Quatre: I think this is late. I'm sorry about that. I'm so freaking tired I almost can't remember my own name, and homework isn't letting up at all. I'm about ready to shoot my trig teacher and I've got an interesting idea of a fanart of Bakura killing Mr. Burkman (my trig teacher) with Trig.

Yami Quatre: You seriously need sleep. You only plot murder when you're this tired.

Quatre: You would, too, and I know for a fact that you have several times, though it was quite fortunate that Ame talked you out of it.

Ame: I sat in on your trig class today. Was I really seeing a bowtie?

Quatre: Yes, Burkman wears a bowtie.

#Yami Quatre and Ame burst into laughter.#

Quatre: Now, before my brain melts, here's the ficcie.


Warnings and Disclaimer are the same as always, and the shameless plugging continues.


Chapter Eleven: Rats, Pliers, and PA Systems


Yugi was chatting with Ame in their room on base, so Yami decided to go walkies. Now that the SGC knew about his existence, he had absolutely nothing to worry about in that quarter.

Purely on a whim, he decided to enter Daniel's office. He knocked, and got a groan for an answer. Figuring that it was okay, Yami opened the door.

Daniel Jackson was face down, fast asleep, resting his head on a book listing all known Pharaohs from Yami's era. Yami quirked a faint smile.

"Daniel Jackson, if you are trying to find out if I'm telling the truth, you shall not discover anything by looking through that."

Daniel's head shot up.

"I'm awake, I'm awake."

Yami sauntered over to where the archeologist sat, and leaned against the desk.

"You're looking in the wrong books for this, Daniel. In fact, you're looking for the wrong name. Try Atemu, but I doubt you'll find much under that name either."

Daniel rubbed at his eyes blearily, looking up at the spirit.

"Huh? How'd you guess-"

"You have hardly been seen since I told you about myself, and this office seems like it is made of list books. That, and I overheard the General telling you to do this. Let me commend you on your work thus far, but it is getting you nowhere. There are few tablets that mention me, and fewer people who can read them."

"What do you suggest then?" Daniel asked, sounding like he was pouting. He wasn't, but that didn't change the voice.

"I suggest you try and contact a Miss Isis Ishtar, of the Cairo Museum. Tell her that mou hitori no Yugi told you. She'll understand better than any of the others," Yami sighed slightly, and continued. "Out of those who understand the tablets, one of them is Isis, one is Isis' brother, and he's heavily grounded, one is loyal to the first two, one won't talk unless I tell him to personally, one doesn't believe in it, one is less than forthcoming about anything at all, and two are trapped under a mountain. I'm assuming that Ame can now read them as well, so that makes three of us under a mountain. I'm almost positive that Pegasus couldn't read them, and he's missing, presumed dead, in any case."

Daniel continued to stare at Yami.

"Well, go on then. Have fun, I won't stop you," Yami added after a few seconds of silence, getting up from his lean.

Daniel waited a few more seconds, then moved his chair over to his computer, and started requesting files on Isis.

Yami walked out of the room, still smiling slightly to himself. It still might take Daniel a while to convince Isis.

A few minutes later, he set off to find a computer with an internet connection – highly rare inside the mountain – so he could send an e-mail to a certain blonde Egyptian.

An hour later, the email was sent and Yami was bored. He wandered around the base, nodding absently to people who greeted him, until he ran into one Colonel Jack O'Neill.

"Colonel," Yami acknowledged.

"Yami," Jack greeted. "How have you been? Has Ame been bothering you?"

Yami shook his head. "He's actually being civil to me and Yugi, although I can't say the same for others."

Jack winced. "Yeah. He reminds me of a fictional character named Duo Maxwell."

"Gundam Wing?" Yami confirmed. "Yes, I've heard of it. Jou has watched it several times."

Jack grinned. "Shall we walk? We're blocking the hallway."


Yami turned the corner, still talking to Jack.

"So, what exactly made you and the others start believing me before?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, we looked through our security tapes. Found you'd been seen three times before the mission."

Yami blinked once.

"Security tapes?" he repeated, feeling a slight sense of worry trickle down his back.

"Yeah. See, look over there," Jack pointed at a small, unobtrusive camera, set high in the wall. "There's one of the cameras. Actually, I'd been meaning to ask you something. The third time, you spent the night in Yugi's bed."

Yami didn't let any reaction show on his face.

"Continue," he said simply.

"Well, see, Sam and I have this bet going. She says that he was worried about the mission, and that you were making sure he was all right. I, er, think... that... er... you were... you... you like Yugi, don't you..."

Jack trailed off at the look that had suddenly come over the former Pharaoh's face.

"I see," Yami growled out, restraining quite a bit of anger. Apparently some of it must have shown on his face though, because Jack was looking more than a little scared by then. "If you must know, your answer is correct. Although I don't know about Yugi. Happy now?"

"Ah. Right. So... can I tell Sam that I won the bet?" he asked, before taking in the look on Yami's face again.

