~*~*~*~*~
"Pizza!"

"Finally," Ellison grumbled as Mai, Mokuba and Ryou mobbed room service. "Something they do like ordinary kids."

Solomon sighed, watching Kaiba watch them suspiciously as the Duelists sorted out their various orders and vanished into the next room of Kaiba's hotel suite. Yugi was the last to disappear, with a mouthed, Don't worry, Grandpa. "To a great extent they are ordinary children, Detective." Solomon contemplated his first slice, dug in with appreciation. Even by Domino City standards, it had been a long day. "They're also people who've been in more potentially lethal situations than I want to remember. Kaiba once spent the better part of a week keeping one step ahead of Maximillian Pegasus' security forces, all the while knowing that Pegasus had Mokuba and meant to use the boy to take Kaiba Corporation for himself."

Salad off to the side, pepperoni and extra cheese in hand, Blair swallowed. "Security forces, as in...?"

"Men who had every intention of shooting him. Yes. And at the time, Kaiba had no magic to face them. Only luck, and skill, and nerves of pure steel." Solomon sipped his tea. "I don't particularly like Seto Kaiba, Dr. Sandburg. He's cold, arrogant, and far too prone to stepping on people when he wants something. But. He is honorable. He looks after Mokuba, whatever the cost. And Yugi believes he's worth saving."

"Blair."

"Blair," Solomon said softly, acknowledging the uncertainty in his son's voice. "Thank you."

"Thank us by telling us what we're up against." Jim crossed his arms. "Blair says this game's been around a while. How come nothing like this ever happened before?"

"Oh, it may well have," Solomon admitted wryly. "People tend not to believe magic, even when they see it. But your city's aura seems to be particularly fragile at the moment. And more to the point, you have four Battle City finalists in there. They don't just know the Heart of the Cards, they live it."

Ellison scowled. "Heart of the what?"

"It's the way the deck... feels in your hands," Blair said awkwardly. "How you know to stand pat, because the next card won't help; or discard and draw, because it's going to be good." He spread frustrated hands. "I keep trying to tell you guys, you've got to feel what the cards want."

Jim shot his partner a sideways glance. "That's just odds, Blair. Anybody in the department knows you can calculate poker hands faster than Vegas."

"Part of it is calculating the odds, yes." Solomon worked his way through a bit of crust. "Allow me to make a guess, though? When you have won off Blair at cards, he's been either sick, or playing with a fresh deck."

Silence.

"That's the magic." Solomon kept his tone even, matter-of-fact. Gently. Gently. "Even Yugi, if he were playing with a deck that wasn't his, couldn't win except by luck. And he knows every strategy I've ever learned."

Ellison barely seemed to glance at his too-quiet partner. "What did Yugi mean about our department having things to hide?"

You're a good friend, Detective. I'm lucky my son has you. "You wouldn't know it from my grandson's test scores, but he's quite good at solving intellectual puzzles as well as physical ones. I read him a bit of the translated Hayashibara texts, and he evidently put that together with your spotting the Sinister Serpent across the park as quickly as I did." Solomon arched a gray brow. "You might also be interested to know that a similar phenomenon was once recorded in ancient Egypt; the saew-seba and his companion seshem. The Guard of Stars, who could see and hear what other mortals could not. And his Guide, who healed violence done to ma'at, the right order of things, by mortal crimes; putting restless souls back on the path to the West and casting out evil spirits lodged in the hearts of men." And I'd best leave it at that. Bakura will use violence rather than be removed from Ryou... and if it were Yami in the same straits, I'd be very surprised if he didn't attempt to kill anyone trying.

Solomon winced at the thought. Granted, he knew more of Yami than he did of this unexpected offspring of Naomi's, but at least Blair was human....

And Yami isn't? A contrary part of his mind asked. Spirit or not, he considers Yugi's friends his as well; he considers you family. He protects Yugi, when you can't, fiercely as Kaiba does Mokuba. Hasn't he earned at least as much of a chance?

I don't know....

"I don't..." Blair shuddered. "I don't see spirits, Solomon."

"You saw four twins where I saw two kids, Chief," Jim pointed out. "Maybe alters aren't what we usually think of as spirits, but I'd sure call them restless souls. Didn't you once say a lot of historical possessions were just mentally ill people in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"Yeah." Blair rested his chin on the back of his hand. "How long have you known about Yami? If you don't mind...."

"Only a little longer than I've known about you," Solomon admitted. It was a relief to talk about it, even if he did have to skirt the truth. "I literally walked into the room one day and saw someone else looking out of my grandson's eyes."

"Ouch."

"He did try to break the news gently," Solomon sighed. "I keep wondering if I shouldn't have seen it before. Shouldn't have done something before. Now... well, we're learning."

"Sometimes people are too good at hiding things. Especially when they're trying to protect their family." Blair's hand rested on his arm. "Do you know what caused the split? If there's only two personalities, it's not too bad yet. Sometimes, if they can work out their trauma, they can reintegrate. Become one person again."

That's precisely what I'm worried about. "Yugi came to live with me when he was eight, after my son and his wife died," Solomon said plainly. "That's a week I prefer not to think about. His mother's family didn't exactly approve of her marrying my son; if Yugi hadn't had my number in his pocket and thought to dial it...."

