Chapter Nineteen

The Big Five had settled on the couch in the living room to talk. Everyone else had floated to other parts of the house to allow them their privacy, and Gansley, Crump, and Johnson mutually and unspokenly agreed to mostly let Lector and Nesbitt talk. They badly needed it, after all they had been through.

Nesbitt sighed, sinking back into a couch. "I don't know where to begin," he said.

"We don't have to talk," Lector said. "Maybe we've said all that needs to be said."

"No." Nesbitt looked up at him. "Now that I remember you, I don't know how I could have ever forgot you." He gripped the throw draped over the couch. "How could any force do that to me?!"

"It couldn't," Lector replied. "That's why you gradually got your memories back and eventually remembered almost everything before Gozaburo had ever been defeated. In fact, you remembered it all before his defeat."

"That's true, I did," Nesbitt said. "I realized you were my best friend, and I was going to tell you, and then Gozaburo showed up." He clenched his teeth. "And as you grabbed me and fell when he hurt you, suddenly I really knew you, not just things about you. . . . If that makes any sense at all."

"It makes perfect sense," Lector assured him. "Right before I fell unconscious, I heard you calling to me. I could tell from the way you said my name that you remembered me. It was an immense comfort."

"Well, at least that's something," Nesbitt grunted. "But I wish you hadn't been hurt."

"If it hadn't been me, it would have been you again," Lector said. "And maybe it's selfish, but I honestly don't think I could have taken that."

"So I'm supposed to be glad it was you?" Nesbitt snapped.

"No," Lector said. "If you care about somebody, you'll never be glad if they're hurt. But I'm glad it was me and not you."

Nesbitt looked away. ". . . I know you've been under a lot of stress ever since we came here. Before, really. You're probably right that you couldn't have taken it if I got hurt a second time while we were here. I'd never wish that on you."

"I know," Lector said. "You're a true friend, Nesbitt." He hesitated. "There was another reason why Gozaburo's spell couldn't hold you."

"Why was that?" Nesbitt raised an eyebrow.

"I told you that your spirit still remembered me," Lector said. "I wasn't just saying that. The first time I fell asleep after you didn't remember me, your spirit came to talk to me in a dream. I know it was you and not just something I was dreaming." He looked firmly into Nesbitt's eyes. "You told me it was the only way you could communicate with me right then. You said not to give up on you, that you were going to make your body remember me but you needed help. And you begged forgiveness for forgetting me, just like you did when I broke out of Gozaburo's spell over me."

Nesbitt stared at him. ". . . Thanks for telling me," he stammered.

"Do you believe me?" Lector asked.

"I know you wouldn't make it up," Nesbitt said. "I don't remember doing that, but I know I would have if I could."

Lector smiled. "And you did, my dear friend."

Nesbitt stared up at the ceiling. "Imagine—a love like that. There was a time when I never would have believed it."

"I wouldn't have either," Lector said. "Although I suppose I would have been more open to it than you were up until a few months ago."

"Heh. Probably." Nesbitt turned onto his side to face Lector. ". . . Lector, why were you in the cemetery? Gozaburo told us you were at the tomb meant for you."

Lector looked away. "I was remembering when I was first told about the tomb and how different things were then."

"You didn't tell me that's what the tomb was."

"Should I have?" Lector looked back. "I didn't see any point in it. Especially since it's no longer where I want to be buried."

Nesbitt grunted. "I think maybe, at least for a minute, I wondered if you had some kind of a death wish. Of course, I didn't remember you at that point."

"I swear to you I didn't," Lector insisted. "I want to live. I have so much to live for."

"Yeah, you do." Nesbitt hesitated again. ". . . When you were trapped in Gozaburo's spell, how did you finally break free? Was it really just our wills calling out to you?"

Lector sobered. "I was trapped in a repeating memory. Over and over, I had to experience being put in the darkness by Khu while you and the others looked on. But you were far more cruel and cold than you were in real-life."

