstain rather than attack the same men they had fought with. Others were more gung-ho and were out for Kenren's blood, which made it a lot easier to fight them because they really weren't thinking. Kenren hadn't been too bothered about them, preferring to simply bat them out of the way with the pike or shooting them, guiltily revelling in the feeling of being in close combat again. He had always known he was a soldier, born to be in the military, and this had proved it. His blood had literally been coursing with adrenaline.

Kenren shivered a little at the thought.

"I wish I had a smoke." He muttered suddenly, trying to loosen up his wrists in the restraints a little so he could get some feeling back in his fingers. His chest ached, he was sure that was from a couple of broken ribs and his left leg hurt but he didn't know why. Bruises and cuts were scattered across his body like a sadistic pattern and his head still felt woozy from the tranquilliser, the mark of which was still on his chest, lightly clotted over with blood. He wondered just how long he had been out cold, also how long it had taken the tranquilliser to wear off so he could remember what had happened clearly.

Kenren closed his eyes again trying to get a clear picture.

They had sent in soldiers with tranquilliser guns after Kenren had ably beaten over a dozen soldiers down with his bare hands, leaving blood spattered across the floor and across his fists with only a bloodied nose and a few swellings to show for his efforts. He had then reluctantly retreated down the corridor, knowing that he wouldn't stand a chance against a barrage of tranquilliser darts. He had rounded the corner and used that as his ally, managing to fling his last pike out at neck level. He heard several bodies' fall, gagging noises and went running again trying to make them think he was running to where Tenpou, Goku and Konzen were. It was at that point where Kenren had struggled to remember anything else, although this time the memories came to him easily.

He now remembered exactly how he had been captured. He had heard the sounds of gunfire, scuffling and muffled cries. He had then immediately doubled back, knowing that it must be Tenpou in trouble. It had been a trick; he had run straight into a group of them; all armed and all with no qualms about taking him down. He had spun on the ball of his foot and set off in the direction he had just come from narrowly missing a barrage of darts designed to take him down.

He had turned right as if heading towards Goujun's quarters, infuriated that his nosebleed was leaving a trail of little spatters on the marble floor. He grabbed hold of the door but it was locked. Swearing loudly, he saw the forces coming towards him and realised that he was cornered. He had grabbed an ornate chair ready to smash a window but a well-swung pike knocked it from his hands. Kenren then remembered falling into defence stance, ready to fight his way out, and to kill, if need be. He had fought them barehanded, taking them on one after the other knowing that his advantages had always lain in his sheer strength and height. It had been simple enough to grab limbs and snap bones without a care and Kenren was far too angry to have minded otherwise.

Some bastard had then got him from behind and bent his arms behind him allowing him to take hits to the face while he had struggled to get free. Kenren had flung the soldier off him, broken free and spun abruptly with a punch to the jaw that had the soldier staggering back, his face a mess of smeared blood. This had left Kenren's back unguarded again and a pike quickly scythed across his legs had downed him completely. He had hit the floor hard and hadn't been able to stop the tranquilliser dart that had been shot at his bare chest. He reasoned he must then have been unconscious for the trip down here because he couldn't remember anything else until he'd woken up shackled to the wall with this appalling sense of déjà vu. However, the lack of truly heavy Goku-style restraints meant he was obviously here until Tentei and his cronies decided what to do with him.

"Ah shit, shoulda done up my coat in the end." Muttered Kenren, almost wishing that he had his armoured coat with him now; he had still had cigarettes in the pockets. However, they had only left him in his black trousers and Kenren reasoned that he should be lucky he still had those.

It was eerily silent in the cells and Kenren wondered once again what had happened to Tenpou. His lover had been saying something about setting stuff up and had been one to hide Konzen and Goku properly, equipping Konzen for the worst. Konzen couldn't have done it himself; he had been too shocked, simply sitting by Goku and staring at him in stunned silence. Given that the chibi wasn't exactly sane right now, it had probably been a bad idea leaving Konzen alone with him but they had had no choice, besides, Tenpou seemed to think it best and the man was known for ingenuity. Kenren's heart gave a dull throb at the thought of his lover as he wondered if Tenpou was dead.

"He did say it was probably suicide." Muttered Kenren, slamming his shackled wrists against the wall in frustration. "Shit."

As determined to prove him wrong, there was a loud crash from outside and the sound of a body hitting the ground. The sounds of doors slamming reverberated through the chamber and Kenren strained to see what the hell was going on. Two soldiers he didn't recognise strode in, dragging a familiar dark-haired figure between them. The figure was clad in a severely torn and blood spattered laboratory coat and his shirt was fighting to stay in one piece. Tenpou was shackled at the wrists and ankles but, typically Tenpou, had managed to retain both a slightly crumpled-looking, half-smoked lit cigarette and his glasses. He looked slightly amused by the whole thing; despite looking like someone had attempted to knock the stuffing out of him and mostly succeeded.

"Stick him in with his husband." Came the voice of an officer behind the two soldiers, his voice thick with venom. "Litouten-sama's orders."

The soldiers slammed open Kenren's cell and yanked Tenpou inside, deliberately slamming him against the wall so his head met the stone with a crack, which Tenpou gritted his teeth at to avoid making a noise. The soldiers seemed intent on causing him as much physical injury as humanely possible, without actually killing him. They then hoisted his shackled wrists above his head. There was a crunch of chain as they fastened the shackles to a ring on the wall and an unenthused grunt from Tenpou told them it was tight enough. The soldiers gave a final pull before they were satisfied and then they got up to leave.

"How long we in here anyway?" Called Kenren. "I'm starting not to like the décor very much."

"Until your trial. It's being set up now." Snapped one of the soldiers before leaving.

There was silence.

A/N: Another chapter and thanks for bearing with me and thanks to anyone who reviewed Bloodied Rain. I love reviews!