Mariks eyes fluttered open as his bedroom door was violently flung open. He groaned and rolled over, burying his face in his pillow, trying to shut out the light that streamed in through his curtains.

"Marik!" A voice called, interrupting his attempts to go back to sleep.

"Sod off Melvin." Marik hissed, pulling his covers higher around his neck, snuggling into their warmth.

"That's two evil council meetings you've missed now. How are we going to beat the Pharaoh if you don't help?"

"I'm sure you'll work something out." Marik grumbled.

The covers were suddenly torn away, and Marik's eyes met the angry crimson orbs of his darker half.

"What?"

Marik sighed and sat up, rubbing sleep out of his lavender eyes.

"Seriously Marik, what's going on? Everyone's worried about you."

Marik snorted in derision, "Not everyone," he muttered, nearly inaudibly.

"Did Bakura do something?" Melvins eyes flashed dangerously and he reached behind his back for the millennium rod. "Do you need me to teach him a lesson?

"No Melvin, and for Ra's sake put that away." Marik snapped.

Melvin growled and slipped the millennium rod into his belt.

"Well then you have no reason not to come today then."

Marik tried to think of a legitimate reason, but his mind drew a blank.

"You've got twenty minutes to get ready." Melvin warned, throwing Marik one last look as he left the room.

Marik sighed and rolled off his bed, pulling on the clothes that lay in a messy pile on the floor. Sleeveless lavender hoodie that showed his toned stomach, cargo pants and a pair of black converse. He growled at his reflection in the mirror, then began to carefully apply his kohl eyeliner.

"Five minutes Marik." Melvins voice called up the stairs.

Marik glared in his direction, then headed into the bathroom to use the toilet and brush his teeth.

Much less than five minutes later Marik stomped down the stairs, scowling.

Melvin barely glanced at him before heading out of the front door, trusting that Marik was following him.

Marik followed, scowl deepening as he stepped outside into icy rain, that immediately drenched him, hair sticking to his head, rivulets trickling down his face.

He walked the short distance to his motorbike, where Melvin was already seated, helmet on, ready to go.

He climbed on in front of his Yami, revved the engine and rode off through the grey streets to the evil council's secret head quarters, a deserted warehouse just outside of Domino.


Marik slowed as they approached the warehouse, it loomed above them, dark and foreboding. The kind of place no-one would want to go. It made a perfect head quarters, even Domino's police officers were reluctant to come anywhere near.

Marik pulled up beside the building, getting off the bike and carefully propping it up.

Melvin removed his helmet, shook the rain from his hair and headed inside.

Marik sighed, then began to follow him inside, shivering from the rain that plastered his clothes to his tan skin. It never rained like this in Egypt. For a brief moment Marik felt homesick, but then memories of his time in the tomb returned and he shook his head in disgust at his sentimentality.

"You've finally decided to join us then." A voice spoke cooly from behind him.

Marik spun round in surprise, identifying the speaker.

Bakura lent casually against the building under a small overhang of corrugated iron, long black trench coat swirling in the wind, collar pulled up to keep the cold away. A cigarette smoked gently in his free hand, as he smirked at Marik's surprised expression he lifted it to his mouth, taking a deep drag, closing his eyes in pleasure. He opened his eyes again, and blew the smoke out of his lips in a tight stream. As Marik stared, Bakura's tongue darted out and he licked his lips.

Marik found himself staring at Bakuras damp, full lips. Watching as Bakura took another drag, eyes glittering with amusement at Marik's dumbfounded expression.

"Since when did you smoke?" Marik eventually said.

Bakura chuckled, "Since like forever. Want one?" He held the pack out to Marik.

Marik hesitated, then shrugged, why not?

"Sure." He answered, removing a slender white tube from the pack. Creamy paper soft against his rough fingers. Bakura removed a lighter from his coat pocket and lit it, flame leaping in the wind, Marik lent in, lighting the cigarette, noting how close Bakura was standing.

Marik took a deep drag, trying not to cough as the bitter smoke reached his lungs. He exhaled, watching the thick smoke billow into the air, to disappear among the raindrops that still fell heavily around them.

The two villains stood in silence, watching the rain falling. Bakura finished his cigarette and threw the butt to the ground, watching as the sparks flew into the air and were whisked away on the wind currents.