Nesbitt sat up straight again. "I knew that's what you'd be seeing," he berated.

Crump swore under his breath. Gansley and Johnson both looked sickened and regretful.

"It's alright," Lector told him. "I believe I'm finally completely healed from that time. When all of you did whatever it was you did to try to get through to me, I experienced all of you literally breaking through the darkness to rescue me. I know that's what you all wanted to do back then, only you thought it was too late and you were all so badly shaken you couldn't think what to do. This time you could, and did."

Nesbitt's eyes filled with surprise. ". . . I'm glad to know that," he said.

Gansley smiled. "It is a weight off my shoulders, I assure you, Lector. We didn't or couldn't save you then, but we did now."

"Yes, you did," Lector said. "Thank you, all of you."

"You'd do the same for us," Crump said. "You're the best buddy any of us could have."

"Absolutely," Johnson agreed.

"Well, you're all the best friends I could have," Lector said. "And the truest family."

"I agree," Nesbitt said gruffly. He let the gruff tones drop from his voice as he added, "And I'm so glad I finally remember everything about you again."

"So am I, my brother," Lector said.

xxxx

Snakes sat at the kitchen table with Lector and Evangeline and Nesbitt a short while later. He had promised to tell the siblings about their ancestors, and with the danger finally past, it seemed a good time.

"Both of them were good people," he insisted, "not like the judgmental creeps you've had to deal with in the here and now. They both accepted me as one of the family. At the time, I was too scarred by past betrayals to really think of them as my friends. I regret that now."

"I'm glad not all of our family has been horrible," Evangeline said softly.

Lector nodded in firm agreement. "I really look like Great-Great-Grandfather?"

"Oh yeah," Snakes said. "I have to keep reminding myself you're not him." He paused. "But you do have his good heart."

"You don't really know me yet," Lector objected.

"I know enough," Snakes replied.

"And he's right," Nesbitt grunted. "You have a good heart."

Lector smiled.

Yugi, across the room, was taking one more stab at arranging the silverware to try to unlock the secret passageway in the kitchen.

"Why do you keep at that?" Crump wondered. "I mean, what does it matter now?"

"I just hate for a puzzle to get the best of me," Yugi said. "There has to be a solution!"

"Maybe it only works with the real silverware that goes in there," Crump said.

"We'll see." Yugi made one last adjustment and held up the display. "There! Let's try this now!" He hung it on the wall.

"So . . . it's just supposed to activate if it's on the wall in the right position?" Crump blinked. "You don't have to push them against the wall a certain way or something?" He poked a spoon in emphasis.

"I've been pressing the whole thing against the wall so it can feel where each piece is," Yugi said. He did so now.

The wall suddenly clicked and the panel started to open. Yugi leaped out of the way as half the counter moved with it.

Everyone at the table looked up with a start. "You did it!" Evangeline beamed. She hurried over to look. "And I'd say this looks like it could be a second pantry. Look at all the shelf space!"

"Well, that's handy," Crump blinked.

"I wonder if it leads downstairs to the food storage area," Lector wondered.

Evangeline took out a flashlight and stepped inside. "I'm going to find out."

Snakes cautiously walked over and peered into the space. "By the way, what are you planning to do about that exorcist coming back?"

"I think I'll tell him the malevolent ghost is gone, and maybe instead of trying to get rid of the ghosts in the house, he could work on the siren in the pool," Evangeline said over her shoulder.

"That's a great idea," Crump shuddered. "That thing's sure malevolent. Only . . . uh, what if it tries to get him?"

"I'm sure he can resist it," Evangeline said. She walked to the back of the passageway and indeed found steps going down.

"I'm afraid that may come out on the wall where that hammock is," Lector realized. "It seems about in the right place."

Crump cringed. "Do we really wanna bother that ghost?"

"Well . . ." Evangeline looked to him and finally gave him a compassionate smile. "I guess we don't have to right now."

