I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. My Best friend owns Ria. I am nothing more than a poor depraved authoress who is trying to make said best friend's very belated b-day present. Her and Bakura in their very own fic. Enjoy

"I never pegged you as a do-gooder" Bakura said mildly, leaning up against the wall. Isis shrugged." I'm not. However, when your Millennium Item tells you the future, you have a responsibility to see that future come to pass."

Bakura raised an eyebrow." I thought it was hard to see anything directly connected to a Millennium Item, including the people that hold them."

Isis started to pace, cocking her head as she thought. " The key to that statement is 'the people who hold them'. Ryou has the Ring most of the time, so he holds it. You are not part of the Ring, you only reside in it."

Bakura frowned. " After 'residing' in the Ring for the better part of 5,000 years, you'd think it would somehow effect me." Isis blinked, then shrugged. Bakura stood up." This has been very interesting, I assure you. However, I won't help you. There is nothing in it for me, and." Isis cut him off. " Are you sure about that? The last time I checked, you…lacked companionship, shall we say." She grinned " There is much in it for you, I think." Bakura scowled at her. "I pick my own 'companionship' as you put it so eloquently. As I said, I see no reason for me to go along with this." Bakura snorted. " I can't believe I'm even having this conversation. I have better things to do besides help you. If what you say happens, oh well. If not, oh well." Bakura smirked.

Isis sighed. " Well, I did try." Bakura chuckled. " Did you really expect me to help you?" Isis smiled. " No. But now I will later have the pleasure of saying 'I told you so'." Bakura rolled his eyes and started toward the door. " Now, if our little conversation is done…" Isis nodded. " However, " She was cut off as the door opened and a girl barreled in, out of breath. " Isis, I found your brother by himself in the Egypt exhibit… again!"

She exhaled loudly in frustration. " How does he do it!" Isis stifled a grin. " You should know better by now Ria, Malik goes where ever he wants." Ria grumbled as Isis tried not to laugh. Bakura stood off to the side, unobserved by the newcomer. Isis walked over to Ria. " Calm down. This happens all the time." Ria snorted. " I know, but this time he tried to hit on me!" Isis just couldn't contain her laughter over this statement.

Ria glared. "Oh I'm glad you think it's funny. I sure as hell don't." Gradually Isis stopped laughing." Oh come off it Ria. The reason you're mad is Malik only flirted with you to get out of trouble." Ria stopped glaring and chuckled. " Thank you ever so much. You're the very image of a pillar of support." Isis snorted. "Must have been a major blow to your ego, huh?" Ria made a face.

Isis grinned. " Oh, by the way, I want you to meet someone." Isis went over to Bakura, dragging Ria with her. "Ria, this is Bakura. Bakura, Ria." Bakura went rigid. He hadn't had a chance to get a good look at her face before, but now he did. He felt himself caught in the gaze of the blue eyes looking at him. No, not totally blue, there were flecks of green and gray that made her eyes change color if you looked too long. With that thought he pulled back and schooled his expression into cool indifference.

Isis saw that one moment when the mask slipped and surprise showed on Bakura's face. So fast was it gone that if she hadn't been looking for it, she would have doubted what she saw. She grinned to herself. Is he in for the surprise of his life. It was almost too funny. She could almost pity the guy. Almost.

Ria was surprised. She hadn't noticed him when she first came in. Bakura, Isis had said. He wasn't old, but his hair was silver-white, and his eyes were brown. She found herself comparing them to the color of the mahogany desk her grandfather used to own. She almost thought she could see gold in them. Not the gold in rings, but the burnished color of the ancient artifacts brought in. Ancient, like his eyes. As she thought this, he seemed to look into her soul. With a shiver, she pulled away.

Isis saw this as well, and couldn't help but feel smug. You guys are so gone, and you don't even know it.

Feeling like he had to get back control of the situation, Bakura smiled coolly at Ria." Malik is very accomplished at side stepping authority. I'm sure Isis is quite capable of handling her brother." Ria just gaped. Who did he think he was? Any interest there had been evaporated. " But Isis doesn't get paid for it, I do." She smirked, and then to Isis, "Any way, I thought I'd tell you." Isis hid a grin by pretending to cough. Oh this was going to be good. Bakura headed for the door. " Oh, Bakura, I forgot." Isis then said something in Ancient Egyptian.

