Hanging by a Moment

by Dreamstar

Disclaimer: Hmmm... I don't think I have millions of dollars so obviously I don't own them. I also don't own Lifehouse's Hanging By A Moment

Warnings: This chapter is quite a bit darker than the first one, mainly because Isis has a confrontation with her brother. No fluffy Seto/Isis, not yet anyway. *grins*

&-&-&-&

On the outside, Isis seemed to be completely calm and in control, cool and unfeeling. On the inside her stomach was twisting itself in knots, making her feel slightly ill. She tried to ignore it and she did everything within her power to keep anyone else from noticing it. She couldn't afford to show any weaknesses, not with so much at stake. She had to convince Malik she was more powerful. It didn't help that she was out here to meet him in the middle of the night with nothing but the darkness around.

A few moments ago she had spoken to Rashid and he had promised to tell her brother that she was here. Rashid was an old family friend and she was sincerely hoping he would go good on his word and not suddenly come back to kill her. She desperately needed to see Malik, she was possibly the only on that could reach his light half. She would have to try, it was better than just accepting the fact that killing him was the only way.

As always when she saw her brother now, she was a bit taken aback by his appearance. He was no longer the little boy she had watched over so many years ago; he was now a very attractive, well-muscled young man. However, there was an evil aura around him that made her want to sprint all the way back to Egypt. Unwanted tears sprang to her eyes as she remembered how he was before the other half took over. If only things could ever be that way again. "If it isn't my dearest sister." He scowled, folding his arms across his chest. "You'd better not be here to tell me some sob story about how much you miss me and how much you love me. I have places to be, people to kill..."

Hearing him talk to her like that only renewed Isis' determination to get rid of his other half. She matched his glare with one of her own, hoping hers was at least just as intimidating. "Not exactly," she said coolly.

Malik seemed slightly surprised, which was all the better for her. He quickly recovered and started walking in a circle around her, reminding her of the way a hawk circles its prey. "So you must be here to kill him."

"Maybe." She continued to watch him. No telling what he might do if she left her eyes off him for even a second. "I'm here to give you one last chance to stop this nonsense."

"I believe that's what you told me the last time." Malik stopped circling to stand directly in front of her. "And it's not nonsense; I'm trying to create a better world."

Isis continued to glare at him. "By killing everyone, right?" He didn't answer her. "Yuugi will stop you and if he doesn't," she took a deep breath, "I will."

Malik chuckled and turned his back to her. She couldn't see what was so funny; unless of course he had been wishing for his own death. He spun around and grabbed her dagger so fast she didn't register what was going on until he was holding it directly in front of her face. "Is this what you were going to kill me with?" She wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of an answer. He would probably interpret it as her being scared of him. "Nice craftsmanship," he said, inspecting the blade.

He drew the blade across her arm, causing her to wince and grind her teeth in pain. "Sharp too," he muttered, wiping her blood off the dagger. "You see," he turned to look at her again, "I'm not afraid of any of you. Apparently, I'm going to have to prove that to Yuugi by killing one of his friends." He smirked. "I think I'll start with Seto Kaiba."

"Go ahead," she told him, resuming her death glare. "I was thinking about killing him myself anyway. But why him?" she asked confused. Her brother's logic made absolutely zero sense to her. "Why not Jounouchi or Anzu?" Maybe if she could get him talking, she might get a chance to reach him.

"I want to make Yuugi sees them suffer before they die." She shuddered, pitying her younger brother, wondering exactly what he went through every day. Then again, she wasn't even sure he knew what was going on most of the time. "Besides," he added as an afterthought, "that guy has the biggest stick up his ass."

That she would agree with, and it was probably the only thing she and her brother had agreed on in the last couple of years. Maybe an attempt on Kaiba's life wouldn't be such a bad thing. It might bring him down a few pegs so he wasn't acting so high and mighty all the time. She realized she should leave soon; her arm was really starting to hurt and she wanted to make sure Malik didn't injure her too seriously. "Malik, I came here to tell you that I may be the one that has to kill you but please remember that I do love you."

