I want to thank Valkyria Raven for correcting my spelling of Akefia, not Afekia. Thanks for letting me know. From this chapter on, it will be spelled the right way.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2- The Past
Yami, Bakura, Marik, and Seto were all shocked to see their former lovers standing there in front of them.
Atemu, Akefia, Mariku, and Seth were all starring in disbelief at the four whom they had searched for in order to explain what happened seven years ago.
"Yes. It's use." Heba said.
Where the hell have you been all this time?!" Bakura exclaimed.
Ryou narrowed his eyes. "I hardly think that that is any of your business, Bakura!" Ryou snapped angrily.
Bakura winced at the harshness in Ryou's voice although he knew that he had brought that on himself in the past.
"How did you know that those guys were trying to kill us? And why did you-kill them?" Atemu asked.
"Would you rather we let them live? They would have come back and tried again." Heba said.
"How do you know that?" Akefia demanded.
"They're a part of a mob group, Akefia. They don't give a damn about human life. They keep going after their target until they finish the job or they are killed by their own people for failing. They die one way or another." Joey said.
"How do you know that?" Yami asked.
Joey, Ryou, and Malik looked at each other before they looked at Yugi, unsure of if they should reveal themselves to be assassins.
"We're assassins. It's our jib to know the competition." Heba said bluntly.
The eight looked at them in hock.
"No way. There's not way you guys can be assassins." Mariku said.
"Really? We did kill those guys in front of you, didn't we?" Malik said.
Before anyone could say anything else, Fire came up.
"Sorry to interrupt." Fire said.
"What is it, Fire?" Heba asked.
"I found those records you wanted, leader." Fire said.
Heba took the papers from him. "All right. Good work. Keep an eye on her." Heba said.
"Yes, sir." Fire said before leaving.
"What's going on?" Seto asked, beginning to feel uneasy.
"Follow me. We'll explain it in a less open area." Heba said.
For the first time, everyone realized that some of the people in base were watching them curiously.
Heba looked around and said, "Everyone, back to your jobs!"
Everyone immediately started back to what they should be doing.
Heba walked down the hall with the others following.
Atemu, Yami, Akefia, Bakura, Seth, Seto, Mariku, and Marik followed although they were rather uneasy about doing so.
The doors to a room slid open, and everyone entered the room.
"Ryou, turn on the light." Heba said as he sat down at the head of the table.
Ryou hit a switch, which turned on a green light outside the room.
"What light?" Seth asked.
"It's a light outside the room. It let's everyone know that we are in a meeting, and that unless it is vitally important, we are not be disturbed." Heba explained as he looked through the records.
"Something on your mind, Heba?" Joey asked.
"Nothing right now." Heba said. He then looked up. "All of you, sit down!"
From the authority in his voice, it wasn't a request.
For some reason, everyone sat down, mostly out of shock that the petite man could be so authoritative.
"As I already said, we are assassins. Our organization does a lot of work." Heba said.
"Organization?" Seth asked.
"Yes. The Guild has been active for more then two hundred years. We seek out and kill lowlifes." Heba said.
"You mean you're a bunch of murderers!" Akefia growled.
"Tell me, Akefia. If a man rapes children and uses his money to get away with it, would you consider if murder if someone killed him if it meant that he wouldn't be able to do that to another innocent child?" Heba asked, setting the file he had down.
"Well, no. I'd say he got what he deserved." Afekia said.
"Then you have no problem with the fact that Gorinsh Sorino was murdered." Heba said.
"No, not really." Akefia said.
"You should know that our organization killed him." Heba said.
"What?!" the eight exclaimed.
"We don't kill innocent people. We kill people who commit crimes and then get away with it because of a technically or the fact that they have money and bought their way out of the trial." Heba said.
"So, then, Sorino bought his way out?" Atemu asked.
"Yami's the lawyer. Ask him." Heba said before pushing a different file down to them.
Yami took the file and looked at it. "I don't believe it." Yami said.
"What?" Bakura asked.
"Sorino paid off the judge, the prosecutor, and every member of the jury to get out of the charges. His shows enough evidence that he should have been convicted, but he was released because of lack of evidence. He bought his way out of a conviction!" Yami exclaimed.
"Joey and I were the ones in his house last night. We heard him talking to someone. He was boasting about getting out of it. He would have gotten another innocent child and stripped them of their innocence the way he did so ,any other children. I monster like that doesn't deserve to live. Those are the type of people that we kill. The people who commit such heinous crimes and get away with it for a foolish reason." Heba said.
"There was no evidence." Marik said.
