A/N: Enjoy!


Ryou had never been to Jou's apartment. As far as he knew, not even Yuugi had been granted that particular honor. Jou had always been very private about his personal life, making it a point to keep his friends away from his home as much as possible. And Ryou had never tried to pry, knowing that he wouldn't have appreciated anyone doing that to him. So to say that he felt awkward as he followed Jou up the rickety old stairs was an understatement. He felt like he was getting the opportunity to see into the core of Jonouchi Katsuya, and the boy wasn't even really his friend anymore. It was just more proof that this situation had become totally messed up.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Malik asked in a low voice, grimacing at a stain on the steps that looked suspiciously like blood. Ryou didn't bother to dignify that with a response. Malik knew as well as he did that they simply had nowhere else to go, not unless they wanted to take a train ride back to his apartment in another city - and considering that there was a chance Yuugi's face might've been on the news, that might not even be an option.

"Be quiet," Jou said, grunting as he shifted Yuugi's dead weight so that he could open the door of the stairwell. He stepped through into the hall and shuffled down to the door of his apartment, which was unlocked. Ryou and Malik followed him in silently as he set Yuugi down on the couch and shut the door. The lock wasn't much, not nearly as strong as it should've been as far as Ryou was concerned, but he snapped it anyway and turned to look at the two of them. Ryou blinked back at him, uncertain as to what he should say.

"I'm hungry," Malik said.

Definitely not that. Ryou elbowed him none too gently, feeling a flicker of guilt as Jou rolled his eyes and turned towards the kitchen. Jou and his father didn't seem to have much money judging by the state of the apartment, and it didn't seem right to take what little they had. But he was hungry enough that he took the pop tart Jou offered him, biting into it and licking the strawberry gel from his fingers. His mouth ached when he chewed and he only ended up eating half of it before he pressed his fingers against his mouth and shook his head, handing the rest of it to Malik. Though Malik shot him a concerned look, he devoured the remainder.

"Do you think we should try to wake Yuugi up?" Jou said, finishing his own pop tart in record time.

"I don't even know if we can," Ryou replied. Yuugi hadn't stirred the whole way to Jou's apartment, even though it had been a good twenty minute walk. Even now he remained unconscious, his moving chest the only indication that he was even still alive. "It might be best to just let him sleep unless we have to."

"I think the better question is, what are we going to do?" Malik wanted to know, wandering across the room and flopping down into one of the chairs.

"I wish I had an answer," Ryou muttered, gently lifting Yuugi's shoulders and sliding down onto the couch. He lowered Yuugi's head onto his lap, noticing how pale and wan Yuugi looked into the dim light. "We can't keep hiding out forever. Everyone knows that Yuugi and Jou are best friends. It wouldn't surprise me if the police show up tomorrow wanting to ask Jou questions."

"Let me handle the police if they come," said Jou with a grim smile. "I've dealt with them before and it's not nearly as difficult as it sounds. In the meantime, though, Malik's right. I think we need to concentrate on what we're going to do next. We can't stay here forever. Sooner or later my father's going to come home, and he's definitely going to notice that you're here." He turned away and Ryou heard him mutter, "Even he won't be able to miss that."

"We can't just wander around from place to place forever," Malik said reasonably. "We have to figure out who is behind this and decide how we're going to stop them." He was looking at Ryou as he spoke. "That's how the pharaoh and Yuugi always dealt with things, right?"

"More or less," Ryou said. It had normally ended up being a little more complicated than that. Usually each new threat they had faced came with its own set of issues, but it was true that Yuugi and Yami had always been able to figure out what was going on. Of course, that was back when Yami had been around. He wasn't now. And that meant they were missing a wealth of information about the shadow realm and magic in general, not to mention that they were pretty much defenseless since they couldn't summon any monsters.

Malik seemed to know what he was thinking. "I could try calling Nee-chan," he said hesitantly, and it was clear that he was not pleased about the idea. "I mean, in the other world she was the holder of the Tawk... she was able to summon monsters then, so maybe..."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Ryou said after considering it for all of a few seconds. As much as he craved to have someone with ties to the Millennium Items around if he couldn't have who he really wanted, he didn't think that Isis was going to be able to help them much. Malik had already confirmed that she didn't remember anything about the other world. Bringing her here would only put her into danger, and there was no guarantee that she would be able to summon anything - and that was if the shadow realm even still existed, which they also couldn't be certain of. He rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

"Oh, okay," Malik said immediately, looking relieved.

"Is there a way that you could bring back your friends?" Jou asked.

