Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Mew. Sorry.

xXx

"Riiishiiiiid..."

He froze in fear, one had going to the gun in his belt- that was now a scimitar, viciously sharp and long. The crazy voice laughed, the sound like horrible brazen bells, ringing out of tune with one another. It sounded so oddly familiar, and yet so horrifically strange...

"Rishiiiiid..." The voice called again, closer this time. Rishid instinctively huddled down, making himself as small a target as possible. "Come heeeerrreee, Rishiiiiid... I have something to shooooow yoooouuuu..."

Rishid swallowed and slowly started edging away, eyes closed in the pitch-blackness, guiding himself by feel. "Rishid! Come here... We want to say hello... Don't we want to say hello, dolly? Yes... yes we do..."

He shuddered and continued edging away. "Rishiiiiiid... are you still out there? Don't leave your pretty dolly here all alone..."

Gods, Gods, just a little further, a little further and I'll be safe... safe... He knew that was true, knew that he only had a little further to go, and soon he would be safe, away from the voice, away from the insanity, away from it all...

A high-pitched, terrified feminine shriek rent the darkness, jerking him to his feet reflexively. "RISHID!"

He knew the voice- knew it like his own. "Serenity!"

"We found you!" Light blazed up around him, along with insane cackling. It blinded him, forcing him to his knees, rubbing his smarting eyes. "Silly Rishid... Can't hide from us, no..."

Tears streaming from his eyes, he tried to focus them on the figure in front of him, seeing only a dark blotch that seemed taller than tall... Then the broken and bloodied body of Serenity was dropped in front of him. "The price of betrayal, dear brother..." Malik's disembodied voice rang in his head as he gathered Serenity's body to him and rocked her gently.

"My love... my love, Gods, my love..."

"Silly Rishid..." The insane voice purred, as something metallic and cold was laid along the back of his neck. "You asked for this. Betrayer. Defiler. Murderer."

Pain shot through him as the metal thing bit into his neck. He tried to scream, but he had no voice, and the darkness fell again...

Rishid sat straight up in bed, panting. Cold sweat trailed down his face, into his eyes, mingling with the tears that traveled down his cheeks. Gods... Oh, Gods, what was that?

"Mmm..." Serenity shifted and nuzzled against his chest a little, one eye lazily half-opening. "Rishid? What's wrong? You're crying..."

"It's nothing... just a dream." He stroked her hair gently. "Go back to sleep."

"Mm..." Serenity's eyes closed and she snuggled against his side as sleep took her again. Rishid was not so lucky. He remained awake, staring into the shadows of half-past midnight, wondering just what in the hell his dream meant. If anything.

Serenity slipped out of the back door of Rishid's apartment silently, glancing around for watchers and relaxed when there weren't any. He was still asleep- he'd been totally exhausted when he'd arrived home, and he needed his rest.

But she had made a mental red flag to ask him about his dream he'd had earlier. Whatever was strong enough to make someone like him wake up crying was something terrible.

But before she could do that, Jou had left a message on her answering machine earlier asking her to stop by. Serenity smiled a bit. Sometimes her brother was annoying and pigheaded, but he was still her brother. Surely he'd understand about Rishid... surely he'd see past this silly gang stuff and accept that she loved him, and give his blessing.

And maybe pigs would fly in parade formation around the sun, singing "God Save the Queen." It was about as likely to happen as Jou's blessing in her relationship.

I'm just going to stop hoping.

She moved quietly into the warehouse, looking around with a raised eyebrow at the slumped and unconscious bodies. They are so lucky I don't tell Rishid about this... He'd die laughing... after he called Malik to tell him how pathetic their enemies are... But as amusing as the thought is, I couldn't betray niichan... Never.

She pushed open Jou's office door and blinked at the scene. "Oh, my God," she finally said, wrinkling her nose up in disgust. "Ushiro! Get me a bucket of water..."

The hung-over gang member carried in a large bowl of water and promptly threw it in Jou's face. Her brother sat up sharply, spluttering and gasping, one hand going for the gun he wasn't wearing.

"Good morning, baka," Serenity said in a voice heavily-laden with sarcasm. "I bet your head hurts..."

"'Ren? God... What the hell are you doin' here?" Jou winced and raised one hand to his head.

