I hope you have all had a good week? I can't believe we are almost halfway through the year already!

Here is the next thrilling instalment. There will be some nice, mushy bonding between Yugi and Atem - in a brotherly way, I may add! No real warnings - there might be the odd curse word, or mention of guns, but nothing too bad.

Also... I do not own Yugioh.

Dance With The Devil

Chapter 10

With Bakura still at large, there could be no room for complacency.

Everyone agreed with Atem, in his assumption that Bakura was targeting Anzu, and that there was a possibility he would attack again. However, this time, Seto was adamant they would catch him.

Pegasus suggested that Anzu and Yugi should spend the night in a 'safe house', but they were not keen on that idea. Despite Yugi's concern, Anzu decided, that if Bakura was targeting her, then she should act as bait.

After escorting Yugi, Anzu and Christina home, Seto and Atem explained to them that the house would be kept under surveillance over night, in case Bakura came back to finish the job he had failed to do earlier.

To ensure their safety, the children were to be bundled off to Patrick's parents for the night, in an unmarked police car.

Patrick was not happy and was pacing the kitchen angrily. "You!" He jabbed a finger in Atem's direction. "What the hell were you trying to achieve by putting my wife, my kids and my guests in danger?!"

"I'm sorry," Atem gestured with his hands. "I did not know that Bakura was stalking me and would target my friends and family!"

"It's my fault," Anzu sighed. "If I hadn't followed you onto the train..."

"Don't blame yourself!" Atem stated. "None of this is your fault, I dragged you into it! I should not have spoken to you that day. But when you showed me the photo of Yugi, I allowed my desire to find my family, to override my judgement."

"Throwing the blame around is not going to achieve anything," Seto interjected. "We are all involved in this mess and it is up to us to resolve it."

Yugi placed a comforting hand on Atem's forearm. "Bakura is the one who is to blame. Right now, he thinks he holds all the cards but we have the ace and I know we can turn whatever sick game he thinks he is playing, in our favour," he stated resolutely.

"Thanks Yugi." Atem smiled at Yugi's simplified comparison to a game of cards and placed a hand over Yugi's hand, in gratitude and solidarity. If only it was as easy as a game of cards.

::::::::::::

Seto Kaiba left them at around nine in the evening. Should Bakura successfully evade the police patrols and the unmarked surveillance van parked in the lane opposite, Atem would be on hand to intercept him.

Christina made up a bed for him on the sofa.

Pulling the duvet over himself, he settled down and placed his gun underneath the pillow. He hoped that he would not have to use it, but if forced to, he would.

He was usually a fairly light sleeper anyway, but in situations like this he had trained himself to be able to catnap, while listening for any noise - it was a useful skill to have.

However, the last few days had left him feeling exhausted. The sofa was also very comfortable and he was soon in a deep sleep, snoring away lightly.

Luckily, the night turned out to be uneventful.

He woke up the following morning, feeling much better than he expected to feel after a night on someone's sofa. A thin veil of sunlight was filtering in through the curtains, indicating that it was a nice morning.

In his comfortable slumber, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was. Gasping at the sudden Realisation that he had been sleeping like a dead man, he reached for his gun and got up, to check the rooms downstairs. It was quiet and peaceful.

Relieved, he sat back down on the sofa and carefully put his gun in it's case and placed it under his jacket. Leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees, he ran his hands through his unruly mane and sighed.

He felt guilty that he had been a pretty useless night watchman; Bakura could have sneaked in and strangled everyone in their sleep while he snored away on the sofa. The thought made him shudder. But that had not happened and he was grateful for a good night sleep.

He glanced at his watch. Seven forty. It was Saturday and no one was up yet.

Taking a deep breath, he stretched out his muscles. When he did so, he was reminded of the bruising to his ribs. He touched the spot carefully and looked down. The bruising was still a dark purple in the centre, where the bullet had impacted the protective vest. To the outside it was lighter and was starting to turn shades of greenish yellow.

Realising he needed to pee, he made his way to the downstairs cloak room, all the while, listening and watching.

::::::::::::

Understandably, it had taken Yugi and Anzu a while to fall asleep. Not only did Anzu have to deal with the nervous excitement she was feeling for her big opening night, she as also full of anxiety about Bakura.

What exactly had been his purpose in sneaking into the Royal Opera House, past all that security? She was sure he had not done it just for kicks! Was it to kill her? Or maybe he planned to kidnap her for ransom! She found it hard to imagine that the pleasant, polite man they had met in the park was actually a sadistic killer!

