Title: Drown, Deep Underground

By: Kokuryuuha-018
Genre: Romance, supernatural, drama, suspense, horror
Warnings: Yaoi, yuri, and religious references, complete with gore, obscene language, and mentions of sexual abuse and situations
Summary: (Angel/YGO crossover.) In a desperate attempt to help his ailing group of friends, Angel goes in search of the one person that can help them. Seto Kaiba. But there is a catch. Angel knows he can show the CEO what the boy really is, but can he make him believe? YAOI, YURI, FLUFF, and RELIGIOUS CULT REFERENCES!
Chapter Summary: With Jounouchi off (reluctantly, of course) to find Angel, Seto is left at the school to wait... and wait. While onAngels end, the long standing reasearch process proves it's efficiency once again as they (finally) find something of use...

Stori: This chapter basically signifies a turning point in the storyline, seeing as Seto and Angel are now formally meeting in someplace other than a graveyard. This is also the chapter where Angel gets closer to discovering if his patsy was right in telling him that Seto Kaiba was the one to mooch info off of… Now, yonder!

'Thoughts'

(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O) Scene Change (O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)

()()()()() Flashbacks ()()()()()

:Spoken in 'English': : This is for the language barrier. Yes, I'm trying not to incorporate the differences in languages, seeing as most of the cast is smart enough to have learned Japanese, and that if they did speak in English, it is a second language basically. But, I figured the street smart but not always book smart Gunn would have trouble with the differences, and would revert to English if he had to. I'll try to keep it in context so it's not to confusing…

Chapter Four:

oOoOo

'And I am not frightened of dying, any time will do,

I don't mind.

Why should I be frightened of dying?
There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime.'
'I never said I was frightened of dying.'

"Great Gig in the Sky"

- Pink Floyd

oOoOo

The sound of keys clicking and pages being flipped every so often filled the small office, as Angel took a seat at the small table. He rested his chin in his left hand, elbow supporting the arm on the polished mahogany wood. The other hand flipped listlessly through age old files, each containing at least one mention of the names Seto, Kaiba, or Lasek.

Fred sat across from him, her eyes scanning the laptop screen with practiced ease. She was nibbling on her lips gently, trying to stay focused despite the fact that they'd been working on the same thing for hours. They needed info on Seto, and they had no way to get what they were looking for without the help of the teen.

"Hello… I think we've found something…" All eyes turned to Wesley, who was sitting on the floor behind stacks of files and demon encyclopedias. He was staring intently at a piece of yellow paper, the file it came from being held in a death grip in his other hand.

"What is it?" Angel asked less than eagerly, as he sat back in his chair. He was stressed. That much was obvious. He had been racking his brain all day and night since he'd seen the elder Kaiba, trying to figure out how to get him to cooperate. He was desperate for any help in this, but knew he shouldn't get his hopes up. Nothing was certain.

Wesley passed the paper to the vampire, pushing his glasses up his nose as he let go of the file, "Looking through his relative's permanent records, there are a large number of incidents concerning heart problems and lung collapse, on his mother's side. On his fathers, if you go as far back as 1870, all records of the Lasek name are lost. The two both fit with the symptoms and time period of the clan we are searching for, though I don't see how this fits in with Seto Kaiba…"

"I think I do." Fred spoke up as she stared intently at the laptop screen, her eyes wide with presumed shock, "You said that when a certain breed of demon reaches a certain age, they're kinda… sought after… right?"

Wesley nodded as he walked up behind the girl, his hand coming to rest on the back of her chair, "Yes, it's possible, but it's also quite rare… why?"

He could feel her shoulder move against his knuckle as she drew in a deep breath, "Well… I looked into Seto's adoption records and from the age of seven to… I can only assume now, and this kid's been a pedophile magnet…"

"What?" Angel stood up from his chair, joining Wesley behind Fred. Quickly skimming over the page, he sighed as he found out she was right.

