Randy stared at him again before walking through the gate. "Never gonna happen."

Kurt growled and tried to stand, failing the first time but succeeding the second time, he staggered after Randy, "Then get back here!" he shouted, "Get back here and finish this! You started all this! This entire situation is your fault now finish it!"

Randy turned to face him. "If death is the only way out, then you'll have to take me down. I got nothing against you... but you leave my brothers out of it."

Kurt let out a ferocious growl and with as much strength as he could muster he rushed at Randy, "Your brother's stay out of it...this is between you and me," he coughed blood, "But I will end this! I refuse to live this way forever and someday I will finish it or die!" he said striking Randy as hard as he could in the face.

"Someday you will." Randy kicked him back to the ground. "Not today."

Kurt yelped and jerked Randy's leg so that he fell then he pinned him, "I'll never let you win!" he snarled, his nose touching Randy's, droplets of blood painting Randy's chin a mix of red and green...

Randy drew a knee upward and shoved Kurt away as he rolled in the opposite direction and hurried to his feet. At last a smile crept onto his face. "I wouldn't expect any less of you."

Holding his side Kurt grimaced at him, he summoned one last burst of strength and spat in Randy's face.

Bits of toxic saliva splashed onto his sunglasses, and he raised his shirt to wipe it away from his cheeks and the end of his nose. Then he started to laugh... "Don't I love the fight in you?" he muttered in Schickelgruber as he turned to leave again.

Unable to make another lunge Kurt simply snarled in rage at Randy's retreating back.

Satisfied that things were at least "back to normal" for the time being, Randy VIII returned to the hospital to check on his brother and receive whatever medical attention he needed while he was there. It was a long walk, and his wounds were starting to burn... just the way he liked it.

Though still blind and crippled in one arm Seven seemed much improved, "Baby Boy?" he asked when he sensed his brother entering the room.

"Hey, sugar; how you feelin'?" Randy VIII called as he approached. He knew that the trouble involving Kurt wasn't likely over and he was still apprehensive, but his demeanor betrayed the fact that no one had died during his outing.

"Kurt's still lose isn't he?" Seven asked with a frown, "You know Randy...he's not gonna stop until he gets you and if he gets you then your brothers will kill him. That man will die trying to kill you, or succeed and end up dead, his fate is pretty well sealed,"

Randy VIII growled defensively. "Nobody better go anywhere near Kurt!" he insisted. "This is our business, not y'all's!"

"That's where you're wrong Baby Boy, you're part of our family, you're our brother and what you do, especially if it's dangerous, is our concern!" said Seven, "And if Kurt does kill you then he's next,"

Randy VIII paced the floor. "You'd go against my wishes? What's the point then? You sure ain't helpin' me none, and if you stay the hell away from him, he ain't gonna mess with you."

"But he'll mess with you! That's the point!" said Seven.

"So maybe I don't mind that!" Randy VIII protested.

"Well we do an' we always will! Like it or not you ain't alone and if Kurt does finish you one of us will put him down," said Seven.

Eight continued to growl in disapproval, but he knew there was little to be done at the moment. "Don't any a' you go near him until that happens," he warned. "Don't send nobody after 'im. Don't touch 'im. So long as I live, you leave him to me!"

"So you'll finish him off then?" Seven asked.

"In my own time," came the dejected reply. Eight suddenly looked up at Seven, though his brother couldn't see him, and added with a snarl: "If anyone is going to take down Kurt Kraus, IT WILL BE ME!"

"But he will be taken down....if he's going to continue going after you then he can't be allowed to live much longer," said Seven, his tone flat and leaving no room for arguments.

"I swear if anyone goes after him and comes back alive, he'll have me to contend with next!" said Eight.

Seven paused, his head turned in the direction of his brother, "Do you...love him?"

Randy VIII was quite taken aback; his eyes widened and he froze mid-growl. "What do you mean?" he snapped.

"If he were anyone else, you'd have left him to himself long before now, or you'd have finished him off for being a threat. I know you Baby Boy, you an this Kurt...there's somethin' more goin' on," said Seven.

Eight was silent for a while. Seven was right. There was much more to the situation with Kurt than there had been with previous such encounters. He liked Kurt. He had always liked Kurt, and felt more strangely about him than anyone else. No matter how much he had hurt Kurt, or how much Kurt had hurt him, he'd looked at him with a sort of fondness which seemed to surpass simple respect or admiration for a fellow fighter. Perhaps it was love...

"Baby Boy, you know you gonna lose him...." said Seven.

Randy VIII frowned and shook his head. "I... I ain't ready for that yet." There were still so many things to figure out.

"You two can't fight for ever....I ain't know what he did, but his life ain't his anymore," said Seven.

With a sigh, Randy VIII sank to the floor beside Seven's bed. "I didn't know it would end up this way," he muttered.

"Sorry Baby Boy, but at least you'll be more careful next time," Seven groped around until he reached Randy's head to give him a pat.

Randy VIII bit him, though only lightly. "What next time? How could I have been prepared for this? I'm not supposed to love him! You were right; if it were anyone else, I wouldn't care... but I do and I'm not even sure why."

"If it were anyone else you'd have left him after the attack and that would have been the end of things between you, but you carried on an' now you've made a genuine enemy who hates you and will stop at nothing until one of you dies, and so the poor fool done sealed his own fate," said Seven rubbing Eight's hair, "How you gonna fix this mess Baby Boy?"

Eight gave in and let Seven touch him, leaning into his hand for comfort. He snorted. "Maybe I'll just have to make him love me, too," he grumbled, though it was little more than a joke to fill the space where a real answer would have been. For the moment, he didn't have one. "Why'd I have to be so drawn to that crazy fucker?"

"Cause he's a crazy fucker?" Seven offered his own feeble attempt at a joke, rubbing Eight's hair gently.

"Must be," replied Eight. He placed one of his hands over Seven's. "C'I tell you a secret?"

"Sure you can Baby Boy," said Seven.