"Our friends?" Ryou asked, frowning.

"You know, those guys you keep talking about. The pharaoh," Jou said, waving his hand. "Bakura, or whatever it was you called him, and yours." He glanced at Malik before shrugging. "I just thought... well, you guys seem to be at a total loss without them. So maybe you should think about trying to bring them back."

Ryou's heart turned over. Or at least, that's what it felt like. His chest tightened and for a couple of very long seconds he couldn't breathe. Malik said shakily, "I don't think... it's not that simple, Jou. That's not how it works."

"Why not?"

"It's just... not."

Jou raised an eyebrow. He didn't seem to find that argument very convincing. "Have you tried?" he asked, sounding far too reasonable in Ryou's opinion. "I mean, I'm not saying that you're wrong. It might not work. But if you've never given it a shot then you don't really know if it's possible. At the very least, it would give us an edge if these guys are as a knowledgeable as you make them sound."

"They are," Ryou managed to say. It was the only thing he could think of, because it was true. Bakura had always sought after knowledge, striving to educate himself on anything and everything in the modern world - especially if he thought there was a particular subject that might benefit him, like modern locks and how someone might go about learning to pick them. He suspected that all three of the yamis would have an idea of how to start looking for their pursuers.

"Then maybe you ought to ask," Jou said, and he made it sound so damned simple as he scratched his head. "Look, I'm going to take a quick shower. If Yuugi wakes up, try to get him to eat something. It's probably been a while since he has. You can help yourself to anything you want. Just don't go anywhere." He gave them a lingering look, and Ryou realized how much trust Jou was putting in them at that moment to not just take Yuugi and run away. In the middle of a horrifying situation, it was almost nice.

For a couple of minutes the only sound in the room was that of Jou's receding footsteps. Ryou and Malik listened in silence as a door closed and then the shower watched on. Only then did Malik say, "Much as I hate to admit it, he might actually have had a point."

"Are you kidding me?" Ryou asked, tipping his head back against the couch. It came out a little harsher than he'd intended, but his throat stung and he was exhausted. He wasn't in the mood to have hope dangled in front of his eyes.

"No. Yes. I don't know," Malik said, and he sounded every bit as lost as Ryou felt. He sank down into one of the chairs. "The only thing I know is that we can't handle this by ourselves. You almost got killed, Ryou. Killed dead. As in not living anymore. I saw the mark on your neck, if that guy had pressed even a little bit harder you would've bled out and no one would've been able to do a damn thing about it. It was pure luck that Jou was with you, but what if he hadn't been? You can't protect yourself from people like that. Yuugi sure as hell can't. Even I couldn't. So if you're telling me you have a better idea than begging for help and praying someone up there is listening, I'm all ears."

Ryou closed his eyes, swallowing against the burning in his throat that had nothing to do with the cut and everything to do with the tears trying to force their way out. Much as he hated to admit it, Malik was right. He'd been helpless when that guy grabbed him. "I just don't see how it could be possible. Yami went through the gates, for one thing. How do you come back from something like that?"

"I don't know, but I have no idea what else to do."

"What if we got weapons?"

Malik snorted. "Us?" he said skeptically. "Please. Even if we could learn how to use them, and I doubt that we could considering that those guys seem to be pretty intent on tracking us down sooner rather than later, where would we get them from?"

"Kaiba?" Ryou suggested, not liking that they'd come to this already.

"You want to go to Kaiba for help?" Malik made it sound like Ryou had suggested murdering someone and having a naked dance around the body. Actually, judging from the expression on his face, he would've preferred that. "Look, Ryou, I know that he's sort of friends with Yuugi and that he got his arm twisted into helping once in a while, but Kaiba didn't seem too enthusiastic when he got out of the car. I have the feeling that if we show up on his doorstep he's going to slam the door in our faces. Or maybe just call in his own security to finish us off, depending on whether he's in a bad mood."

Put like that, it made an already unappetizing idea sound even worse. Ryou sighed. "How would we even go about doing it?" he asked carefully.

"I'm not really sure," Malik admitted, dropping his hands into his lap. "It's not like my clan regularly tried to contact the dead. I mean, I know that the pharaoh is in the afterlife. That's a given. If we have a chance of reaching anyone, it would be him."

The implication that Yami might be the only to return made Ryou's stomach tighten. He tried not to imagine what it would be like to watch Yami and Yuugi interact without Bakura around, knowing that he was still alone, but the pictures filtered into his mind regardless and left him feeling ill. "We'd have to wait for Yuugi to wake up," he said tonelessly.