"If you recall, I said the Guild has been around for over two hundred years. In all that time, not one member of the Guild has ever been caught. The murdered people just became cold cases." Heba said.
"This what you all do?" Yami asked.
"Yes. We are specially trained. We're the best. We never leave evidence behind." Ryou said.
"Could you answer something for me?" Atemu asked.
"What?" Joey said a little hostilely.
"Joey, save the hostility for the fieldwork." Heba said.
"Sure. Whatever." Joey said, leaning back in his seat.
Heba turned his attention back to Atemu. "What is it?" Heba asked.
"Why did those guys try to kill us?" Atemu asked.
"Anyone heard of the Gate?" Heba asked.
"The Gate? It's a mob group, better known as assassins for hire. You pay them enough, they'll someone without a second thought. A few have been put in jail, but mostly, we can't touch them because they are good at leaving no evidence." Yami said.
"Yes. The gate was hired and paid more then enough to kill you all. Those four were members of the Gate. They were there to kill you." Heba said.
"What?!" was the response.
"Who the hell would want to kill us?!" Akefia demanded.
"The name Vivian Wong ring a bell?" Malik asked.
"That slut!" Atemu growled.
Atemu, Seth, Akefia, and Mariku knew who she was all too well. Back when they were in high school, Vivian had been the school slut. She would date a guy, screw him, and the move on to the next guy. She had been after Atemu, Seth, Akefia, and Mariku, but she never managed to get them.
"She's the one who hired them." Heba said.
"I'll kill her!" Seth snarled.
"No. You'll leave that to us." Heba said.
"Why?" Akefia demanded.
"Because we do this everyday. We can do it and not get caught." Heba said.
"You don't really think that she did this?" Yami asked, not wanting to believe that Vivian would be vengeful enough to want them dead.
"See for yourself." Ryou said, tossing them a file.
The group looked and saw that Vivian had hired the Gate to kill them, and that Vivian had given a specific order for them to be killed.
"I can't believe this. I didn't think she was this low." Seto said.
"You're all staying here." Heba said.
"You can't do that!" Seth snapped.
"Would you prefer to be walking around and having the Gate killing you? You leave here, you're dead." Heba said.
"We have lives outside of here! We don't want to be involved with an assassin organization." Akefia said.
"I think we'd better." Yami said.
"Why?" Atemu asked.
"Because the Gate is that good. If they think they can stop this, then fine. He's right. We're dead if we leave here." Yami said.
"Well, you can all discuss this privately. We'll be outside." Heba said. He stood up and Joey, Malik, and Ryou followed him out.
"Heba, are we really going after Vivian?" Joey asked.
"Yes. I want answers from her. There is no real reason to want them dead. I need to know why. Besides, they'll wan those answers, too." Heba said.
"Okay. So, what exactly are we going to do?" Ryou asked.
"I don't know, yet. Something is off. I can't prove it yet, but it's one of those gut feelings I get." Heba said.
"Heba, when you have a gut feeling, we listen to it because it is usually right." Joey said.
"Still, they're staying here whether they like it or not." Heba said.
"Well, as ordered, we contacted every work place and let them know that they all took an unexpected vacation." Malik said.
"Good. Did you also tell them that there was no way to know when they will be back?" Heba asked.
"Of course. We know the drill." Malik said.
"I still can't believe that we're helping these people. After everything that they did to us, why would we bother helping these bastards?" Joey demanded.
"Because we don't have a choice. Look. They have done nothing to warrant being killed, and I am not going to compromise my standards because of what happened back then. It is in the past, and that is where it needs to stay, Joey. We are completing an assignment. That is all that it is. Once this is over, they will leave, and everything can resume to normal." Heba said.
"I guess the real question is what can we do about what happened. It's bound to come up given that we don't know how long they will be staying." Ryou said.
"This is an assignment, Ryou. Personal feelings have no place in it." Heba said.
"Right." Ryou said.
"How do we know that they won't tell everyone what we do?" Joey asked.
"As far as anyone is concerned, we disappeared. They have no idea how to get here, and there is nothing to link us to the crime." Heba said.
"You don't think they'll do it, do you?" Malik asked.
"I know they won't." Heba said.
"Okay. They break up with us, so they become assassins. That makes sense." Bakura said.
"Bakura, don't forget that we were the ones that did what was so unforgivable." Yami said.
"They didn't even give us the chance to explain. If they had, this wouldn't have happened." Marik said.
"Marik, think about if the situation had been reversed. How would you have reacted?" Seto asked.
"Probably the same way." Marik admitted.
