A/N: making a correction to that last chapter. I totally forgot that Pegasus' name is J. Crawford when I made up James Crawford. So yeah they're totally different people, and Pegasus won't be seen again. Remember what Bakura did to him with his Millennium Ring? So yeah, I think Pegasus will steer clear away from Ryou from now on –laughs-

Thanks so much for those who reviewed and yeah…I do need a beta.

Upon reaching their destination, the group was able to set up their camp under the watchful eyes of the tombkeeper, who stood patiently on a nearby hill with his horse.

Ryou would occasionally throw glances over at him, feeling a bit uneasy in his work when someone so eerie was watching them like a hawk. He would try hard to concentrate on reading Yugi's instructions, but would often find himself quite distracted by the tombkeeper's presence.

On the other hand, the sight of him when viewed at another angle was just simply fascinating. His clothing, the strong loyal horse on which he rode, the sea of heat waves rippling behind him in shades of green, indicating vegetation in the distance ahead where the Nile River would be.

It was picture perfect, although the mysterious tombkeeper was not there to be put on display for the campers, and Ryou wondered how the team was able to work calmly under his watch. They were just ignoring him as if he weren't there, thinking that he was probably the only one going mad for no reason.

"Oi…don't worry so much about him. We don't mess with him, he don't mess with us. That's our code of understanding with all tombkeepers." said a man who was part of the camera crew, nearly startling Ryou and at the same time, was offering the archaeologist his canteen which he gladly took.

His face twisted up in disgust, spat out the rest of the liquid that burned his throat making the other man laugh heartily at him.

It just had to be liquor.

"Do you guys know him?" asked Ryou before fishing out his own canteen and gulped down the entire remains of his water. The other man shook his head a little in response.

"Been seeing him for as long as we came to work with Yugi, but he don't mingle with us, just mostly with Yugi, and only Yugi. They got secret lives, them tombkeepers."

Ryou looked away, thoughtfully. "I bet they would make a really good documentary."

"But Bob there… is like an old friend, always watchin' o'er us e'ry time. At least we think it's the same guy…" said another man who decided to join the little circle and Ryou blinked in confusion.

"Bob?"

The third person who joined them was another camera crew member, a lighthearted Irish fellow with a round belly. He smiled brightly and nodded his head. "We don't know nothin' about 'im or 'is name, so we just call 'im Bob." joked the Irish man and Ryou just laughed along with the men while shaking his head at their antics, his gaze falling back at the ghostly image on the hill.

"He's never caused us any trouble though, some tombkeepers can be very menacing, usually the low ranking ones." someone had said, but Ryou didn't bother to care who.

Instead, he unpacked a sketch pad he uses to draw his finds during his field work, along with his favorite pencil and started sketching the image of the tombkeeper on the hill. Biting his lip in deep thought as he imagined the colors and methods in which he could possibly use to bring the image to life.

And he couldn't wait until he was able to capture this timeless image fully. His heart pounded in excitement at the sudden inspiration, all thoughts on the excavation gone, and prayed that the tombkeeper wouldn't get offended somehow should he find out about his secret portrait being done.

Ryou made sure he wasn't looking while he was drawing.

He was laying back on a fallen beam and a pillar of what had once been an entrance to a secret worshipping ground, the eraser end of the pencil between his lips and just stared longingly into his drawing. He didn't notice how long his drawing had held his eyes captive until he was shaken out of his little daze, the corners of the sketch pad began rustling wildly in the breeze, not knowing when the winds had picked up so drastically. And when Ryou looked back towards the hill, he frowned. The tombkeeper was gone.

The inspiration had gone with him as well and suddenly, was replaced by concern as the horizon where the horseman used to be got very hazy all of the sudden. A few grains of golden-brown sand landed on his drawing and he slowly brushed them off, sensing that there was something wrong in the sudden change of atmosphere.

"Run for cover!" someone had then yelled, making the archaeologist bolt straight up in his comfortable position. "SAND STORM!"

Ryou gasped then jumped down to help the rest of the men cover up various equipment in their steel cases that were sprawled out across the site. He then caught sight of paper scattering beyond the camp site and his brown eyes widened, Yugi's work was flying all over the desert along with his secrets.

"NO!"

As the rest of the team ran for cover behind some ruins that could shield them from the blinding winds, the young archaeologist ran out against the storm in hopes of gathering up some of the paper.

"What are you doing it's dangerous out there!"

"The notes, I have to save the notes!" Ryou managed to yell and quickly scurried after the papers. Picking them up and stuffing them awkwardly into his pants.

He didn't realize just how far he had strayed from the camp just to catch the scraps of paper, but the more he ran after them, the faster the winds had picked up and tried to fight his way through the approaching storm.

