Me: sorry guys, but Wake Up has been put on hold for this (one-shot!) fic. It really was a spur of the moment idea, but hopefully will be excessively long and of course include shonen-ai.

Shinu: Yup! ^_^

Me: This fic was inspired by the song 'Bring Me To Life'. See, I was watching the music video, (which sucks, except for the guy's part when he says 'Save me' in the course, but whatever_) and I was thinking, 'well, this sucks. I could make such a better video. So I set my CD (Fallen) to repeat it and started dreaming up a video. Eh heh…and guess what? Yup, I changed the characters! ^^;; So that's the history on this little project_

Shinu: Ryou-chans girl does not own Yu-Gi-Oh, (except for the cards, posters, ect…) but she DOES own ME! (and the storyline) eh heh, and this isn't a songfic, either! x6

Me: humm…somehow I think this will go a lot faster with only one muse…oh yes! Keep in mind that I'm totally rewriting the currant situation in Yu-Gi-Oh (alternate universe) therefore, I'm only using the characters

Shinu: -_-;; oh, joy_

Me: ^^() hee hee, and…yeah, this will be Bakura and Ryou again. Y'see, I wanted to use another couple, as I'm already doing Wake Up with them, but nothing else would really fit. The yami had to be somewhat evil, (cancelling out Yami/Yugi, not including the Japanese 1st season) and the hikari had to be somewhat dependant on the yami (cancelling out Marik/Malik) so I was stuck with B/R. Grr…(wanted it to be a yami/hikari pair) but…just to make it a bit different, I'm using Nahkti, the ancient Egyptian Bakura (or that's what I call him, anyway_), ok? So really, it's a N/R, but whatever_

Disclaimer: Mwa ha ha haa! You will never own Yu-Gi-Oh! *points index finger evilly at Ryou-chans girl*

Me: *sniffle**hiccough* Shinu, make the big, bad disclaimer go away…*sniff*

Warning: shonen-ai, very ooc Yami, God and Satan mentioning (no, I'm not Christian, but I do respect the faith) Flames will be used to roast all my marshmallows sitting beside me *munch* ummm, sugar…

Me: yeah…and I think I'll put Anzu in this, but not as part of an Anzu-bashing thing. Sorry any Anzu-haters out there, but after reading so many fics like that you start to feel a bit sorry for her…

*

~Kept in the dark~

"Huh? What in Hell...?" A demon stirred from his currant mid-night nap to frightened cry for help. "W-what? Uhh, h-hold on a sec..." Usually he wouldn't have cared less about something like this. Heck, for all he knew, it could just be one of his fellow demons, catching their pray for the night...but...something was defiantly wrong here...

He rose in a tangled mass, for his sight was still blurry from his sleep.

Unfolding his leathery wings, he lunged from his perch in the direction of the voice. Swooping over several miles in a matter of seconds, he barely noticed the wind whipping against his tan skin and unusually coloured hair. Finally arriving at the location of the voice, which was, in the middle of nowhere. The demon was stunned. Here, right in front of him, was an angel! None-the-less he looked like himself with pale skin and carefree hair. But...

"Marik! You don't hunt around here, let go of the boy!" The albino ploughed right into the infamous demon, knocking his hold off of the kid. Apparently badly injured, the angel collapsed to the ground a few feet from him and lost consciousness, but not before getting a fleeting glance at the two fighting to the death (a/n: When met with territorial situations, these demons have to finish off their opponent).

"N-Nahkti...why the hell do you care about the boy? It's not your hunting area, anyway! You have chosen death by challenging me, do you know that?" Lunging at the challenger with a battered knife, Marik managed to cause a fairly deep cut across two previous scars on Nahkti's cheek.

Striking with his fist, Nahkti found himself pumped with adrenaline. The white-haired demon hit Marik's jaw, putting on an effect of almost suspended animation. He sped towards him, arms outstretched. The former dodged the attempted assault and seized the opportunity to kick Nahkti's shins and knee his gut.

"Agh! B, bastard!"

"You started it." Marik chided, sounding about a thousand years younger than he actually was.

Nahkti had finally pinned Marik to the ground and had generated his most powerful energy beam from the palm of his left hand and bore it right into the centre of Marik's chest, and had successfully killed him. Flecks of blood were thrown everywhere, but just as quickly sizzled into nothingness when it made contact with the ground. He stood up and walked over to the fallen angel's side.

Falling to his knees, the demon checked and healed any injuries his newly acquired guest had. Still blown away by the fact that they looked semi-identical, he threw the boy onto his back, arms around his neck, and flew back to his lair for the day. Speeding through the air, Nahkti closed his eyes. He dreamt of getting home, curling up into a ball, wings folding over his body, falling asleep...