'–Lasek-Seto Samueal Kaiba

Date of birth: October 25th

Gender: Male

Blood Type: A

Race:

Please note:

Has been victim to 4 kidnappings at the ages of seven, eight, nine, and eleven. There have also been several reported attacks during the past six years as well, and it can only be assumed that there have been more that haven't been brought to the attention of the authorities. All attacks seem to have been sexual in nature (though some violent occurrences), and the ages of the attackers range from 18 to 56. Therefore, he is very wary of strangers, and especially adults. Very protective of his younger brother, willing to…'

"Wow…" Fred breathed, sitting back in her chair. She ran a hand through her bangs, tucking the wayward strands behind her ears. She'd never seen anything like this. The poor kid…

"Well? Wesley, is this what we've been looking for?" Angel turned towards the other man, only to find an empty space. Raising an eyebrow, he looked around the room, his eyes stopping on the figure digging through the pile of papers he'd been looking through not moments before.

A single piece of paper was pulled from the pile, being placed delicately on the table. It was a newspaper clipping from a town not far from Domino city. The headline wasn't that interesting, just another murder. But the article below it was worth noting.

"Is… This Seto…?" The vampire looked over one of the two pictures in the newspaper, his dark eyes wide. The picture on the left of the clipping was one of a boy around seven or eight. Wavy brown hair framed his small smiling face, his eyes a brighter blue than Angel remembered them to be. It could be considered a cute picture if it wasn't for the headline, 'Grade School Student Found after Five Day Absence'.

"Yes, this is Seto. I didn't understand the relevance until now." Wesley took a seat next to the other man, pointing to the other picture on the page, "This is the kidnapper. Who does he look like to you…?"

Fred, who was now standing beside Angel, looked over his shoulder, "He looks familiar but—"

"It's Spike."

Wesley nodded, picking up the clipping, "Exactly. But you and I both know that Spike wouldn't do anything unless he could make a profit out of it…"

"So I'm guessing that Seto Kaiba had, or has something that Spike wanted..." Angel took his seat at the table, his hands folding together unconsciously, "And Spike never stops until he gets what he wants. So why did he let this kid go, and so early?"

For the first time since the beginning of their little discussion, no one could provide him with an answer. The heavy silence that fell over the room was soon broken as Angel gave a groan of frustration, leaning back in his chair, "So what? We're back where we started?"

Wesley shook his head, sitting down beside the vampire, "No, at least now we know of Spike's involvement and of Seto's many attacks and attackers… Now we have something to work with." The barest hints of a smile crossed the mans face, "Now… we have our lead."

(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)

"Why I do the things I…"

A frustrated sigh escaped the lips of a very pissed Jounouchi, echoing off the walls of the virtually empty hallway. He took one last look at the slip of paper in his hand before crumpling it up and whipping it down the hall.

He had, albeit reluctantly, agreed to find this Angel guy… He wouldn't have even bothered if it weren't for Yugi. He couldn't say no to his friend on a good day, and this time he'd started spewing all that shit about civility and conscience. So what if he could leave a rich kid with a 10 foot pole shoved up his ass in the bathroom to throw up his innards… It didn't mean his was a bad person per say, just that he had his priorities, and helping the snotty brat wasn't high up on his list of things to do today.

Growling under his breath, Jounouchi looked up through ragged and unruly bangs, scowling at the golden plates beside the doors that lined the hallway. He silently blamed the engraved plates for making him miss study hall, the only place he could get a decent amount of sleep during school hours. Scanning the number on each expensive looking marker, he started walking, slowly but steadily, towards his destination,

'203, 204, 205…'

He shoved his hands in his pockets, sulking now, not all to thrilled about having to meet with a man he'd never even heard of, and having to ask of a favor he didn't even owe,

'206, 207, 208…'

A woman, possibly a secretary, walked out of the 207th office, catching sight of the blond only seconds before she ran into him. Apologizing profusely, she hurried off down the hall, near terrified of the clearly angered teen that looked like he could do a significant amount of damage, if the need arose,

'209, 210, 211… Lovely…'

With one last sigh, Jounouchi reached for the shoddy door handle (this office looking considerably less pricey than the ones down the hall), only to find it locked.

Suppressing an unmistakable bought of rage that had instantly begun to bubble up in the back of his throat, he tried the knob again. And again. A growl burbled up and passed his lips as he slowly let go of the handle, hazel eyes boring holes into the rusty metal, 'No… Nuh uh… I did not come all the way out here for this…'

Raising his fist to the tinted glass that covered the top half of the door, he rapped it gently at first, then upon receiving no answer, a little harder. Once again, absolutely no answer, not even a passing shadow, and he took that as a 'go ahead' to knock just a little louder, followed by three even louder hits to the poor slab of wood.