And when it hit, it hit him hard. Trapping him on all sides, blinding his vision and gathering sand grains in his mouth and nose as he ran. He then dropped to his knees tiredly, bits of paper were still seen out of reach. He hoped if he at least covered his head with his shirt he'd wait out the storm, but it was hopeless. The winds were strong and just tossed him around effortlessly, and his sensitive skin was starting to burn from the scraping of sand grains against it. No matter where he walked, the winds were always there and he found himself walking in circles within its wrath.

What a pathetic way to die, he thought to himself, if he weren't able to make it out of a simple thing like this. He envisioned the evil smirk on Crawford's face once he learns of how the son of one of the greatest archaeologists had died in a stupid sandstorm. He would let Yugi down, his team would tease him endlessly for years. He would be such a disgrace to them all. And out of all the things that could've possibly killed him in the past before, who would've thought a sandstorm would meet his end.

Ryou yelled out in frustration at his thoughts, trying again to run in hopes of beating the storm, but the heart of it was soon drawing near and he trips on the harsh weight of the sand beneath his feet. The rest of his notes were gone, probably buried in the sand by now and he was feeling hopeless as he desperately searched for anything that could shield him from the storm.

Mother Nature was one bitch.

First day on the job and already he was screwing up.

Maybe Crawford was right. He wouldn't be able to withstand the desert's might after all.

But just as tendrils of the storm's core began whipping hard against his body, trying to at least get to his knees again. A loud neigh of a horse sounded over the rushing winds and he desperately tried looking for the source. He managed to get to his feet once again, and when he turned around, was surprised by a big black horse charging his way, felt arms circling around his waist then hoisting him up onto the horse's back and rode out the storm.

When he managed to clear some of the sand off his eyes, he was barely able to make out long white fabric and lavender eyes beneath the turban. Ryou's own eyes squinted in thought.

Those eyes…he had seen them somewhere before.

He then closed them shut from the sandy winds irritating them and soon felt the rider's hands on him again. This time pushing him off the horse and onto the sand again, and then pressing his body against him slightly. And for as long as the howling winds of the sandstorm sounded, the two had stayed that way quietly.

Sometime had passed and the young archaeologist was starting to feel comfortable in his current position. He managed to doze off, the lack of sleep from time zone change and running after scraps of paper on the heavy sand began taking their toll on him. He was tired, and where ever it was he ended up, was too cozy to move.

When he tried to open his eyes, he saw nothing but white and gasped silently, thinking that he probably did die after all. But as the white fabric over him shook, hearing piles of sand sliding off, the body pressed against him shrugged then sat up straight.

And Ryou had turned an interesting shade of red upon realizing just how close and strangely intimate their position had been with the rider.

What was even worse, as his dark eyes were now in better focus, they widened and the shade of red turned even brighter. The body he felt and was too comfortable with had belonged to their tombkeeper, and was patting off the sand that had covered his long robes and turban. Damn… he thought to himselfand began patting the sand out of his pale hair while watching the other. Damn, damn, damn. Of all people…

he thought to himself and began patting the sand out of his pale hair while watching the other.

"I…uh..I." Ryou sputtered as he frantically backed into the boulder behind him that stuck out of the ground, and realizing that the tombkeeper had taken them for cover underneath it. The tombkeeper ignored him and stood up to clear off the rest of the sand, and Ryou followed soon after.

"I'm…I." he tried remembering a few words of appreciation in their language, but his dry mouth and now scratchy throat hindered him from any form of speech and sent him into fits of coughing. He keeled over and desperately tried to moisten his mouth again.

The tombkeeper was still ignoring him and seemed to bounce back fine from the storm like nothing had happened while Ryou struggled to breathe. He put two fingers together and brought them to his lips, and whistled out to the now clear as day, desert. And after just a moment of awkwardness between them, the tombkeeper's black horse came trotting into view before them while shaking its long mane.

"Smart creature…" croaked Ryou, managing the only thing he can think of, then watched the tombkeeper take a canteen off his horse and handing it over to the archaeologist.

"Drink…it'll help." said a suave voice in a thankfully familiar language from beneath the cloth covering half of his face. That voice oddly striking something deep within Ryou's conscious. Ryou took the canteen slowly and drank, then splashing some on his face to clear the sand off. It was much relief, and he was able to breathe clearly for the moment.

But as soon as Ryou was done wiping his face with one hand, the said hand lingering over his mouth, his eyes caught the other man's movements, and the tombkeeper began slipping off his long robe with his back to Ryou.

Those sore brown eyes had then widened in shock, felt as though time had stopped, his body freezing up on itself despite the strong sun beaming down on him, and he didn't need for the turban to come off to find out who their mystery tombkeeper had been after all.

When the white robe slid off the shoulders, then down his muscular back and waist slowly. The undulating fabric revealed deep bronze skin with very familiar hieroglyphs tattooed all over his back.