"Ryou." Malik waited until Ryou glanced up at him before he said, "I'm not saying that we won't be able contact Bakura too. There's a good chance he might've made it to the afterlife as well, all things considered. I don't want to get your hopes up, because we might do this and not be able to reach anyone, you know? But Isis always told me that when it comes to rituals, the most important part is how you feel. If you really want Bakura back, there's a much better chance that it might happen."

"I do," Ryou said, not even needing to think about it to know that it was the truth. His yearning was growing stronger with every passing second, a hard little ball in the pit of his belly that was impossible to ignore. And there was no need to wonder about Yuugi; it had been painful to watch how much Yuugi struggled in the wake of the pharaoh's departure. The real question was... "But... what about you?"

Malik looked uncomfortable. "What about me?"

"You have to prepare yourself for that possibility, too."

"I know." Malik lowered his eyes, refusing to meet his gaze now. "I've already thought about that."

"And?"

"And I think there's still merit in what Jou is asking us to do."

Ryou took a deep breath, suddenly realizing the significance of what they were discussing. It left him a little lightheaded. "What do we need to do?"

"Rest."

"What?"

"We're both tired, and Yuugi's exhausted." As one, they both glanced down at Yuugi. "We need to find somewhere relatively safe where we can recuperate. Rituals tend to drain a lot of magic. I don't know that we'd be strong enough to even try like this."

"What about magic?" Ryou said, because he hadn't thought of this. "None of us can access the Shadow Realm. What if it doesn't exist here?"

"We're pleading to the gods, not the shadows," Malik replied with an amused quirk of his mouth. Ryou shot him a cross look and he grinned. "I know what you're asking, and I think that the shadows are still here. I told you, I can see them sometimes out of the corner of my eye. It's never for very long, and I can't see anything that matters, but... if someone who knew how to use them were here -"

"It would be enough," Ryou concluded, rubbing his eyes. Malik was right, he could feel fatigue creeping up on him. His throat hurt and the rest of his bruises were all aching from exertion. "Okay. I guess we'll wait until Jou gets out of the shower and then we'll go find a hotel room. I hope I have enough left in my bank account."

"Don't worry about it. I'll take a cash advance out on Hafiz's card."

"But then he'll know where you are."

The look Malik gave him was entirely reckless and far too vengeful for Ryou's comfort. "Good. At least that means my yami will have a target if he does end up returning."

RMA

"Nii-sama!"

Somehow, Kaiba Seto was not surprised in the least to find that his younger brother had disobeyed his explicit order to remain at the mansion. Mokuba was instead sitting in the front seat of the car Seto had asked for, his head hanging out the window and a large, if tentative, smile on his face. He looked like a puppy, uncertain as to whether his greeting would be welcomed but so excited that he couldn't resist making it, and for a split second there was a part of Seto that felt a pang of guilt.

Through it all, the accusations and the stares and the plummeting stock in Kaiba Corp, Mokuba was the one person who had stood by him. He'd insisted that there was no way Seto could be responsible for the things he was being accused of. He'd never even bothered to ask, and considering that Seto actually was guilty of one of those murders he wasn't sure if he found Mokuba's loyalty touching or foolish. He did not regret pushing Gozaburo out that window, but looking at Mokuba's earnest face he found himself wishing he had chosen to handle things differently.

The brief instant of second guessing let him off guard and he scowled, detesting any regret that came associated with the bitterness of Kaiba Gozaburo. "You were told to stay at the mansion," he snapped, striding around to the other side of the car.

Mokuba's expression wilted. "I know. I just - I wanted to see you, Nii-sama. I haven't seen you for a while now, not since they took you away. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He got into the driver's seat, slamming the door harder than he'd intended. Mokuba flinched just a little and Seto swallowed, staring straight ahead through the windshield. He didn't know why he acted this way with the brother who adored him. Their relationship had never been the same after they were adopted and Seto didn't know how to fix it. Some days he wasn't even sure he wanted to, times when the cruelty swelling up inside of him left him hungry for things Mokuba could never be a part of.

"They're still chasing you," said Mokuba. "I... took one of the boxes? From your room?"

Knowing that he meant the safety boxes, set up years ago for just such an event, Seto made an effort to smooth the rage from his face. He suspected he wasn't successful as he said stiffly, "Thank you. I'll drop you off at home and then I'll go."

"But I want -"

"I said, I'll drop you off."

Mokuba stared at him for a few seconds before dropping his gaze and whispering, "Yes sir." He did not ask where Seto would be going or when he would return.


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