Gunn made his way down the complex's hallway, nodding to the flustered secretary that worked in the dentist's office in 207. She looked kinda roughed up, for a secretary that worked where there was little to no business that is…

Shaking his head, he continued with confident strides down the hallway, masking his frustration at the fact that all the signs and papers hanging on the walls down the hall were in kanji or hirokati-karma… Whatever it was! He just didn't like it….

He owed Angel… Angel was like family, as were Wes and Fred. That was the only reason he followed them on this wild goose chase… He didn't want to leave L.A. He didn't want to leave the country. He didn't want to go to a country that not only didn't use English as a primary language; but didn't even use the English alphabet!

It was frustrating, it was confusing, it was just annoying… And he couldn't do shit about it. He wasn't leaving, but he didn't want to stay. So, to distract himself, he usually spent his time at the office. He'd go straight there from his small, low rent apartment, constantly getting lost along the way…

A loud banging and many Japanese curses flew down the hallway, bringing him out of his trance, just in time to see a blonde boy around the age of 16-17, kicking and hitting the door to his destination.

The boy was slender, slightly petite, but obviously very sturdy as he eventually gave up on the door and punched a hole into the drywall instead.

He brought his fist back again, attempting to take another swing, when Gunn caught him by the wrist:"Hey now, would you mind not adding to our damage claims…? We already pay enough for inanimate casualties…":

Jou's eyes widened in shock, before he ripped his wrist out of the others grip, hazel eyes narrowing, 'Great… A foreigner…'

"You work here?" The blond asked slowly, motioning to the other man and then towards the door in an effort to get the question across smoothly enough.

"Ahh… Ye...s…" Gunn raised a hand to the back of his head, scratching his neck while trying to hide his embarrassment at the broken sentence. He only took the time to learn a few questions and responses, and the rest he was picking up from Fred… But learning and 'doing' are two different things… And he hadn't gotten around to much of either.

"Great, maybe you can help me… I need… Angel." Jounouchi almost jumped as the man's head snapped up, his hands leaving their positions at his neck and in his sweatshirt pocket.

:"Angel?": The blond nodded, his eyes growing wary and never leaving Gunn's, "Umm…" Gunn lowered his head to stare intently at the door knob; apparently think about something, Jounouchi only hoping it was about letting him in.

"So…?" Once again, a very impatient Jou caught the attention of the older man, raising an eyebrow in annoyance, and apparently conveying that annoyance to the other.

"Yeah, yeah sure, come in…" Gunn pulled a key out of ratty jeans, fighting to get it in the lock. Grinning at the resounding click, he opened the door, ushering the boy inside.

With a curt nod of thanks, Jou moved passed him, his eyes taking in the small waiting room, the walls still lined with boxes. Most of them were opened, foam "S's" scattered about, while others were haphazardly strewn around the room.

"This way…" The man mumbled in choppy Japanese, dragging his feet while moving slowly into the other room. His head was hung, and he looked miserable… 'Not too courteous either,' Jounouchi thought sourly, 'but hey, who am I to judge?'

Jounouchi was led through a slightly larger anteroom, with a downward stair case in the far left corner, and an upward one in the right. This office may not be in the best of shape, but it was definitely not at a lack for space…

Speeding up slightly, he made it back to Gunn's side, his eyes glued to the ground. This place… It gave off this creepy, 'Get the fuck out of here' vibe, but it was also oddly comfortable and relaxing at the same time…

:"Gunn! Where've you been?": Fred stood up from the table, hurrying over to the man and grabbing his hand. She began to drag him toward the middle of the room, talking a mile a minute trying to get him caught up, and unknowingly leaving Jounouchi standing at the doorway, looking extraordinarily lost.

:"Yeah… Thanks Fred. Uh, Angel man, you got a guest.": Gunn took a seat at the table, grabbing a sheet of paper and beginning to leaf through it. He wasn't really reading, but he didn't want to have to deal with the little blond dude he just brought in. He had a wicked temper...

