VB's note: I always dreamed the day would come that I would get to co-write a story, and finally, it's here! I get to write this fabulous YGO fic with the talented (and so much better than me) scrambled-eggs-at-midnight! She is amazing, and if you like this story, it's probably because of her prowess. I'm gonna let her talk, since she wrote the first chapter, and I'll see you in the next chapter! -VioletteBagans
Eggy's note: Aw. Thanks, VB. You give me more credit than I deserve. And, you guys, I know I've got, like, three fics going right now. Some day I'll learn how to plan better. XD Anyway, the first chunk of this was mainly written by me, using VB's outline. The second bit was pretty much written equally by both of us, but VB planned it all out. She's the mastermind behind this, no matter what she says. ;D We hope that all of you reading enjoy this story as much as we enjoy writing it. -Eggy
(Future A/N's hopefully won't be this long.)
Disclaimer: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or its characters. Any occurring OCs belong to us, and we take full responsibility for their actions.
Téa shoved open her front door with more force than was probably necessary, slamming it shut behind her and leaning up against it with a loud groan.
Today had not been a particularly good day, and the kind of tired she was feeling was definitely not the kind that was supposed to come after workout at the dance studio.
It was more like the kind of tired where her feet hurt and her back ached and her muscles were ready to give out, but the music was still playing in her head and she couldn't get her feet to stop moving in time to the rhythm of the annoying pop song on the bus ride home.
Sometimes, Téa had to ask herself why she had ever wanted to be a dancer in the first place.
She sank to the floor, stretching her legs out in front of her. When Yugi got home, he was so giving her a massage. And maybe some ice packs.
Téa sighed, closing her eyes. Staying with her headache pressed against the cool frame of the door didn't exactly sound like torture right about now, but Atem had to be picked up from his piano lesson in less than an hour, and she knew should probably get started on dinner so that there would be something around for Yugi to eat when he came home.
She could ask him to get take-out, of course, but they'd had that for the past three days and there was still leftover chicken in the fridge from Saturday's Chinese order...
Téa pushed herself away from the door with some reluctance, wincing at the pain in her ankles as she walked down the hall towards the kitchen. Screw fancy dinner, she was just going to throw some noodles in a pot and be done with it.
Fifteen minutes later, standing at the stove with an apron on and a pot of semi-congealed pasta shells sitting glumly in a pot in front of her, Téa decided that she really hated cooking.
"Screw it, we're getting pizza," she muttered, throwing down her spoon in defeat. "I swear, if Yugi wants home-cooked dinner, he can make it himself. I give up."
Leaving the pasta on the stove, Téa walked into the living room and dropped onto the couch, tucking a pillow under her head.
"Twenty minute nap," she promised herself. "Then—"
The door bell rang.
Téa opened one eye.
It rang again.
"You've gotta be kidding me."
Téa stalked to the door and threw it open, barely remembering to arrange her face into a semi-pleasant expression before she scared the living daylights out of whoever she was going to be talking to.
Téa blinked when she saw two men in identical blackstaring somberly back at her.
"... Oh. Hello."
"Are you Mrs. Téa Mouto?"
"Yes, I am. Can I help you?"
"I'm afraid there's been an accident," the first man said, sounding apologetic. "Your son—"
"What—?"
"He's fine, but I'm afraid you'll have to come with us."
"... Can I ask where Atem's teacher is?" Téa asked. "Normally, I would have gotten a phone call, or—"
"I'm afraid Miss Emily is ill."
Téa felt her eyebrow quirk.
"She said to tell you that she would have come herself, if she could," the man went on, oblivious. "We just saw your son at the guitar studio, though, and I can promise you he's just fine."
"Of course," Téa said, stepping back. "Well, just let me go get my jacket, then, and I'll be right with you."
Téa left the two of them standing there and hurried toward the kitchen, but she ignored her dark blue jacket hanging where it was in hall the closet.
Instead, she reached into the cupboard above the stove and pulled out the first thing she laid hands on, wrapping her fingers tightly around the handle.
She heard a floorboard creak behind her and stiffened.
Then she turned around and smacked the first man from the door who had decided to follow her square in the face with the heavy frying pan in her hands, sending him sprawling to the floor.
