Okay, some plot development and explanation of Yami's attitude to Teal'c.
Enjoy Please
*_*
The boy stood, his striped shirt swaying as he ran to the cell doors and called out to the two outside.
"Please, you have to help my big brother." Ryou moved forward, needing to physically prove that he was not seeing things.
"Mokuba, how did you get here?" Ryou stated, holding lightly to the small hands on the bars.
"I don't know. Please, help Seto, something is wrong with him." Ryou nodded and asked Carter if she could get them into the cell. She returned the nod and got to work. As she did Ryou talked with Mokuba.
"Do you know how long you've been down here?"
"No, and no one ever visits. Whenever I wake up though there is food waiting, so someone must know that I'm down here, right?"
"I'm sure they do, but how would you like to get out of here?"
"I can't leave without Seto!" Mokuba declared, just as Carter got the door to Kaiba's cell open. Ryou indicated for her to open Mokuba's as he went to check on Kaiba. Ryou was trying to figure out what he was sensing from Kaiba when Mokuba rushed to his brother's side.
"What's wrong with him?" Mokuba asked, looking with concern at Kaiba's pale complexion and shallow, if regular breathing.
"I'm not sure, but I think it would be best if we were able to get him out of here. I'm just worried that if we do then the shadow realm and whoever is pretending to be Kaiba will be able find us if we do."
"I don't see why they would, since obviously there is no reason to put a tracking device on him if no one was ever going to find him, we should be able to just leave with him."
"You still don't believe that the shadow realm is not running on some super advanced technological wonder, do you?" Ryou shook his head; it looked like he was simply going to make her take his word for it. "Look, Major, they don't need to put any sort of device on Kaiba, they are probably automatically aware of where he is."
"If that is true, how are we going to get out of here with the two of them?"
"Let me think. Mokuba, you say that no one ever comes down here."
"Well, no one that I ever see, but someone must come with the food."
"Not necessarily."
"What do you mean?" Mokuba gripped his brother's hand, watching his chest rise beneath the evergreen shirt.
"Well, what if it's preset, and it isn't actually a person or conscious being bringing it."
"Ryou, you just lost me."
"Think of it this way Major, what if it's a program. Somehow someone has programmed that whenever Mokuba wakes up there should be food. There has never been any given to Kaiba, am I correct?"
"That's right, I'm the only one that ever got any."
"So, maybe the shadow realm can't tell where they are. At least, not Mokuba."
"If I'm following what you're saying we should be able to make it look like the two of them are still here, even if we move them."
"Exactly Major. I think that somehow the shadow realm is causing a constant drain on Kaiba, but not enough to do any real damage, just enough to prevent him from staying awake. It's probably the reason why his own duel monster's don't realize that the person they are obeying isn't their real master."
"What are you guys talking about?"
"Why don't you wait till we get back with everyone else, they will be able to explain it much better." Ryou suggested. "Okay, I'm going to see if I can find the key to the program, then, even if we can't prevent what it is doing to Kaiba, it won't be able to find us because of him." Ryou then made a very thorough examination of both cells, using physical means and the ring. When he was done he nodded with satisfaction and walked back to the others.
With Mokuba's help they managed to get Kaiba positioned so that Carter could carry him piggyback style. Stepping outside of the cell Ryou closed both the doors and locked them again. He motioned for the two to follow him and he headed back the way they had come. When the light from the dungeon faded he once again activated his ring and they marched along to its mystical illumination.
"What did you do? Will they be able to find us?"
"I do not believe so, I think the key was the doors to the cells. Because we opened them without a key I don't believe whatever is keeping track of you and your brother was able to tell. Since I closed the doors and made sure they were locked, we should be fine."
"And if we aren't?"
"Then we face that at the time it becomes apparent that we're in trouble Major. It is all we can do, we could not have left them behind." Grimly Carter acknowledged the facts and, keeping a firm grip on Kaiba, walked on.
~~~~~**~~~~~
"Okay, Ryou, time to rest." Carter called out, leaning heavily against the nearest wall. Mokuba and Ryou both rushed over to help in moving Kaiba to sit against the wall. They had been walking for a few hours. They had come to a few turns, but Ryou had walked on confidently, barely pausing as he chose the direction.
"Do you two know the way out? Or are we just walking aimlessly?"
"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if my ring is leading us out, or closer to the person we've been thinking was Kaiba."
"What!"
"Relax Major, we'll be able to tell if we are getting closer to the imposter long before we get there and will be able to turn around and backtrack."
"That's easy for you to say, you aren't carrying him." She mumbled.
"Point taken, but I doubt I could ever carry him, and it would be too awkward for two of us to carry him at the same time unless we could come up with the material for a stretcher." Mokuba sat with his brother. Kaiba's condition had not changed, which according to Ryou's theory was a good thing because it meant that they hadn't been found out.
"Do you think that they'll be able to help Seto?" Mokuba asked again. He had been asking this every ten minutes, and as annoying as it was getting neither Ryou nor Carter complained, they realized he was just worried about his brother, and understandably.