"Could we get back on the subject at hand?" Atemu asked.
"Right. What should we do?" Mariku asked.
"There is no way in hell that I am going to stay here!" Akefia said.
"Could I just say that more hen a hundred murders have been connected to the Gate. Only three are behind bars." Yami said.
"They're that good?" Atemu asked.
"Yes. They leave little to no evidence. They cover for each other. We know that they are the ones that committed the crimes, but we can't prove it. We need to face the fact that the only way we may be able to survive is if we let them help us." Yami said.
"Can we trust them, though? They are assassins. How do we know that they won't kill us for what happened before?" Seth asked.
"I don't think that they're petty enough to kill us because of what happened all those years ago." Seto said.
"We'd better hope not. We're in their territory, and they know it better than we do." Bakura said.
"We don't know it at all, so we're at a disadvantage." Akefia said.
"Well, trusting them is better than being killed." Atemu said.
"I do have just one thing to say. If they don't kill that slut, I will." Mariku said.
"And I'll help you." Akefia said.
"I'll vouch for you two and say that you were with me at the time of murder." Atemu said.
"Same here." Seth added.
"Okay. Let's just tell them that we'll stay here." Yami said.
It was then that the doors to the room slid open again, and the other four returned.
"Have you made a decision?" Heba asked.
"We'll stay here for as long as it will take." Yami said.
"Good." Ryou said.
"We do need to contact our works and let them know that we'll be gone a while." Seto said.
"No need. We already contacted them and told them you have gone on an unexpected vacation and don't know when you'll back." Malik said.
"Why the hell did you do that?!" Mariku shouted.
"Because you were staying whether you wanted to or not." Joey said.
"Excuse me. Leader." Fire said.
Heba turned to the doorway. "What is it?" Heba asked.
"I think there's something that you need to see." Fire said.
"Where?" Heba asked.
"Video room." Fire answered.
"I'll be right there." Heba said.
Fire nodded and left.
"I'll let them show you the rooms that you'll be staying in. Excuse me." Heba said before he left the room.
"Come with us." Ryou said before he turned and walked out of the room with Malik and Joey behind them.
"I hope that we don't regret this." Akefia said.
The group followed them.
Heba walked into the video room. "What is it?" Heba asked.
"We thought that you would want to see this." Fire said.
Heba was shown a video of Vivian. "What is this about?" Heba asked.
"Watch." Fire said.
In a few moments, there were images of Vivian having sex with a guy.
"And I wanted to see this why?" Heba asked.
"You wanted to be kept updated on all of her activities." Fire said.
"Anything unusual about anything that she has done?" Heba asked.
"None that we've picked up." the other guys said.
"I see. Keep me updated if anything happens. And if there is a guy that you know that sleeps with her that is some kind of killer or something, let me know." Heba said.
"Sure thing." Fire said.
Heba then walked out of the room. 'I need to confront Vivian. I need to learn what her agenda is because there is more to this. I can feel it in my guts.' Heba thought.
Ryou led everyone to an upper level of the multi-leveled base.
"Where are we going?" Mariku asked.
"The level with the bedrooms on it." Ryou answered.
Everyone entered an elevator and headed up to another level.
The group walked out.
"This is the level that you'll be staying on. Everything you need will be on these levels." Malik said.
"What rooms do we stay in?" Yami asked.
"Take your pick. The only rooms that are taken are ours. They're the first four rooms we pass. Any of them after that are yours." Ryou said.
"All right." Akefia said.
"What about clothes and stuff?" Seto asked.
"We'll have stuff sent to the rooms for you to use." Joey said.
The groups knew that they didn't have a choice and agreed.
They then went and picked out the rooms that they would stay in and went into them.
"I can't believe that we're stuck with them for a while." Joey muttered.
"Deal with it. It's only until we deal with Vivian. After that, they'll leave and we won't have to deal with them ever again." Malik said.
"We'd better get back to the meeting room. Heba will be waiting for us there." Ryou said.
The three got back on the elevator and headed back down.
~Bakura and Akefia~
"I can't believe that we're stuck here for a while!" Akefia growled.
Bakura sat down on the bed. "I can't believe how much Ryou's changed." Bakura said.
Akefia walked over and sat down beside Bakura, wrapping his arms around his lover. "He did change a lot. I would have never thought that that sweet, shy kid we both feel for would turn out like this." Akefia said, resting his chin on Bakura's shoulder.
Bakura leaned back against him. "Do you think that what we did to him was what led Ryou to doing this? Becoming an assassin?" Bakura asked.