"Nice try, creep," she whispered. "I saw Emily Wilkins at the grocery store this morning. And my son doesn't play the guitar."
Keeping the frying pan in her hand, Téa reached for the phone sitting on the counter—
Only to find that it wasn't there.
"Looking for this?"
Téa whirled, raising her frying pan threateningly.
The second man laughed, dangling the phone from his fingers. "Sorry, girl. Too late."
Then he lunged at her, and the world dissolved into darkness.
Tuesday, July 15th
"Téa? I'm home!" Yugi called.
No one answered him.
He stepped into the house, sliding his shoes off. "Hey, anybody here? I'm sorry I'm kind of late, but one of the guys who usually do the re-stocking had to take off early, so I stuck around to help out a bit."
Nothing.
Yugi frowned. Something was... off.
There was no noise, he realized. No one was pounding down the stairs, or playing music at full-volume, or cooking dinner. In fact, no one even seemed to be home at all. The house was silent and empty.
Yugi was a little afraid. For almost five years, Téa had practically made it her mission to have dinner cooked —or at least set out on the table, picked up from the nearest take-out restaurant— and music playing so that she could dance around the kitchen while she waited for him to come home. Today, though, the silence practically hung in the air like something tangible. He could have heard a pin drop.
It was... alarming, to say the least.
Yugi walked through his eerily-calm house, socks padding softly across the wood. "Téa?"
No response
All right, Yugi told himself. So his house was empty. Yeah, it was kind of unusual... but it didn't necessarily mean anything was wrong. Maybe Téa had run to the grocery store. Nothing to worry about.
Yugi made his way across the kitchen, absentmindedly opening the refrigerator as he tried to figure out where Téa could possibly have gone. Did Atem have a dentist's appointment or something? No, that was set for next week. Maybe an issue at school, then? But he would be home already if that were the case. Yugi frowned at the half-empty refrigerator. Just exactly how late was he, anyway?
The phone rang. Yugi grabbed for it, still peering into the 'fridge. "Hello?"
"Mr. Mouto?"
"Uh, yes. Sorry, who is this?" Yugi said. He could always just cook something himself and surprise Téa when she got home. She'd probably like that. She hated cooking.
"It's Miss Emily, Atem's piano teacher. Tell me, do you know where Mrs. Mouto is? She was supposed to pick up Atem an hour ago."
Yugi slowly closed the refrigerator. Then he saw the previously-missed pot of abandoned pasta sitting on the stove.
"I- no, I don't know where she is. I'll come and get Atem right now, though. Thanks for watching him— I'm so sorry for the inconvenience."
"It was my pleasure. See you soon."
"O-off course."
"Good-bye, then. I hope your wife is doing okay."
Yugi stared at the phone.
Tuesday, July 15th
After picking up Atem, Yugi dialed Téa's cell phone.
"Hi, you've reached Téa Mouto—well, I guess you haven't, since I can't come to the phone right now, ha... um, leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Thanks!" Beep.
"Damn."
"Daaaad!"
"Sorry, Atem!"
"Why are you calling Mom's cell, Dad?"
"Just trying to figure out where she is. Go back to doing your homework, okay?"
She was missing. She had to be missing. Téa didn't go anywhere without her cell phone.
And taking into consideration the number of times his wife had been kidnapped...
He called the police.
"Hello? Nine-one-one, what is the state of your emergency?"
"My wife is missing. I haven't seen her since this morning and she left her cell phone here. She never goes anywhere without her cell phone." If Yugi's voice sounded slightly frantic... well, this lady would just have to forgive him, and anyway, she should be used to that, she works for the freaking emergency phone line, surely she's heard worse—
"Sir? How long has she been missing?"
"Several hours."
"Where was the last place she was seen?"
"Here, I think. There's a pot of uncooked spaghetti on the stove."
"Okay, I'm sending over an officer. Please remain calm—there may be a chance your wife is not missing."
"All right…."
When the woman on the other end had hung up, Yugi set the phone down and bit his lip, thinking. Where could she have gone if she wasn't missing?
He spent the next ten minutes alternating between pacing around the living room and tapping his fingers on the table, trying to calm his nerves and think positively.
