Chapter 5: Fires and Fevers

Yugi woke up to a gentle touch on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Yami standing over him. He blinked slowly and sat up.

"Yami…? What are you doing?" Yami pressed a finger to his lips and motioned toward the door. Yugi was confused but got up and put on his clothes. He raced out, not noticing the figure just inside the doorframe. The person woke up and looked around. When he didn't see Yugi he got up and put on his coat to find him. Yugi stumbled through the undergrowth trying desperately to keep up with Yami. He was more confused than ever. Why was Yami leading him out here? All of a sudden he stopped.

"Yami…? Where are we?" Yami turned around and smiled wickedly. Yugi began to get frightened. A million thoughts raced through his mind, all of them horrible and frightening. "Yami? What are you doing? What's going on?!" His voice got higher as he began to panic.

"I'm not Yami you fool!" Yugi's eyes widened as he realized what had happened. He turned around and ran for his life. Leviathan laughed and snapped his fingers. Dark fire sprang to life in front of him. It reached for the sky, much higher than he could jump or fly. He skidded to a halt and turned around. Leviathan snapped his fingers again and more dark fire appeared. Yugi ran different directions only to find himself surrounded by fire. Leviathan laughed. "Ha! Ha! Ha! I'd like to see Yami get you out of this one! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" He dissolved into the smoke and drifted back to the apartment. He looked into a hand mirror that he kept for occasions such as this. He saw Yugi trying to put out the fire with water. The fool! The fires of hell don't go down that easily! The flames started closing in. Yugi coughed as smoke entered his lungs. He drew out his wings and flapped them in an attempt to clear the air. He kept firing water onto the flames; but it only seemed to make them hotter! He began to get dizzy. His head spun as the smoke and heat began to overpower him. The spell wavered then died as he concentrated on staying awake. Finally he collapsed. There was a crack as he landed on one of his wings. His head cleared a bit as some smoke free air entered his lungs. His wings retracted themselves.

"Yugi? Yugi?! Where are you?!" He raised his head. Was that…?"

"Yami!" He cried weakly. "I'm over…"The heat overpowered him and he fell unconscious.

Atem's POV

I raced down the street looking for Yugi. Where could he have gone?!

"YUGI?! YUUGGII!!!" No! Nothing! Wait…what was that? I concentrated on a faint glow on the horizon. It was a forest fire! "YUGI!" I raced toward it. The glow got brighter. The fire was spreading! And Yugi had probably gone in to see if anyone was hurt! I ran faster. Finally I reached the edge. "Yugi?! Yugi can you hear me?!" No response. "He must be farther inside." I pulled my jacket tight and leaped in. I raced past the burning trunks. The burning red light from the fires reminded me eerily of hell's forests. I got closer and closer to the center of the fire. Still no sign of him! "Yugi? Yugi?! Where are you?!" a small weak voice drifted to my ears. It was barely audible even by my standards.

"Yami! I'm over…" Silence. I raced toward the noise and stopped. There was a ring of dark red fire around the place where Yugi was trapped. I was beginning to suspect that this was no coincidence.

"YUGI! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" No answer. "YUGI! SEND ME A SIGN ANYTHING!" Still no answer. There was no choice. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and jumped through the fire. I looked around. There was a black figure lying on the ground in the center of the circle. "YUGI!" I rushed over. The person was face down. I turned him over. It was Yugi all right. I gently picked him up. "Hold on Yugi. I'll get you out of here." He moaned and shifted in my arms, huddling closer, clutching my shirt. I looked around. No way out except through. "Sorry Yugi." I muttered. I jumped back through the fire and quickly set him on the ground to put out the fire that had managed to latch itself onto him.(1) Once he was flame free I summoned my wings and flew back to the apartment away from the sweltering heat. When I got back I set Yugi down on the bed and began to check him. There was a large amount of smoke in his lungs. I breathed it into myself and coughed it out.(2) My body quickly healed. I got some cool, wet cloths and rubbed him down. Steam began to swirl around me as the water evaporated from his body heat. Gradually though he cooled down. I looked at his clothes and groaned. His brand new clothes were sooty and burnt from when I had jumped through the fire. Great! Now he needed new clothes again! At least I knew what to buy now. And it wasn't like I had a limited amount of money. I grumbled a bit but smiled in relief when I saw that nothing else had happened to him. I got up. Now that I knew he was all right I needed to talk to a certain someone. Leviathan was sitting on the bed cleaning his lion like claws with a large knife. He looked utterly content, an expression he only had when he had caused a great amount of mischief. He smiled as he heard me come in.

"Atem…what a surprise." He purred. I growled at him.

"I am not in the mood for your games Leviathan." His grin widened.

"And why not? A little upset that angel friend of yours got hurt?" I grabbed his collar and shoved him against the wall. "OoohTouchy!" He cackled.

"Enough! I know it was you who trapped him! Only your fire is that particular shade of red." He laughed in my face. "What's so funny?"

"You! You don't get it do you? Not even the similarities in your appearance tipped you off!" He laughed harder. I looked at him in confusion. What is he babbling about?

"What are you talking about?!!" He cackled.

"If you don't know I won't tell you!" He said in a sing song voice.

"Leviathan!!!"