"I'd call that trauma," Blair muttered. "Know anything about Ryou?"

"Ryou lost his mother and sister in a car accident, and his father... well, Mr. Bakura's an excellent archaeologist, and he does look after his son financially, but he's quite often gone." Solomon sighed. "I didn't realize how often until Yugi and his friends started checking up on Ryou. The poor boy's so alone."

"And they're both really nice kids, right?" Blair asked. "They think they're not supposed to get angry just because it still hurts. They probably think they're not supposed to get angry, period."

They're hikaris, yes. "They can get angry, but it's rare."

Blair toyed with a piece of crust. "Yeah, that would probably do it."

Jim snorted. "That would do it? You didn't have a father and you came out fine. No offense, Solomon," he added in an undertone.

Blair dropped the crust into what was left of his salad. "I didn't lose half my family, Jim. I didn't have to deal with people who were supposed to look after me not wanting me. And I sure as heck didn't have magic like theirs amplifying the whole mess while I was in the middle of high school...." Horror paled his face. "Those three are in the same high school? And it's still standing?"

"Domino High has suffered some interesting structural damage over the past year, and I'm told the school counselor won't come within ten feet of Bakura," Solomon said wryly, pouring himself another cup of tea. "Thankfully the six of them together seem to be too much for the bullies to start much." Now, at least. Let's not think about Ushio.

"Six?" Jim glanced at the door.

Was it suspiciously quiet in the next room? Yugi, whatever you're up to, be careful. "Yes, you might as well hear about the rest of them...."

~*~*~*~*~
"So," Mai yawned, setting her mug down as they polished off the last bits of supper. "We've got a Duelist who likes snakes - all the way up to sea serpents - and attacking graveyards." She stretched out on the peacock-blue couch, chin propped on her hand. "You're sure it's just one? I mean, we were miles apart...."

"The will behind the Serpent felt the same as that in the morgue," Ryou nodded, sitting neatly in a carved wood chair.

"And there's no way we missed three Battle City-class Duelists in one city," Mokuba said firmly, snuggling up against a violet trench coat. "Right, big brother?"

"Hmm." Kaiba calculated the odds once more. America had a far higher proportion of amateur to professional Duelists than Japan, but Kaiba Corp.'s information-gathering department ensured that he still heard about the good ones. "No."

"And as far as we can tell, it takes at least that level of skill with the cards to start summoning monsters," Yugi added, perched on a stool. "Even if things are easy to call right now, somebody out there is really good."

"Excuse me. Level of skill? Joey?" Mai said pointedly.

White hair bristled; Bakura snorted before Kaiba could decide whether to be insulted or amused. "You'd better be certain your silence charm holds, pharaoh," the tomb robber said darkly, pose shifting from Ryou's neatness to an arrogant lounge in his chair. "A saew-seba like Ellison can hear a falcon slip sideways in the wind, and I'd rather not give all our secrets into the hands of our enemies."

Kaiba glanced at the subtle gold glimmer lacing the edge of the doorway, a tracery of hieroglyphs and words that recalled misty memories of night meetings, and lamplight, and daggers drawn to make a point about the next battle.

"Ineb, ger," Yami had murmured, tracing fingers down the doorway. "Seba, ger. Seger sheni-en, sha-i!"

Wall, be silent, echoed still in Kaiba's mind, waking the memory of gold against his skin, the rustle of fine linen that haunted his dreams. Door, be silent. Quiet surrounds us, I command!

Not my memories, the CEO insisted stubbornly. When I want to go unheard, I sweep for bugs. I've never planned a campaign. Never relied on the Shadow Realm to hide knowledge of my plans from the enemy....

"The detectives aren't our enemies," Yugi said patiently.

Bakura growled. "They believe we're causing the monsters to attack. They're saew-seba and seshem. Like it or not, little one, those who hold the law here are our enemies."

Mai arched a delicate brow. "Translation for those of us who don't have ancient spirits stuck in our heads?"

"Um... that's kind of what we can't let them know about," Yugi said reluctantly. "Dr. Sandburg might be able to affect spirits."

"Oh?" Mai blinked tiredly. "Uh-oh."

Kaiba hid a wince as Mokuba's fingers gripped his arm with panicked strength. "What could he do to nii-sama?"

A wry smile twisted Bakura's lips. "The high priest-"

Storm-blue eyes narrowed. "Don't call me that."

"Sorcerer, then. Or would you deny that as well?" The tomb robber weighed his snarling silence. "I didn't think so." Bakura shrugged, hair falling over his shoulders like wild snow. "You're an incarnation, Seto Kaiba. You're no more at risk than Yugi. And no less."

"Mind defining just what-" Mai yawned again, fighting to keep her eyes open. "What risk means? Man, when Joey said summoning wiped you out, he wasn't kidding."

"There won't be a risk, so long as Sandburg doesn't know we're any more than delusions of the mind," Bakura said shortly. "If he does - stay clear, Valentine. Ryou wouldn't like to see you caught in the crossfire."