The winged sun-disc across his broad shoulders was what triggered it, and all of Ryou's memories of his dueling days, memories with the Sennen Ring and the awful spirit that possessed him, then not so very fond memories of a certain blonde whose dark laughter still echoed hauntingly in his ears, a good chunk of his youth long kept locked away now came flooding back to him in heaps, playing his life right before his eyes like some silent, black and white movie.

The canteen fell from his hand and hit the sand with a soft thud.

When the turban came off and golden-blonde strands fell just beyond the tombkeeper's shoulders, Ryou's dreadful suspicions were confirmed and he gasped silently.

"M…Malik…"

Ryou felt stricken, the desert breeze suddenly cool against his heated body, and his head was spinning from the overwhelming memories of his adolescence.

He watched the blonde shake off his clothing from the sand then laying them neatly over his horse, then ran his fingers through his locks; strong-looking hands bound by his signature gold cuffs on his arms, ruffled his hair momentarily that was partially damp from sweat. He then combed it down neatly, all the while still not acknowledging the archaeologist's presence.

But of course he was a tombkeeper, how could he have forgotten? After all, it was what drove the blonde to insanity, this dreaded inheritance that's been bestowed upon him since his early youth.

Ryou found himself mesmerized by his every move, second guessing himself over and over again to whether if it really was the boy he once knew. He didn't want to know mainly because he'd been avoiding his past all these years, a past he was apart of, only now to have a piece of a living reminder bring it all back in just a mere second. But everything about the blonde was unfortunately the exact same as how Ryou remembered him last.

That blonde hair, exotic lavender eyes lined with thick kohl. And those tattoos…

Unmistakably him.

Then upon remembering his team mate's words "He don't mingle with us, just mostly with Yugi and only Yugi."

Well of course. Yugi, well primarily the Pharaoh, was the one who'd saved him from his darkness, and now stands guard over the one precious thing Yugi loved most in the world somewhere in these very deserts of Egypt. The Pharaoh's tomb. His Pharaoh.

He only owes it to Yugi to accept his job for what he had done for him at Battle City.

Ryou's head spinning was now turning into a dull headache.

Okay… so it was Malik, no big deal. It had been almost a good ten years since he had seen him last, enough time for anyone to change in attitude and body appearance. And from what Ryou was able to see ever so enviously, Malik hadn't changed much, he just… grew up.

He was still pretty much Ryou's height but had a more mature air to him. His perfectly etched physique still well preserved from his teen years. Not much difference only that he was a little bigger, filling up the gold accessories on his arms so that they hugged his muscles perfectly.

He was startled out of his lingering gaze when those wild eyes finally landed on him when the tombkeeper bent down to pick up the canteen slowly from in front of Ryou, silent and cautious as if studying Ryou carefully, then turning away to give his horse some water to drink out of his hand.

Ryou opened his mouth to say something, anything just to break the awkward tension between them, but found himself quite speechless when he was usually the one for words.

Then at last, if not thankful, at least the odd silence was broken, the other finally spoke. "Where's Yugi?" he asked and Ryou felt like he had been slapped in the face. He sighed irritably, then turned his head away with a dramatic rustle of his pale long hair that came loose from the storm and hung over his chest.

First meeting in so long, and the guy asks him about someone else.

"Sorry if my presence offends you, it's not like I wanted to be here." retorted Ryou, feeling a little surprised at his quick remark but didn't show it. Instead, he just sighed quietly again and sagged his shoulders glumly after a moment.

"He couldn't make it, his grandfather is ill so he stayed behind to take care of him and sent me in his place instead." He answered slowly, and when he got nothing else in return from the blonde, Ryou's gaze wandered back at him and wondered if he even heard him.

Malik then busied himself with the horse's saddle, untying it and dusting it, then brushing off the sand on the animal's back with much care, putting all his concentration on his work. Then what seemed like forever for Ryou, he spoke again. "That was pretty careless of you back there, these storms can be really dangerous, you know."

Ryou rolled his eyes a little, again feeling struck in the face. "I know. I just didn't want Yugi's work wandering off like that." and then his brows furrowed together disappointedly. Yugi's field instructions were gone and he only had a vague idea on what they came here for.

Malik's movements had then stopped and his narrowing eyes hit Ryou with an unreadable expression. "Might as well just hand over his secrets on a silver platter to the other archaeologists, if those notes got into the wrong hands..." he said, his tone of voice matching his expression, neither angry nor hinting any concern for the man who almost risked his life for those notes. He just kept a solid face for someone he hadn't seen for years.

If anything, his expression seemed cold.