Marik finished a moment later, following Bakura's lead and throwing his butt to the ground, where it was instantly extinguished in a large puddle.

"You're all wet." Bakura remarked.

Marik was confused for a moment, then looked down at himself and realized Bakura was right, he was soaked to the skin, his usually gravity-defying hair was stuck to his head and cold water trickled down his back.

"It's raining." Marik replied simply.

"Touche."

Marik stared as Bakura removed his coat, blue and white striped t-shirt tight fitting, showing off his muscly torso. A moment later Bakura placed his coat around Marik's shoulders, who immediately felt the benefit of the extra layer. The coat still retained some of Bakura's heat and Marik pulled it closer around him, offering Bakura a small smile.

"Thanks."

Bakura shrugged, "It's fine. Should we head in?"

Marik nodded, and followed Bakura inside, watching the confident way he walked, the swish of his hips, and the way his hair blew in the wind. He buried his face in the collar, breathing in Bakura's scent.

Bakura slid open the large metal door, then gestured for Marik to step in first. Marik stepped inside and Bakura pulled the door shut behind them with a clang that resonated around the large room.

Marik looked around him, everyone was here. They were sat in a rough circle, perching on oil-drums, wooden pallets and the occasional battered chair.

"Look what the cat dragged in. Finally." Melvin sneered from across the room, where he perched on a stack of old magazines.

Marik glared at him and Bakura let out a wicked chuckle.

"Don't worry Melvin, I didn't hurt your precious Hikari."

Melvin gave Bakura a disdainful look and gestured for Marik to come and sit beside him on one of the chairs.

Marik did as he was told, and perched himself on the chair, which wobbled unnervingly beneath him. Bakura took a seat on an oil drum.

Finally, the meeting could begin.


"So is everyone clear on the plan?"

Various noises of assent came from the people assembled in the room.

"Good, then we'll all meet again on Thursday at midnight to carry it out."

People took this as the signal to leave and stood up, heading for the door, which Bakura had slid open. The rain still fell heavily, sounding loudly on the iron roof.

One by one they all stepped into the rain and scurried off to their various homes, lairs and hiding places. Eventually only Marik, Bakura and Melvin were left.

"See you next Thursday." Melvin nodded at Bakura, before heading out towards Marik's motorbike, helmet in hand.

Bakura nodded in reply, then stopped to grab Marik's arm as he went to follow him.

"I'll be wanting my coat back."

Marik nodded and blushed, removing his coat and handing it back, instantly noticing the drop in temperature.

Bakura swung it round his shoulders, standing the collar up against his pale neck.

"Thanks Bakura." Marik said, for the second time.

"It's fine Ishtar, we wouldn't want you catching a cold would we?" His voice contorted into a sneer at the last part, aware Melvin was nearby, listening.

Marik smiled, waved his goodbye and strode out into the rain.


Marik sighed, letting the hot water run over his tanned body. He'd already been in the shower for twenty minutes, but he wasn't ready to leave yet, to allow the cold to assault his body again. He let his thoughts wander to that mornings meeting, specifically to Bakura. He smiled as he remembered Bakura placing his jacket around his shoulders, leaning in close to light his cigarette, the twinkle in his eyes as he'd caught Marik staring. Marik knew he needed to stop staring, but how could he help it if Bakura was so beautiful? Marik wasn't even sure what it was that made him so beautiful, his hair, white and thick, sticking up from his head in bat wings, that Marik knew if he touched would be fluffy and soft. Of course his body was good too, tall and slim, the outline of his toned chest was always visible through his top. The coat he wore was nice too, it made his look much more dramatic, and added a touch of danger. Marik imagined Bakura wearing nothing but the coat and flushed bright red, reaching up and turning the shower to cold, trying to clear his head of the thoughts. He gasped as the icy water hit his skin, but remained under the shower head until his little problem had solved itself.

A few minutes later he stepped out, turning the water off and wrapping a warm towel round his waist.

"Holy frig!" he exclaimed a second later as he opened the door to come face to face with Bakura himself.

Bakura raised an eyebrow at the Egyptians flushed face, then allowed his eyes a quick sweep down the boys frame and back up, something Marik didn't miss.

