Hello dear reader, and welcome to Out Loud. Though most definitely a sequel to Fire and Ice, it's not imperative to have read Fire and Ice to follow the story if you don't mind starting with our two protagonists already together (though not to worry; there's still plenty of angst to sort out).

~The first chapter starts after the end of the Grand Championship arc and before Dawn of the Duel quite gets underway, directly following a duel between Kaiba and Bakura during which Bakura gives Kaiba the Millennium Eye after luring him into the duel by kidnapping Mokuba and knocking him out.~

Dislaimer: This may come as a surprise, but I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the canon characters.

"Ah, is it just me or does anybody see

The new and improved tomorrow isn't what it used to be

It's the same damn song with a different melody

You're still you and I'm still me."

~The More Things Change, Bon Jovi

Chapter 1

Seto sped home, ignoring the honking of the other cars, the creepy golden eye he had received from the lunatic Bakura on the roof of Kaiba Corp headquarters forgotten; Mokuba was his only priority. If Bakura had hurt him in any way…

Alistair ran downstairs at the sound of Seto's car in the driveway. He'd called Seto several times because even Seto, the notorious workaholic, didn't spend all night at Kaiba Corp and he had sensed that something was wrong, especially when Seto hadn't picked up his phone.

Seto got out of the car and retrieved Mokuba from the back, hefting the unconscious teen into his arms.

"What happened?" Alistair asked in concern having just flung the door connecting the garage to the house open. "You look like you've been up all night, and why didn't you answer your phone?"

"It's a long story," Seto answered distractedly. "Can you hold the door open?"

"Sure." He followed Seto up the stairs to Mokuba's room where Seto gently lay his brother on his bed before pulling up the desk chair and sitting beside him. It was only then that Alistair realized Mokuba wasn't merely asleep.

"What happened?" he repeated. Without looking at him, Seto explained how he'd thought the power at KC headquarters had gone out because of the storm when suddenly his computer had turned back on to play a message from one of his old classmates, Ryou Bakura, who had kidnapped Mokuba and knocked him out, demanding that Seto duel him or risk Mokuba getting hurt.

"We were in the middle of a duel when he tossed me this and disappeared." He produced the eye from his jacket pocket. Alistair looked over Seto's shoulder to see what he was holding and started.

"Isn't that the Millennium Eye?" he asked in shock. "I thought that belonged to Pegasus." Seto shrugged and stashed it back in his pocket.

"Who cares? That's not the important thing right now." He thought back to what Bakura had lectured him about during their duel. Why was it that everyone was so interested in the past that they couldn't focus on the present?

"You're right, I'm sorry. Do you think we should take him to the hospital?"

"No," Seto replied firmly; he hated and for the most part distrusted hospitals.

"And it never occurred to call me to tell me what was going on?" Alistair demanded hotly.

"I left my phone in my office." Alistair had a hard time believing that, but then again he supposed that the location of his cell phone would have been the last thing on Seto's mind at the time.

"I thought something had happened to you!" For the first time since he'd gotten home Seto turned to look at Alistair, who was glaring at him, and noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

"Did you wait up for me?"

"Of course; I always do."

"Why? It's not like I'm going to get lost on my way home," Seto said, rolling his eyes.

"You don't exactly take good care of yourself."

"What, so you're going to do it for me? How nice of you." He yawned. "Where's Trudy? I need a cup of coffee before I can go back to work."

"You're going back to work? You just stayed up all night!" Alistair's voice was exasperated.

"Kaiba Corp doesn't just run itself."

"I'm not an idiot!"

"Be quiet," Seto snapped, inclining his head towards Mokuba.

"Then don't talk down to me!"

"Don't you have your own job to go to? How are they supposed to manage without their literary expert to guide them?" Alistair ignored Seto's sarcastic jab about his job as a page at the Domino Public Library.

"I called in sick. Unlike you, I like to think that some things are more important than working." Seto flared his nostrils and stood up.

"If you're accusing me of caring about Kaiba Corp more than my little brother," he started, his face inches from Alistair's, "than you don't know me at all."