Amethyst eyes met amber, stern as steel. "Okay," Mai acknowledged. "But you two come out in one piece, you hear me? Or I'm going after him." Another yawn threatened to split her jaw. "Guys, I've just about had it. Anybody has any bright ideas on how to get this Duelist, speak now."

Mokuba's fingers finally stopped trying to cut off his brother's circulation. "Can you track him?"

Amber softened into chocolate. "We've been trying," Ryou admitted. "But the Ring doesn't seem to be seeking any one direction. It could be he's simply out of range."

"Out of range and still dropping monsters on top of us?" Mai shuddered. "Anybody mind if I stay behind you guys?"

"What if we tried a grid search?" Mokuba persisted.

"It'll have to wait," Kaiba said curtly. And felt his brother stiffen. Damn. I didn't mean-

The Puzzle flashed gold. "Your brother's right, Mokuba," Yami said matter-of-factly. "It's a sound plan. But we're all weary. If we did find our opponent, he might have the advantage. We should wait until morning."

"Okay," Mokuba said quietly, eyes down.

Kaiba put a hand on his brother's shoulder, wishing he could will himself to do more. Sometimes I hate you, Yami. "The suite has two baths, Valentine; one attached to the room you'll have for the night. I suggest you use it now, so we don't have to drag you out before you drown."

"Charming as ever, Kaiba." Lifting a small bag she'd salvaged from the damaged Luck, Mai headed for hot water like a needle to a magnet.

"Mokuba."

"Aw, nii-sama. I'm not-" A yawn ambushed his little brother, and Mokuba grinned sheepishly. "Tired?"

"Go," Kaiba said softly. "Sleep."

"Spoilsport...."

"Thank goodness." Ryou sighed as the bathroom door closed behind the grumbling twelve-year-old, silver locks losing some of their spiky edge as Bakura retreated to the Ring. "I really didn't want to mention this around other ears... Yugi. Bakura was tracking Shadow Magic to the morgue before the Ghoul appeared. And... we found it."

"Oh?" Violet eyes blinked. "Oh." Yugi's shoulders slumped.

Ryou nodded slowly. "Did you want to talk about it?"

Wordless, Yugi shook his head.

"Are you certain?" Ryou persisted gently. "I know... I know how it hurts. Even when you're protecting yourself-"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Yugi cut him off. "Just leave me alone!"

Kaiba started as the small teen dashed out of sight, slamming the bedroom door behind him. Yugi? Upset? He stood, stalking toward the tomb robber's host. "Explain."

Ryou sighed, running fingers through pale hair. "I'd estimate somewhere around midnight last night, Yami won a Shadow Game."

Kaiba blinked. Well, of course Yami had won, Yugi wouldn't be standing if he hadn't-

And fact fitted with fact, and Kaiba kept his face very still. Dear gods. "As in lethally won."

"I'm afraid so, yes." Ryou's troubled gaze met his. "He won't talk to me; not that I can blame him, even if Bakura felt slightly sympathetic he'd be too busy glaring at Yami for any of us to get a word in edgewise. Would you go to him?"

"He said he didn't want to talk." And I won't make him. Not if... damn, Yami, if what Tristan suspects is true, you've blocked his memory of other kills. Couldn't you have blocked him from this? Yugi doesn't need-

And Kaiba cut that thought off, and forced his fists open. Yugi had been willing to hold him, protect him, even as the youngster had been bombarded with the summoned memory of the first time Kaiba had used the Shadows to kill. How could Yugi do less for the other half of his soul?

Damn.

"But he will." A flash of the Ring, and Bakura's deadly seriousness looked back at him. "One way or another. If Tristan is telling the truth about Yami's memory, then he doesn't remember what a Guide is. How they push at your emotions. Make you more likely to voice secrets best left unshared. That's why they were banned from pharaoh's presence; for the living god, whose word is the Shadow's law, must always have the freedom to lie." The spirit's voice dropped to a smoky whisper. "That's why you want to kill them, sorcerer."

I don't-

Oh, but part of him did. Part of him felt that creeping urge to be open around Sandburg, and loathed it with all the passion self-preservation could kindle. Tell the truth about what he was, what he could do? What he had done, when need and hate coincided? Ellison was a danger, yes, but vulnerable to a well-chosen Monster. Sandburg was a threat to him, to Mokuba, to all that was his.

I'm not losing that damn pharaoh before I've had a chance to beat him, Kaiba thought darkly. "Will the silence hold?" It'd do no good to get Yugi talking if Ellison overheard every word.

"I'll hold it." Fangs flashed at his skeptical glance. "This is a matter of self-interest, sorcerer. If we're discovered - Yami's relatively benign, so far as Darkness goes. What in the worlds do you think Sandburg would try to do to me?"

"Try?" Kaiba smirked.

"The day I can't best a half-trained Guide is the day I'll die," Bakura said dryly. "Again."

Easing through the bedroom door, Kaiba tracked the echo of sobs. That shadow, there on the bed....

A shadow that was two shadows, the translucent form of his rival cradling Yugi against his chest as the spirit's hand rubbed soothing circles on his weeping hikari's back. Ruby eyes glared at Kaiba, daring him to speak one vicious word.