Crump breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's just go tell everyone that we finally got it open," Evangeline decided.

Crump liked that much better.

xxxx

Johnson was walking in the backyard, near the fountain and the pool. He hadn't really had the chance to think much on the news that he would have to testify against that dangerous man who had been after him, but now that the madness was finally past, he could focus on what Seto had done for him. He would be free as long as he turned state's evidence.

Did he really deserve it? It was true that he didn't really know whether or not he had sent any innocent people to prison. But maybe he could try to look into his old cases and investigate what he could to find out. If anyone innocent had gone to prison, maybe he could work to overturn their sentences. And if he didn't have to go to prison himself, his friends wouldn't have to worry that he would be taken away from them.

He had to admit that of course he didn't want that fate either. The thought of prison was terrifying. And they had pointed out that he could do more good while free. Even Téa had said she didn't think it was fair for him to go to prison when he wasn't dangerous anymore.

So many people cared about him. . . .

He came and stood in front of the pool. "You have no hold over me any longer," he said to the siren. "I know my friends love me and they won't abandon me, even for stupid mistakes I made in the past."

He could feel the siren's anger, but she didn't come out of the pool. She knew he was right.

"Johnson?!"

He turned at the sound of Crump's voice. The older man was coming out of the study and marching over to him on the grass. "What the heck are you doing?!"

"I just wanted to make sure the siren can't get me again," Johnson said.

"And what if it had?!" Crump retorted. "You're getting as bad as Nesbitt! You don't go off doing crazy things like that!"

"Objection sustained." Johnson pushed up his glasses and walked over to his friend. "I guess I also wanted to come out here to think for a few minutes. There's been so much going on, I haven't really had the chance to be able to stop and think about my future."

"Oh hey, that's right," Crump realized. "Well, you're gonna be just fine! Kaiba fixed it up for you."

"I know. I'm just trying to think about how I'll go about determining whether I sent any innocent people to prison," Johnson said.

Crump cringed. "That is . . . gonna be a lot of work."

"I know," Johnson sighed. "But I feel like it's something I have to do. If I helped any miscarriages of justice happen, I need to do what I can to correct them."

"You've really changed, you know," Crump said. "You're always thinking about all the garbage you pulled and how to fix it. . . . Gansley pretty much figures there's not a whole lot he can do to fix whatever he caused. And me, I've still got the same interests I always did."

"You've changed too," Johnson said, quirking an eyebrow. "You regret being so sadistic as to try and freeze the Gardner girl in Noa's world. Actually, you've been quite nice to her since we returned to our bodies."

"Well . . . eh . . . not all the time. I teased her a bit at first there. And there was the whole 'kidnap her to get at Kaiba' thing." Crump rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess you're right, though. I think I've been pretty nice to her since we all got brought back to life by that angel after we saved Lector."

"With Gansley, there probably isn't much he can do, especially since we're not established in our business venture yet," Johnson said. "He wouldn't have the means to try to reach out to anyone he may have fired unnecessarily. Although I think most of the terminations were indeed necessary for one reason or another, and most of those people have probably moved on. But if I caused anyone to go to prison who shouldn't have, and they're still in there . . ." He shuddered. "As I said, we know what it's like to be trapped. How can I not try to fix that damage if I'm honestly trying to turn my life around?"

"Yeah, that makes sense." Crump shoved his hands in his pockets. "I guess I'm just kind of worried you're gonna get overwhelmed or burn yourself out. Or heck, maybe you'll even turn over some rocks that should've been left alone and you'll get in trouble with all kinds of creeps worse than you ever were coming after you."

"I'm worried too," Johnson said. "The last thing I want to do is put you and the others in any more danger. We already have it in spades." He sighed. "I'll try to quietly do what I can on my own, but I may have to hire a private investigator to dig deeper."

"You know any decent ones?" Crump asked. He looked doubtful.