"I don't know. It's possible. We did hurt him a lot. After all, you were sleeping with me while you were dating him. He blew when he found out." Akefia said.
"I know. If we had just gone to him and told that we loved him, this wouldn't have happened. Instead, we snuck around and didn't tell him that we loved him." Bakura said.
~Flashback~
"Ah! Akefia!" Bakura cried as they both came to the end.
Akefia collapsed forward on Bakura. Akefia nuzzled Bakura's neck and said, "That was wonderful."
A gasp caught their attention.
Both turned and were horrified to see Ryou standing in Bakura's apartment, wide-eyed.
"Ryou, please. I can explain." Bakura said.
"Explain? You've been cheating on me?!" Ryou shouted.
Bakura tried to get up. "Ryou, please. Just listen to me!" Bakura pleaded.
"Not on your life! We're through, Bakura!" Ryou cried before running out.
"Ryou, wait!" Afekia shouted, but Ryou was gone.
~End Flashback~
"It was our own fault. You were dating Ryou when we started seeing each other. We were worried about how Ryou would feel if we told him that loved each other and him." Akefia said.
"I know. I just wish that there was a way to explain that to him. I want him to know that I, we, love him." Bakura said.
Akefia tightened his grip on Bakura. "I know, Bakura. I know. Maybe we'll have the chance to while we have to stay here." Akefia said.
"I hope so. I want him to know that I still want him. I just don't know how he feels about you." Bakura said.
"Well, if he'll ever listen to us, then we'll know." Akefia said.
~Marik and Mariku~
"Well, it's a nice little room. It'll be enough for the two of us." Marik said.
"Yeah. I guess that we'll have to deal with all this. I don't like feeling like I'm trapped." Mariku said.
"You know, its odd how much Malik had changed." Marik said.
Mariku looked over at him. "I guess he has changed a good bit, hasn't he?" Mariku asked.
"Yeah. I never imagined that he would become an assassin." Marik said.
"Neither did I." Mariku said as he sat on the bed beside Marik.
Marik leaned against him and Mariku wrapped his arms around him.
"Maybe while we're here, we can tell Malik what happened back then." Mariku said.
"He was pretty angry. He found out that I was cheating on him with you." Marik said.
~Flashback~
"MARIK!" Malik shouted.
Marik and Mariku jumped when Marik's name was shouted. The two looked to see Malik in the doorway of the bedroom. The smell of sex was in the air, and the fact that the two were in bed together naked spelled out everything.
"Malik, please. I can explain." Marik said.
"Explain?! I'd like you to see try to explain your way out of this! You've been cheating on me!" Malik shouted.
"Malik, please. Just listen to me. It's not what you think." Marik pleaded.
"Save it! If this is how little you value our relationship, then you don't have to worry about it anymore! We're over, Marik! I hope that you and Mariku have a nice life!" Malik snapped before he stormed out.
"Malik! Wait!" Mariku shouted, but Malik was already gone.
~End Flashback~
"That wasn't how I wanted him to find out. I wanted him to know that we both loved him, and that we wanted to be in a relationship. Just the three of us." Marik said.
"It was our won fault. We should have told him how I felt about the two of you before you and I started sleeping together." Mariku said.
"I can't believe that we fucked everything up so badly. If Malik will listen, I want to tell him the truth about all this. I want him to know that we both love him." Marik said.
"If he will listen, then we can tell him that we still want him in this relationship." Mariku said.
"I hope that we will be able to tell him. I really want him with us." Marik said as Mariku hugged him closer.
~Seto and Seth~
"Well, I guess we're stuck here for a while." Seth said.
"At least the room is nice." Seto said.
"Yeah. I guess so." Seth agreed.
Seto sat down on the bed and leaned back again the headboard. "Joey's changed a lot. I never thought he would be an assassin." Seto said.
"I know what you mean. That surprised me, too." Seth said.
"I could tell that he was still angry at us for what happened." Seto said.
"Can you blame him? It wasn't the best way." Seth said as he sat down beside Seto.
~Flashback~
Seto moaned as Seth kissed him roughly. "You know that we shouldn't be doing this here." Seto said as he was pushed back against the desk behind him.
"I can't help it. You're just way too alluring." Seth said before kissing Seto again.
The two barely registered that the door opened.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Joey suddenly shouted.
Seto and Seth jumped away from each other and turned to find Joey standing there, looking hurt and angry at the same time.
"Puppy, I can explain this." Seto said.
"Explain! You think that you can explain this! You're cheating on me!" Joey shouted.