"We can only wait and see. Are you ready to get started again Major." Carter nodded, waiting for the other two to situate Kaiba on her back before they assisted her to stand and heading off. They did not walk fast, there was no need.
/If I'm right about how Kaiba is being used, then we have to get back as soon as possible. We have to tell the others, and this just might be what we need to find a way to win./ Ryou let his thoughts wander as they marched along. They stopped occasionally to let Carter rest, or for him to gather his sense of direction, but otherwise just walked.
~~~~~**~~~~~
O'Neill walked briskly to his destination. It had been almost two days since they had lost Carter and Ryou. The duel monsters where constantly searching for some clue as to their whereabouts, but nothing had been found, and he seriously doubted that they would. It was vital that the remaining team members trust each other, and so he had decided that it was time to confront Yami about his problem with Teal'c.
He didn't have to worry about talking with anyone else because everyone else trusted him. Even Bakura did, and O'Neill got the impression that he didn't trust many people. It had been difficult, Bakura had kept trying to run off and search for Ryou alone. Only Siris and Teal'c were able to stop him and calm him down. In the short time he had known this group he had gotten to be familiar with how pretty much everyone worked, except for Siris. At first glance she appeared to be antisocial, but when he looked closer he saw that she was constantly thinking, planning, always on the move. He just couldn't figure out why.
He shook his head as he approached his destination. He could riddle out Siris' personality later, first he had to learn why Yami was so distrusting of Teal'c. When he entered the room he saw that Teal'c was already there, along with Bakura. Yami was also there, going over some notes with Daniel and Jonas, ignoring the other two. Clearing his throat he got everyone's attention.
"O'Neill, have you come up with a new plan?"
"Nope. I came to have a talk with Yami." Yami looked up, an intrigued look forming on his face.
"What do you wish to speak with me about?" Never breaking eye contact O'Neill said the only word he felt he needed to.
"Teal'c." He had been right. Yami narrowed his eyes, briefly looking in the jaffa's direction before standing and taking the first steps to the door.
"There is nothing to say. I have to go help Yugi with the puzzle, he has much to master."
"Yugi and the puzzle can wait. What I want to know can't."
"I'm sure it can Colonel, or you would have asked it sooner."
"So you know what I am going to ask." It was not a question, merely a statement. "Look, just sit down for a second and try and explain it to me. We need to work together and trust each other, especially if we get into a pinch, so, I need you to trust Teal'c. Why don't you?"
Yami said nothing, simply heading for the door, only to be blocked by Bakura.
"What do you want, thief?"
"I want the same thing as the Colonel. I want to know why you act like such an idiot and won't trust one of the people here who probably deserves it the most."
"You are a great one to talk about trust. Since when do scoundrels know anything about trust?" Grabbing Yami by the arm he pushed him back until they hit a chair and Yami was forced to sit. Bakura didn't say anything else, he simply stood within easy reach of the door, a silent message telling Yami he wasn't going anywhere until he answered the question.
"I am also concerned. I would like to know what I have done to merit these feelings of yours, and how, if I am able, to rectify the situation." Yami looked about the room and sighed, he was not going to get out of this, that he could see.
"Very well, I will tell you what you ask, but you might wish to get comfortable, it is not a short tale." As the group got comfortable Yami formulated how best to begin, and exactly how much to tell. Granted, even he did not remember the whole story, but most of this part had come back to him.
"First of all, it is not anything you did Teal'c, but what others like what you carry within you have done." The members of SG1 were very surprised, how did Yami know of the goauld.
"What, you know about Junior?" O'Neill said.
"I know the feel of their kind. When I was young I was always told stories of the False Gods, those who had enslaved us and who we kicked out. To be perfectly honest, I never believed they were real, and then I met them."
"Wait, but you told us you never met your gods personally."
"I didn't, I would not call these things gods. I believe our ancient myths called them the goauld, but as far as I'm concerned they were monsters. You see, I knew what you meant when you said you had proof the gods did not exist, and as far as the ones you've met, they don't."
"If you knew, why didn't you say anything?"
"We had enough to worry about Dr. Jackson, and as far as I could tell the thing was not interfering with what we were planning, so I decided to let it rest. I also didn't want to say anything because everyone else trusted him and I wasn't sure if you were even aware he had one."
"What are you babbling about? What is this about something in Teal'c?"
"It is true Bakura. I carry an infant goauld within me. I am a Jaffa, it is my duty to carry it until it matures and can find a host. But I no longer serve the false gods, and will not again." He said the last part to Yami, emphasizing the ending.
"You still have it in you. Who is to say it doesn't end up controlling you, and before anyone speaks, you wanted to know why. Well, I will tell you. It was back when I was 11, just before I became pharaoh. In fact, it is the reason that I became pharaoh. I was spending the day at my father's side, receiving my education on being pharaoh, when they attacked. Everything went downhill from there………"