"Once you've finished eyeing me up you can explain what in Ra's name you're doing here." Marik said, crossing his arms across his chest, feeling exposed under Bakura's stare.

"You wish Marik." Bakura replied with a snort.

"For the last time I am not frigging gay!"

Bakura simply curled his mouth into a sneer, lent in close to Marik's ear and whispered "So why did you keep staring at me today?"

Marik began to panic, searching for a witty remark. But for the second time that day, none came.

"I.. I wasn't." He stuttered, mentally slapping himself for doing so.

Bakura laughed softly and walked down the hall to Marik's room, sitting casually on his bed and looking around the room with interested eyes. Marik followed him suspiciously, wondering where Melvin was.

"So who were you staring at then?" Bakura persisted.

"I wasn't staring at anyone." Marik replied, glad his back was to Bakura as he got clean clothes out of his closet. He turned around a moment later to discover Bakura inches in front of his face. His breath hitched in his throat and his cheeks burnt bright crimson.

"Well there were no girls there, so you're obviously gay."

"You're the one who seems to want to watch me get dressed." Marik replied curtly, silently applauding his brain, which seemed to have finally woken up.

Bakura growled, and sat on Mariks bed again, facing the wall.

Marik stood there for a minute, not too keen on getting changed with him in the room, what if Melvin walked in?

"Hurry up Ishtar, I haven't got all bloody day." Bakura snapped.

Marik obeyed Bakura, and rubbed himself dry with the towel, keeping his eyes on Bakuras back the entire time. He pulled on a pair of skinny jeans and began towel drying his hair.

"Marik." Bakura's voice said, with just a hint of glee.

"What?"

"If you're not gay, why is there a yaoi under your pillow?"

Marik immediately lunged for Bakura, trying to grab the offending article off him, but Bakura retained his grip, Marik instead ended up pinned under Bakura on the bed, hands held above his head by one of Bakuras strong arms.

Bakura chuckled at the compromising position the boy under him was in, Marik's face was flushed and his bare chest rose and fell in a slightly erratic, panicky way.

"Looks like I've found your secret, eh Ishtar?" Bakura smirked evily, eyes flashing crimson. "I knew you were gay."

"You're the one straddling me."

Bakura merely grinned, then, to Mariks surprise, rubbed their lower bodies together, causing Marik to let out a moan.

Bakura leant in closer to Marik, millimetres from his ear, "You liked that, didn't you Ishtar?"

Marik didn't trust himself to reply, so stayed silent, listening to Bakura's soft breathing, his white hair tickling his neck.

Marik let out a sharp breath as Bakura began kissing the soft spot behind his ear, lips gently nibbling at the tender skin. Bakura carried on kissing, lips working down to Marik's neck, where he bit down harder. Marik moaned again, arching into Bakura's body, angling his head to give him better access. Bakura chuckled.

"I knew you were gay Ishtar."

Marik ignored this, it didn't matter whether he was gay or not, it felt amazing.

"What if I was?" Marik asked, trying to ignore Bakura, who had now worked his way down to his collar-bone, and was working on giving Marik a hickey, biting down hard with his cat-like canines, drawing blood which he lapped away.

Bakura grinned, bringing his forehead to meet Marik's.

"Then we can have all sorts of fun." His eyes glittered lustfully, and he rose, releasing Marik's hands and straddling his lap. He reached up and pulled off his striped t-shirt in one smooth movement. Marik could do nothing but stare at the milky white skin, Bakura's chest was perfectly sculpted, muscly without being too intimidating. Marik couldn't help but find his eyes drawn to Bakura's stomach, where a trail of white hairs led down to the band of his jeans. He reached up, placing a tanned hand on Bakura's soft chest, feeling his heart beating under his palm.

"See something you like Marik?" Bakura smirked again, and without waiting for an answer leant forward and locked their lips together in a fierce, desperate kiss, each of them battling for dominance. As Bakura went to move away, Marik caught his bottom lip in between his teeth, sliding his tongue back into his mouth, starting another kiss. Bakura moaned softly into Marik's mouth and his hands began unbuckling the belt on Mariks jeans. Marik arched upwards, allowing them to be pulled off and dumped on the floor. Marik moved his mouth to Bakura's neck and bit down hard, recieving a lustful growl from Bakura. Marik kissed the now red skin, soothing it with his soft lips, before reaching up to plant another hungry kiss on Bakura's lips.

