Surprise was a key element in this plan. The sun was rising and this was something Atem would generally compare to game time, but too much was at stake to even think the notion. This was a fight to take back what was stolen- Atem's wife and unborn child.

It was still rather dark out, as the sun was only beginning to rise. The men were careful this time, to make as little noise as possible as they approached the tents where Thief King Bakura's gang of thieves were resting.

Atem beckoned them as they began to come into a field of view. A couple of guards were posted, but they seemed extremely tired as shown by their lack of attention. Three of his trusty soldiers sneaked ahead and quickly knocked them out without much effort and gave the cue for the rest of them to come forward. It was quiet in the area with merely the sounds of nature being heard.

Atem took half his men off of horseback to tread forward. The rest would come once the thieves would launch their own attack. Ishizu had told Atem that Teana would be inside. He worried that the men were neglecting her and she would be feeling ill. He clenched his fist in anger. No matter what, he would get her back and make sure she and the baby would be safe.

With that, Atem and his men ran forward, launching the first attack.

Teana had been awake when she heard shouts of cry and yelling. She was still laying down, remising about the past when she heard a horn being blown. The thieves were under attack! Teana's heart filled with a thrilling sense of relief. Atem had come for her! She immediately pulled back the covers to run in a quick sprint and try to escape, but her guards grabbed her, even in their tired state. They grabbed each of her arms tightly.

"You are not going anywhere Princess!" One huffed.

"We need to get her to someone else!" The other one exclaimed. "We cannot let them take her!"

The man began to yank her forward, but Teana began struggling! "Let me go!" She screeched. She tried to ply their arms off of her and even somehow get out of their hold, but they were too strong! Their grip on her was tight! Nevertheless, she kept struggling. The least she could do was slow them down.

The guards became impatient and annoyed with her. The stronger and larger of the two men turned to face her, with anger in his eyes. His dark brown eyes peered into Teana's, his jaw clenched and his eyebrows pinched and pointy. "You quit that or else we will find another way to get you where we want. If I have to carry you unconscious on my back, I will!" He viciously threatened.

Teana gulped. She knew Bakura had said she wouldn't be harmed, but she had a feeling this man was serious. Desperate times called for desperate measures and this man wasn't kidding. The most important thing for him right now was that he didn't lose her.

She bit her lip and nodded, tears filling in her eyes as she stopped struggling, letting them pull her forward with them. She silently prayed to Ra, Isis and every single Egyptian god in existence.

The attack had begun and Bakura's men had started defending themselves. Atem's army, exactly as planned, was at advantage. Atem tried to surge forward fighting men as he tried to scope out and find the villainous man he was looking for. He would make him pay. Make him pay for everything he did to him. He would make him give him back his wife. Evil thoughts crept into Atem's mind as vengeance fueled him. He wanted the Thief King dead, but he was nowhere to be found. He needed to stray off the path. Atem took this as Bakura being a coward. Atem took a deep breath and decided he needed to run into the living quarters of the campsite for any chance of finding Teana.

Atem navigated his way through, after fighting with a couple men. It was an eerie chill that coursed through his body when he entered the living quarters. No one seemed to be there as they had evacuated to fight his army. Fear was gaining hold on him for the safety of his beloved. He tried to dare not think further of his worry that he was too late, that Teana was already removed from this area and taken further, but it wasn't working. He immediately started to dash around in a quick place trying to find anything that would give a hint of where she could be. Overwhelming emotions were overpowering him at every turn he took and a tear slipped from his eye. The mighty Pharaoh was crying as he ran! He quickly rubbed his eyes in his sprint.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing was giving him way to finding her. The tents were like a maze, he wasn't familiar with them and they all seemed to look the same when abandoned. Hope was beginning to diminish, but as long as there was a glimmer of hope left, Atem wouldn't give up. He would never give up to get his family back.

Atem breathed heavily, as he stopped for a moment, his hands on his knees. 'Where are you Teana?' He thought to himself in misery. He got up, not wanting to waste another second when he heard a loud smacking sound and a cry.

