A/N: Short chapter. Sorry!

Part 3

"Let's take him in the back way, I'm sure he wouldn't want the others seeing him like this," Seto decided, driving the car around to pull up at the back entrance to the mansion.

"Good thinking, if Ryou sees this he'll only worry himself sick, and the rest'd just try to help and end up getting in the way." Marik agreed. Neither of them mentioned Yami and why Bakura had run off in the first place. That could wait for later.

Parking the car as close to the door as he could, Seto got out and opened the car door for Marik. Helping him get the unconscious grave robber out, Seto looked up into Marik's eyes to check that he was ok carrying Bakura. Getting a brief nod of reassurance, the brunette led the way through the rainy darkness to the back of the mansion and unlocked the door, letting them into the kitchens before locking up again.

"This way," Seto murmured, leading Marik through the large kitchens and up the back stairs as quietly as he could manage.

Following Seto through the maze of a mansion, Marik looked down at the thief in his arms. Bakura wasn't heavy at all, and Marik had never seen him sleeping before. With his guard down, he looked almost like a child.

Looking back up again, he followed Seto along the corridors of the upper floor towards a room at the far end. He knew they needed to talk about Bakura – about what was wrong with the thief.

That, and how they each felt about him.

"Here, the others are staying on the other side of the mansion, they shouldn't disturb him here but we can keep an eye on him. This is my room, and you can take this one," Seto gestured to two identical-looking rooms on either side of a middle one at the very end of the corridor.

"It's lucky you have such an oversized house for once," Marik grinned lightly, entering the room after Seto, who switched on the lights then lowered them with the dimmer switch on the wall.

"It has its uses. You'll watch him while I call the doctor and check on Mokuba and the others? I'll bring up something to eat, and there should be dry clothes in the wardrobe." Seto asked, as Marik gently laid Bakura down on the huge bed in the middle of the room.

"I'll be fine, until 'Kura wakes up and realises one of us undressed him…" Marik trailed off weakly, knowing the thief wasn't going to be happy. Bakura in a rage wasn't something he'd wish upon anyone, but they could hardly leave him in soaking jeans and tattered bandages.

"I'm sure he'll forgive you on this occasion," Seto almost smiled, hearing Marik's mutter of 'I hope so' as he left.

XxXxX

After quickly pulling on a dry pair of slacks and a T-shirt that was a little too small for him, Marik tossed his wet clothes in a corner with Seto's trench coat and sat on the edge of the bed.

"'Kura?" The Egyptian tried. Getting no response from the sleeping albino, Marik carefully leant over him and unravelled the damp bandages, throwing them onto the pile of wet clothes.

The thief was still shaking a little and his skin was cold to the touch, but he'd lost the grey pallor he'd had when they found him.

"You're going to kill me for this in the morning," Marik muttered, before unbuttoning Bakura's white jeans and peeling them off his long legs. Tossing them into the corner as well, Marik couldn't help but admire the tomb robber's lithe muscles and perfect, pale skin for a moment before setting about getting Bakura into a dry shirt. It was long enough to serve as a night-shirt and Marik assumed it was one of Seto's old ones since it reached halfway down Bakura's thighs and was much too big for him.

After managing to get Bakura into a loose pair of boxers as well, Marik tucked the covers up to Bakura's chest and laid back across the foot of the bed to stare at the ceiling. He wondered if he'd ever be able to get the image of Bakura lying there naked and unconscious out of his head. Seto would probably laugh at him. Of course, that led to wondering what Seto would look like in the same position, and Marik ran a hand through his hair, deciding that letting his mind run away with him right now was a bad idea.

Sighing, the tomb keeper got up and pulled a chair over beside the bed. At least he could make himself useful and watch over Bakura, he supposed.

TBC