"Joey, please! Just listen to me!" Seto begged.
"Listen to you! I find you kissing someone else, and you expect me to listen! Fuck you! You can be happy with Seth because we are done!" Joey growled before he stormed off.
"Joey! Wait!" Seth called, but Joey was already gone.
~End Flashback~
"Joey wouldn't sty and listen to us. He wouldn't let us explain to him that we both loved him, and that we both wanted to be with him." Seto said.
Seth started to stroke Seto's hair. "I know. Joey was hurt, and it seems like the hurt is still there. While we're here, we'll try to talk to him and explain to him what happened. Maybe if he'll listen to us, then we will be able to explain everything." Seto said.
"I hope so. I want him to know that I still love him, that you love him, and that we still want him to be with us." Seto said.
"I want that, too. Maybe he'll listen to us now." Seth said.
~Yami and Atemu~
Yami and Atemu walked into the room.
"Well, it is kind of small, but it is nice." Yami said.
"I agree. I might not like what's going on, but at least we have a place to stay that is safe." Atemu said.
Yami sat down on the bed. "I never imagined that Heba would be an assassin." Yami said.
"I know. He's changed. He's more of a take charge person now." Atemu said as he sit down beside Yami.
"I really missed him." Yami said.
Atemu reached out and wrapped his arms around Yami, bringing him closer. "I know. I've missed him, too." Atemu said.
Yami rested his head on Atemu's chest. "I wish that Heba would have listened to me back then. We might have been together already if he had." Yami said.
"Well, we didn't act in the smartest of ways, either. We should have talked to him before we started sleeping together." Atemu said.
"Yeah. He was so hurt." Yami said.
~Flashback~
Atemu and Yami were in the middle of having sex.
"Ah! Oh! Atemu!" Yami groaned as Atemu thrust into him.
"Yami! So tight!" Atemu moaned.
The two soon reached their end as they came, crying out each other's name.
Atemu collapsed forward onto Yami.
"I love you, Yami." Atemu murmured.
"I love you, too, Atemu." Yami replied.
Atemu smiled and then kissed Yami.
There was a startled gasp that filled the room.
Yami and Atemu looked and were shocked to see Heba standing in the room.
"H-Heba." Yami said.
Tears filled the amethyst eyes. "Yami, how could you?" Heba asked.
"Heba, please. Let me explain." Yami said, starting to get up.
"Don't bother! It's obvious that you never loved me since you would cheat one me like this!" Heba shouted as the tears fell down his cheeks.
"Little One, please. Lis-" Yami started.
"Don't call me that! This is over, Yami! I can't stay with you!" Heba said before turning and running.
"Heba! Don't leave!" Atemu shouted, but Heba was already gone.
~End Flashback~
"It killed me when I saw him crying. I think it hurt more knowing that I was the reason that he was crying." Yami said.
"I know. I didn't like seeing him so upset, either. It was our own fault. We acted n our feelings before we talked to Heba about it. We should have thought about his feelings before we started sleeping together, or even seeing each other." Atemu said.
"I just wish that there was a way to fix this." Yami said.
"Well, we don't know how long we will be here, so maybe we can talk to him and explain everything to him." Atemu said.
"I hope so. I want him to know that we both love him and want to be with him." Yami said.
"I know, Yami." Atemu said, kissing the top of Yami's head.
"So, what is the plan?" Ryou asked.
"Well, tomorrow night, we're paying Vivian a visit." Heba said.
"Yes. Kill time!" Malik said happily.
"No, Malik. We're not going to kill." Heba said.
"Aw, man." Malik groaned.
"In other words, we're scaring her into answering some questions." Joey said.
"Yes. There are answers that I want, and she is not going to get out of giving us answers." Heba said.
"Okay. Who goes and who stays?" Ryou asked.
"Joey and I will be going to deal with this bitch. You two will stay here and keep an eye on them." Heba said.
"Why can't I go instead of Joey?" Malik whined.
"Because you are trigger happy. Joey knows his limits. I want her alive right now. You can deal with it for now." Heba said.
"All right. We'll stay." Ryou said.
"I don't want any of them in the infirmary or dead." Heba said.
"We won't be doing anything." Ryou assured him.
"Good. Joey, be ready at midnight tomorrow night. That's when we strike." Heba said.
"Sounds good." Joey said.
'It's time to get some answers. And I hope that my gut feeling is wrong.' Heba thought.
Hope that you liked it. Wanted to show what happened to make Heba, Joey, Ryou, and Malik so upset.
Next: Heba and Joey pay Vivian a surprise visit.
R&R.