Angel turned his attention to the blond boy leaning on the doorframe with an aggravated scowl on his face, "And who are—"

"Katsuya Jounouchi. I don't need you; I'm just running an errand." The boy spoke swiftly as he corrected Gunn, obviously in no mood to talk, and the glare still present.

"Running an errand…?" Raising an eyebrow, the vampire leaned back against the desk, crossing his arms across his chest. This had to be one of the longest days he'd had since they'd moved here. There were absolutely no leads except for scattered pieces of information, and he'd been getting little to no sleep lately. He didn't want to have to deal with another brat…

"Yeah, an errand. I came here out of the goodness of my heart…" Jou snorted as he watched Angel resist the ever growing urge to roll his eyes, "To fetch you for one stuck up rich boy..." All eyes rose to the cocky blond at the door, "Seto Kaiba."

"Seto?" The vampire surprised Jounouchi by giving him his complete and undivided attention at the mere sound of the name. Dark eyes met hazel and the older man shifted his position from being slouched against the table to standing at attention in front of the other, waiting for an answer.

The blonde nodded, his eyes slightly wide at the sudden change in demeanor, "Yeah… He was kinda sick in the bathroom at school," Wesley visibly twitched at this, not that anyone was looking… "And he asked me to get you -or rather told me to get you, 'cause hey, everyone know that Seto Kaiba doesn't have to ask for anything...- that ofwhich I still don't see the reason for… You wouldn't happen to know would you…?"

Angel opened his mouth to answer, but the sound of papers being shuffled rapidly and haphazardly cut him off. He turned around to see Wes digging through the long forgotten files once again, only this time, deathly pale, "Umm…"

The man lifted his head from its downward position, giving a weak smile, "I think I know why Seto is in need of assistance, and why it's now instead of then… When you talked to him last." Sighing softly, almost inaudibly, he moved from his place behind the table to join Jounouchi at the door, "Well, let's go…"

"…"

Turning slightly, Wesley caught sight of the violent twitch of Angel's eyebrow. Gunn had taken Angel's previous space, leaning against the table, not all too motivated and not about to move. Fred was still at her computer, only now she was staring at Wesley, eyebrow raised and an 'are-you-an-idiot' look on her face.

Then, finally, something clicked in his head, causing the man to take a step back from the door, a sheepish smile on his face, "Uh, sorry…" He then paused, waiting for Angel to speak, or move, or blink… Something… "Are… we going?"

"No, Wesley… We're not going…" Angel turned to face the man he was now addressing, his arms no longer crossed but down by his sides, "First of all, we have no idea where Seto is, and we don't have any clue who…" Angel's hand waved in the direction of the blond, who in turn snorted and looked away, "this isWe could be wandering around for hours if all we have are his usual haunts… Second, neither you nor… Katsuya, was it? Neither of you has told us why Seto has asked for us. And lastly… It's twelve in the afternoon, and it's beautiful out." Raising an eyebrow, the vampire threw one last pointed look at Wesley, who in turn replied with a dawning look of comprehension and a quiet "Oh".

Fred shook her head slightly. Ever since they got to Domino, Wes had been extremely out of it, "I still think it would be best if we go… If Seto has actually sent someone for us, then it might just be a life or death thing."

The vampire pointed to the covered window, an exasperated look on his face as he regarded her with one eyebrow raised. This served only to make her grab a blanket off a nearby chair and toss it to him, landing with a light thump by his feet.

Angel sighed, grabbing the blanket and his coat from the hook behind Jounouchi. She was right… They needed to go. He fished a set of keys out of his coat pocket before slipping it on, "Well, whose going to drive?" He asked impatiently, holding the keys up in the air and shaking them slightly for emphasis.

"I will…" Gunn stood up from the table, crossing over to the vampire at taking the keys. Shoving them his pocket, he walked up to the Jou, slinging an arm over the others shoulder, "Okay then Blondie, you're riding up front with me."

Faintly aware of the fact that he was being turned towards the door he had just entered, Jounouchi shrugged off the offending arm, but still followed the older man outside.

Fred followed suit, and was soon joined by Wesley who was trying to juggle all of the papers and file he felt that they would need. Naturally, it ended up being half the stack.