His expression softened for a fleeting second, giving Isis the brief hope that maybe, just maybe, she was finally starting to get through to him. He leaned towards her and kissed her gently, carefully putting her dagger back into its hiding spot. Then he slapped her, a stinging blow that sent her staggering back a few paces. "Get out of here before I change my mind about not killing you."

She left as fast as her pride and dignity would allow, not wanting to see if he would pull through on his threats about killing her. Only once she was absolutely sure he wouldn't see her did she stop under a streetlight, reaching up to rub her cheek. "Stupid bastard," she muttered. She inspected her arm where Malik had cut her. It didn't appear to be very deep, just a scratch really, but it hurt like hell. She couldn't rule out her being able to reach him quite yet, after all, he could have done a lot worse with that dagger than just scratch her and she was positive that if it had been anyone else but her, he would have.

"I guess I should be counting my blessings." First things first, she had to wash the blood off her arm before she saw anyone else or else they would start worrying about her. She hated drawing a lot of attention to herself.

'Damn, I would have none not to go there if I would have had my Tauk,' she realized angrily. This pain was definitely something she could have lived without.

She searched for a place to wash her arm off at, all the while mentally seething at what had happened to her all because of Seto Kaiba. It would have been so easy for her to hate him with every fiber of her being, if not for the other day. Still, she was going to that jackass a piece of her mind the next time she saw him.

Unfortunately, she ran into him far too soon for her liking and before she had a chance to do anything about her arm and she was pretty sure a nasty bruise was forming where Malik had slapped her. The was definitely not the impression she wanted to give when she confronted Kaiba. Well, she still had her superior intellect and the fact that she had a soul that actually showed itself. She no longer Kaiba as soulless, not after the other day. "Kaiba," she said, eyes narrowing, much the same way Malik had done to her. 'Great, I learned how to be a bitch from my younger brother,' she thought sarcastically.

Kaiba did not look happy to see her. He wasn't exactly her favorite person in the world either so they were pretty much even there. "What the hell do you want now?" he snarled.

All the things she had planned to say, all the threats, the insults, flew right out of her head when she looked into his eyes. All she could think about was the way she had seen him the other day, the look in his eyes when he'd been ready to cry. She couldn't say anything bad to him when she had that image in her mind. Instead of what she had planned, she hung her head and looked to the side. "Nothing." She hated having him see her so weak and vulnerable like this but she couldn't get that damn image out of her head. Now, she felt like asking why he had been crying. That would get a real positive response, perhaps a bruise on her other cheek to match the one Malik had given her.

"You look like shit," he stated, causing her to resume her death-glare. She knew it was the truth, but still, did he really have to mention something about it? "Did you get in a fight with a fellow cheap whore?"

She clenched her teeth; he was seriously pushing his luck. She forced herself to relax, telling herself that he wasn't worth her time, not in this way anyway. "Actually, that fight just started." His eyes narrowed dangerously, she just ignored it. "My last fight was with Malik."

He sneered. "The love flowing through your family amazes me, Isis," he said sarcastically. "I wish my brother loved me enough to kick my ass every time we met." She clenched her fist, trying to get back in control. She wasn't going to let him affect her like this. The problem was, he wasn't done yet. "Then again, to be exactly like you and Malik, we'd also have to be screwing each other." He smirked at her. "Right?"

It was quite easy for her to forget what she had seen in his eyes now. Now, she was thinking about breaking his stuck-up nose; after all, he could afford to fix it. "You little bastard! Just because I actually care about my brother, unlike some people around here-"

"Don't even go there, woman," he interrupted her. "I don't need lectures from you about caring about family."

Isis was surprised that he had interrupted her; normally Kaiba would wait until someone finished then come up with some smart remark. Interrupting was too much like showing emotion, something Seto Kaiba didn't know anything about. She studied his face carefully, wondering what had caused this sudden outburst of feeling.

In his eyes, she saw the same look she saw the other day though this time without the tears. The same look that made her feel like she had her Tauk again and she was seeing her future. It was very disorienting, to say the least. She wasn't going to apologize, oh no, she wasn't going to give Lord Kaiba something else to gloat about. Though she did manage to refrain from saying anything else to him.

