Author's Notes: This chapter will probably be a little more interesting that the previous one. I hope it is. At least, it felt more interesting when I was writing it.

Enjoy!

Chapter 21

"There they are!" Ricardo alerted, pointing at the plane that was landing, and Ana watched it intently. Yes, that was definitely Chris's plane.

"Alright, team, get ready."

"Once they get in McLean's car, that will be your cue." The tech expert reminded. "You can't afford being seen, but you can't lose them either, so you have to make sure to keep a safe distance."

The leader looked over at her quiet teammate. "Tahira?"

"The cars have already been brought inside. I already managed to get us two drivers." She informed.

"Then let's get ready." Ana loaded two guns and hid them under her shirt, then stuffed her vest's pockets with grenades and put it on. "Ricardo, warn me when to go. Give the signal when the last door of their car closes." She turned to her team. "Adriana, Akamai and McLean, you come with me. Adriana, Chef, Tahira and Bane go on the other car. Let's move!"

"Come on, our car's over there!" Alejandro urged as he offered his umbrella for Cody to take refuge under. The two walked down the steps carefully, cautiously keeping themselves from slipping on the water that covered them.

Patrícia and Marco followed the example, also sharing an umbrella to protect them from the rain that poured from the dark grey sky.

They made their way to the car, and Cody helped the kids on the back seats, making sure their seatbelts were well strapped.

"Where are we going?" Marco asked, and the scrawny teen could see the anxiety in the young boy's eyes. He smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. I promise." He gave a gentle pat on Marco's head before closing the door and rushing over to the other side of the car, to the seat next to the driver's. Alejandro kept the umbrella over him all the way, not letting a single drop fall upon his skin or clothes.

As the darker teenager made his way to the driver's seat, Cody looked at the twins once more, smiling at them. "Behave. Trust me."

The two nodded before Alejandro sat in the driver's seat, closing the umbrella and starting the car.

"I'm afraid we'll be having a rough journey. We'll be driving almost to the other side of the city, and this rain won't help." He admitted as he activated the windshield wipers.

"We have time, don't we?"

Alejandro looked at his hostage, feeling surprised by his question. Cody just shrugged.

"I'm just saying. It's not wise to be in a rush when driving in weather like this."

The Spanish young man chuckled. "Even if we were, it would do us no good. The traffic here won't let us achieve that much speed." He answered.

Then he closed the door.

True to what he had once heard, Tokyo was the Japanese version of New York City. The beginning of their trip had showed them nothing out of the ordinary, just some mildly busy streets, mainly passing by warehouses or factories. But when they reached the center of the city, everything changed.

The streets were filled with people, everyone doing their daily activities regardless of the heavy rain that poured over the entire city. The grey color of the buildings made great contrast with the mix of colors of traffic lights, ads and the sea of umbrellas. Some of the buildings were so tall they merged with the clouds at some point, making it impossible to see their peaks. Although, Cody could tell, it would be hard even if the sky was clear, for most of the buildings around them were skyscrapers.

He heard a grumble next to him, and noticed that Alejandro was far from satisfied with the weather conditions.

"Stupid rain…" he complained.

The geeky teen's gaze landed back on the road ahead of them as he thought about what he could do to calm Alejandro down.

"Are you really that anxious to go see your brother?" he asked, and could instantly feel Alejandro's gaze on him. He looked back, staring into his light blue eyes. "How long has it passed since you've last seen each other?"

The latino boy sighed. "Years. He came to study in Japan at an early age. He was twelve, I think."

His hands grew even tenser on the wheel, his frown deepened, and his shoulders rose. All parts of Alejandro's body were telling Cody that was a subject he did not like talking about. However, the boy's curiosity was too much, and he started making more questions before he could stop himself.

"Why did he come to Japan that young? What happened?"

"People found him to be special, like some sort of genius." Alejandro's words were filled with envy and hatred. "He always had great grades, he was always reading either technological or medical magazines, which everyone greatly admired him for, and was always focused on learning more and more and more!" His grip on the wheel tightened, a fact that didn't go unnoticed to Cody.

