Okay, another chap, I kinda have a better plot idea on where this is going, yay for me, so enjoy and review at the end.

Warnings: M for the safe side and some bad language … I own nothing.

Chap 2: One Step at a Time

Marik walked back into his apartment later that night, to find it dark but for the flicker and soft sound coming from the t.v. He was feeling a little bad that he had left Ryou on his own for so long and freshly out of the hospital. Also he had remembered that he had no food in the house, the boy had to be starving by now. Truthfully, Marik couldn't stand to be in the same room as the other, not after all the crap he and Bakura pulled the boy through for their selfish ways. Ah the guilt trip, not something he suffered from often.

What made everything worse was that Ryou couldn't stand him at all; he had been frightened of just the mere sight of Marik to the point that Ryou would allow Bakura control just to get away from him and now the boy was asking him for help as small as it was. Marik knew nothing of the boy, so what help could he possible be? Could it possibly be that Ryou was after sanctuary? Marik was far from being safe and still held a small amount of dark powers.

It was just four years ago that the items were destroyed why or how, he didn't know and with that Marik had himself his very own body and he found himself in the same town as… ummm… what was his name? Name? Name?…Yugi? That was it, Yugi, and his little group of 'friends' that clung to and sucked up to, for just a bit of attention from a five thousands year old crusty Pharaoh. Marik would have liked to have seen the once Pharaoh resurrected in his own body with bandages covering rotting flesh, like a cursed mummy from an old movie and see how well liked he'd be then… the only girl in the group would sure run a mile screaming her lungs out.

At least he had been honest with them all and told them what he wanted to do and how he wanted to kill them… was that grounds for an eternity of exile in the Shadow Realm? The Righteous bastard had thought so!

That was it?! His answer… Marik could see Yugi and hand Ryou over, as they were so much into the whole friendship thing at one point and was most likely still into it. They would be more then happy to see Ryou back on his feet and back in the care of Bakura. Okay not so much in the care of Bakura. The Righteous Bastard, had had it in for Bakura too, getting on his soapbox about how Bakura and himself weren't meant to be and how evil they were… Did they even know that he was back? It might come as a shock to see the guy that tried to kill them all, standing on their doorstep asking for help… NO! He was Marik, he had survived the Realm on his own, he got out. He had survived his Host and his damn familyHe had survived this world on his own. He would never ever ask for help, not from that pompous Righteous Bastard! Then again they would think that he had something to do with beating the boy. The Idiots always jumped to conclusions before finding out the truth, blaming the first person they saw fit.

Marik locked the door behind him with a growl, such thoughts always left him pissed and wanting to rain his terror, chaos and drag the Righteous Bastard and his friends back for a second match. He shook his head and placing the bag of hot take out food onto the table. He glanced about for his new guest, spotting the boy curled up on his side fast asleep on the couch. Marik approached the boy standing over him for a second just watching him. Ryou's oversized grey jumper was riding up, a lot! For the first time in days, Marik got a good look at the extent of the wounds. Though some covered with bandages, each wound held stitches that much he knew; the doctor had said that he couldn't describe what had made them. It was clear to Marik that whoever made them had tortured the boy before he escaped. Marik had done his fair share of torturing a few poor souls and knew what he was looking at.

Marik surprisingly found himself trembling with anger, and for some reason he was glad Ryou couldn't remember what happened to him. "Oh… I'm sorry." Ryou rubbed at his eye as he pushed himself up to sit. "I fell asleep waiting for you."

Marik shrugged his shoulders, they locked eyes and Marik suddenly having the feeling of his personal space being invaded somehow by the boy; Marik took a step back keeping Ryou a good four feet away. "You did just get out of the hospital." Ryou rubbed his arms feeling a little cold. "Are you hungry?" Marik asked, Ryou nodded his head and followed the other into the kitchen with a slight limp. "I hope you like Chinese food, because that's all that was open at this time of night." Marik knew most of the small restaurant owners, who were more then happy to give him late night or early morning meals.

