Yami grew more and more somber as they neared the Bakura household. On the outside he appeared his usual, collected self, but in truth the former Pharaoh was seething. He kept picturing Ryou over and over again, caring for the wretched thief, bathing his wounds and watching over him while he slept. The scarlet-eyed spirit wondered jealously if anyone would do that for him. Sure, he protected Yugi and the rest of his friends, but if Yami ever lost his strength would they still stick by him?
Shaking away these feelings of abandonment the boy chanced a glance over at Malik. The Egyptian, having learned of Bakura's strange reappearence, looked slightly ill. He also looked angry, as if Fate had no right to do this to him. Then again, Fate had never been a particularly fair mistress.
"He hasn't tried to do anything to Ryou, has he?" Malik's eyes narrowed as he said this, and for an instant the teen resembled his darker half.
Yugi shook his head. "No. As far as I know Bakura's still bedridden. His injuries... they're pretty awful."
"Come on, don't tell me you feelbad for that creep!" Honda rolled his eyes. "If you ask me we should have just let him bleed to death!"
"Ya, well dat could still be arranged if ya git what I'm sayin'."
"Honda! JOU! Will you please be quiet?"
"Sheesh Anzu, we was only jokin'!"
"Yeah, its not like we'd actually go through with it!"
Conversation trickled down into silence as they mounted Ryou's front porch. The Brit's house was as serene as ever. The walkway was swept. The windows were clean. Even the little garden in front had been recently weeded. No one would have guessed that any sort of magic had ever taken place here.
"Hey Ryou!" Yugi rang the doorbell as he called out. "We're here!"
"Coming!" There was a pattering of hurried feet. Then the door swung open, and the beautiful but slightly breathless boy came into view. "Come on in guys. Sorry about the wait. I was upstairs. Oh hey Malik!"
The Egyptian smiled sheepishly at Ryou. It was nice to be greeted so warmly, but he couldn't help noticing the scar on the boy's left arm. 'If it weren't for me that wouldn't be there.' As everyone filed into the Brit's living room he took Malik aside.
"Bakura's upstairs, first door on the left. He wants to talk with you alone."
The blonde only nodded and with a hushed word to Rishid and Ishizu was on his way. Leaving the Yugi-tachi behind he mounted the stairs and made his way to Ryou's bedroom. The sight of Bakura almost caused him to jump. Laying in bed with bandages covering most of his body, the Thief was half of what he used to be. Still, he managed a cocky grin.
"It's been a while."
"It has, hasn't it."
Bakura studied the violet-eyed hikari carefully. Malik had changed greatly since Memory World. When Atemu had at last regained the knowledge of his past it was as if some sort of weight had been lifted from the boy. His family's oath was completely fulfilled, and the Egyptian could begin to enjoy his life. Not only was Malik no longer out for revenge, but he was beginning to come to terms with his guilt as well. He was by no means perfectly normal, but the boy was healthier, stronger, and much more light-hearted than the Thief had ever seen him before. Bakura growled to himself as he compared Malik's state with that of Mariku. He remembered how he'd been able to count all of the Darkness' ribs, how most of the time the yami couldn't even stand, how he'd lost all sense of himself drowning in the pain. Seeing Malik so full of life triggered an unexpected sense of injustice in the tombrobber. He thought he'd be happy to see the Egyptian. Instead, Bakura could bring himself to do no more than sneer.
"You certainly seem to be doing well, Malik."
Malik frowned. Ryou had made it sound as if the Thief had wanted to see him. Why then was he being so cold? "Is something wrong, Bakura?"
The spirit chuckled harshly. "Oh no, everything's wonderful! I've only spent the past months wasting away in the Shadow Realm, come back half dead, and seen you and everyone else I hate doing so well its sickening!" Ignoring the sharp pain that ran through his body, Bakura took the Ring off the nightstand and dragged himself out of bed. On unsteady legs he crept towards the Egyptian, angry smile making him look like some kind of demon. "You know Malik, sometimes I wonder why I ever joined up with you in the first place. You didn't fulfill your part of the bargain at Battle City, and during Memory World you had the audacity to help the Pharaoh! That's not what one would call loyalty, now is it?"
The blonde was too shellshocked to respond. He'd seen Bakura angry before. Hell, he'd seen Bakura down right psycotic! But this was different. Behind the tombrobber's pissed off exterior, Malik sensed a sort of cold desperation. Whatever was eating away at the man's already frayed sanity, it was obvious that he was somehow connected to it.
"I've changed, Bakura. What we did at Battle City was wrong. What you did during Memory World, and what you did to Ryou are unforgivable. I won't help you anymore, not after that."
The look that came into the spirit's eyes when Malik said this was truly frightening. He clenched the Sennen Ring cumpulsively, struggling not to attack the Egyptian then and there. "I'm afraid you don't understand," Bakura murmured through clenched teeth. "You WILL help me this time whether you wish to or not!"