Desperate for changing

Starving for truth

I'm closer than where I started

I'm chasing after you

I'm falling even more in love with you

Letting go of all I've held on to

I'm standing here until you make me move

I'm hanging by a moment here with you

She wished she hadn't gotten into the stupid fight with him to begin with. She could have been home by now, taking care of her injuries but no, fate or ill luck had to lead her straight to the bastard. It really wasn't fair. "Here, clean yourself off," he said, handing her a handkerchief, shocking her into a stunned silence. The was unreal, she had to be dreaming. Maybe Malik had killed her and this was hell. Or maybe Kaiba thought she would be his cheap whore for the evening. There was about a snowball's chance in hell of that happening. But Seto Kaiba did not just give something away for no reason. He always got something in return. So why the hell was he doing this?

"Take it," he said, shoving it into her hand. He turned and started to walk away.

She looked from the cloth in her hand to Kaiba's retreating form, torn between what to do. Most confusing was the fact that she had never seen Kaiba show kindness to anyone before, let alone her. So why was he starting now? "Kaiba, I don't know what kind of game you're playing but," she hesitated, knowing she would never hear the end of this, "thank you."

He just kept on walking which was expected. Typical Kaiba move, never acknowledge anything if it may make you look like you have emotions. So, he kept on walking and she proceeded to wipe the blood off her shoulder. Which made her think of Malik's threat to make an example out of Kaiba. "Kaiba, wait!" she called after him, realizing she was going to hate herself in the morning for doing this. "Malik's going to kill you." She gritted her teeth, mentally cursing herself for telling him that. She should have just let Malik do his business and get rid of the bastard. Now he had fair warning about what was going to happen.

Kaiba stopped but he didn't turn around. Isis wished he would have so that she could have seen his reaction, that was, if he had one. "Woman are so weak. You show them one tiny speck of kindness and they completely break," he said, barely loud enough for her to hear before walking off.

"Stupid bastard," she muttered, sitting down on a nearby bench. She looked up at the stars in the night sky, going about their carefree dance. They never had a thing to worry about. "I should have killed him when I had the chance," she said, lowering her head to stare at the ground. If she hesitated to kill Seto Kaiba, a man she had thought she hated until recently, how was she supposed to kill her brother whom she had loved almost her entire life. She just didn't know anymore.

One thing was for sure, she would have to tell Yuugi what had happened with her brother. Regardless of who Malik said he was going to make an example out of, Yuugi had to know that Malik was going to kill someone he knew and possibly care about.

Despite the late hour, she decided now was the time to tell him. For all she knew, Malik could already be on the move. All the more reason for her to hurry up and get there. The streets were eerily deserted as she rushed down the sidewalks, giving her an odd feeling of insecurity. In her mind, no one should be out this late at night unless there was an emergency, they were out of their minds, or they were hunters. The latter was what worried her the most. She had grown up around the hunters Malik now employed and she was well aware of what they were capable of.

Thinking about why people would be out this late lead her thoughts back to Kaiba. Why the hell had he been out there? He should have been at home, being pampered by his thousands of servants until he feel asleep. She shook her head; it was too disturbing to think about and she was nearing Yuugi's front door.

She hesitated for a moment before knocking, wondering how he would react to finding her on his doorstep at this hour. Which lead her to thinking about how Kaiba would react if she would show up on his front doorstep. Damn, she had to stop thinking about him.

She knocked three times, hoping to get a quick response. On the plus side, any relative of Yuugi's that opened the door would probably let her in instantly upon seeing her condition and ask questions later. At least she managed to get the blood off her arm though there was still a nasty looking cut there. That couldn't be helped, not at the moment anyway.

She knocked again, growing slightly impatient, wanting to get this over with so she could find her way into a nice warm bed. The door opened a crack before proceeding to open all the way. "Oh my, you poor thing, come inside," said an elderly man that looked vaguely like Yuugi, gesturing for her to come inside. Isis was only too happy to do so, letting him lead her to a couch which she gratefully sat down on. "Can I get you something? Perhaps some tea?"

"Actually, I'm here to see Yuugi but some tea would be nice," she said, careful not to let too much emotion creep into her voice.