"You act as if that is a bad thing." The younger teen noted.

Alejandro took a deep breath, calming himself first before explaining to Cody what his view of his brother was like.

"It's not, right? I should be happy for him, right?" the car stopped as they reached a busy avenue. "But the truth is, it enrages me. My brother and I always had a big rivalry. We always fought for the best part of the meal, for the best toys, for the prettiest girls… And what pisses me off the most is the fact that he always won. He was always the better son, better student, better lover… And it's always haunting me, every single day of my life!"

Cody listened in silence, giving the driver a moment to calm his nerves.

"Why do you think that?" he asked. "Why do you think he has it better than you?"

"You want to know why?"Alejandro looked at him. "Because he didn't work for the things he can today call 'his'. All of his success, he owes it to me."

"Okay, apparently the rain came to favor us for once." Ricardo spoke as he observed the three vehicles on his screens, one being his target, the other two his fellow chasers. His fingers moved with expertise and speed as he hacked into every surveillance camera that could give him a good view of his target. "It's making the traffic go slower than usual."

"We've been managing to keep a safe distance and still be able to follow him, but that can change. Make sure you notice and warns us in time when he does something we are not expecting." Ana instructed on the other end of the line.

"Will do. Keep your phones on, in case I lose him."

The leader took a moment to respond, and the tech expert knew she was checking that little detail in with the others.

"Confirmed. Our phones are all turned on." She eventually informed.

"Same on this side." Tahira stated.

"Good. I'll keep you posted." He said before focusing back on the cameras. The three cars hadn't moved an inch yet, still waiting for the traffic lights to indicate them it was their turn to keep on with their journey.

"Alejandro has his destination set."

Noah looked at the girl sitting next to the driver, her eyes closed as she focused on getting into the target's mind.

"Where is he going?" The older sister asked her.

"A… A pharmacy… Or a clinic, maybe… It's somewhere related to medicine…"

"Like a hospital?" He couldn't help intervene.

"Smaller."

He frowned as he became deep in thought. Why in the world would Alejandro go to a medical place if he was on the run? Wouldn't that be risky, considering he probably wanted to lay low? Didn't that defeat the purpose of keeping himself hidden?

"You think it's a trap?" He heard Adriana ask her leader.

"I sure hope so." Ana replied. "If not, it won't be as fun."

He heard three knocks at the door.

"Hum, hey."

The unfamiliar, uncertain voice made him turn back from his duties to face the newcomer, and he was surprised to see none other than a nervous Sierra.

"I'm kind of busy here." Ricardo told her. "This isn't the best time to interrupt me."

"I know, but… This is kind of important."

He observed her for a moment, carefully analyzing her posture, and eventually laid back on the chair with an exasperated sigh. "Please, tell me you didn't lose the cat again."

Her nervous giggles were enough of an answer, and he sighed again.

"When was the last you saw it?"

"I left it in my room while we were watching Alejandro's arrival." She explained, and the young tech immediately started reviewing the footage of the plane. Indeed, there was the cat, happily rolling over on the bed.

"And you say it was no longer there?"

"Yeah, I searched everywhere in the room, he wasn't there." She insisted.

The two watched the cat on the screen attentively, as if taking their gazes off the images would suddenly make everything disappear.

Little Cody stood up. He hoped off the bed and made his way to the door.

Ricardo changed the screen, showing the images of the camera in the hallway. They saw a door opening, and the cat shamelessly walking out.

"I see you made sure the door was well closed." He stated, unamused, as he ordered the screen to show him the images of another camera.

They followed the cat's every step, watching the animal strut out of the plane and into the garage, where the cars were.

"Please tell me he didn't…" The Asian boy prayed as the feline approached one of the cars. Little Cody walked around the black vehicle, as if inspecting it, and eventually noticed the open trunk. He sat down, staring at it curiously, and various minutes passed, as if there was something interesting going on inside the car.

He jumped into the trunk.

Ricardo closed his eyes with sudden frustration. "You gotta be kidding me."