"I don't know." Ryou said, but he was now glad that Marik had came back, he had been quite board and his mind of nothingness that wasn't much company. "How was…" Ryou trailed off as Marik placed down the containers in front of them.

"What?" Marik sat down opening his food up and poking at it with his fork. The chopsticks lay forgotten as Marik never knew how they really worked and he was hungry and too impatient to use them anyway.

"Nothing, forget it." Ryou gave him the brush off, but it had felt right and polite to ask.

"Look, if you're going to ask me something then don't do it half-assed!" Marik got stuck into his food, as Ryou blushed looking at his meal, which lay before him still closed.

"How was… work?" Ryou said softly and had ended in a whisper; Marik choked on his food and stared at the boy in disbelief, he had never been asked such a thing before, by anyone. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked… it's none of my business." Ryou made himself busy with opening his food.

"No, it's fine." Marik said after he regained himself and thought that it was nice to have someone remotely interested in him and what he did to keep this roof over his head. "Work was okay." Ryou smiled at him feeling a little more at ease and started on his meal.

Ryou paused once again looking at Marik. "Can I ask…" He made sure it was okay when Marik didn't stop eating to look at him, the older male just grunted for him to continue. "Where is it that you work?" It was pure curiosity.

"A nightclub from Friday through to Sunday, then the rest of the week I work in construction… and both pay well and I get two days off a week."

"Two jobs." Marik nodded his head indicating that Ryou was right then glanced up at the boy and frowned.

"What about you? What do you do?" Ryou looked at him with that same unsure twisted look of confusion as his mind scrambled for that little bit of information, it made Marik's heart skip a beat. He knew just what the boy was going through… Marik's own mind had been in the vast of nothingness at first when he had woken up four years ago in this Ra forsaken city. He had to find himself, so to say. It took days; he stole to eat, to clothe himself. Then at first, things started to come back, flashes of people's faces, places and names. His mind had been found soon after. He could remember everything from his own name, to what he had been doing before being placed in the Realm, it was nothing compared to what Ryou was going through now.

"I don't know… do you?" Ryou hoped, Marik shook his head no. "But you know me!" Ryou blurted out, then said softly with a blush as Marik raised eyebrow at him. "There must be something you know about me? No matter how little." It was a pleading tone.

"Lets get this straight." Marik just about growled out, what was he meant to tell him? 'Sorry I only know you because I made a deal with your Dark Soul for a plan to destroy the world, good times, you really should have been there… oh wait you were there, kind of.' Marik pushed his empty food container away. Ryou bit his lip and sunk down in his chair a little as tears gathered in the corners of his eyes, for some reason he was effected by the deep tones of Marik's voice; intimidating yet sultry. Ryou looked away with a slight blush and wiped at the stray fallen tear, unseen by the other.

Marik saw this and sighed running a hand through his hair and said a bit more softer, well as softly as he could mange. "It's been a long week and I'm tired."

"I understand." Ryou stood up quickly wincing as he did, gathering up his left over food and limped into the dimly light kitchenette and placing the food in the very empty fridge. Ryou turned around and gasped at finding Marik standing there.

"No you don't understand." Marik's tone had a sharp bite to it. "I have lived alone for four years I'm not used to this… and when you remember everything, you'll be walking out my door without so much as a glance back." Marik threw his empty container into the trash; it was true, once the boy worked out just who he was and what he did, the boy would be running out his door without so much as a thank you.

A soft sniffle was heard and Marik glanced down at the boy in front of him. "What?!" Marik took a step backwards out of shock and his eyes widened. "Why are you crying?" Indeed the boy had burst into tears.

"I don't know!" Ryou snapped and turned his back on Marik and was sobbing into his hands, what had he done wrong? And why was he so shaken up just by Marik raising his voice?

This was not what Marik had in mind when he let the boy stay with him. He should have laid down a few rules, one of them should be, no crying.