He failed miserably at both.
Finally, after what seemed like years, he heard Atem yell,"Dad! There's a policeman here!"
Yugi vaulted off the couch and met Atem at the door, giving his son a quick pat on the head before looking at the officer now standing in his hallway.
The man smiled at Yugi, then turned back to Atem, who was apparently in the middle of a riveting explanation.
"... And I was at the piano place for, like, hours, and then Miss Emily had to call my dad because my mom was supposed to pick me up but she never did, which is weird because she always comes and gets me, and sometimes she brings me an ice cream from Dairy Queen—"
"Atem," Yugi said.
Atem glared at him. "Daaad. I'm trying to talk to the officer!"
"Son, why don't you give your Dad and me some time alone?" the policeman said. "You can tell me all about it later, how about that?"
Atem looked at Yugi with big blue eyes. Yugi nodded.
"Go upstairs and watch TV."
"Sweet!"
When he ran off, Yugi drew in a shaky breath and looked at the man. "Would you like a cup of tea, Officer…?"
"Nicholson. David Nicholson. And no thank you, Mr. Mouto. I just need to ask you a couple of questions regarding your wife."
"Have you heard anything?" Yugi asked immediately.
"We received a ransom note a few hours previously," Nicholson said. "We just need to confirm it. Was your wife's name Téa Gardner?"
"It…it was…about ten years ago…that's her maiden name. She's been a Mouto for ten years now."
"Where did you meet your wife, Mr. Mouto?"
"We've been best friends since I can remember. We married a few years after high school."
"You are the famous Duel King, Yugi Mouto?"
"Yes. I suppose so."
"Was she involved in anything dangerous when you met her? Anything that she might live to regret?"
"No, nothing. She was my... well, she was almost like my own personal cheerleader in high school."
"We received a ransom note with your wife's name on it about two hours ago. Now that we know it's legitimate, we can begin following it," Nicholson said.
"What?"
"Yes. We'll find her, I promise."
"Oh…" Yugi brought his fingers to his mouth in understanding. "They're going to bring the gang together to find her…"
"The gang, sir?"
Yugi waved his hand. "An old group of friends. We went through a lot."
"A lot, Mr. Mouto?"
"It's nothing. We split up after a friend of ours…died."
"How long ago was this?"
Yugi smiled. "It's a long story."
"I have all night."
"Well," Yugi began, "after our friend Atem…died, we all went our separate ways. I took over my grandfather's game shop. Téa went to New York and danced on Broadway, coming home a few years ago to marry me. She teaches classes just down the street now; all the kids love her..."
"I see. Anyone else?"
"Tristan went into Dungeon Dice Monsters with Duke. Joey found Mai and they settled down. Ryou got married—his wife's name is Sarah—and moved to the States with her. We all moved on and grew up. We don't dwell on the past, Mr. Nicholson. Atem taught us better than that."
The officer was writing this down. "I think I have enough background information on her, but if you think the rest of these people are going to be involved, I may need to pay the ones who are in town a visit."
"Of course."
"If I could have a picture of Mrs. Mouto?"
"Oh, sure. Just a moment." Yugi jogged to the living room and came back with a silver framed picture of Téa from a few years ago, which he handed over to Nicholson. Téa was laughing and hugging him in the photo, smiling at whoever was taking the picture behind the camera, her mouth open to say something, her arms around Yugi's neck.
"This was taken the day she found out she was pregnant with our son," he said quietly, tucking his hands into his pockets and looking towards the stairs. "He's got no idea his mom is missing."
"I—" Nicholson seemed to think better of whatever it was he was going to say "Thank you, Mr. Mouto. We'll be in touch."
Yugi nodded and showed him out, closing the door behind him.
Then he took a deep breath and leaned against the wall, staring down at the rug his aunt had given them last Christmas. Téa's shoes were still sitting neatly along it's edge.
"Atem?" Yugi called after a moment. "Come here."
"Yeah, Dad?" Atem said, appearing at the top of the stairs.
"Your mother's missing."
"I know, Daddy. I heard you talkin' to officer Nicholson."
"We're gonna find her, okay?"
"I know you will, Dad."
"Okay. C'mon. We're going to Uncle Joey's for dinner."