Kaiba pressed a finger to his lips for silence. I don't want to hurt him. If only I could tell you-

//I hear you, Kaiba.// A shadowy whisper, like a breeze tickling chestnut hair. //What do you want?//

I - how-

//Come closer. The Shadows don't carry well without strong emotion behind them.// Faded lips curled in a smile. //And you know how, Seto Kaiba.//

The Puzzle, Kaiba realized, finger involuntarily tracing the Horus eye that had surfaced on his locket that fateful day in New York. That damn Puzzle, that snared them all and bound them all in ways he still didn't begin to understand. He wasn't even surprised that Mai and Bakura had turned up; the only strangeness was that the rest of the bunch hadn't somehow been drawn to Cascade in their wake.

The smile curved, became the familiar smirk he'd faced across and stood beside in duels that meant not just pride, but life and death. //Are you afraid of me, Kaiba?//

What sane person wouldn't be? You, evidently, Kaiba told himself as he approached the pair. Though your sanity's been in question for a long time. Odd; the bed was distinctly dented under Yami, though he knew the spirit had no physical weight. What do I do now?

Yami arched a dark brow, nodded toward Yugi's other side. //You know he won't bite.//

No. Though there were those who'd done far less to Yugi than he had, who certainly deserved to face Yami in a Shadow Game....

And he was sitting on the edge of the mattress, trench coat discarded, opening his arms to the sobbing teen as Yami gently wedged his aibou between them. Mokuba. Just try to think of it as holding Mokuba.

Only it wasn't. The feel in his arms, the faint scent of apple and roses in spiky hair, the sudden tension as Yugi realized more than a spirit held him... all added up to not his brother.

//It's all right, aibou. He only came to talk.//

"Does Solomon know?" Kaiba heard the cold growl in his voice, tried to soften it. "You don't have to answer that. You don't have to say anything."

Tears glittered as Yugi nodded. "He's angry. He doesn't say it, but...."

Damn. I'm not the mutt - Wheeler. I don't know how to deal with this.

But then, Wheeler had never decided a man had to die, had he?

"It breaks something inside you," Kaiba said bluntly. "Deciding your life is worth more than theirs. Choosing to kill them, rather than let them kill you. Choosing to win, whatever the cost." He looked down at steely wrist-guards, knowing what metal and leather hid. Knowing the price he had paid for power. For Mokuba. For what was left of his shattered self. And I'd do it again. "And then you pick up what's left, and go on." He sighed. "Your grandfather is a good man. But I doubt he's ever been broken."

"I didn't want to hurt him."

Solomon? Or the man you killed? Probably both, knowing Yugi. "Your Grandpa knows that."

The spiky head shook. "He thinks - he thinks Yami...." Tears dripped onto Kaiba's shirt, turning it a darker black.

//Help him, Kaiba.// Was that distress in the spirit's voice? //Yugi sees too truly. I've tried to convince Solomon of my intentions. But I - I cannot deny what I am.//

Nor can I, Seto knew. He'd dueled the pharaoh with souls on the line, after all; he knew Yami, in ways only three others on this planet might.

Pegasus. Malik. Bakura.

Oh yes. He knew Yami as he knew his own reflection. The will to win. To survive. To triumph.

And the fierce determination to do anything - anything - to protect the one you loved.

"I know you," Kaiba said harshly. "I know you can stop Yami if you want to. I know you would have, if there had been any other choice. Any other sane choice." His grip tightened on the smaller teen. "Allowing someone to take an innocent life is not a sane choice!"

"Kaiba - not so tight!"

Kaiba relaxed his grip, inwardly relieved. He's looking after himself. Good. That's the first step.

//You won't like the next one.//

Kaiba frowned. What next one?

And gold bumped against damp cotton as Yugi snuggled into his shoulder.

Kaiba froze, quelling the reflex to shove this intruder away. What is he doing?

//Yugi needs to touch, Kaiba. The others are not here... and Grandpa has been reluctant to hold us. To hold me.// Kaiba saw anger flash in ruby eyes, a bitter grimace of swallowed pride. //It hurts him. It makes him feel - contaminated. Accursed. Alone....//

As he'd been, playing the perfect young businessman while fresh bandages kept blood from staining his uniform. No. No one should go through that. Never again. Jaw set as if he walked into fire, Kaiba willed himself to relax.

//Easy, Kaiba. Let me help.//

Light shimmered from his locket, and the fine edge of tension softened, as if someone had wrapped gossamer around his raw nerves. The perception of threat flickered out of his consciousness; the creature in his arms was no more a danger than his Blue Eyes, and no less welcome. What the hell are you doing?

//Taking some of your pain.// The spirit moved into their embrace, laying a transparent hand against the cheek Yugi was not snuggled under. //You're here, Kaiba - and he needs someone. He needs to know more of the world than me loves him for who he is. Here. Now.//

He loved Mokuba. That was all. That was all he dared. I don't-

"Seto."

Trust. Pure, unshakable trust in that grieving voice. And the little one was so warm....

//It's all right, aibou. It's all right to cry. We're here. We have you.//

After what seemed like eternity, sobs finally dried out. Yami dropped him a silent wink, vanishing into the Puzzle.

Sipping water as Yugi nestled into his covers, Kaiba washed down another aspirin. Damn headache. It'd been a long day, yet he was used to those. This....