It had taken all of Yami's self-control to let Malik go upstairs alone. Now that the Thief was conscious and at no imediate risk of dying, the Pharaoh wanted to give him a piece of his mind. He was also rather curious as to how Bakura had managed to get out of the Shadow Realm, but any hopes Yami might have had of interogating Bakura had been put to rest by Ryou. The Brit had insisted that Malik should speak with him alone before anyone else tried to. So now the scarlet-eyed spirit was stuck in the living room drinking tea and picking at his cake.
"So you just opened your bedroom door and he was right there?" Anzu's voice sounded even more shrill than usual.
"Well there was a bit more to it than that but yes. That's basically what happened."
"He didn't try ta hurt ya did he?"
"Jou, we've already been over this. Bakura could barely stay conscious much less..."
"Any idea how he managed to escape again?"
"No Honda, I..."
"Will youplease stop pestering him? If Ryou knew anything more I'm sure he'd tell us!" Everyone went silent as Yugi spoke. It was unusual for the boy to raise his voice at all, and all except Yami were a bit shocked. The Pharaoh merely smiled at his hikari before addressing the others.
"Yugi's right. I think we can all agree that Ryou's under enough stress without all these questions. We'll figure it out soon enough when we talk to Bakura." Chancing a quick peek in the Brit's direction, Yami inwardly beamed at the boy's grateful smile.
"Yes, and the sooner we find out the better." Ishizu rose from her seat and stared up towards Ryou's bedroom. "I believe I understand why you wanted us to come, Pharaoh. You're afraid that my brother's Darkness might escape in the same manner as Bakura."
The Yugi-tachi gave a collective gasp, but Yami just nodded. "Yes, that is a part of it. Especially after hearing about Malik's..."
"YOU SICK FUCK, NO!"
Everyone jumped to their feet upon hearing the Egyptian's enraged cries. They dashed upstairs just in time to find Bakura pinning theother boy up against the wall. The Thief's skin had gone a chalky gray, and he was trembling, but through sheer determination he managed to keep the struggling Malik in place. "You don't have a choice," he hissed. "Where's the Rod?"
"I-I didn't bring it."
"LIAR! I can sense it's presence! Tell me or I'll..."
"Kura?"
The tombrobber directed his attention towards Ryou just in time for Rishid to tackle him to the ground. Bakura screamed in pain as the heavier man crushed his injured body into the floor.
"Wait! Please don't hurt him!" The Brit ran to the rescue of his yami, eyes begging Rishid to let him go. The eldest of the Ishtar family backed away, but he still eyed the Thief warily. Kneeling down Ryou helped Bakura into a sitting position. Though he was still gasping in agony the spirit kept his glare trained on Malik.
The blonde in turn was also staring daggers at his former partner. "I won't do it! Nothing you can say will change my mind!" Bakura opened his mouth to speak, but the boy cut him off with a jerk of his head. "I don't give a damn what kind of tortures he's been put through in the Shadow Realm. He deserves it!"
"You BASTARD! You can't possibly understand!" Once more Bakura staggered to his feet only to be forced into a headlock by his hikari. Desperately Ryou tried to reach him through their mind link.
/Bakura! Onegai, stope this/
The Thief only struggled harder, sending his lighter half garbled phrases as he did so. /...you don't get it...Malik...the Rod...its the only way.../
/The only way to what/
/...Mariku...I promised.../
The teen's blood went cold as realization finally struck him. This is what Bakura had been fretting about in his sleep. He wanted to free Malik Ishtar's darker half. "You've got to be kidding! Why on earth would you do that?"
It was only when everyone was staring at him that Ryou realized he'd spoken aloud. There followed an uncomfortable silence, broken only when Yami cleared his throat. "Just what does Bakura want of you, Malik?"
"H-he wants me to free him! To let him go!" Malik's eyes were wide, his voice threatening to crack.
"Let who go?"
"My yami!"
Everyone turned to stare at Bakura, who merely curled his lip in disdain. He tried to look confident, but the spirit was inwardly shaken. He'd been counting on Malik's guilty conscious to help him get Mariku back. Now that he saw how deeply the other's hatred ran the Thief didn't know what to do.
"I think it is time you explained to us exactly how you escaped the shadows, Thief." Ishizu's gaze was steely as she spoke. She'd obviously expected something like this of Bakura.
"That's none of your Ra-damned..."
/Please just tell them, yami. It's the only chance you've got./
The tombrobber gave his hikari a startled glance and nodded. It seemed he had an allie after all. "When the Pharaoh banished me I was only in the Ring for a short time. I remember hearing this sound...like screaming, and then I passed out. When I woke up I was in a cell. She was there." Leaning against the foot of Ryou's bed, Bakura tried to figure out how best to go on.
"Who da heck is 'She'?" Jou jabbed an accusing finger in the spirit's chest. "Sometin's fishy about dis story!"