Being the last one standing in the office, Angel quickly shut off the lights and walked out into the small, conjoining anteroom. His attention quickly gravitated to the descending staircase on his right. The door was open slightly, the light from the anteroom glinting off the metal stairs.

Reaching out, he grabbed a hold of the door knob, his brow knitting together as he contemplated the door, or rather what was beyond the door.

"Angel!" The vampire almost jumped as Wesley walked through the door. He lifted his head slowly, his hand still attached to the door handle, "Gunn starting the car…"

Angel nodded slowly, "I'll be right out." The other man gave him a skeptical look, before nodding as well and leaving the room.

Taking one last look at the door, Angel sighed, closing it. He turned slowly, pulling yet another key from his coat pocket, "Goodbye, Conner…" He mumbled, closing the office door and locking it behind him.

(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O) Domino High: Auditorium B (O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)

Seto was pissed.

That was the only way to describe the CEO's mood at the time. He sat on the edge of the stage in the second auditorium, swinging his legs so that whenever they came back towards him, they would hit the edge of the wooden platform, resulting in a loud, resounding 'thump'.

'If he just ran off and didn't bother to get Angel, I swear to god I'll string that puppy up by his toes…' A thin eyebrow twitched as Seto tried to keep his temper under control. He wasn't a patient person. He never had been. And so, having to wait for around two hours already was pushing him a little too far…

His headache had yet to disappear completely, but after a half an hour of mindlessly muttering obscenities and enough aspirin to put your average man in a coma, it had simmered down. But that wasn't good enough.

Even though his head wasn't about to explode anymore, the dull throbbing of his temples was still annoying as hell. And of course, the fact that his ears were still ringing wasn't that much of a plus either.

Running a hand through chestnut brown locks, Seto let his heel hit the side of the stage one last time before he pulled his legs to his chest. Folding his arms over his knees, he rested his chin on his forearms. He had just closed his eyes when the door to the auditorium swung open, hitting the wall and most likely leaving a dent at the impact.

"Finally…" Seto mumbled, jumping off the stage only to lean back against it. After how long they had made him wait, why should he have to go to them?

"And I'm guessing that you're Seto Kaiba…?"

The brunette's head snapped up suddenly, turning towards the door at the sound of a foreign voice. He quickly regained his cool demeanor however, his eyes narrowing at the man standing in the door way, "Who are you?" He demanded, not at all in the mood for another introduction, but at least this one was at a safe distance.

"You're free to call me Wesley. I'm just here to retrieve you for Angel, so you can relax." The man smiled politely as the boy in front of him finally noticed how stiff he was standing, and forced himself to relax, fighting the light flush of embarrassment that threatened to force itself across his cheeks.

"Why can't he come for me himself? It was him that I asked for, not one of his lapdogs…" The CEO's eyes flashed with another bought of annoyance. How dare he make him wait for two straight hours and then not even show up?

"He's waiting for us in the library. It's the largest room available, giving us the privacy we need…." Wesley smiled still as he turned and opened the door, holding it open for Seto to pass through.

With a sigh, he reluctantly passed the older man, stepping out into the empty hallway. He began to walk in the direction of the library, before Wesley's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

He turned sharply, knocking the hand off of him, "What?"

The smile had vanished from the other mans face, and the hand that had stopped him pulled a small piece of paper from Wesley's pocket, "I need you to answer me truthfully now, Seto…"

"Kaiba." The brunette growled, his eyes never leaving the folded piece of paper.

"Oh. Yes, Kaiba, sorry about that… I still need you to answer me honestly, though." Wesley unfolded the piece of paper and held it out in front of the boy, "Do you remember this incident…?"

Seto's eyes widened as he scanned the headline on the newspaper clipping,

'Grade School Student Found after Five Day Absence'

oOoOo

Stori: I have... Let's see, two hours until my entrance exam... Great. I wouldn't mind so much if the exam didn't include a instrumental solo, but it does... And I just got a new reed! I can't play with a new reed! So I'm writing this, with my reed in my mouth, (thank you Jess, and Megan... I'm stealing you're idea.) hoping that will help some.

Wow, sorry about that. Anyways, not one of my faveorite chapters, but at leastI got around to introducing Gunn...