Aftereffects of the Mirror Wall. Had to be. Everything was bright and dark and rawer than it should be.

*It's the magic here,* a draconic rumble noted. *We should join you. Ground you.*

Not a chance. No room here, and he definitely did not feel up to venturing onto the hotel roof now that night had fallen.

As if he'd ever call dragons out of the cards of his own will, anyway.

Puzzled hurt. *Why not? You're ours. We need to take care of you.*

Kaiba snorted. He didn't need taking care of.

"They're right, you know." Eyes barely open, Yugi snuggled unobtrusively closer. The lights of his hotel suite seemed to ease back into proper behavior around the small Duelist, burning steadily instead of flickering. "Grandpa says the magic here can be a real problem if you're not used to it. It's rough. Lots of mixed flows."

"It's a headache." Made worse by the sinking realization that Valentine's current rooms were awash on the damaged Luck of the Draw, Yugi wasn't letting Ryou or Mokuba out of sight, Sandburg and Ellison weren't letting any of them out of reach, and his hotel suite had, by default, become Duelist central. Made much worse by trying to get Mokuba to eat a healthy amount of vegetables with his ham-and-green-pepper slices. His little brother actually liked salad, but no self-respecting twelve-year-old was about to admit that. "Only a headache."

"Seto...." Yugi edged closer. "Let me help."

Kaiba kept his voice low; no need to distract Mokuba from any sleepy chatter he might have started with Ryou. His little brother deserved more friends. Mokuba was kind and warm and wonderful; there was no reason he should chain himself to a man with a heart of ice. "Don't touch me."

A shift in the form beside him, familiar as the wind in the dawn. "Always stubborn."

"As if you have room to throw stones." He would not look at Yami. He would not.

And fingers settled on his arm, gripping firm just above the edge of his wrist-guards. Firm enough to trace the edge of scars Yugi knew - knew - were there, scars Kaiba had never let anyone view of his own will....

Seto. A whisper through the shadows, a shiver he hadn't felt since that horrid duel when Yami had faced his cast-out darkness once more. You're hurt. You're tired. Let us help.

I told you. Don't touch me. Yet the words wouldn't come. Yami's touch was... warm, and familiar, and strangely without pain.

//If you wish us to go, we will.// The whisper was closer, more solid. Shadows on a warm summer's night, endlessly more real than the flimsy lights and sounds of a dream called Cascade. //Mery-i. Rest here a while, my friend, my brother. We will take up your watch. You, and all that you love, are safe.//

Mokuba.... Nightmares were pressing close and fast; he could sense them. And when his dreams turned dark, his brother's would be close behind. Mokuba needs me.

*Let me go to him.*

Kaiba arched a skeptical brow, thinking of a Blue Eyes in comparison with the hotel doorways. Can you fit?

Draconic laughter. *With help. We don't have to be that big....*

And goose-down was under his head, desert wind singing him into welcoming darkness.

~*~*~*~*~
Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, Ryou chanted from his soul room, watching Bakura hold the silence charm as Mokuba snored on the flattened recliner. The charm was holding sounds out as well as in, but he didn't have to hear a fist pounding wood to see the door vibrate under a policeman's distinctive knock. Oh, sweet Isis... what am I saying?

His yami snickered. //They'll need Her help if they cross the pharaoh in this mood, believe me.// Amber eyes narrowed as the door went still. //Yami! Warn your hikari. They're coming in!//

Crash.

"-The gun might be just a little overkill, Jim..." Blair smiled weakly from behind the armed detective. "Ah, hi."

Blinking as his body was released, Ryou frowned. "Is there something wrong, detectives?"

Ellison gave him a narrow look. Deliberately stored his gun away. "We couldn't hear anything from in here."

"Ah. And acting on the principle that silence is deadly, you decided to ignore common civility and investigate the hard way." Oh, dear. Ryou swallowed. Did I say that? I didn't mean to say that!

A dark chuckle echoed down his link. //Oh, yes you did.//

Oh, no....

//They're cops, hikari. Not kittens. You can get angry at them. They won't shatter.// Another dark laugh. //Now, if I got angry at them....//

"There could have been a monster in here," Ellison said bluntly.

"In which case you would have heard altogether too much, I assure you," Ryou said dryly. "Mouto-san. We saved you the couch."

"Thank you, young man." Solomon nodded. "But where will you be?"

Ryou waved toward his sleeping bag in the corner. "I've had worse on digs, really." Now would you get out of here, you idiots? He could see the twitch that presaged a nightmare cross Mokuba's sleeping face, and waking up to hostile cops in his room was not going to help. "Is something wrong?"

Three pairs of eyes were wide; Solomon's surprised, Sandburg and Ellison's stunned and wary. The Star-Guard reached for his gun-

Growl....

And thought better of it.

"Oh, dear," Ryou murmured. Steeled himself, and turned.

I didn't know they could be that small.

Blue-white scales shone softly in the low light; silver glimmered off a wing as the Blue Eyes White Dragon curled around Mokuba's improvised bed. The scaled head settled next to the mumbling boy, nudged him gently.

Shaking, the boy reached out. Touched warm scales. And sighed in his sleep. "Seto."