"Alright, I'll tell what I know about you from my, heart to heart with Bakura, okay? Now stop that." Marik commanded and Ryou slowly turned back around to face him, why was this Bakura person always mentioned? Was he someone Ryou knew? Was he someone important?

The so called heart to heart that he and Bakura had, had been after six days of knowing each other and his duel with Bakura was all part of the plan in getting their own bodies, the conversation had gone a little something like this.

"Nice body, can it stand up to the Realm for a few days?" Marik asked coldly with a touch of sarcasm as he was leaning against the railing of the blimp. This deal was too important to waste on something as trivial as a body dieing before it could do its task.

Bakura stopped placing one hand on his hip leaning to one side with a smug smirk in place and said. "This nice piece of fine art was complements of my Host, Ryou. Who mind you is quite the brain at school, doesn't like to date girls and is still a virgin… I haven't shagged anything in the last five thousand years and I would hate to be responsible in him losing his virginity to some whore I picked up for a one night-stand. So if you don't mind, I'm in a little hurry to have my body and my thoughts to myself." Bakura walked by him briskly in his striped blue and white shirt and blue jeans. Marik saw the Goosebumps on his arms from the chill in the night air.

Bakura glared back with such a look that it could have melted the flesh right off Marik's bones and hissed out. "Lets get started or would you like a whole history report on my Host over some hot tea?" Bakura rolled his eyes, as the other hadn't moved from the railing… "Yes it can stand the realm for a, few days."

Marik shook his head of his past thoughts. "What I know about you?" He said thoughtfully, nothing Bakura ever said was useful and most of the time he was being sarcastic and finding the truth behind his words was never easy. "Well you know your name is Ryou, right?" The boy nodded his head and Marik fell silent not sure what to say, now. "I got it!" A thought came to him and it would help them both out. "I have a day off tomorrow so why don't we go for walk to your house and see what we can dig up." The boy would have everything he needed to know about himself at his house.

"So maybe something might spark a memory." A useful bit of information the doctor had told him when they left the hospital, that Ryou needed to be around familiar things and what was more familiar then taking him home?

"You'd do that for me?" Ryou wiped at all his tears.

"Sure." And he had nothing else better to do anyway on his days off. "But I'm still tired and would like to sleep." Ryou followed him down to the small hallway and into the bedroom.

"You can sleep here." Marik pulled two pillows from the double bed and the top blanket. The room held a bed, a nightstand and a dresser. "Don't worry the sheets are clean." He had spotted Ryou looking about; well it wasn't as if he had been seeing anyone lately, well not in the last two years anyway so his bed hadn't been used in that way.

"It's fine, really." Ryou said sitting down on the bed and looked rather nervous suddenly.

"What?" Marik asked a little irritable, it had truly been a long day.

"Do you have…" Ryou trailed off as he tugged at the oversized jumper indicating that he needed a change of clothing.

"Yeah." Marik walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers and t-shirt and tossed them onto the bed beside the boy.

"Thank you." Ryou stood up slowly and went to pull off his jumper, but yelped out and clutched at his side, bending over in pain. Marik froze at the door glancing back and thought it best to ignore what he had seen and heard and went to walk out, until Ryou spoke up. "Would you mind? I need a little help." Came his soft voice. "Please."

Marik stopped; he knew that he had to help in changing the bandages, but helping the boy dress? "I can't get my arm up enough to…"

"Here." Marik cut him off and placed everything he had in his arms onto the bed and helped in removing the jumper, which wasn't easy as the wrong movements made Ryou whimper or gasp in pain… Marik got a good look at the large wound just under his arm and the few across his back.

Marik very lightly ran his fingers over the skin of Ryou's back, avoiding all the wounds; it was as if someone had dragged a large knife over his back, and the bruising, went all the way up from the hem of his pants to the nape of his neck, even his head had cuts. "You truly don't know who did this to you?" Marik's voice had been a soft whisper.