"Lemme guess: Omae o korosu?" Jack said, gulping slightly as Yami deathglared him. Yami nodded slowly.

"You're gonna have to catch me first!" Jack declared, and ran off. Yami chuckled at the Colonel's retreating form.

"Final proof that Gundam Wing can be bad for you."

Daniel nearly walked past Yami at that moment.

"Don't ever say that in front of Jack. Actually, speaking of Jack, where'd he go?" Daniel enquired, balancing several rolls of paper and a cup of coffee. Yami gently took a few of the rolls from Daniels arms, so he was free to drink the remainder of the coffee without the risk of dropping anything.

"He ran off when I deathglared him. Why?"

"Ah. That explains why you just said that. He's wanted in the briefing room. Come to think of it, so are you three."

"Why not have it announced on the PA system?" Yami asked, resisting the urge to look through some of the rolls of paper currently in his arms.

"Oh, it's down at the moment. Something about faulty wiring."

A mental image of Ame and a pair of wire clippers filled Yami's mind.

It would be exactly the sort of thing he'd do, Yami mused silently.

"How do you mean 'faulty'?" Yami said, hoping his tone was innocent.

"Oh, we found some rats down in the lower levels. God only knows how they got there. Anyway, they'd gotten into the PA. Made a right mess of it."

"Oh. Right then. Well, let's get going. I'll ask Yugi and Ame to catch up to the Colonel."

Daniel's face burst into a relieved grin.

"Thank you!"

/Um, Yugi, Ame, have either of you seen Jack?/

/Yeah, he just ran past. Why?/ Yugi asked.

/Catch up with him. We've got a meeting in the briefing room, and he's wanted there too./

/What's up with the PA system?/ Ame asked innocently.

/Rat's nest./

/Got him!/ Yugi called across the link.


"But Jack, you've got a meeting!"

"Is Yami going to be there?"

Jack paled at Ame's calm nod.

"If Yami's going to be there, I don't wanna be there!"

"Why is that, Jack?" Yugi said, concerned.

"He's angry at me. The last time I saw him he looked like a spiky-haired and red-eyed version of Heero Yui."

Yugi laughed out loud.

"Is that what you're afraid of? You've faced down far worse than my Yami."

"Yeah, but all of the System Lords consider me a minor nuisance. Yami's really angry at me!"

/Yami, did you really deathglare Jack?/

/Yes. Why?/

/You've got him really scared, that's why!/ Ame crowed.

/Tell him I'm not actually angry at him, although I do think it would be a good idea for him to stop watching so much Gundam Wing. Maybe a little bit of Digimon in his diet wouldn't go amiss. Any series./

Yugi giggled again.

"Yami says he's not really angry with you. He does suggest that you watch a little less Gundam Wing, though."

Jack clutched at his chest as though he were mortally wounded.

"Don't say that, not even joking. Fine, I'll come to this meeting, but if he attacks me, I'll consider you partially responsible."


General Hammond waited in his chair at the head of the table in the briefing room.

/How long does it take an archaeologist to find four people?/

He rethought that.

/Do I count Yami, Yugi, and Ame as the same person or different people?/

/What am I thinking. They're all different. Although it remains to be seen as to how Yami and Ame get along./

The door opening distracted him, and he turned to see Jack and Yugi walk into the room. Jack hesitated, glancing around the room furtively.

"Has Yami shown up yet?" Jack asked Hammond.

"No, Colonel. Should he have?"

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Yami deathglared Jack and now Jack's afraid that Yami will hurt him."

"With good reason!" Jack protested.

"Sit down, Colonel. Yugi, tell Yami not to do anything to Jack until I know what's going on."

Yugi went a rather interesting shade of pink. "Uh... That's a rather... personal matter, Hammond-sama. Let's just say that Jack pried into my and Yami's personal life and Yami didn't like it very much."

Hammond raised an eyebrow at that. "All right, I can respect that. How long until Yami arrives?"

Yugi cocked his head. A minute later he replied, "He's in the elevator with Daniel. They don't know where Sam or Teal'c is."

"We're right here," Sam said, coming in just then with Teal'c and Jacob directly after.

Yugi paused for a few moments, assumedly telling Yami that Sam had been located, before taking a seat next to Jack.

Yami and Daniel walked in a few moments later. Yami nodded to everyone before vanishing.

"Is Ame here?" Hammond asked Yugi. Yugi nodded. "Very well. The subject of this meeting is to determine what we should do with Yugi now that he has acquired Ame. Selmak is sure that the Tok'ra High Council will allow Ame to remain with us, although I don't know in what capacity, which leaves us to deal with the situation."

"I don't mind continuing to work with you," Yugi piped up. "I just want to know if I'll ever get to go back outside, or visit my friends in Japan, or go to Duel Monster tournaments."

"Well, seeing as you managed to keep Yami a secret from everyone for a while, I'm sure that I could convince the President to let you go back to your hometown for a visit every once in a while. Hell, I'm sure we could convince him to let you live off-base."