Yugi was nervous too but did his best to appear stoic in front of his wife. He wanted her to feel safe and reassured by his presence. "It will all be okay," he said, leaning across the bed and kissing her softly. "Atem is downstairs and there are cops outside. I have checked the window is locked so there's no way he can get in."

She kissed him back. "Hold me Yugi?" She snuggled into him and he lovingly wrapped his arms around her.

"Am I doing the right thing by carrying on with the performance tomorrow night?"

"Of course you are! If you don't, he wins. There will be tons of security. If he shows up, they will get him this time."

"Yeah..." Feeling reassured, Anzu nodded her head against his chest. "I won't let that creep spoil my big night!"

He gently stroked her hair as they both dozed off.

::::::::::::

The following morning, Yugi was awake before Anzu, so he decided to go downstairs and talk to Atem. Getting out of bed carefully, so as not to disturb her, he pulled on his pyjama top and quietly left the bedroom.

Yugi had just reached the bottom of the stairs when Atem emerged from the bathroom. He was wearing just his Black Watch Tartan patterned pyjama trousers and had his hand down the front of them, scratching his balls.

Yugi felt a bit embarrassed and blushed at the sight of Atem's shirtless torso. Like Yugi, he was lean but obviously worked out a bit more than Yugi did because he was quite muscular. Slightly envious, he quickly glanced away and did not notice the bruising on Atem's ribs!

"Erm... morning," he muttered, barely audible, so as not to wake anyone.

Atem also blushed, stopped scratching himself and adjusted the waist band on his pyjama trousers. "Morning Yugi," he whispered back. "Sleep okay?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Surprisingly, I slept too well!" He gestured for Yugi to follow him back into the sitting room.

They both sat down on the sofa.

Atem reached for his tee-shirt and as he did so, Yugi noticed the nasty bruising on his chest. "How did you get that bruise?!"

Atem quickly pulled his shirt over his head and pulled it down to cover himself. "It's nothing."

"Nothing?! It looks horrible! What happened to you?" Atem's jaw tightened and Yugi could see that whatever had caused the bruising, was more difficult to deal with than the bruising itself. "Are you okay?" He asked, gently.

"Yeah," Atem nodded slowly. "I can't show any weakness, I need to stay focussed until Bakura is caught. I.. I don't want to let anyone down," he muttered, feeling embarrassed that he was discussing his feelings.

"You can talk to me though. I won't say anything. I know we only just met, but I feel like I know you, and I can tell you are struggling."

Atem glanced at him and smirked. "We really do share something, don't we?" He nudged him playfully, with his shoulder. "I was shot in the chest while apprehending Bakura's partner; Marik Ishtar. If Mai had not insisted I wear a bullet proof vest, I would probably be dead. It is a sobering thought and one I don't wish to dwell on."

"But you keep thinking about it... don't you?" Yugi finished for him.

"I do... but I will deal with it on my own."

"Well, if you need to talk to someone? I am here for you."

Yugi was shocked when Atem suddenly hugged him tightly. "Thank you Yugi!" Not wanting to let go, he grabbed the back of Yugi's pyjama top and gripped the material in his fists, while biting down the urge to cry. If he was Yugi's big brother then it was not cool to cry on your little brother's shoulder. "People think I'm always confident and in control. I like to let them think I am, but I don't always feel that way," he admitted.

Yugi could feel the tension in Atem's body and knew that he was feeling emotional. His immediate impression of Atem, had been that he was strong and confident – someone he could look up to! But right now, Atem seemed vulnerable. It made Yugi feel a little awkward and self conscious. Not knowing what to do, he patted his back gently and rubbed soothing circles over Atem's shoulder blade. "It's okay to show emotion sometimes. You can't be strong all the time. I know I'm not much use, but I want to help you."

Releasing his grip, Atem pulled away, but left his hands resting on Yugi's shoulders. "You have already have helped me." Just for a moment Yugi could see the vulnerability in him.

Atem playfully pushed his shoulder and grinned. "Even if we turn out not to be brothers, I am glad I found you."

At the same moment, Christina appeared in the open doorway. Slightly embarrassed for disturbing their brotherly bonding, she cleared her throat. "Good morning gentlemen! No sign of any disturbances in the night then?"