"No." Ryou shook his head bowing it as he hugged his arms to his chest. "I don't think I want to remember." The black t-shirt was soon placed on.

A little later, Marik lay in the darkness for a while staring out the windows in the living room, in the pull out bed from the couch. "Marik?" He jumped looking up to find Ryou standing by his bed.

"What?"

"Could I… I mean…"

"You want to sleep with me?" Though Marik couldn't see it, he knew the boy must have been blushing and why else would he be standing by his bed for? This was nothing new. His Host had often, if not every night, had done the same thing, though he couldn't touch anything his Host was just content knowing his presences was there. "Come on, just don't hog the covers or the bed." Instead of Ryou finding a place to lay on the edge, he had snuggled right up to Marik's side with a content soft humming sound. "Comfy?" Was the 'get off me' sarcastic tone, but it felt so good to have him pressed against him, that Marik really didn't mind him being where he was.

"Yes, thank you." Ryou mumbled resting his head on Marik's chest with a soft sigh and wrapping his arm about the other, this felt strangely familiar to him. Marik rolled his eyes placing his arms behind his head, Hosts.Everything went over their heads missing the real meaning of things.

Breakfast at a small café as Marik had yet to buy real food for home, Ryou sat so close to him that their sides were touching and they often bumped elbows while eating. Damn, no one Marik knew would ever be so close to him willingly. "This is good." Ryou hummed as he downed another pancake, and do he dare say it, the boy looked happy and unaffected by their close proximity.

Marik shifted uncomfortably but couldn't move back anymore than what he was with the wall at his back. "You're not eating?" Ryou glanced at Marik's still full plate of untouched food worriedly. "Are you ill? Is it not good?" Marik had been glaring at a few people nearby that were staring at the boy's still bruised face, his chin and his eye along with his eyebrow.

"It's fine." Marik growled, maybe if he jabbed their eyes out then they wouldn't bloody be able to stare as if Ryou was some kinda of sideshow at a freak carnival. Marik placed his arm on the back of the bench-seat and behind Ryou's head, he found it more comfortable and surprisingly more room. Ryou seemed to feel it necessary to be this close to him, was he like this with Bakura? Or maybe the one that had beaten him… "I'm a morning coffee person." He was glad that Ryou hadn't noticed everyone staring at him; naive was something that came to Marik's mind easily, something that his own Host was far from.

"Oh." Ryou mumbled finishing his food off, thinking the other should really eat something other then drinking coffee and it was a wast of food and money not eating what he had ordered.

"You want anything else?" Marik asked getting impatient in wanting to leave, these people were pissing him off, but he wanted Ryou's hunger satisfied first. He knew the boy needed to eat more, his body was thin from lack of food and Marik had been a little worried that the boy had some kind of eating disorder, like his Host's Sister. How else did you think she kept that figure of hers? Up chucking, that's how.

"No I'm full." Ryou pushed away his empty plate. "Thank you so much, I enjoyed that." Ryou glanced up at him and blushed when he noticed just how close they were.

"It's nothing… are you ready to leave?" Marik asked glad that Ryou had quite an appetite, Ryou nodded his head and got up and the two soon left.

The street was full of people busy in their lives as they rushed about from point A to Z and cars on the road were at a stand still, blowing horns and drivers, man and women alike yelling abuse out the windows at a construction workers. "What if I have parents there?" Ryou bit his lip as he clung to Marik's arm, not wanting to go too far from the other's side in fear of getting lost and never being found.

The address was on a bit of paper given to Marik by the doctor from Ryou's medical file at the hospital, He glanced away from it to a street sign, at least they were going in the right direction. "Then you would stay with them." Marik shrugged and moved on. "After all they are your family and it's not like I can keep you from them."

"But..." Ryou bit his lip and his grip tightened on Marik's arm. "What if they are the ones that did this to me?" That was a good point, Ryou couldn't remember and Marik didn't know, so it could be anyone the boy knew. The only person who would know or could help or even be responsible could very well be Bakura.