"I like to think I know you pretty well thanks," Alistair replied, his jaw set. "I wasn't saying that and you know it. I'm talking about your health. You came home for a while but ever since the end of the tournament you've been working yourself into the ground again and don't tell me you haven't been; I'm not the only one who's noticed. Why do you think Mokuba's been hanging around KC headquarters so much? It's the only time he gets to see you." He had promised Mokuba he wouldn't tell Seto that, but it was the only leverage he had. It had the desired effect.

Seto had wondered why Mokuba had taken sudden interest in the company, but looking back, all of his brother's visits had revolved around just sitting in his office while he worked. He regarded Mokuba's unconscious face and was ashamed that he had so easily forgotten why it was he worked so hard. Turning back to Alistair he said:

"Maybe I have been working too much…" Relieved that Seto was willing to agree with him, Alistair let his gaze soften.

"I know that after what happened at Grand Championship with Siegfried von Schroeder you're worried about keeping Kaiba Corp on top, but it's not worth killing yourself over, and besides, he's no threat to you; you invented state of the art holographic technology; no one's going to top that. Especially not once you release your virtual reality pods. And plus, Kaiba Land's been hugely successful. Take a moment to just appreciate all the things you've already done instead of always focusing on the future."All the talk of time again reminded Seto of what Bakura had said. His face darkened. "What is it?"

"That's what Bakura was talking about. He gave me the same stupid Egyptian speech I got from Ishizu Ishtar at Battle City, then told me to take Pegasus's eye to Cairo in order to 'discover my past.'" Alistair crinkled his eyebrows.

"What does that mean? You've never even been to Egypt."

"I have no idea, but obviously someone's been talking to him or else he wouldn't have kidnapped Mokuba to get to me. Do you see why you and I have to keep this a secret now?" It was a frequent argument of theirs and Alistair didn't appreciate Seto using this situation to throw it in his face, nor did he particularly care for Seto's use of the word 'this' instead of 'relationship' as though putting that label on it would somehow make him seem weak.

"I'm not a fifteen year old kid and I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. And so would Mokuba if you let him learn how to defend himself."

"It's not your job to tell me how to raise him," Seto said angrily, his defenses automatically activated. A groan came from the bed and both men turned in time to see Mokuba open his eyes.

"What happened?" he asked groggily. "Seto? Alistair?"

"Mokuba," Seto breathed, sitting beside his brother on the bed. "Are you alright?"

"I think so." He sat up.

"What did Bakura do to you?"

"I'm not sure. I was just leaving the arcade and was about to call to have Alfred pick me up when Bakura came up to me. But he was acting really strangely; not like himself at all and asked me where you were so I said you were at work but that you were really busy and he sort of smiled at me and said something about how you'd definitely take the time to talk to him once you saw what he had with him and then that ring he wears around his neck started glowing. That's all I remember."

"He must have sent your soul to the Shadow Realm," Alistair realized, aghast. Dartz had talked about the 'Shadow Games' that those in possession of the Millennium Items were capable of playing and about how powerful they were, though he had sounded confident that the power of the Orichalcos was stronger.

"The Shadow Realm?" Mokuba's voice was fearful. He remembered all too well Pegasus saying something similar at Duelist Kingdom. It didn't bring back any happy memories.

"Oh please, don't tell me you believe in all that nonsense too," Seto said scornfully. "Then again, you still think a card can take people's souls so I shouldn't be surprised." Alistair ignored him.

"Is that all he said about it?" he pressed.

"I think so."

"Seto, I know how you feel about magic, but the Millennium Items are dangerous and if there's someone who has one who's trying to get you involved you should be careful. You've seen firsthand what that eye is capable of, and the pharaoh's Millennium Puzzle for that matter, and those are just two of seven. The ring Mokuba mentioned is probably the Millennium Ring which is seriously bad news."

"Are you listening to yourself? Millennium Items, magic, the 'Shadow Realm.' How can you expect me to believe that? That's ridiculous. There's no such thing as magic or past lives or real monsters. Pegasus is a snake, and a rich one. He can more than afford the drugs and the technology it would take to fake a magic act just like your old boss. And whoever Bakura's working for obviously has some serious dough too. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he's working for Pegasus or even Siegfried von Schroeder; I didn't believe his little 'I'm sorry' act for one second.

He just told me to go to Egypt to distract me so that he can take over Kaiba Corp. Well, that's never going to happen!" Alistair wanted to shake him.