Atem's mask of stoicism immediately went back up. He stood to greet her. "Good morning Christina. No, it was quiet. There was no sign of Bakura, but that does not mean we can let our guard down."

"No, I just hope it doesn't affect my dancers!" She sighed. "Would you like some tea or coffee?"

They both nodded and confirmed that they would like some tea.

::::::::::::

Having slept well, Bakura needed to put the rest of his plan into action. The Pharaoh seemed very fond of his lookalike and the dancing girl. He assumed they were family. And if there was one way to hurt someone, it was through their family.

Initially, the easiest target had been the dancer, but after today's failed kidnap attempt, they would be guarding her. Bakura saw that as a challenge. Yes, it was a fool hardy challenge, but one he could not resist.

Sure, he could just walk up to one of them in the street and stick a knife into their gut, but where would the fun be in that?! No, playing sadistic mind games, kidnapping and getting them to try and find him, was far more enjoyable.

He picked up his two tickets from the night stand. There was a reason why he had purchased two: They would be looking for a lone male, with tanned skin and white, blonde hair. He had already cut his hair, but if he was to get into the Opera House undetected, he would need a good disguise and a date to accompany him. The London bars were always crawling with desperate people looking for love. Both men and women found him attractive and he never had any problems bedding either. All he had to do was flash an alluring smile and of course, the tickets.

Getting out of bed, he stepped gingerly onto his twisted ankle, he could still feel it and it was now looking quite bruised. But he had a hight tolerance for pain and could just about put weight on it so it would not inhibit him too much, and with an ankle support, he would barely feel it.

Taking the hair colouring kit he had shoplifted the previous day, he went into the bathroom to complete his disguise.

The fools had absolutely no idea he was hiding, right under their noses!

::::::::::::

Since Bakura had seemingly 'vanished into thin air' preparations were being made to secure the theatre and ensure that Bakura could not get in undetected a second time.

Yugi wanted to stay with Anzu, but that was not possible as he was not allowed backstage.

"Don't worry Yugi," Mai reassured him. "I will be chaperoning her the whole time. You must not worry, okay?" As a teen, Mai had taken a course in hair and beauty, and was confident in her ability to blend in as one of the stylists. She was actually quite looking forward to putting her make up skills to the test. However, the true reason she was there would remain at the front of her mind. If Bakura really was as slippery and clever as they say, then she would not put it past him to find a way inside the theatre.

::::::::::::

With Mai tasked with guarding Anzu, Security inside and around the theatre was being co-ordinated by Seto and Pegasus.

Because there had been no clues as to where Bakura might be, they were concerned about Yugi's safety and suggested that he should not go anywhere unaccompanied. Atem quickly volunteered to stay with him as it would give them more time to get to know one another.

"I have arranged for us to have our DNA tests," Atem told him, leading him to the pathology department.

"How long will it take to get the results?" Yugi asked with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

"If they are not too busy, they might be able to get the result by the end of today."

"Really?! I thought it took like a week, or something!"

Entering the laboratory, Atem asked for Mana. He had met her at the department's annual Christmas Disco, last year. They had danced together and flirted a little. Atem had thought about dating her but had decided against it because she seemed just a little too keen on him, and he did not want to hurt her by telling her that he was happy to have sex with her but did not want a long term relationship. But they had remained friends.

"Atem!" A vivacious young woman, with wavy chestnut hair tied into a ponytail to keep it under control while she worked, came bounding over.

Yugi smirked at the way she giggled in Atem's presence, and made a mental note of the way his stoic friend squirmed like a sixteen year old boy with a boob fixation. Yugi himself had already noticed that under her white coat, she had a nice, shapely figure.

She took them into a small office. "It won't take a moment." She put on a pair of sterile gloves and picked up two sealed packets. Tearing them open, she handed each of them a swab.

Yugi stared at it nervously, unsure what he was supposed to do with it. Mana noticed his uncertainty.

"It won't hurt! You put it in your mouth and rub it on the inside of your cheek!"she told him.

"There's really nothing to it!" Atem assured him, rubbing his swab round the inside of his cheek. He popped it into the sterile plastic pot and handed it to Mana, who carefully placed it in a sealed bag to avoid contamination. Yugi copied Atem, with his swab.

"Because it's you," Mana giggled. "I will try to get a result for you by this evening, but realistically, it may not be until tomorrow as we have had quite a backlog of work to clear, and Mahad won't be pleased if I go behind his back," she informed them.