"Teana!" He yelled with all his might.

"Atem!" It was her. It was her voice- his beloved Teana. He ran straight into the area where the voice was coming from, but he found nothing. Nothing at all. Doubt crept into his mind. Was he going mad? Did he imagine it all?

He continued to run faster and faster until he saw a glimmer of moving light coming in from the side of a tent. Then he ran to the other side and then finally behind it.

There he saw her. His sweet Teana, faced away from him, tears rolling down her eyes as two men had her grabbed by the arms as they continued to drag her as they ran. Her mouth was covered by one of the dirty man's hands and a fresh bruise had appeared on her soft cheek.

"Teana!" Atem yelled.

She made a muffling sound as she tilted her head back and saw Atem's eyes first -royal purple. He had come for her... He had come for her! He was running towards her and the men who were dragging her began to try to dash away. She began to kick, push and struggle as much as she could while Atem ran as fast as he could to get her, that is until Bakura came out from behind a tent and pushed Atem to the ground.

Atem thudded as he fell to the ground and the Thief King let out mercifulness laughter. "Haaahahahah!" He grinned mischievously as he pointed his sword only centimeters from Atem's neck. "Look where we are now! The mighty Pharaoh of all of Egypt!" He mocked as Atem grunted.

"I command you to give me back my wife and child!" Atem roared.

Bakura merely laughed again. "I do not think you are in a position to demand such a request Atem." He grinned, purposely refusing to call him Pharaoh as he should have. He pressed the sword closed to Atem's neck, not drawing blood, but carefully dealing it so it would drag a mere millimeter from his neck. "I have big plans for your beloved and that unborn child of yours!" He said with glee.

"Do what you wish to me, but leave them alone!"

"Ha! Oh no, they are all part of my plan! I have decided I want much more than to just take pleasure in killing you! I am certain the Queen will be a great pleasure in between the sheets!"

"You monster!" Atem screamed. "Leave her alone!"

Bakura snickered, momentarily looking towards Teana whose eyes flickered in fear. He winked at her and Teana was able to finally bite down hard on the one of the fingers her guard had wrapped around her mouth.

"OWWWW!"

"I will... never... be yours Bakura!" She spat.

"Ah! Feisty, I like that!" Teana grunted in response. "Worry not. I care not too much about keeping you. You will only be temporary fun." He said, nonchalantly. He pointed at her stomach. "The unborn fetus in your belly is what I want!" He declared.

"What...what...do you want with my baby?" She cried out.

"I need a way to get to the throne, do I not? What will I tell the maternal grandparents of the child when I tell them that the priests and priestess of Egypt caused the death of their beloved daughter and the Pharaoh. Luckily I was there to save the child!"

A gasp emitted from both Teana and Atem's mouths. "I am sure, that little peace agreement you had would be broken. The King and Queen of Nubia would do everything in their power to wage war against the very nation of Egypt that took their daughter away from them. I of course, being the gentleman that I am, will do everything in my power to help Egypt crumble to pieces. It will be easy to demolish the land that took everything from me in the killings of Kul Elna! But that is not all of it! For I will claim both Nubia and Egypt as the Pharaoh, when the news of death of your own parents will transcend the land! I will come out as hero against the bloody murderous Egyptians!"

Bakura turned to face Atem now, his pupils large and dilated in his anger. "I will raise your child to hate Egypt and the very father that helped give him life! When he becomes of an age I find suitable, I will see to it that a little accident originating in his wine will reunite him with you and your Queen in death!" He said furiously.

"And now," He stressed, raising his sword up, "YOU DIE!" He yelled pushing the blade of the sword in the direction of Atem.

Yes, I finally updated ^_^ I think I'm finally over my writer's block! I initially intended for this to be posted a lot quickly as I had written most of it before, but school and life swamped me with work! I hope to update soon this time, especially since I left you guys a cliffhanger! There aren't too many chapters left!

Please let me know what you guys thought of the chapter (and to encourage me to update quicker)!

~Startistica