"Not everything is about Kaiba Corporation! There's obviously something going on here and you're choosing to ignore it, but that isn't going to keep you safe; you should know that by now! When you dueled Yugi at your duel dome after Battle City he told you that your ego blinds you to the truth, but you know what, I don't think that's the problem. You're not too arrogant to believe in magic; you're just too stubborn to admit that you were wrong!"

"I fail to see how my views on magic have anything to do with anything. The fact of the matter is that Bakura kidnapped Mokuba and threatened his life just to give me some stupid antique eyeball and try to get me to go to Egypt so that whoever he's working for can take over my company. That's the reality Alistair and if you think otherwise then you're a fool. I however am not as gullible as his boss apparently thinks I am and I'm not about to play into his hands. I'm staying here."

"Your views on magic matter because regardless of what you want to believe, someone with a very powerful Millennium Item is targeting you and if you don't take strides to protect yourself you're going to end up playing into their hands no matter what you do! The only fool here is you!"

Mokuba looked back and forth between the two of them warily. He hated it when they fought, which they still did and often. He was always afraid that their next fight would be the one that would shatter the fragile happiness they had managed to find.

"Please don't fight," he said, bringing their attention back to him. "It's not worth it. It doesn't matter which one of you is right because whether it's magic or some kind of trick there's obviously something going on that we have to deal with together." Seto wasn't willing to back down just yet, but Alistair could see that Mokuba had a point. He also knew that arguing about magic with Seto was pointless; the CEO wouldn't admit it was real if God himself told him so.

"You're right Mokuba. So what are we going to do?" Both turned to look at Seto.

"Nothing. At least not until I figure out who Bakura's working for. Now as you so kindly pointed out Alistair I haven't had any sleep so I'm going to bed and since you haven't slept either I suggest that you join me. And Mokuba: I'm glad you're ok, but you should stay in bed too; I'll have Trudy cancel your lessons."

Once he had assured Trudy that all was well, called his secretary to tell her he wasn't coming in that day and to direct anything pressing to Roland, checked his emails, and taken a shower, Seto was ready to fall into bed next to Alistair who was waiting for him.

"I'm glad that both of you are alright; I was really worried, especially after what happened with Siegfried von Schroeder."

"Thanks for that overwhelming vote of confidence," Seto replied sleepily, his eyes closed. "Worrying about me implies that you think there's a chance I won't make it out of whatever I get myself into."

"Oh, silly me, I keep forgetting that you're invincible."

"That's better. Now come here." Without opening his eyes he raised his arm and Alistair lay down next to him.

Seto fell asleep straight away, his breathing deep and steady, but Alistair, tired though he was, couldn't get his brain to shut down; there were too many thoughts running through his mind. Why would a Millennium Item wielder want Seto to go to Egypt and give him the Millennium Eye? It didn't make any sense unless Bakura was implying that Seto, like Yugi, was a reincarnation of someone from the past. Was that possible?

Ishizu Ishtar, the owner of the Millennium Necklace had wanted to talk to Seto right before the start of Battle City and had given him the Obelisk the Tormentor card after showing him several choice artifacts on display at the museum, but the security camera footage Alistair had seen of the meeting didn't have sound and since the exchange hadn't seemed overly important other than the outcome he hadn't paid much attention to it. Now he wished he could remember what had been on the tablets she'd shown him.

And if Seto was a reincarnation of someone else, what did that mean? Alistair had never completely grasped the concept of the spirit of the pharaoh living in Yugi's Millennium Puzzle aside from the fact that it meant two souls shared one body; taking down the pharaoh had been Raphael's job, not his.

Still, if Seto wasn't willing to entertain the possibility that magic was real, he wouldn't go for a reincarnation theory either which left Alistair to pick up the slack. Someone in their camp had to keep an eye out for any dark magic coming their way and it clearly wouldn't be Seto, therefore it had to be him. So if Seto wanted to waste his time investigating people who might want to take over Kaiba Corp, he would have to research the Egypt connection himself.

Author's Note: The first couple of chapters are going to attempt to fill in some of the gaps left in the series, particularly regarding Seto's abrupt decision to fly to Egypt after saying multiple times he wouldn't go. The vague time frame leaves plenty of breathing room to add Alistair into the mix, which I have (hopefully successfully) done while staying as true to canon as possible (albeit a mix of the sub and dub).