"I came to see if you wanted to have a friendly brother-sister lunch. I guess it's out of the question now..." her tone was a combination of chiding and wry amusement. "Honestly, Jou, you're acting more like Dad then I thought you could."

For an instant, she flinched away as Jou pulled back his hand to slap her, then he sighed and slumped back. "Fuck. You're right." He sat back and fumbled with the half-full bottle of rum. Judging by the other empty bottles around, Serenity surmised that he had been drinking until he passed out last night.

Idiot, idiot, idiot. She tried not to feel contempt, but it leaked out anyway. He's acting so much like Dad... The only thing he's got going for him is that he didn't actually hit me... "Jou... think about this for a minute... you're really acting like Dad... and it's scaring me."

"Fucking Kaiba..." Jou managed. "'Sall his fault. Bastard."

Serenity sighed and looked skyward. "What, he broke up with you because he found out you were sleeping with him for money?"

"I fucking love him, Goddammit!" Jou exploded, throwing the half-empty bottle against the wall.

Serenity winced, both at the crash and at her brothers words. "Oh... Oh, niichan, I'm sorry..."

"Don't be..." Jou slumped back in his seat, eyes closing. "I deserved it... He was right... I'm a bastard an' a son of a bitch an' I deserve ta die in the gutter..."

"No! You don't, Jou, snap out of that right now." Serenity crossed her arms and glared at Jou. "I swear, sometimes you're more stubborn than anyone I've ever met! Now get up. You're going to take a shower and reenter the world, is that understood?"

"You're givin' me orders?" For minute, Jou's eyes blazed, then the light died and he chuckled weakly. "Figures." He reached for another bottle, only there weren't any. "Aw, shit..."

Serenity looked skyward. "Jou, if you're not going to help me help you, then I'm leaving..."

"Sure. Leave." Jou gave her a tired glare. "Jus' like everyone else. Leave like Mom left. Yer takin' after her in just about every other way."

Serenity lost control of her temper. She was raised by her mother, that was true, far away from her brother and her father for the most part, but she was still a Jounouchi. She pulled back and landed a perfect punch on Jou's perfect chin.

The blow sent him sprawling out of his chair onto the floor, staring at the ceiling with glazed and very dazed eyes. What the fuck was that?

"You bastard!" Serenity shrieked. "Don't you ever compare me to Mom again! Ever! I'm nothing like Mom! I'm not going to abandon you, you jerk, I never would! I'm just not going to sit here and let you wallow in booze and self-pity! Dammit, if I'm acting like Mom, hello, you're being just like Dad! Jesus! If I didn't have- never mind. No, we're not going into this. Just... whatever. If your sorry ass wants to wallow in guilt and self-pity rather than doing something about it, that's fine by me! But don't come crawling to me!"

"'Ren..." Jou tried to sit up as Hurricane Serenity stormed out of his office and out of the warehouse. "Aw, fuck," he muttered, rubbing his jaw. What'd I do? What the hell did I do? Why'd comparing her to Mom set her off like that? What the hell?

He sat up and righted his chair and started brooding. Huh. Well, the result's the same. She left ya, just like Kaiba kicked you out... abandoned you...

He grabbed another bottle and shoved his sister's painful words to the back of his mind. It don't matter anyway.

Nothing matters anymore.

xXx

Rishid flipped through the channels of his TV, eyes blank and staring. Serenity had been gone once he woke up, but the dream still haunted him. The thought of her hurt or dead because of him terrified him more than his own death.

Gods, if I lost her I would die...

His brooding was interrupted by a miniature hurricane bursting into his apartment and latching onto him. He had his gun halfway out before he realized that the person sobbing against his chest was Serenity, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her. "Serenity? Love? What happened..."

"He'll never accept it! He's a pigheaded brute, just like Dad, and he'll turn out just like Dad, Mom was right, God, Mom was right..."

All this was sobbed into his shirt, muffled by his chest, and said in English. Rishid just sighed and blessed his ability to speak several languages. "Who, love?" He nuzzled her hair lightly, though he had a feeling that he already knew the answer.

"Jou." Serenity pulled back and sniffed at him. "Kaiba broke up with him because he found out that Jou was just using him for money. And sex. And he was so upset about it... I think he realized that he really cares about Kaiba... And now he doesn't have him anymore... But he's drinking himself stupid, and then he tried to hit me, and he didn't, he stopped himself, but he's just like Dad!"