CRRASH!!

"OWW!" Jerking his eyes open, he faced a wall. The door to his lair in fact, so running into it had woken him from his little night-dream (a.k.a. demon's day-dream ^^;;) Removing a stone from the wall had triggered a small opening, though large enough for him alone. Nahkti hovered slightly, wondering what to do with the angel. Coming to a conclusion, he threw him in first, then flew in afterwards, doubling back, he caught the boy from mid-fall in his arms.

"Oh yeah!" He grinned at his minor accomplishment.

Flying through the slowly darkening tunnel, as the opening had closed off, he reached the centre of the passage where it widened dramatically into a circular room furnished in grey and red marble. A huge pillar stood in the middle, accessorized with a pile of huge, plush cushions spread across the surface. Placing the boy on the biggest pile of pillows, he lowered to the stretch of granite beside him, exhausted from the night's activities.

~Next day; 7:19 p.m.~

"Are-are you awake? D-demon?"

Huh...?

The demon blinked twice, looking random and forgetting that his recent guest wasn't one of the Night. How long had he been up?

"Yeah, yeah. I'm up. By the way, my name is Nahkti. Not demon. Though people tend to call me 'Yami'" He slowly sat up, rubbing his head. Sleeping on the unpadded ground wasn't all THAT bad. Damn, his neck hurt though... "What's your name, or should I give you one?"

"I, I've been called Ryou, Bakura and 'Hikari'. But may I ask why I'm here? I thank you for helping me with that...whatever he was, but would you possibly...let me go?" He looked down at him from the pillows, with a pleading look in his eyes, sending shivers down the taller one's back. He looks so familiar...

Ryou, eh? Why did that name give him a strange feeling? "First, what were you doing in the demon realm anyway? It's no place for an angel. Visa versa may I add." Nahkti didn't want to sound like he was meaning anything other then a literal angel, though Ryou was much more beautiful then anyone he had ever laid eyes on...

"I, I don't know." Nahkti could tell he was lying; it wasn't hard. Ryou looked down in self-pity, only to find himself staring at the demon. He had three scars on his right cheek, though the one that crossed the others still had crusted blood on it. "What...did you...is that-?" He couldn't seem to get the right words out, but relayed the message fairly clearly.

The dark one growled in his throat, though neither could tell if it was from Ryou not answering his question, or in the inquiry itself. "Fresh? Yeah, why would you care, though? You don't even know me...or is that what angels do? Worry?" This accusation had brought a slow frown to the young one's face. "Oh, yeah, one more thing to worry about. Angels are prohibited in our realm. That's probably why Marik attacked you. Meaning you'll do best to keep out of sight of the rest of us. Except the ones I permit in my lair." Ryou shuddered at his last word. God, he missed his clouds, friends, even training. But this stranger...it was like he used to know him a long time ago...

A silent tear rolled down his face. Why did he have to protect that human, anyway? He knew that direct contact was forbidden among under-aged fliers. Ryou should have thought it over before running away.

Nahkti was taken aback when he saw the tear. He couldn't deal with helping others and their own emotions. No, that was taken away from him the day he became a demon. But...he had to do something. Ryou looked so venerable, not to mention adorable... Wait...what did he just think?? He responded out of shock at his own foreign emotions. "Why the Hell are you crying?!"

Shit.

Internally sweatdropping, Nahkti narrowed his eyes to match his words, and snarled. Looking fiercer with every unintended gesture, Ryou's eyes turned into cascading waterfalls, crying over the demon's sharp words. His hands balled into fists and covered his face. The broken angel stopped himself from wailing, and satisfied himself with a barely audible hiccough.

Blinking twice, Nahkti ran through his memory, trying to think of something that would calm the distressed angel. He was so... An idea popped into his head, and he slowly rose to the pile of pillows, landing beside Ryou. Biting his bottom lip, Nahkti feared the worst possible as he wound his arms loosely around the purity's waist. Pulling the boy into his lap, he felt Ryou stiffen against his intimate touch.

The angel was terribly confused. What was this demon doing, trying to comfort him? Why did a creature of Satan care about him? Sighing, he shook his head to rid himself of all these questions that shattered his image of what he thought demons were like and leaned into Nahkti's touch, another tear rolling down his already damp cheek. The warmth almost seemed to spark a memory long forgotten.

"Shh, it's okay. I-I didn't mean to snap like that..." Stroking the boy's silky hair and cooing into his ear to settle him down, Nahkti wondered why he even bothered. There was no way a demon and an angel could co-exist peacefully together. So why was he even trying? Even Nahkti couldn't keep him a secret forever. Sooner or later someone would find out, why risk his freedom, much less the boy's?