Just as Marik began unzipping Bakura's jeans, never breaking the kiss, the bedroom door flew open, smashing into the wall. Before either Marik or Bakura could react a hand had grabbed Bakura and dragged him onto the ground.

"What the EFF are you doing to my Hikari you sick freak?" A voice yelled, shaking with rage as Marik raised to see the face of the last person he'd want to see right now.

"Melvin!" Marik cried.

Melvin didn't say anything, but continued to glare at Bakura, who he held slightly above the ground by his white hair.

Marik and Bakura's eyes met, and Marik could see fear in those deep crimson orbs.

"Melvin, let him go!"

Melvins head snapped up at this.

"What? After this bastard tried to rape you? My Hikari!" His voice rose to a shout and he took his rage out on Bakura, throwing him across the room into the wardrobe, where he landed with a cry of pain and a sick crack. Bakura immediately tried to stand and escape, but his ankle was injured, and he couldn't stand.

"It wasn't like that!" Marik begged, grabbing his Yami's sleeve. Melvin pushed him away angrily and stalked towards Bakura, who was now curled into a ball, awaiting the beating he knew was sure to come. Marik reached Bakura and began to kick every part of him, Bakura tried to stay strong, to not shout out, but a particularly vicious kick to the base of his spine made the tears in his eyes spill over.

"It wasn't like that!" He cried out, voice cracking, repeating Marik's earlier cry.

"Tell me how it was then Bakura. You think you can just molest my Hikari and get away with it? You'll get whats coming to you!" Melvin reached into his belt and removed the millennium rod, the blade gleaming in the light.

"NO!" Marik shouted, as Bakura simply whimpered and shrunk further into the corner of the room.

Melvin raised the blade into the light, preparing to slaughter the boy that lay before him, broken.

Marik acted without thinking, he ran to place himself between them, spreading his arms out above Bakura's head, stopping Melvin from attacking him.

"Get out of the way." Melvin hissed, angry at being defied.

"No." Marik said, but his voice shook, he could see the madness in his Yami's eyes, his need to kill.

"No? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill him." Melvin lowered the rod slightly, amusement flickering in his insane eyes.

"Because I love him." It slipped out of Marik's mouth before he could think about it. Only then did he realize it was true. "Because I love him." He repeated, louder, his conviction making him brave, he raised his eyes to meet Melvins, anger and passion glowed in their lavender depths.

Marik let out an evil chuckle, then swung the arm holding the millennium rod back, after that, Marik didn't remember anything.


Marik opened his eyes to see the reddish-brown orbs of Bakura staring back at him, his face was contorted with worry and there was matted blood in his white hair.

"Marik! Your Yami's a bloody nutter!"

"What happened?"

"He hit you with the rod, cut all down your cheek."

Soft fingers ghosted gently above a throbbing patch on Marik's cheek.

Marik reached up to feel his cheek, it was sticky with blood, the cut running right down one side of his face, from his chin all the way to his forehead, only just missing his eye. He gingerly prodded it and gasped in pain.

"It's pretty deep." Bakura said, taking Marik's hand away and squeezing it reassuringly.

"Where's Melvin?" Marik asked, sitting up and looking around the otherwise empty room.

"He left after he hurt you, I think he realized what he'd done. You've been out a couple of hours."

Marik nodded, feeling light-headed.

"You need to bandage that cut." Bakura said, before trying to stand, only to crumple to the ground with a grimace of pain on his face.

"'Kura! Are you okay?" Marik's hand came to Bakura's shoulder, eyes scanning his body for injuries.

"I think your delightful Yami broke my ankle. I heard it crack." Bakura's face was angry.

"He was just protecting me." Marik said pathetically.

"You can protect yourself." Bakura laughed, "unlike me."

"I couldn't just let him kill you."

"Well thanks Marik. I appreciate it." Bakura smirked, familiar glint returning to his eyes.

"I'll go get the first aid kit, you stay still." Marik said, giving Bakura a stern look before he stood to leave the room.

"Marik!" Bakura grabbed his hand before he could leave, looking up into his eyes.

"I love you too."

He pulled Marik down into a gentle kiss, careful to avoid his cut cheek. Then his head lolled to the side and he passed out.