For an instant, Rishid wanted to grab his gun, stalk over to Jounouchi's little hangout, and kill him. Immediately. Then he calmed himself down and resumed stroking her hair. "Sh. I'm certain it was just the drink..."

"He compared me to Mom... To Mom of all people... He knows I'm nothing like her!" Her hands fisted in his shirt as her voice raised to a shriek.

Rishid had a feeling that this was the cusp of the rage he was currently the object in the way of. "I'm certain he didn't mean it-"

"I would never betray him like Mom did!" Serenity didn't even appear to hear him. "Even though I'm with you, I never tell you anything! I never betray his secrets, and I never tell you his plans!"

"Not that I would ever tell Malik if you did," Rishid said quickly, rubbing her arms a bit. "I love you too much to do that..."

Again, she appeared not to have even heard him, simply continued ranting. "And then he goes and tells me that I'm turning into her! That I'm just like her! Just because he was acting just like Dad and I was trying to snap him out of it so he wouldn't hurt himself or hurt others!"

"It can't be that bad..." Rishid soothed, gently sitting her down with him on the couch.

"'It can't be that bad'?" Serenity shrilled, staring at him. "Rishid, you have no idea what it was like with that woman! She- she never let me do anything, I- I wasn't allowed to watch certain TV programs, I couldn't go out, I couldn't do anything I wanted to do!" She hit his chest, more in frustration at the past, than anger at him. "When my eyesight started going, she wouldn't even let me talk to Jou! I had to run away, I came here in secret and I've been her ever since! Jou had the money to fix me, thank God, but if he hadn't, I'd have gone blind! And Mom did not care! Plain and simple! It was all about her, her image, her appearance, everything! Her world was all about her and fuck the rest of us! I don't know why she even wanted me! She could've just left me with Dad! Hell, maybe I looked good next to her or something, something she could show off to her lady friends and make herself look good! Maybe I was good for tax returns! Maybe she just liked having me around to fucking torment me! Maybe that's why I'm on this fucking planet! God decided that he'd have a fucking field day with my fucking life and put all these fucking obstacles and shit in there and I'm like a fucking dog, a damned hamster on the wheel and I'm just going over and over and over and He's up there laughing His fucking ass off..."

The slap took her by surprise, and she stared up at Rishid with wide, hurt eyes. He sat her down gently and looked at her. "You needed to breathe," he murmured gently. "Love, I understand... My life has not been an easy road..."

"At least your parents would've cared if you were going blind!" Serenity tried to pull away. He didn't let her.

"I do not know who my real parents are. Or were." His voice was calm- far, far too calm. "I do not know if my mother loved me or not. I know that Malik's mother loved me as her own son... But she died, and Ishtar-sama- Malik's father- was... less than kind to me." He closed his eyes, fighting the old hurt, the ache that still remained from Ishtar-sama's cold and cruel words. "I had never been adopted into Malik's clan... I am, to this day, little more than a servant to Malik. I have no real family, I wanted to love my brother, but he doesn't love me... I... gave up trying anything a long time ago..." He swallowed and looked at her. "I do not make light of your situation at all, my love, not at all... But I have suffered as well... I know that you hurt and I sympathize and empathize with you..."

"I... how could you..." Serenity looked at him slowly, shivering. "I..."

Rishid slowly peeled his shirt off and tossed it to one side, turning. "Shortly before Malik and I left Egypt, Ishtar-sama... became very angry with something I had allowed to happen."

Serenity stared at his scarred back, slowly reaching out a hand to touch it. "Oh, my God..." she breathed, trailing a hand over the scars. "What- how?"

"He took a white-hot blade and carved my back to ribbons." Rishid's voice was very soft. "The only reason I didn't bleed to death was that the wounds were cauterized by the heat. When Malik's sister tried to stop him, she was killed. It was my fault... if only I hadn't let them go to the city... Gods, if I had stopped them, Isis would still be alive... Malik wouldn't have killed his own father... I wouldn't be here..."

"And I wouldn't have met you... I couldn't love you like I do..." Serenity took his cold hand and tried to warm it in hers. "I love you, Rishid... I don't care what you've done... But this... it doesn't sound like it's your fault... It sounds like it's Malik's father's fault... not yours..."