"That's okay," Atem replied with a wink. "I don't want to get you in any trouble, so just do your best."

Mana blushed when he winked at her. She would not mind getting into trouble with Atem.

Thanking Mana, they left.

"I think she likes you," Yugi teased.

"Really?!" Atem pretended to be shocked. "I hadn't noticed," he smirked, making Yugi roll his eyes.

"Shall we go and get something to drink?" Atem suggested, quickly changing the subject.

"Okay!" Yugi nodded.

Atem took Yugi to the staff restaurant. They had finished the lunch service, which meant it was not too busy at this time of the afternoon. They ordered a large pot of tea and two slices of Victoria sponge cake and sat down at a table.

"I want you to know," Yugi said, sheepishly. "That even if you are not my brother, I still want us to be friends."

"I would like that very much." Atem smiled, the most relaxed, genuine smile he had managed in recent weeks. He really wanted Yugi to be his brother.

::::::::::::

By early evening, everything was in place.

Having showered and changed, Yugi and Atem arrived at the Opera House, wearing their best suits. They found Seto kaiba in the foyer.

"Not even a blow fly can get in without my knowledge," Seto boasted, as Yugi and Atem approached him.

"I hope you are right," Atem said, a little less sure. He noted that two police officers were security checking everyone on the way in. Since this happened in many large venues, due to the Islamic terror threats, no one thought anything of it.

Atem and Yugi walked through to the bar and purchased non alcoholic drinks. Yugi noticed how Atem was discreetly watching everyone who came into the bar.

Not long after Atem and Yugi had entered the bar, Bakura arrived at the Royal Opera House. On his arm, was a rather pretty young woman, who he had met in the hotel bar that afternoon. As soon as he flashed his spare ticket, her eyes widened enthusiastically. She had no idea her date was currently Britain's most wanted criminal!

Bakura himself, sported neatly gelled, dark brown hair, brown contact lenses and neatly trimmed designer stubble. He looked extremely smart and cultured in his dress suit. "Good evening," he said politely and quietly, in his Oxbridge accent, as the officer quickly ran a metal detector over him and nodded that he was clear to enter.

He resisted the urge to smirk triumphantly at how easy it had been to fool them. Instead, he took the hand of his 'date' and asked her if she would like to go for a drink in the bar before the performance started.

As soon as they entered the bar, he spotted Atem and Yugi standing in the middle of the room, chatting. Not willing to risk the chance that they might, by some slim chance, recognise him, he made sure that he kept his back to them and merged into the crowd.

"Well, it doesn't look like he showed up," Yugi quietly said to Atem.

"Maybe the security Seto put in place is deterring him. I hope it stays that way, I want to enjoy the ballet. You must be so proud of Anzu?"

"Yeah," Yugi beamed. "This is one of her dreams come true and I can't wait to see her dance. It's just a shame all this business with Bakura had to happen.. not that I'm blaming you!" He added, when he saw the guilty expression on Atem's face.

"Shall we go and take our seats?" Atem suggested.

Yugi checked his phone for the time. "We probably should."

Bakura watched as they walked right past him, without so much as even a glance in his direction.

::::::::::::

Nervous anticipation was leaving Anzu feeling feeble. The churning feeling in her abdomen was awful and she felt like she wanted to be sick. She let out a whimper. "What if I can't remember my dance steps? My mind has gone blank!"

"It's just stage fright. You will be fine once you get on stage," Mai reassured her, as she put the finishing touches to Anzu's hair.

"I hope you're right. I feel like I just wanna go home and cry!"

"Don't do that, you will ruin your make up!" The comment made Anzu laugh. "That's more like it! There, I think you are done." Mai stood back and admired her work. "Beautiful!" She beamed.

"Me or your handiwork?"

"Both."

Christina approached them. "Good work Mai!" She had been worried about letting an unknown stylist work on her Prima Ballerina but was impressed with Mai's level of skill.

"I have many talents," Mai boasted.

"If you have finished, I want all dancers who are due on stage in act one, ready to start warming up. We are onstage in ten!" She received a chorus of replies confirming they were all ready to go.

"Doh..." Anzu groaned. "My legs are so wobbly I can hardly stand, let alone dance," she said, getting out of her chair and following the other dancers into the warm up studio.

Keen to not leave Anzu's side, Mai went with them.