With a low rumble, the dragon wrapped a wing over its slumbering charge. Blinked at the cops. Silently bared its fangs.

"Bedtime it is," Ryou murmured. "Don't you think?"

"But - that-" the Guide managed.

"That, Blair, is a Blue Eyes White Dragon," Solomon said firmly. "Kaiba and I are the only people in the world who hold those cards. He won't hurt Mokuba."

Though the rest of us are rather up for grabs, Ryou couldn't help but think. Er - I'd really rather not go anywhere tonight, yami.

//Do I feel suicidal to you?// The Ring's spirit snorted. //If that Duelist truly is targeting us, I'd rather not be easy prey.//

If?

//If,// Bakura said firmly. //I know vengeance when I feel it, hikari. No one truly bent on making their foe suffer would have stopped simply because we disposed of their first Monsters. No.// Calculation filtered down his link; an image of Bakura leaning against his soul room wall, casually trimming nails with a dagger as he thought. //Whatever they struck for, they hit... what is that fool of a Guide doing?//

Ryou moved closer as Blair's pen scratched over paper, carefully copying the remnants of hieroglyphs on the doorframe. "Do you study Egyptology?"

"I get the feeling I'm going to be taking a crash course."

"Yeah. About that." Ellison yanked his gaze from the dozing dragon, studied him narrowly as Blair traced one last golden stroke. "You and Yugi, I get. Sort of. Archaeology's obviously in your families. But why does Kaiba know Ancient Egyptian?"

//Lie, hikari. Lie as close to the truth as you can.//

I know. "It's the heart of Duel Monsters," Ryou said truthfully. "Pegasus based the game off something he found in a dig. One of the most powerful cards can't be used in the game unless you can read it." And I never, ever want to see the Winged Dragon of Ra again.

//You don't, perhaps.//

Kaiba doesn't want to touch a God Card again, yami. High priest Seth, who you say never wanted anything more than power, doesn't want to go near them. Doesn't that tell you something?

//Hmph.//

Blair levered himself off the floor. "You're kidding."

Ryou frowned. There was something oddly familiar about that skeptical look. But he couldn't quite put his finger on what. Something about the eyes....

Regarding the Guide through his mind, Bakura choked. //Hathor's sweet-//

I don't know that word, and I don't want to!

A skeptical snort. //You're seventeen, hikari. You shouldn't be that ignorant of the finer qualities of women.//

This isn't ancient Egypt, nobles don't marry or take concubines at thirteen, and I do not want to know what you were thinking!

//And people think Yugi's the innocent one.// Bakura shrugged, flipping a dagger in his mind. //Then ask him. Before I do.//

Ask him-? Bakura's surety wrapped around him, and Ryou considered dropping dead of shock. Sweet Ra - I mean, kami-sama, I-

"Stop whispering at yourself and tell me how you guys shut down the sound in here," Blair said, pen tapping paper impatiently. "That doesn't look like a card to me."

Ryou stared at the Guide for a stunned moment, jaw slightly agape. Turned to violet eyes so much like Yugi's. So much like... gods. "M-mouto-san. Is he - does Yugi - oh lord, he couldn't. You're his grandfather, he wouldn't see it, he wouldn't even be looking...."

Solomon's gaze dropped first. "Don't tell him."

"Tell him?" Ryou squeaked, lowering his voice as Mokuba twitched. "Are you mad? Can we say, ooh, look at the pretty explosions?"

Ellison loomed over him. "You think he'd be violent?"

"Yugi? No. Yami, absolutely. Ra only knows what he'd do...." Ryou blew out a breath. "Do us all a favor, Mouto-san? When you do tell him, take him out somewhere there aren't any people and he can shatter a few rocks, hmm?" Turning on his heel, Ryou headed for the bathroom, firmly determined to pull a sleeping bag over his head and not think about any of this until dawn. "Good lord, as if our lives weren't messy enough." Stop laughing, yami! It's not funny!

"Speaking of messy." There was a dark, angry note in Ellison's voice that sent chills down Ryou's spine. "Blair. You'd better see this."

"See what?" Ryou asked warily, hearing the footsteps behind him head... oh no. Oh no, not that! He dashed for the bedroom - or tried to, dodging a slumbering curve of white tail took precious seconds. "Detective, you don't want to go that way-"

A dark snicker. //Five gold on the pharaoh frying the Guard before he touches Kaiba.//

Oh gods.

And he was at the door - but Ellison had made it through first, and now Ryou truly was panicking. If there was one and only one rule everyone in their group down to Solomon followed, it was, never sneak up on a hikari.

But Ellison only stood a few feet inside the doorway, scowling. Beckoned his partner and Solomon close enough to look.

Pressed against the side of the doorway, Ryou regarded the quiet room. Nothing's scorched, at least.

Wrist-guards glinted on the nightstand. A violet trench coat was neatly draped over a chair. Some of Yugi's innumerable belts and buckles were piled on the blankets at the foot of the bed; Gothic armor of midnight, waiting for their owner to reclaim them. And in the bed itself....

Well, that's... remarkably peaceful.