The man nodded and Isis watched idly while he went up the stairs before turning her attention to her surroundings. The place was nice enough, at least it didn't have any evil auras flowing through it. It wasn't very long before the old man came back down. "They'll be down in a moment. I'll get you some tea," he said, hurrying off into what was presumably the kitchen.

They? Isis had a fleeting suspicion that the old man was not talking about Yuugi's other half. She hated it when she was right; Jounouchi followed Yuugi down the steps. All she could think of was to curse the gods for making him be here on tonight of all nights. It was bad enough she had to admit her weakness to Yuugi but to admit it to Jounouchi as well would be sheer torture. Afterwards, she saw how utterly exhausted they both looked and almost pitied them. She had forgotten the hell Malik had put them through and how they had suffered just as much as she had if not more. She had nothing to be ashamed about around them. "Yuugi, Jounouchi," she greeted them softly.

Both of them looked shocked to see her there then concern filled Yuugi's eyes. "Isis, you're hurt."

'As if I don't know that,' she thought. She shrugged it off. "I'm all right." What she was feeling physically was nothing compared to what she was feeling emotionally. She was a mess, both inside and out, and she'd be the first to admit it.

Yuugi came to sit next to her on the couch while Jounouchi remained standing. "What happened?"

That was the one problem Isis had with Yuugi; he was too damn concerned with other people for his own good. Still, it was kind of uplifting to have someone actually care about her even if that person cared about anything that crossed his path. If only Kaiba would have cared, things might be different. "I just went to talk to Malik."

"That explains it," Yuugi said. He appeared to be deep in thought, as if he was talking to his other half. Well, at least she didn't have anything to worry about if his other half showed up unless she really really pissed him off, unlike Malik... "What did he have to say?"

She sighed and looked away. Despite the fact Malik had said Kaiba, he would be willing to kill any of them to prove his point. "He said he was going to make an example of Seto Kaiba by killing him, though personally, I wouldn't take anyone else off his hit list."

Yuugi nodded solemnly, knowing full well that Malik would say Kaiba just to get them off the scent of his real victim. Isis stole a quick look over at Jounouchi. He was revealing no emotion, none that she could read at any rate, so she decided to ignore him for the time being, focusing on Yuugi. "Any suggestions?"

She knew that he was going to ask her. No one knew besides Rashid knew Malik as well as she did, so she had a solution already prepared. The problem was, it was so simple, it was absurd. "Warn the others to keep a sharp lookout about them. If they keep their senses sharp, stay in at night, and take extra little precautions, they should be able to stay out of his grasp. If they sense danger, run. Malik won't risk an attack with other people around, it's not his style." It was the only thing they could do at the moment. Theoretically, turning Malik into the hunted was the best solution but it was also suicidal. None of them could ever hope to best Malik's tougher hunters.

"We'll tell them in the morning," Yuugi told her, relieving her to no end. Perhaps his other half was helping him to see the sense in her words or maybe he was just too tired to argue with her. Either way... "I do have one problem. What about Kaiba?"

'What about Kaiba indeed?' She knew he wasn't going to listen to her warning. That much had been made perfectly clear earlier.

"Even if we tell him, the bastard won't listen," Jounouchi said, joining their conversation for the first time. Isis looked over at him and quickly looked away. Something else was wrong, something Jounouchi didn't want to think about that was the whole reason as to why he was here. Isis tried to ignore it, she didn't want to get more involved then she had to.

Yuugi got that timeless look in his eyes that Isis now recognized as him conferring with his other half. "Isis, you know Malik and his hunters better than anyone. There's a high chance that his next target is Kaiba. I hate to ask you this but do you think you could watch over him?"

Isis was shocked to say the least; she never expected to be asked to become Kaiba's babysitter. She quickly thought it through. On the negative side, she would have to watch Kaiba 24/7. On the plus side, if she actually managed to save him, he might stop being such a bastard all the time. By Ra, what was she thinking? The chance of Kaiba stopping being a bastard was about the equivalent of that of a snowball's chance in hell. She must be delusional. Then again, she might be able to gather some dirt to use against him. "I guess I have no choice."

"Thank you very much," he said, right before the old man reentered the room, carrying a tray in front of him. "Grandpa, thanks for letting her in. This is Isthar Isis."