Biting his lip at the stab of pain that came with the mutt's poke, the Thief shoved him away. "If you don't want hear it then leave! I'm not going to waste my time with scum like you!" Wrapping his arms tightly about himself Bakura continued. "She took me and put me in this cell. I was alone at first, but after... after she was done playing...I was sent back, and he was there. We thought we couldn't escape, but when he...Mariku...told me he could hear voices on the outside I realized how close to the world of light we must be. I made a plan. When the Priestess came to us we'd call out to our hikaris." The spirit paused to glance over at Ryou, who was looking very pale. "If we were lucky they would hear us and the Items would react, creating a portal back into this world."
Yami regarded Bakura with a sense of satisfaction. "Judging by your current state and the fact that Mariku isn't with us I'd say your plan was a bit of a flop."
The robber snarled. "In case you were to stupid to pick up on a few things the Priestess was the one who did this to me, not some Shadow Magic experiment gone wrong, and if Malik hadn't fucked things up it would have worked for Marik too!"
Malik dug his nails into his palms. As he listened to Bakura his mind was filled with nothing but rage. "And you expected me to forgive him. After all he did to me? He tried to destroy the world! He killed my father!"
"Ryou forgave me. Why couldn't you do the same?"
Malik tried to hold the spirit's gaze but couldn't. There was just too much anguish in Bakura's eyes. What he said was true. After what he'd done to Ryou, it was amazing that the Brit had found it in his heart to forgive him, but the Egyptian would never give his yami a second chance. Hejust wasn't that good. "No way in Hell."
The Thief gave a broken gasp. He'd tried everything, tried asking, demanding, forcing, even guilting the blonde into helping him, but Malik still stood firm. For once in his life Bakura was trying to do something right, and still he was stopped. 'I've failed.' With a desperate cry he tackled the blonde, hoping somehow to make him consent. He remembered Mariku as he'd seen him last, and the image was driving him mad. It burned so bright in the yami's mind that Ryou as well as the boy he was currently trying to beat into the carpet saw it too.
----
"You're just wasting your time. There's no way this will work."
Bakura laughed lightly and shook his head. "You should learn to trust me, Marik. After all I am much older and more experienced than yourself."
The Darkness gave a derisive snort. "Remind me of that the next time I beat you in a Shadow Game."
"Hmm...this is the best mood you've been in since Battle City. Perhaps you have more faith in me than you'll admit."
Mariku picked idly at an ugly scar near his collarbone and shrugged. "Well if anyone has a chance I suppose it would be you."
Frowning, Bakura turned to his companion. "And why the fuck wouldn't you be able to escape?"
"You were born in that world, normally I mean. Its where you should be, but I...I was created here, in the shadows. It's only natural that I should remain." Mariku stared at the ground as he said this, not used to conveying his thoughts out loud. "I don't have a choice. It's where I belong."
"Mariku, if you ever say something that stupid again I swear to Ra I willKILL you!" Bakura leaned dangerously over the other spirit, voice both angry and concerned. The Priestess' torment had completely shattered the Darkness' image of self-worth. He'd gone from declaring himself the real Malik Ishtar to barely acknowledging his own right to exist. A year ago the tombrobber wouldn't have cared, but now it bit him to the core. "I WILL NOT leave without you. Is that clear?"
The other's amethyst eyes were no longer listless but stirred almost brightly. In his brokenness the spirit looked almost innocent. "Do you mean that?"
Bakura clutched feverishly at Marik's hand. Maybe the agony of his mental and physical wounds was getting to him. Maybe he was genuinely in love with the unusual Darkness. Either way, his response was the same.
"I promise"
Tears were actually rolling down Ryou's face. Taking in a gulp of air he called out to his yami with a sort of rattling gasp. Bakura, close to crying himself, rolled off of Malik and regarded his hikari with confusion. "What the Hell's your problem?"
"BAKURA!" Bursting into another fit of teaful sobs, the Brit launched himself at his darker half, burying his face in the other's bandaged chest.
/Ryou, what's.../
/Oh my God! Bakura I'm so sorry/
The others stood in uncomfortable silence as the boy cried his heart out into the Thief's arms. Yami could feel the heat of jealously rising in his gut as he watched. Why did Ryou have to be so pure-hearted? Just this once couldn't he learn to hate?
"Brother?"
Malik hadn't moved since Bakura had tackled him, but when Ishizu spoke he bolted to his feet. Chest heaving the blonde searched around til his gaze fell on his adopted brother. Leaning against the wall to maintain balance he made his way towards the older man. His face was a mixture of horror and resolution, compassion and disgust. In a voice so small it could barely be heard he spoke.
"Rishid have you seen my bag?"
-TOT
(I should have revised this. Its to OOC even for my taste, but I hadn't updated in a while so please don't be mad at my laziness! I'll try to be more careful.)