I'm glad you all liked the last chapter; even though it was dark. I'm not sure if Zane could actually have Syrus committed in real life, but it seemed evil enough a threat for him.

Disclaimer: I don't own GX.

Warning: Swearing, blah blah blah, the usual.

--

Syrus was curled up in a ball on his side, feeling nothing but emptiness. Jaden's visit had cheered him for a little while, but he had quickly sunk into depression after he left. Nothing like seeing a healthy friend can put you in the dumps so quickly. He winced. Seeing.

After Jaden left, Syrus had gotten such a bad headache that he could barely move for the pain. He was convinced that it was connected to his eyes, because they had started throbbing after the headache stopped. Why do I bother going on? Great, now I'm sounding suicidal. Maybe I should let Zane stick me in an asylum. He hadn't seen his brother since their confrontation, nor did he want to.

Never had Syrus felt so far away from his older brother.

--

Zane dialled his agent's number with shaking fingers. Not shaking because he was afraid, mind you, but because he was so irate. How dare she give out my location to anyone! I should fire her on the spot. The phone rang once, twice, and then was picked up.

"Hello, this is Eloise Jannys, agent of Pro Duelist Zane Truesdale. How may I -" Zane cut her off abruptly.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." His icy tone might have frightened a lesser agent, but she hadn't been in the business for 10 years to be frightened by some emo teenager.

"Zane, honey, I don't know what you're talking about." Her sweet tone made him want to gag. No one calls me honey and gets away with it!

"You told Atticus Rhodes that I would be at the gym. I thought I told you never to tell anyone my whereabouts. I have a good mind to fire you right now, in fact!" Hell Kaiser's grip tightened on his phone.

"Oh, that! I didn't think your policy applied to friends, and he said that he was an old friend from school. He wasn't a fanboy, was he? I can notice up a restraining order…"

"Don't try and weasel your way out of this. If you make one more screw-up, I'm terminating my contract. And save your honeys for your boyfriends. If you can get any, that is." Zane snapped his phone shut and shoved it in a pocket without so much as a goodbye.

At her office, Ms. Jannys chewed thoughtfully on a pen. As Hell Kaiser's agent, she had learned quite a bit about him by going through notices, letters, things that she had permission to touch, just not read. But there was no harm in skimming these things over, was there? She had put up with enough of his mood swings and temper tantrums. It was time to fight back. He'll regret all the nasty things he's said to me. I'll take away the thing most important to him. She picked up the phone and started tapping in a number she knew by heart.

"Mr. Shroud?"

--

"Hi Syrus. Not feeling well?" Dr. Salin poked her head in the door to see her young patient with a hangdog look on his face.

"No." He turned towards the wall and sighed heavily. As a psychiatrist, Dr. Salin could see he was depressed. But then, even a normal person could see that.

"Would it help if you talked?" She put a hand on his shoulder. "Remember what I said about how it makes you feel better?" He pushed her hand away and turned over.

"Go ahead. Start asking me questions." He scowled; a cold look that looked so much like Zane's that she was surprised. "Just don't ask me anything about…him." Syrus said this was so much vehemence that she started back.

"About Zane?" Uh-oh, what happened?

"Yeah." Okay, I guess we'll stay off that topic. He looks ready to rip something to shreds, or sob hysterically.

"What's it like at your school? I've never stayed in dorms, even in college." Syrus perked up a bit at the mention of his favourite place in the world.

"It's so awesome! The weather barely ever gets cold, and the dorms are great. Well, Slifer's kind of the pits, but I never minded it much. Chazz is always complaining, though." He laughed softly.

"Who's Chazz?" She wanted to keep him on this track. Syrus was becoming more animated by the minute, talking about his school friends. He had given her some basic details the last time they met, but now he was going even more into depth.

"My best friend, Jaden, is the top duelist at the school, but he loves to sleep in class."

"That sounds like a bit of a paradox," she smiled. "I suppose you two get along great."

"We do. He's one of the kindest people I've ever met. When I first entered the school, I wasn't much of a duelist, but he kept cheering me on and giving me confidence until I believed in myself. Everyone likes Jaden, because he's got such an optimistic attitude. He can be a bit clueless at times, but I wouldn't have him change for the world." Syrus was sitting up, beaming as he basked in the memories of his best friend.

"Did Zane like him?" She knew that this was treading on dangerous ground, but she detected that Syrus had some issues behind his brother, and needed to be introduced to the topic of Zane gently.

The bluenette went blank at the unexpected question, then nodded slowly. "Zane liked him. He said that Jaden would be the top student in the school once he was gone. I sort of, well, got the feeling that maybe Zane would rather have Jaden as a brother."

"Syrus, that isn't true. Your brother loves you."

"I think it's partially true. Jaden wasn't an embarrassment like I am." He looked down a little guiltily. "Some days, I liked my friend better than my own brother. He was everything Zane wasn't. But Zane's been my brother for all of my life, and he wasn't always so cold. So, I felt torn when they duelled."

"Because you feel so loyal to both of them. I completely understand. Just so you don't feel guilty, it's a fact that children who grow up somewhat emotionally neglected often choose a friend as a substitute family member."

"I wasn't emotionally neglected. My parents were always there for me, but I felt like I was constantly in Zane's shadow." Syrus twisted a lock of hair around one finger and pulled gently.

"And Jaden accepted you for who you were, not for who you were related to." He nodded earnestly.

"That's right." He looked around covertly. "Secretly, I sometimes wished that Jaden was my brother, not Zane." Dr. Salin leaned forwards and started to say something, but she was interrupted.

"A-hem." Hell Kaiser was standing in the doorway, watching coolly. "I need to speak with my brother now, if you don't mind. It's important."

She stood slowly, eyeing him up. "I'll go then. And you really must schedule an appointment so I can assess how much therapy you will need." Zane turned puce and opened his mouth to say something Syrus was sure would be incredibly rude, so he broke in.

"Can you tell my doctor that I need to talk to him about my eyes? I had a massive headache this afternoon." She smiled at him.

"Of course." And left, leaving him alone with Zane, who, by the displeased look on his visage, had heard most of their conversation.

--

I think I'll leave it there for now. For those of you who don't know, a visage is a face. R&R!