So this was Yuugi's grandfather; that explained the resemblance. "Thank you for your kindness," she said, bowing her head towards him.

"You're quite welcome, Isis." He put the tray down and handed her a cup which she took gratefully, allowing the warmth to seep through her, not realizing until that moment how cold she had been. "Yuugi, why is she here? The poor woman looks as if she's been dragged through the fires of hell. Is it the same as Jounouchi?" Isis heard the old man whisper, obviously trying not to draw attention to their conversation.

"Sort of," Yuugi said hesitantly. Isis didn't even bother wondering what that was all about, she was having enough problems trying to keep her eyes open.

"Here I am chattering along while she's falling asleep. Yuugi, why don't you let her have your room for the night? I'm sure you and Jounouchi can make yourselves comfortable down here."

"I'll show you the way," Yuugi said, grabbing her hand and half-dragging her to the bottom of the stairs.

"I wouldn't want to impose," she managed to get out, feeling very much the stranger and very uncomfortable. Then again, the prospect of walking back to her hotel didn't seem to be a welcome idea.

"Relax, make yourself comfortable." Yuugi lead her up the stairs, stopping at the second doorway. "Goodnight, Isis. I hope you're feeling better in the morning." He went back down the stairs with a little too much energy for her taste to rejoin his grandfather and Jounouchi.

She sighed as she opened the door, figuring she might as well make use of the invitation. It was a long walk back and she wasn't sure she could make it without falling asleep somewhere along the way.

She didn't bother to turn on the light, figuring she would use the light of the moon to guide her. Big mistake, she cursed as she stubbed her toe against something. Wincing, she was determined to make it the rest of the way without incident. She was already going to feel like shit tomorrow and she didn't need to make it any worse. Once there, she quickly made herself comfortable and fell asleep within moments.

&-&-&-&

At first, she wasn't quite sure what had woken her up hours later. Then again, she wasn't sure where she was either. She had sat up quickly in bed when she first heard the noise, old instincts from living with Malik springing to the surface. When her brain finally registered that she was at Yuugi's house and not with Malik she relaxed considerably. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the noise that had woken her up in the first place.

The sound was very faint, a whimpering sound that Malik's victims sometimes made when he pushed them to far. Her initial reaction explained, Isis wondered if she should investigate the noise. It was definitely the sound that haunted so many of her nightmares, the sound of someone whimpering in extreme pain and fear. She could not just sit up here and do nothing, not when Yuugi or Jounouchi could be in danger.

So, against her better judgment, she made her way carefully towards the door, following the sound which not surprisingly was coming from downstairs. She padded softly down the hall, knowing it wouldn't do any good if someone was actually down there and they heard her coming. Thankfully, the house was set up so she could stay hidden at the top of the stairs and still have a view of the entire living room.

She noticed Yuugi and Jounouchi had both staked out spots on the couch. It didn't take her long to figure out the noises were coming from Jounouchi who was apparently having some type of nightmare. He kept whimpering in pain and thrashing about while Yuugi was trying to wake him. From where, she was she could barely make out what Yuugi was saying. "Jounouchi, wake up." All the while she noticed he was gently shaking Jounouchi's shoulder. Something he did must have gotten through to him. The blonde boy woke up and looked at Yuugi as if he had never seen him before. "Jounouchi, it's me."

"Yuugi," Jounouchi said so softly Isis wasn't sure if he actually said it or she was hearing things. She didn't fail to notice the tears in his brown eyes. "Yuugi," he said again, pulling the smaller boy into a close embrace.

"It's okay, Jounouchi. I'm here."

Isis turned back down the hallway; it really wasn't any of her business. She was envious of Jounouchi; he had Yuugi there to comfort him. She had never been comforted during a nightmare, whether imaginary or real. Even now, during her worst nightmare, there was no one there to hold her and tell her everything was okay. She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks as she crawled into Yuugi's bed. 'Am I as unfeeling as Seto Kaiba that nobody wants to be close to me?'

Her only comforted as she drifted off to sleep was the fact that she wasn't alone. Seto Kaiba was just as alone as she was in this world.