Pale sheets rose and fell with paired breathing, chestnut hair almost brushing multicolored spikes. Kaiba's long frame was curled on himself as if against desert chill, dark sleeves buttoned up to the wrists, one hand tucked under a pillow so fingers would have ready access to whatever deadly secret he'd stored there. Yugi was a small, lean sprawl guarding his back; Puzzle at his neck, frown knotting dark brows in his sleep, deck an evident lump under his own pillow.

//Peaceful?// Bakura snorted. //That, hikari, is an explosion waiting to happen.//

I wish I didn't agree with you.

Ellison's lips thinned; he held up a hand when his partner would have stammered something. Ushering Blair back out, he eased the bedroom door closed behind them.

//Damn.//

Yami, if you want the two of us to get out of this city in one Ring-bound piece, having the pharaoh flash-fry Ellison will not help!

Fangs gleamed in the shadows of his mind. //But it'd be fun.//

True, the man was annoying... aggh! Stop that!

A Cheshire-cat grin flashed down his link.

Bloody wonderful. Ryou let out a slow breath, forcing down his other's leaking homicidal tendencies to a low roar of irritation with the world in general. His mother had taught him what most who read Alice's adventures never realized; the original Cheshire cat was a vampire....

No. Breathe. In, out; calm, calm-

"You've got a problem, Solomon."

Ryou blinked, looking up at Ellison's serious expression. What now?

"I see that," Mouto said numbly, taking a shaky seat on the couch.

"With all due respect, sir, I'm not sure you do." Jim Ellison snared a chair, sat facing the older man. "I've seen people like Kaiba before. And I've seen scars like that before."

"Scars?" Blair pounced.

Jim tapped his wrists. "Looked like burns. Could just barely see the edge past his cuffs. Guy's got reason for staying covered up." He grimaced. "Mr. Mouto. Yugi and Ryou may have problems, but take it from me, Seto Kaiba is seriously emotionally screwed up." He arrowed a dark look Ryou's way. "What worries me more is that you're obviously helping."

"I - er-"

//Meretseger's fangs!// Bakura snarled at the very thought. //He thinks we want to help that blasted pharaoh?//

I'm quite sure you're only doing so because it's in our best interest, yami. Would you relax?

"How much did you find out about your condition before you scared the counselor off?"

Ryou tried to scoot away from Ellison's quiet chill. Dragon that way, bedroom that way... damn. "Try to keep to a regular schedule, try not to get stressed out, try not to kill anyone... joking, I was joking!" he said hastily as icy blue glared at him.

"No, you weren't." The detective's fingers curled into a fist.

"Out of our jurisdiction, Jim." Blair laid a hand on his partner's arm, studying the silver-haired teen. "Look. I'm sure Yugi wants to help. He's a nice kid, he can't just walk by when somebody's hurting. But somebody like Kaiba... that's a job for professionals, man."

Hmm. Reluctant as he was to admit it, they had a bit of a point-

//Mine,// Bakura said flatly, stalking into the corridor between their soul rooms.

Ryou dipped his head slightly, trying to relax into the switch. Don't kill anyone.

//No promises, yadonushi. I could use a good fight.//

"Ah. Professionals." Bakura's fangs gleamed. "I've dealt with those. The same professionals who believe talking to your cards is reason enough to fit you out for one of those annoying white jackets that tie in the back?"

"You again." Ellison stiffened. "If I could split you off from Ryou, I'd lock you up and throw away the key."

Bakura laughed darkly. "I'd enjoy watching you try." He stalked around the anthropologist, ran fingers through curly brown hair before Blair could jerk away. "But who'd protect you from Yami then? He doesn't like you, Detective. He doesn't like you at all. You threatened his fiercest rival; and if there's one thing Yami favors above all else, it's an opponent he can battle to the end."

"Yugi would stop him." Yet Solomon's voice wavered, and a wrinkled hand clenched on the couch arm.

"Not so sure, are you?" Bakura snorted. "You shouldn't be. You know what we've faced, Mouto. Who would you rather have at Yugi's side the next time dark magic threatens your grandson?" Amber eyes smiled, full of malice. "Not that it matters. I know who Yami will choose."

//Bakura, stop! You're not helping!//

Mouto can't ignore the truth forever, hikari, Bakura thought harshly. The pharaoh needs to take his allies where he can find them. Ellison will never be his ally... and a Guard's Guide will follow where he leads, even into the Serpent's fangs. Believe me, I know.

//Just... let me handle this? Please?//

A dark shrug. Waste both our time, then. They won't listen.

Ryou stepped back from a white-faced anthropologist, ducking his head. "Ano... I am sorry about that. My other's rather set in some of his opinions." He turned a pleading chocolate gaze on Solomon. "But they're not hurting anyone. Kaiba's actually beginning to be civil to the rest of us. And you should see Mokuba, he's so happy that his brother's finally starting to make friends...."

"His brother will chew Yugi up and spit out the pieces," Jim bit out. "I know his type. Doesn't matter what he says. Doesn't matter what he wants to do. He'll use people until he uses them up. He won't even know he's doing it. And if you weren't just as broken as that poor little kid in there, you'd know it too."

//Broken? My host?// Bakura growled. //Why, that ignorant, prejudiced, modern excuse for a medjai-//

Oh yes, Ryou thought, grasping his Ring in a sudden red rage. He felt his yami move into muscle and bone, bringing the memory of pain and magic in his wake, and welcomed the darkness in. Oh yes, that is it. That is absolutely, utterly it.