::::::::::::

When Anzu took to the stage as Odette, Yugi felt himself swell with love and admiration for his wife. He wanted to stand up on his seat and yell to the whole auditorium that this beautiful ballerina was his wife.

The moment she took to the stage, Anzu's nerves vanished. Her performance as Odette and Odile, alongside Alexi as Siegfried, was beautiful and sensually stunning. The audience were encapsulated by their chemistry.

Yugi had to bite down the small amount of jealousy that crept into his heart. He had to remind himself that they were only acting.

Sat next to him, Atem was feeling emotional. He wondered if it would be sissy to cry! Telling himself that it was, he swallowed down his emotions. It was only when he sneaked a glance around – in the pretence that he was checking to make sure Bakura was not sitting nearby – that he spotted several people with handkerchiefs, dabbing at their eyes.

When he glanced at Yugi, he noticed the look of pride and love on his face, but no sign of tears. That settled it – there was no way he was going to cry. Somehow, folding his arms always made him feel resilient and more in control, so he inhaled deeply and folded his arms across his chest.

However, as the final act played out and Otette and Siegfried realised that the only way they could be together and break the curse, was in death, he felt the tingling sensation of emotion creeping up through his chest and into his throat again. His bottom jaw tingled as he tried to stop himself from showing emotion.

Yugi glanced at him and Atem tried to avoid eye contact so that Yugi would not see that his eyes were full of tears. When he saw Yugi smirk, he scrunched his face up and tried not to laugh at his silly behaviour.

The whole audience were clapping and cheering. Atem joined in and took a moment to quickly wipe his face on his hand. He saw Yugi do the same and at that moment he did not care how sappy he felt.

Amidst the clapping and cheers, people were taking the opportunity to dab their eyes and blow their noses. Yugi and Atem both pulled tissues from their pockets and hastily blew their noses.

At that moment of emotional release, Atem felt enlightened – he could suddenly understand why people became emotional and cried at a moving piece of music or a sad story. And for a short time, he had been able to completely forget about the threat of Bakura.

::::::::::::

Even Bakura held some emotion. He too had cried at the ending and was almost having second thoughts about what he was planning to do. The girl truly was a gifted dancer.

He watched as the dancers left the stage. There would be an encore and everyone would be tired and emotional from the performance. Guard would be down and that would be his one opportunity.

Telling his date he was desperate for the toilet, he slipped out of his seat and headed for the exit door, which was right next to the door leading backstage. Quite a few other people got up as well, so he did not look out of place.

There was a young man guarding the door but he was not really paying attention to his job. Christina had taken the stage and was thanking everyone. She was calling each of the dancers by name and stating the part they had played, so that the audience could show their appreciation.

The young man deserted his post for a second, to peer around the side of the stage to look.

Bakura seized his chance and opened the door swiftly, just wide enough to slide through. He was now backstage.

::::::::::::

Laughing and breathing heavily from exertion and exhilaration, Anzu, Alexi and the dancers with her all laughed and congratulated each other for such a wonderful performance. "I need the little girls room," Anzu told them. "I think I have enough time before Christina calls us. I won't be long." She dashed off to the ladies lavatories.

In all the commotion, Mai had lost sight of Anzu. "Crap!" She pushed her way through the throng of people who had all suddenly appeared. There seemed to be newspaper reporters and cameramen, all pushing to get to the principal dancers. Seto had said he wanted to keep the scavengers out but someone must have let them in. She suspected the director of the show as he was keen on publicity.

Pushing her way through, she found Alexi. "Where is Anzu?"

"She desperate pee. She return in moment," he told her.

"And you let her go on her own?!"

"I cannot go in ladies with her!" He giggled.

Mai tutted in frustration at his flippancy. "Which way did she go?"

"That way." He pointed along the corridor to where Bakura had broken in the day before.

::::::::::::

Victims always seemed to make Bakura's job easy for him. As he rounded the corner, he found himself face to face with Anzu. "Hello gorgeous," he grinned.

Anzu looked at him in confusion. "Do I know you?"

"You could say, I am your biggest fan!" In less than the blink of an eye, he pulled a small syringe from the lining of his jacket, snapped it open and plunged the tiny needle into her neck. One small drop of the deadly nerve toxin was enough to completely paralyse her – any more and she would be dead. It took effect immediately, rendering her totally helpless.

Gasp! Bakura has Anzu! Will he get away or will Mai be able to stop him?! Find out next chapter!

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