While pondering these unsettling questions, it seemed that Ryou had fallen into a troubled sleep. He wasn't, after all, nocturnal as demons were. Humm, that's going to be a problem. No way would this demon settle for about half an hour together with Ryou, he still had so many things he wanted to find out about the unusual boy, so that left him to try and get some sleep too. Rotating him in his lap so that the angel's hands were resting on Nahkti's chest, he wrapped his pitch black wings around them both, lying down, and fell asleep for another hour or two, planning when he woke up to teach the young beauty a few guidelines to living in Hell.

~12:36 a.m.~

Opening one eye, the demon decided that it was a good enough time as any to wake the angel up and teach him the first instruction of being nocturnal. There was no way that Nahkti could exist in the daytime without seriously burning himself. Opening the other eye had shown him that his head was buried in Ryou's long mane. Taking in the soothing vanilla scent before anything else, Nahkti folded his wings and gently shook the boy awake.

Emitting a low rumble from the back of his throat, Ryou woke up, yawning and protesting about the time. "N-N-Nahkti...it's midnight. Go back to sleep..."

"Sorry, young one, but you have to get up. I can't live in the daylight, so you have to learn to become nocturnal."

"Huh?"

"C'mon. It's not that hard. Just try to pull at least one all-nighter, ok? Bear with me here." And with that Nahkti flew to one of his lair's many coves and returned with an outfit that looked just like his own, just a bit smaller. A black silk shirt and tight leather pants adorned with a belt or two (think Yami). Yes, this would work out. In his opinion, it looked better then what he was wearing before anyway. "Here, put this on."

Ryou's mouth dropped open. HE was supposed to wear THAT? He hastily took it after seeing the expression on his capture's face like you-will-wear-this-and-now. "Uh, Nahkti? Where...where do I change?"

"What's wrong with here?" A scarlet blush spread across Ryou's face. "Here. I'll close my eyes and turn around. Happy?" After acting upon his words, Ryou slipped off his loose-flowing, white tunic and also turned around, blush not completely gone. Climbing into the tight-fitting pants and turning onto the shirt, he wrestled with it a bit before seeking help from Nahkti, though not totally comfortable around any demon without a shirt and not knowing whether he could trust him or not.

The pre-mentioned demon smiled understandingly, but quickly turning it into a smirk before he thought the confused angel would notice. Lifting Ryou's arms straight up into the air, he paused for a second to stare at his surprisingly well-toned stomach before realizing the bright blush and bent to remove the tangled mess from the floor unravelling it. Slowly slipping it over his arms, Nahkti subconsciously rubbed Ryou's chest as his fingers past over it.

Finally turning Ryou around, he tied the strings around his wings so he might still fly. "Damn, his skin's soft." Nahkti muttered under his breath. Pulling away from his touch, Ryou hovered in the air, pouting on the fact that he would have to wear such restricting clothes. Chuckling, Nahkti wondered how with every gesture the angel seemed to get cuter and cuter. "Come, little one. You must get used to it."

Ryou snuck another look at the beautiful demon. Why did he seem so familiar? He didn't know him, and as far as he was concerned, never met him either. Nahkti put his question to words first. "Why does it feel like I've met you before?"

"I dunno. I was wondering the same thing... I've never seen someone as beautiful as-" The angel jolted and slapped his hands over his mouth and blushed furiously. Had he said that out loud?! Closing his eyes, Ryou didn't notice the surprised look on Nahkti's face. "I, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For. For saying that out loud... I, I couldn't help myself-" Burying his head deeper into his hands, Ryou felt his embarrassment grow.

"Well, if it helps any, I believe you're more beautiful than anyone ever could be." Ryou looked up slightly. Did he really just say that? "Come now, don't break down on me..." Nahkti stroked the angel's cheek and noticed him shiver at the soothing touch. "Ryou?" He drew his arm around the angel's waist.

"Nahkti..."

"Yes?"

"Nothing, I just like saying your name..." He moved the hand on his face to his mid-section and leaned into him.

~Flashback~

A pair of Egyptians were sitting together under the canopy of one of Egypt's rare oasis's. "Bakura?"

"Yes?"

"Nothing, I just like saying your name..."

~End Flashback~

Ryou shook himself out of the strange vision. He had never seen that before...though the one to the left looked strangely like Nahkti and the other himself... Was it just a fantasy? Maybe...

Pulling Ryou by his hands, the demon pecked his lower lip quickly, leaving yet another scarlet blush on the light one's face. "Let's pay a visit to Yami, shall we? He may be the only demon that I-we can trust with your presence here in Hell."