"Hold!"

Gold glimmered about the detective, freezing him in place. "Jim!" Blair grabbed for his partner, hissed as the Ring's magic snapped sparks at his hands. Pressed his hands grimly in, golden threads slowly unraveling as he touched them.

"Bakura! Let go!" Solomon said firmly.

Bakura laughed, a sound of shadows and smoke. "Would you ever believe I'm not holding him?"

You're... not? Ryou felt the breath in his lungs, the hard beat of his heart, the tug of the Ring's magic on his and Bakura's strength alike. I'm not in my soul room.

//No, little one. You're with me. We both want the same thing. For once.//

...Oh. My. It feels... nice. Oh, so much more than nice. Bakura's fierceness wove into him like the golden light of his Ring, like warm ashes and starlight and a touch of honey on the tongue. He wanted to cling and drink it in and never, never let go.

//...Hmm.// Bakura shook himself, scowled mentally. //Don't get used to it.// "I'll say this once, Detective, so unplug your ears and pay attention the first time. Your city's a vicious place for those with magic in their souls. Kaiba needs someone to ground him. Yugi's our best option, unless you want a sorcerer wandering your precious territory with the mystical equivalent of a hangover. And Yami can look after himself." The tomb robber snorted. "Leave what you obviously don't understand alone, or I'll drop a pair of Bite Shoes on you."

"Fiends?" Blair asked in an undertone, breaking enough gold to drag his swearing partner clear.

"Bakura's deck is full of them," Solomon confirmed.

"You," Ellison gasped, shaking out a magic-numbed hand. "You don't need the cards to do magic."

"Nor does your partner." Bakura's lips curled as he stalked toward the wonders of hot running water. "Don't act so surprised, Detective. It runs in his family."

Maybe we should-

//Apologize? Again? For the truth? I don't think so, hikari.// Bakura let warm water run over his hand, smirk softened into a purr at the steamy heat. Present-day humans had a few good ideas.

A point, Ryou admitted to himself. Besides, any pair stubborn enough to break a Millennium Item's hold would take hours to convince. And Kaiba and Yugi weren't the only ones who needed sleep.

//Sooner or later our snake-loving Duelist will strike again,// Bakura nodded. //And we'll be ready.//

~*~*~*~*~
Oh-dark-hundred. Nurse Agnes Houlihan stretched discreetly, ghosting near a dimly lit doorway down the hall. And she's still here.

From the soft sound of breathing inside the room, Mrs. Johnston might well have fallen asleep by her daughter's side. That was one good effect Sandburg and Ellison had had on Cascade General, as far as Agnes was concerned; family no longer had to fight as hard for "unreasonable" visiting hours, especially when patients seemed to be suffering from inexplicable illness.

Corinna's coma wasn't exactly inexplicable, Agnes thought, peeking through the doorway at the fourteen-year-old's still form. Burns, a few broken bones, concussion, the brunette's injuries alone might have caused any mind to retreat. Given that and the stress from her father's recent death - anyone might have abandoned the world for a while.

Right. And you still believe in the tooth fairy, don't you?

Corinna had been on the edge of a Major Crimes homicide even before she'd been caught in the latest chapter of the urban legend that was Jim and Blair's lives. By her mother's accounts, she was a scrappy little girl, not willing to crawl into a corner and hide no matter how tough things got. And her injuries weren't that bad; certainly not enough to account for that sudden, frightening turn to the worse she'd had yesterday afternoon, not long before her mother had shown up. Something about this coma just wasn't right.

I should check back in an hour or so, Agnes thought, leaning on the doorway, watching the mother's drawn face as she slept in her chair. See if Jenna's willing to go home for a few hours, get some fresh clothes, a shower-

The cold metal of a gun barrel jabbed into her neck, and a gloved hand covered her mouth. "Don't move."

Move! Agnes tried to will herself, as her captor's partner entered the room with a silenced gun. Call button! Hit it, front desk knows this is a homicide-related case-

But cruel fingers bit into her lips, his wrapping arm restraining her struggle. A hot breath seared her ear. "Keep this up, and I'll have some fun first."

Agnes bit back nausea, trying to stamp his instep as the man with the silencer drew a steady bead on Jenna. No good; stiff leather took her blow without flinching, soles squeaking like a shy mouse as he steadied himself on hospital linoleum. Across the room she caught the flashing numbers of a monitor clock. 4:43. 4:43. 4:43....

A gloved finger hooked the trigger, began to press down.

Look out! she tried to scream. "Mmph!"

Teeth scraped her earlobe. "Shut up!"

4:44.

Air shimmered between the gunman and his target.

What the....

Shadows coalesced into the ribbed pink of a living brain, rubbery hands that reached and seized-

The executioner's eyes went blank. Gun up and ready, he turned.

"Bri?" Her captor's voice turned puzzled. "What the hell are you-"

Thwock! Thwock!

And Agnes scrambled clear of a bleeding, choking body, and screamed. "Security!"

~*~*~*~*~

Translation: yadonushi - "host", "landlord".