Bakura scowled at her. " You and I will talk later", he snapped, then left. Ria rounded on Isis. " Speak. Now." Isis chuckled. " I suppose having a friend who is multilingual in ancient languages can get annoying." Ria just glared." What did you mean by that? There she is, the significant other? What is that supposed to mean?" Isis grinned. " It's complicated. Let's just say that I know for a fact, if you get to know Bakura better, it will have very interesting results." She rolled her eyes suggestively. Ria groaned." You're kidding. I mean, he looks okay. If it weren't for the attitude problem, I might be interested. As it is, no thanks."

Isis chuckled again. " Now that the whole Battle City thing is over, it should be interesting to see how Bakura handles regular life." Isis was trying to decide if it was best to explain about Yami's and Hikaru's to Ria. Having 2 Bakuras around might cause problems. No, just leave it alone for now. Ria frowned and started chewing the nail on her forefinger. " Does this have anything to do with your necklace?" Isis groaned inwardly. Ria was a good friend, but the girl was to intelligent by half." You could say that."

Ria finally sighed explosively. "I was hoping you would explain on your own, but I guess you need a little push. Your necklace looks like one of the 7 images featured on a tablet I found while I was doing inventory on the things in storage a couple weeks ago. What are the images supposed to mean?"

Isis gave her friend a half grin. So much for leaving it alone. " What you saw were the 7 Millennium Items. I have one, the Millennium Tauk. One friend has the Millennium Puzzle. Bakura has the Millennium Ring and the Millennium Eye. Malik has the Millennium Rod. Another friend has the Millennium Key and the Millennium Scales. Together, they give the bearer enough power to rule the world. So far, 3 of the Items have some how caused their bearer to house another spirit. These are called Yami. The people that originally inhabited the body are the hikaru. The Bakura you met is a Yami. The other, the hikaru, his name is Ryou. They look very much alike, almost as if they were twins. It will be easy for you to tell the difference though."

Ria gave her friend a look, then smiled. " Two of them? Why Bakura and not this Ryou guy then?" Isis frowned. " I'm not sure. It might have something to do with the fact that," Isis suddenly grinned," Ryou is only about 16 years old. That would make you a cradle robber." Ria swatted playfully at her friend. Isis snapped her fingers.

" Speaking of robbers, Bakura is also known as Tomb Robber. 5,000 years ago, he was famous for robbing pharaoh's tombs. One of our theories is that he tried to steal the Ring and it sucked in his spirit in retaliation. He has no memories before the Ring, so we have no way to know for sure." Isis smiled and did a little half laugh. " He and Malik have been known to steal and shoplift every once in a while." She snorted." He says it's necessary to keep up his skills. Malik just does it for fun."

Ria grimaced. " He would. After he stole that vase and bowl… Man. It still pisses me off when I think about how freaked out I was about. I drove myself crazy looking for them. I'm just waiting for his next prank. I think he enjoys scaring me by popping in and out of the exhibit like he does. So Malik and Bakura are friends?" Ria couldn't help but be interested. The guy was 5,000 years old?

That would explain the feeling of something ancient she had when she had looked into his eyes. It wasn't fair! She had always been a sucker for old stuff, especially if it was Egyptian. She narrowed her eyes at her friend. Isis knew this, and was probably counting on it. But damn it, knowing the trap was there didn't help her any. She was still going to walk right into it. Her curiosity wouldn't let her do anything else.

She groaned in exasperation. " I know what you are doing Isis. You stick a living, breathing artifact, and Egyptian at that! in front of me, and expect me to be a goner." Ria sulked slightly; annoyed at the fact Isis had maneuvered her into a corner. " Congratulations, you were right." She glared at her friend " Evil, evil woman, " Ria grumbled, "Manipulating me like that."

Isis laughed long and hard at that accusation then wiped laugh tears from her eyes. "Oh come on," She teased, " Now that you know he's an artifact, and an Egyptian one at that, you won't be able to keep your hands off the man. And we both know that you won't mind a bit. He doesn't look like much, but he's no weakling. I think you'll find him up to your standards."

Ria's standards consisted of: built, sexy, great personality, equal to her in intelligence, and interest in ancient Egypt. So far she had not been successful. In her opinion, a man like that didn't exist. She had said as much to Isis before. " Up to my standards?" Ria snorted " You of all people should know better. You always said my standards were too high." Ria saw her friend's eyes shift. " Wait a second. How long have you known about this Bakura thing?"

Isis stared. Damn it. The girl way too damn smart." A year or two." Ria rolled her eyes and barked a laugh. "Well, I should have guessed. I have work to do, and when I think of more questions, I'll ask" Ria left shaking her head. Never a boring day at her work, she thought wryly

Please review. I might post some of them in the next chapter. And I honestly can't know if the fic is any good or not if you all won't say anything.Maori