"Not in Domino City," Johnson admitted, "although I'm sure there are some honest ones. I'll try to look into it when we get back."

"I guess maybe you could even ask Perry Mason's private eye or somebody like that if they know anyone in Domino City," Crump said.

"I've thought of that," Johnson said with a wry smile, "but I'm sure Paul Drake would never believe my intentions are aboveboard."

"No harm in asking," Crump shrugged.

They entered the study and Johnson pulled the doors closed after them. At the same moment, the front doorbell rang.

Johnson looked down at his watch. "Who would be coming here at this hour?"

Everyone else was on guard as well, they discovered as they walked to the living room. But Angelique determinedly walked up to the peephole and looked out. ". . . Uh oh. . . ."

"What 'uh oh'?!" Joey cried. "We don't like 'uh oh'! Haven't we had enough 'uh ohs'?!"

"It's Mrs. Leichter and Marie," Angelique reported.

Evangeline scowled. "Oh great. Well, pretending we're not home won't do any good. Let's just get this visit over with."

Angelique nodded and unlocked the door. "Hello," she slowly greeted.

Mrs. Leichter walked in with only a brief nod in her direction. Marie trailed alongside her. "Evangeline? Démas?" She looked to them.

"Mother," Lector said with a wary nod.

"Is this about Michel?" Evangeline blurted.

"Well . . . yes, it is," Mrs. Leichter said. "I know what he did was terrible, but it would really be to your advantage as well to drop the charges against him."

Evangeline smirked. "Even if I drop the charges, I don't think Rishid Ishtar will."

Rishid gave a cool nod. "He chloroformed my brother."

"Yes, but he's alright," Mrs. Leichter stammered. "Michel was very careful about the dosage used. Please, we really don't need more bad publicity. The business's stocks have plummeted as it is!"

"Hang the business!" Evangeline cried. "I'll run it myself and bring it back to its former glory. Mother, you should be worrying more about the terrible example Father has set! First he got the whole family to turn against Démas. Even though none of you like what Father did by setting him up as a target, no one tried to stop it! I did all I could, which wasn't much. And even now, none of you treat him right! Marie even tried to get Father's trial thrown out because she cares more about him than about what happened to Démas! Father doesn't want to turn his life around. He doesn't feel any differently about Démas!" Tears pricked her eyes. "And Michel thought it would be perfectly acceptable to look for the family treasure and scare everyone and even hurt people in the process, just to make sure it wasn't shared with Démas!"

"I'm so sorry." Marie looked ready to cry too. "I didn't want to give Mr. Nesbitt amnesia. . . ."

"You didn't," Nesbitt grunted. "It was a malevolent spirit, an old enemy of ours. He's gone now, and in any case, my memories are back."

Marie brightened. "Really?!"

"That's right," Lector said.

"And what's this about you running the company, Evangeline?" Mrs. Leichter exclaimed. "If your father goes to prison, the board of directors will run it."

"I believe I can get them to vote me in as the next president," Evangeline said calmly.

Lector looked to her in surprise. "You never mentioned anything about this, Evangeline."

"I wasn't thinking about it at all until I read through the letters written by our great-great-grandparents," Evangeline admitted. "Then the idea started to take shape. I've studied more about the family business than I ever let on. You and Father both inspired me to take an interest. I want to see the family name and the business be purified again, and I won't rest until I do!"

"You found letters?!" Marie exclaimed.

"Yes," Evangeline said. "And as lovely as the jewelry is that we found, the letters are the real treasure to me."

"If anyone else takes over the company as the president, it should be me," Mrs. Leichter said. "So if you insist on this foolishness, Evangeline dear, I'm afraid I'll have to contest it."

"Then fine, Mother," Evangeline replied. "We'll each present our case to the board of directors and see who they choose."

"Speaking of the family treasure, though, what do you plan on doing with it?" Mrs. Leichter asked.

"I plan on sticking with Grandmother's wishes as detailed in her letter," Evangeline said, "and I'll have a family meeting to read it to everyone."