Keeping his hand entwined with Ryou's, Nahkti flew slowly out another shadowed passage heading in his friend's direction. Knowing Yami's usual hunting territory, they kept south turning to the gate between Hell and the human world.

Arriving in the heart of New York City, Ryou slowed down a bit, obviously confused.

"Didn't I tell you, Ryou? Yami's a vampire. He hunts here in the city." Seeing the worried expression on his face, Nahkti assured Ryou that Yami would never hurt him, on his command.

"So, Nahkti. After about 10 years, you finally decide to pay me a visit, eh?" A shadowed figure jumped from the top of the nearest building, landing beside the duo.

"Ah, Yami. You always did have a good sixth sense, even for a demon. I'd like to introduce this angel, Ryou. Please leave him from your list of targets, okay?" At this, Yami raised his eyebrow. Ryou moved closer to Nahkti and clung to his arm, not sure if Yami was going to agree or not. But this vampire...seemed familiar somehow...

Ryou gasped. Of course! This was the same demon that had attacked his assignment! He had panicked and instead of getting the guardian angels' supervisor, Ryou had gone to save the human himself! "Eep!"

Yami realized who this angel was! The one who had gotten between him and his prey! "You." Yami narrowed his eyes. Nahkti looked desperately at the two, trying to get some sort of signal that this was some sort of twisted joke. "Why did you save her? She was nothing to you!" Yami balled his fists and took one step closer to the angel.

Ryou jumped behind Nahkti, only his eyes were made visible. "Y-your wrong. S-she, Anzu." Ryou said with a little more confidence, "was my assignment. She was only on her way to dance lessons, arriving from Tokyo only three days earlier for advanced training. In the future, she'll be a world-class dancer! I couldn't just let you kill her off!"

Nahkti blinked, trying to soak up all this new information. "So, you're a guardian angel? Why, how did you end up in Hell?" He didn't get it. If Ryou was a guardian angel and protected that human, Anzu, why did he end up in Hell? Wasn't that his job?

The frightened angel took in a raspy breath. If he was ever going to tell Nahkti, it might as well be now. "O-okay. But Yami has to promise to let me finish my story before anything. Being attacked twice in two days isn't fun, y'know." The fore-mentioned demon snarled but nodded in agreement. He might as well hear him out. That girl would have satisfied his hunger for a near month...

Nahkti moved from in front of Ryou to standing beside him with a comforting arm around his waist, urging him to tell them about his past. The hikari looked up at Nahkti, receiving a smile from him. Taking this as a sign of encouragment, Ryou began his tale.

"Okay. You see, I'm not a full-fledged guardian angel yet. There were about five of us assigned to each supervisor. That was Yugi, Jou, Honda, Malik and me." Ryou sighed in defeat. "They were my best friends. They still are. Though I might never see them again." Nahkti's grip tightened a bit. "But that's my entire fault. We were all assigned to each of our humans. When a guardian angel graduates they can choose someone else, or stick with him or her. But that's just details you probably don't care about.

"While still in training, underage angels are prohibited contact among humans, and if something happens that may result in serious injuries or fatal consequences, we're supposed to get the supervisor to help them out. But, there really wasn't time. Yami was too quick, and something had to be done. Like, right then. There wasn't time to get the teacher." Yami smirked. "So I did the first thing that came to my mind. I dove down into the human realm myself. Before she had seen me, I put this suspended animation kinda spell on her, so she wouldn't see me, or her antagonist. I lifted her up, and warped to her lessons, hoping that maybe the demon wouldn't have seen me. That, obviously, proved impossible. While I was one of the fastest fliers in my class, an angel's speed has nothing on a demon's."

Ryou took a deep breath, trying to speak as clearly as he could. "Anzu was safe, for a while anyway. But Yami had caught up to me, and I couldn't really think straight-"

"Heh, a vampire's trademark. Extremely useful in such situations." Yami commented. Nahkti rolled his eyes.

"-And instead of warping back home, I ended up in Hell. Of course I had studied Hell in class before, but everything was still blurry. I guess that's when Marik had found me. You had found me." Ryou stared into Nahkti's eyes, looking, wanting him to say something. Anything. All he received was a demon deep in thought.

*

Me: uhh, y'know what? I think I'll make this into a chapter story after all_otherwise I'd never finish this, therefore never update 'Wake Up'

Shinu: but, hey! I like this one better! I should have a part!

Me: well, how about this: reviewers will vote? *turns to half-asleep crowd labelled reviewers* what about it? Should I update this or my first fic? Humm, decisions_

Ryou: ja ne!! *is glomped by Erin-chan* gyaa!!