The said Dark Soul had the tendency to be violent towards his Host at times and other people as well, he did have a short temper, but that was nothing new as Marik had the same short temper… it was something that they all possessed including the Righteous Bastard, who would never admit it to anyone.

"I don't know." Marik shrugged, their walking pace was slow as Ryou was having a little trouble with walking and keeping up with him. Marik wasn't going to force the boy into walking faster; he wrapped his arm about his waist and helped him.

The house soon sat before them, all closed up, Marik gave one last glance at the paper to double check if they had the right place. "This is it… does it look familiar?"

"No." Ryou shook his head as he followed Marik up to his door; the house was nice looking with a front yard.

Marik jingled the doorhandle, he was interested in finding out what might have happened, but he was also dreading what he would find out once he entered the house. "It's locked." He looked about, lifting up the mat, a pot plant and even felt about the top of the doorframe for a spare key and found none. "I'll have to break in." Marik warned Ryou, in case he had to smash a window to just get in.

"I don't mind." Ryou followed him to a side window; to their surprise the window was closed, not locked. Marik was the first to enter the house in the dining room; he turned around looking at the boy saying. "Stay here a minute." Ryou nodded his head and moved a little closer to the window and looked about the front yard nervously.

Marik walked deeper into the dark house, all the furniture was thrown into grey and black shadows from the lack of lighting in the house. "Bakura!" He called out, knowing the thief would be hiding in the shadows somewhere if he wanted to frighten the poor boy upon coming home. Marik snorted, the stupid idiot liked to play such games with his Host… why Bakura liked to see the boy nervous and frightened? What was point in scaring someone, when you could just kill them and get the some result.

Marik walked into the hallway to open the front door but stopped and noticed something laying on the floor in the living room. He walked to the door and found the coffee table tipped over and books scatted across the floor, the couch tipped over on it's back. He backed out and glanced about, a few pictures lay broken on the stairs, glancing down he saw the trail of blood as if someone had fallen and was dragged back, blood smudged all over the door where the handle was.

There had been a struggle and it was hard to place where it had started from, Marik took the stairs cautiously following the broken trail of pictures. "Bakura?!" He called out once he reached the landing, finding four doors, one wide open.

Where was that thief? Surely if Bakura knew that his Host had been badly hurt and with him, Bakura would have came out by now with his sarcastic attitude and tell Marik to stay away from his Host. Jealous bastard didn't like Ryou in that way, but Bakura couldn't stand anyone else having the boy's attention taken from him.

Marik moved closer to the door the whole time wondering what had happened in this house, to drive Ryou out into the night, naked and so badly injured. The boy had almost slipped into a coma like state and had slept for three days straight. What had Ryou done to piss someone off so badly that they could hurt the boy in such away?

Marik stopped in the doorway, the room was a range of light colours and the bedroom looked lived in and was a little messed up. The blackest from the bed was on the floor, the nightstand was tipped over and all the items on it were split over the floor and the more delicate items were broken, the lamp on the desk in the corner was broken and on the floor, something happened here or maybe it had started in here and ended up downstairs… Marik presumed that this room belonged to Ryou.

Marik backed out walked over to the other doors, pushing them open, when something crunched under his boot, moving back a little, he bent down and picked it up looking it over. It looked as if it had broken off something and was the size of his thumbs fingertip, whatever it was, it was solid gold. Marik placed it into his pocket and opened the other doors and found nothing else out of place.

"MARIK!" Came Ryou's startled and frightened call from outside the house, Marik literally ran down the hallway and jumped down the stairs landing on the ground floor in a crouched position, before rushing to the front door ripping it open.

TBC

Just so you know that I have a thing for cliffhangers, well not really. I just get so involved with what I'm writing out like and find myself facing fourteen pages of editing, so I break it up and well a cliffhaner, so I'm asking you once again to review and I'll update the next part soon. (Love and Cookies)