Mrs. Leichter sighed. "Alright. And there's nothing I can do to get you to change your mind about Michel?"

"Nothing," Rishid rumbled.

"Then I will say Goodnight." Mrs. Leichter turned and stepped back onto the porch.

Marie lingered. "I really am sorry," she said to Evangeline. She looked to Lector as well, but wouldn't meet his eyes.

Lector gave a sad sigh. "So am I, Marie."

Marie slipped out after her mother, pulling the door shut behind them.

"Well, that was a downer," Joey frowned.

"I'm going to eat dinner," Yami Bakura flatly announced, and went into the kitchen.

"Sounds good to me," Crump said. "Uh . . . is everybody still hungry?" He looked to Lector and Evangeline in particular.

"I am famished," Lector declared.

"Did we even eat breakfast?" Téa wondered. "I don't think we did. . . ."

"We slept in late and got right to work looking for secret passageways," Evangeline said.

Snakes shifted. "I might be able to make a dish your great-great-grandparents loved, if we have all the right ingredients," he offered.

Evangeline smiled. "I'd love that."

Encouraged, Snakes headed to the kitchen. Evangeline hurried after him to watch.

xxxx

Dinner was delicious and filled with conversations, mostly of the long-ago past but also of Evangeline's plans for the future. The Big Five, Seto, Duke, David, and Snakes all gave advice on how to win the board of directors over, and Evangeline was thrilled with their suggestions. By the time they were all ready to head to bed after the long day, her enthusiasm was catching. But there were still other, not so pleasant things to think about as well.

"Tomorrow I'll have to go talk to the judge again," Seto grunted. "And I'm guessing he may want to interview you, Nesbitt."

"Great." Nesbitt scowled. "What am I supposed to tell him? If I say I had magically-induced amnesia, I'll still be considered unfit to testify. I can't say it was psychological, because it wasn't and I won't have him think I forgot Lector on purpose."

Seto sighed and shook his head. "I honestly have no idea. Tell him it was probably caused by the shock of falling down the stairs."

"Hey," Crump spoke up, "why don't you two share the room tonight?" He looked to Nesbitt and Lector. "I'll bunk with Johnson."

Johnson's eyes flickered with surprise, but he nodded. "You should. I'm sure you still have a lot to talk about and sort through. Or . . . well, even if you don't feel you need to talk, you might just like to be together, now that you're both alright. . . ."

Nesbitt looked awkward, but open to the idea. "Would you like to, Lector?" he asked.

"I would," Lector said. "But do you want to?"

"Yeah," Nesbitt said. "I would. . . ."

Evangeline smiled.

Everyone started to drift off to their respective rooms to sleep. Gansley and Snakes, as they had figured, had no trouble sharing a room and were soon both peacefully dozing. Nesbitt and Lector, despite being thoroughly exhausted too, were still wide awake as they entered their room after readying for bed.

Nesbitt sank onto the edge of his, loosening his tie. He had long ago taken off his suitcoat in all the chaos. "Are you . . . er . . . planning to stay in your bed tonight?"

"Well, I suppose that depends on if you start rolling around in your sleep and getting dangerously close to the edge again," Lector drawled. "You could still hit your head hard on the end table or the floor."

Crump, passing by the open doorway, snarked at Nesbitt's expression. "Night, you guys."

"Goodnight," Nesbitt grunted.

"Maybe I shouldn't have done that last night," Lector said when they were alone in the room. "I was just feeling protective and worried you'd hurt yourself worse, but it must have been very uncomfortable for you, especially when you didn't remember."

"It was awkward," Nesbitt admitted. "But . . . I was honored and amazed that you would do that for my sake when I didn't remember."

"I'm glad you feel that way," Lector said. "But yes, I do plan to stay in the other bed tonight."

Soon they each settled down and turned off the light. The dozing came gently yet firmly, and they and the others slept peacefully until dawn.