"Erm..." Yugi looked a bit uncertain. "Yami wasn't exactly a secret from everybody. My best friends knew about him, as well as those who are associated with the Millennium Items."

"How many people, exactly?" Jack asked.

Yugi counted them off on his fingers. "Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu, Seto, although he doesn't believe in magic, Mokuba, Ryou, Malik, Isis, Pegasus, although he may be dead, Otogi, Rashid, Mai..." He had to think. "And you guys, I think, are the only ones who know. Not even Grandpa figured it out." He blinked. "I forgot about Shadi! Although he knew about Yami long before I did myself."

"That's not too bad, sir," Sam said. She turned to Yugi. "How many of them found out by accident?"

"Jou, Honda, Anzu, Bakura, Mai, and myself," Yugi said. "I told Seto, because I was trying to save my friends at the time. Isis already knew, and Malik... yeah, he found out the hard way. Pegasus... He certainly didn't expect Yami to show up, so that makes another. We told Duke, and Mokuba was there when I told Kaiba."

"And Rashid?" Daniel asked.

"He works for Malik, so I assume he found out from his boss."

"Who's Bakura? And Kaiba?" Sam asked.

"Kaiba is Seto and Mokuba's last name," Yugi said. "Bakura... well, let's just say that I'm not the only one possessed by the spirit of an Ancient Egyptian."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "You failed to mention this before."

"I know. Ryou is the holder of the Millennium Ring, which held the spirit of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb Robber. He swore to obtain all of the Millennium Items, and managed to steal the Millennium Eye before Yami caught up to him."

"Still," Sam mused, "that's only a dozen or so people. Not too bad, sir," she said to Hammond. "As high profile as Yugi is, the whole world could have found out about Yami by now."

"It's a miracle no one has," Daniel said.

"You did not even notice when Yugi and I switched," Yami put in. Everyone blinked. No one had noticed when he'd traded places with Yugi. "The only differences between Yugi and myself are minimal. The most noticeable is my eyes. I also tend to let Yugi handle most of the everyday things, such as school."

"All right," Hammond nodded. "I'm sure we can trust you to stay hidden, but what about Ame?"

Yami bowed his head, and Ame looked up. "I may seem like an idiot, but I'm not stupid. I know what could happen if I revealed myself to the world at large."

"So..." Hammond trailed off, searching for the right words. "How many people are going to find out about you, Ame?"

Ame bowed his head, and Yugi looked up. "Jou, Anzu, Honda, Mai, and Otogi, most likely," the teen mused. "I'm loathe to leave them out of the loop, as that could leave them in danger. They certainly won't tell anyone. Ryou, probably, as Bakura is nosey. Actually, it may be best to tell all of the Item Holders eventually. But only them."

"And can they be trusted?" Teal'c asked.

"I'd trust Jou with my life, and have once or twice. Anzu, Honda, and Otogi are the best friends I've ever had," Yugi said levelly. "Bakura will try to kill me again, that's perfectly normal, but he may be put off by the fact that I am the vessel of one of the false gods of legend, and he'd certainly do nothing to compromise his position, including telling anyone of Ame's existence if Yami made the consequences clear."

"I believe that the fact that they've kept Yami a secret vouches for them, General," Daniel said.

"Agreed," Hammond said. "Now, you're aware that this all hinges on what the High Council says, don't you?"

Nods.

"I'm authorizing a mission to the Tok'ra base tomorrow. Until then, I want Yugi and Daniel to work on translating the writing from 987. Anyone want to add anything else?"

Silence.

"Very well, dismissed."

Everyone stood. Yami appeared next to Yugi and went off on his own. Yugi called something in Japanese and followed. Daniel caught up to Jack and Teal'c, and Sam left with Jacob.

Hammond sighed and rubbed his temples. This job was enough to give him a headache.

/I need coffee./


Yugi caught up to Yami just as the pharaoh reached the elevator.

"Are you mad at me or something?" he asked the spirit in Japanese.

Yami shook his head. "No, Yugi. I'm sorry, I'm just concerned."

"About what?"

"Many things. I've already explained to you why I deathglared Jack. I'm still mad that there was a camera in our room, which undoubtedly means that there's a recording of our conversation last night."

Yugi smiled. "It's ok, Yami. You can always intimidate security into keeping silent."

Yami had to grin. "That is an option, but I'm thinking of just talking to General Hammond. I don't like the thought of no privacy. Especially if..." And, amazingly, he blushed. Yugi did, also, once he figured out what Yami meant. Ame snickered in the back of Yugi's mind. Yugi scowled.

/Ame, this is a private conversation. Out. Now./

/But...!/

/Ame, go. Now./ Yami's tone promised dire consequences if Ame didn't leave this instant.

Ame pouted but left at the next floor. An awkward silence descended between Yugi and Yami, continuing until they reached the floor where Daniel's office resided.

"Would you like some help with the translation, Yugi?" Yami asked as the doors opened.

"Please."

They walked to the office and found the pictures from 987, then got comfortable. It was going to be a long day.


Quatre: Don't forget to review, no da. Ja!