"It was my fault he was angry..." Rishid felt compelled to argue with her. Isis' death haunted him every day and every night, he still had nightmares about Ishtar-sama plunging the dagger he had been using on Rishid into the woman's thin form. My fault, my fault... Gods, my fault, Isis, I'm so sorry...

Serenity sighed and hugged him gently, laying her head against his shoulder. "But his anger is not your fault. You couldn't control him, you had no control over his actions, and Malik's sister's death is not your fault. No matter what you think..."

Rishid slowly looked at her, swallowing. Malik had been trying to tell him that for years, even since it had happened. But... coming from Serenity... Granted, she was biased, if she truly did love him as he loved her- she has to! I can't think that way now- but she still did not know the details, the little things that lead up to it, she didn't know the whole story...

She was not an impartial third party observer, but she was the next best thing. Some of the guilt- just a little- lifted from him, and he relaxed, smiling just a little. "Thank you." He murmured softly, letting his arms wrap around her.

She willingly leaned against him and rested her head against his chest. "I love you, Rishid. If I can make you feel better... in any way... I will..."

Rishid's smile grew and he cupped her face in his hands. "You being here make me feel better..."

Serenity tilted her head to one side, and her eyes danced suddenly. "Mm, does that mean you no longer require my other services?"

Rishid arched an eyebrow at her, a smirk dancing along his lips. "Who said I required those services from you?"

Now it was Serenity's turn to arch an eyebrow. "Are you saying," she said, with deliberate slowness, as she trailed a hand down his chest, "that I could just up and leave and you wouldn't mind?"

For a minute, he considered his masculine pride, weighing it against the mind-blowing sex he could have instead. "I was wrong. I need you... I can't live without you... I will die without you..."

Serenity smiled triumphantly and pressed against him, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "Good," she murmured. "Because I don't want to lose you... ever."

"You won't," Rishid promised, kissing her back more forcefully and fervently. "I promise. I love you, Serenity Jounouchi, and I will never leave you. Ever."

"You'd better not," she managed to force out, before he covered her lips with his own, making further speech impossible. He tugged her with him so he could slam the door to his apartment shut, then staggered to the bedroom, still holding her close.

Down the hall, lavender eyes narrowed in barely-suppressed fury. So. He would betray us. So he would defy and reject us. So he would turn his back on us and abandon us!

This is the proof I need, this is the sign that it is time for my plan to be put into action. This is the moment I was waiting for. When Malik hears of this, when I bring him here and shove this in his face and make him see what his dearest brother has done, who he is with, he will crumble... And who better to pick up the pieces, who better to support him and put him back together?

Marik's eyes gleamed with an unholy light as he turned on his heel and stalked out of the building. Finally, I will be able to do as I have wished for so long... I will kill Rishid... and then Malik will be mine... all mine, mine forever... Rishid will never get in the way again... Never again!

Other people in the building shivered and double-checked their locks as insane laughter echoed around the hallways. Marik swept back out to the streets and headed for the Rare Hunters' warehouse. Now let it be war upon you both!

A/N 2: Keh. Can you tell that I'd seen Phantom of the Opera and listened to it a few too many times before writing this chapter? Yeah... yeah... This thing has been done for a while, but with exams and everything... # DemonicMistressKree-Kun I love you forever and you are the best squeeee! Name your price or fic you want written, it's yours! Now off to take my very last exam of the semester! Wheee: runs off:

Airtos: Glad you like! Here's more!

Panda Doru the Geek God: You'll see, you'll see. : pats: I am sorry to torment you so. ...not, no I'm not. Not really. : shifty eyes: Sorry.

Nicole-purple: Because Marik underestimates Rishid, duh. : smirks: And I can't spell it either, so don't worry about it.

OBSESSED Uber Rei: : grins: I'm glad you enjoy. There will be Marik/Malikness to come, I hope. : pokes muse: Anyway, Rishid's self-esteem is almost nil, much like in the show. : sighs: The man gets no love, seriously.

DemonicMistressKree-kun: : glomps: Oh my God I love you. Thank you so much for the fic! Name your price, it's yours! For those of you who haven't read it, go read "Rain Dance" by this authoress!

FabulousWatapon: Thank you for the kind words! Wow, everyone wants Seto and Jou to get back together... : shifty eyes: And thank you for the review on "Picking a Husband!" Just goes to show you how insane Humanities can make a person!