"Bye!" He waved and vanished, leaving nothing but evil smelling smoke. I let my hands fall to my side. What had he meant? Not even our similar appearance had tipped me off? What did that mean?

Yugi's POV

Waking up was like crawling through a small tunnel. The walls of my mind seemed to press down on me. Slowly my eyes opened. I looked around. I was back in the apartment. Had Leviathan taken me back? I looked over to my side and gasped. Yami was in a chair beside me. His head was off to the side and his eyes were closed. Cautiously I got up, careful not to wake him. My feet touched the floor. Yami's eyes snapped open and he looked at me. There was nothing to it. I dashed for the door.

"Yugi wait!" I kept running, nearly tripping over all the clutter. "Yugi stop! Stop!" He caught up and grabbed me. I fought to get away. "Yugi relax! It's me!" I couldn't hear him. I felt half crazy from the heat around me. He started to hold me tighter and grab my limbs in a way so that I was immobilized. I looked up at him and saw his deep crimson eyes. My body froze. His eyes…I couldn't…What was going on? "Yugi! It's okay! It's all right! Leviathan's gone. It's me Yugi!" I started to relax. "That's it Yugi. You're all right. You're safe." He lifted a hand to stroke my face and recoiled when he felt my forehead. Slowly, so his grip wouldn't slip he walked us to the bathroom. He put my hands in one fist and used the other to wet a cloth. He pressed it to my forehead and I shivered. It was freezing! But it seemed to help. I hadn't noticed my vision was blurry until things seemed to come back onto clarity. The heat ebbed away. I became slack in his arms as the strength the fever had given me faded. I looked at him and it was like it was the first time I had seen him clearly since I had woken up.

"Y-Yami?"

"Yes Yugi. I'm here." I groaned and went limp. I felt so tired. He let go and scooped me up. "You seem to have a knack for getting yourself into trouble." He said playfully. I smiled. It was true. I was always getting hurt one way or another, especially since I had run into him. He laid me back down on the bed. "You need to rest Yugi. The fire took quite a toll on you. It doesn't help that you're still adjusting to living. That's the reason you've gotten so sick." I shuddered as my back erupted in fire.

"Yami…My back…It hurts." He helped me lay on my belly as he examined my back. I cried out when he touched the place where my wings would emerge. He frowned.

"Yugi…I need you to bring out your wings. I nodded and began to summon them. Excrutiating pain went through my body and I pulled them back in. "Yugi, I know it hurts but you have to! I think one of your wings might be broken. I need to make sure that it isn't too extensive." I didn't want to do it. "I'll summon mine as well. Will that be better?" I nodded. "Okay. Come on." I summoned my wings again. The pain returned but I blocked it and continued. Yami's glossy black wings emerged along with my feathery white ones. Yami examined one. He gently ran his hand down it and I bit back a scream. "It's not just broken, the muscles knotted itself." That was a problem. I had seen this happen to an angel before. I knew what was coming next. "I'm going…"

"To to rub the spot to get the muscle to relax so you can align it properly and it'll heal." I finished.

"How did you know?"

"I took a class on injuries once with my brother." What the…? No I haven't! What am I talking about? I searched my memories. Sure enough, there was the memory of learning how to treat a broken wing, but I wasn't with my adopted family. I was with an older boy who looked like me…almost like…Yami. Was Yami Atem? Was he my brother?

Atem's POV

He's taken a class with his brother? This makes things easier. But it's strange…I dimly recall taking a class with someone as well. I went deep into my memories to find it. There it was! It was fuzzy but there. I was taking a class on how to treat a broken wing with a smaller boy. A boy who looked like me….almost...like….Yugi. I pulled myself out of my mind. I can't be thinking about this! I needed to heal Yugi's wing! I opened my eyes and saw Yugi looking at me strangely.

"Yugi…Is something wrong?" He shook his head.

"N-No…I'm fine." He laid down on his back and made himself relax as much as possible. He took a cloth and held it tightly. I half smiled. Carefully I massaged the spot. Yugi whimpered and tensed, but forced himself to stay still. Slowly I felt the muscles relax. Finally they were loose enough for me to actually heal the wing. I felt where the bone broke carefully and lined it up. I reached down and grabbed the stout piece of wood I would be using and placed it gently beside it. Then I took the gauze and wound it tightly. "There Yugi, it's done." He relaxed.

"Thanks, Yami."

"It was no problem."

"Hey Yami?"

"Yes?"

"Did you ever have a brother?" I stiffened.

"I-I don't know…fallen angels memories are wiped before they leave…I'm not sure why though." I turned and thought about what he had said. He must have a similar memory that has him learning healing with me. I he really be my brother?

Yugi's POV

I felt a little disappointed. I had been hoping that he could tell me. But no…he didn't remember. I wish his memory hadn't been wiped. I wondered if there were more memories of me and him together. I searched for a long time but nothing came forward. I sighed. I guess he isn't my brother after all.

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Atem's POV

I felt a little disappointed. I had searched extensively through my memory but had found no other memories of Yugi and I together. I guess he wasn't my brother after all.

End Chapter.

Fallen angels are immune to hells fires. Lost or regular angels draw it like moths to a candle.

Angels have the ability to draw anything into their bodies as long as they have physical contact with the body part.