"Well sorry, that's why I had to get them back. Storm or no storm, Yugi's trust is on the line here, I couldn't mess things up for him. He was really looking towards this excavation, and now…I have no clue on what to do." muttered Ryou slowly, realizing just how much of a fool he seemed under Malik's intimidating truth. How was he going to lead the excavation now without those notes?

Another awkward silence fell between them, and Malik didn't pretend to see just how disheartened the other had been for losing them. He'd seen it happen many times before with other archaeologists, and knowing what it was like to work with Ryou before, knew how prone to misfortunes the boy could be.

He jumps back onto his horse again after tying back the saddle firmly, and with an inward sigh, watched Ryou again, whose gaze was downcast as he rubbed his arm a little. "Get on; I'll take you back to camp." He said in a much lighter tone of voice, not really knowing where the little feeling of empathy came from.

But Ryou watched him for a moment, a look of surprise crossing his eyes for a brief second, then threw his loose hair back stubbornly over his shoulder. "I can find my own way back thank you." and as soon as he began marching away, he felt the other's strong grip on his arm, holding him back. Ryou whipped his head back at him, angry dark eyes clashing with hard lavender ones.

"What?" he yelled and Malik cocked his head towards a patch of sifting sands in his direct path.

"Quicksand…" he simply said, and Ryou followed his gaze towards his now sinking foot. He gasped and pulled away roughly with that supernova blush creeping back into his face again.

When Ryou looked at the tombkeeper for a moment before taking his hand and climbing onto the horse behind him without another word, he thought he saw a ghost of a smile playing on the other man's lips.

Having had experience with horses before on his previous expeditions, Ryou knew that when two people rode it, it involved a lot of embarrassing touching and closeness of the intimate kind which he could not tolerate at all, and was the reason why he always asked for his own horse. But now the situation was different, and being Ryou meant giving himself headaches over pointless issues. Which he would argue back saying that they are a big deal.

And this was definitely one of them.

He didn't even know where to put his hands to hold on, and when Malik ordered the horse into full speed, Ryou yelped and nearly fell back, lurched forward for a firm grip, then found a place for his hands after all. Which were all over the other man's bare abdomen, his cheek pressed into the moist skin of Malik's tattooed back.

Ryou blinked in embarrassment, gritted his together and muttered a string of apologies for his sloppiness, but Malik didn't seem to mind, or maybe was just ignoring him entirely again as he kept his gaze forward. Upon that last thought, Ryou frowned.

Then pale lips formed a silent 'oh' when his fingers felt the crevices between muscle on the other man's chest and he froze in embarrassment. He tried moving his arms a bit but the desert heat was doing something very cruel to him. Making Ryou wish he had worn longer sleeves, because now Malik's curvy body was glistening in sweat and his arms were stuck around him, so if Ryou were to move them again…

He quickly thought of a distraction, then remembered the piles of paper scattering across the desert and running away with the wind. How his partner's excavation was going to hell without them, and thought of what he should be doing next. Ryou could tell him, and have him compile up another set of notes for him, but didn't know how long that would take. Tell his teammates that he couldn't save them from wandering off, and continue working anyway in hopes of finding something. But what if they ended up going home without any results? Then Yugi would be really disappointed, never trust Ryou with anything ever again.

He sighed to himself sadly.

What luck.

And what was even worse, he got stuck with Malik of all people. 'Stuck to' was more like it. In this embarrassing position, on a nauseating horse.

And he was being mean…

And Ryou's jeans were suddenly feeling too tight.

And his stomach was starting to turn on itself.

Brown eyes widened slowly.

"Why me…?"

Malik stopped just a little further away from the camp where the rest of the group was seen fixing up whatever the furious winds had messed up.

He lent Ryou a hand upon noticing the other's cloudy eyes and bloated cheeks when he slowly and carefully got off the horse. When his feet touched the ground, Ryou leaned over and away from the horse and held his stomach. He took in a few deep breaths of air, and Malik shook his head in pity at him.

Ryou noticed and narrowed his eyes threateningly and immediately straightened himself up. "I get motion sickness okay, so what?"

Malik snickered. "You're so hopeless, and you call yourself an archaeologist?"

Ryou stomped his foot and began walking away. "Should've just let me walk back, I would've been fine."

"Yeah…more like, buried alive." said Malik flatly and Ryou stopped in his tracks, clenched his fists at his sides, then closed his eyes to expel all negative thoughts of the blonde out of his mind, then began walking towards camp again with a frustrated sigh.

"Whatever…"

Malik heard him mutter and one corner of his lips curled upward. He then grabbed hold of the reign to direct his horse in the opposite direction. But before he headed out, he yells back. "Good to see you again, Ryou."

And when Ryou stopped in his tracks again and looked back over his shoulder at the other, Malik was already gone. He tucked his long hair behind one ear from the light desert breeze, and a small smile formed on his lips anyway.