Chapter 4- A Blast From the Past
"So, mind telling us what you learned from Vivian." Ryou asked.
Everyone had met in the meeting room.
"It wasn't much. Basically, she works for someone else." Joey said.
"Someone else wanted us dead?" Atemu asked.
"Looks that way. From the way it looks, Vivian was just the messenger. Whoever is behind this had the money sent to Vivian and gave her orders to hire the Gate to kill you guys." Heba said.
"Is that what you were suspecting, Heba? That Vivian was just a messenger?" Malik asked.
"Yes. When I looked at her records, I saw that she had not worked in nearly five years, yet she could live a life of luxury, and she was able to boy a million each to the Gate." Heba said.
"A million each?" Akefia asked, not understanding what he meant.
"He means that when she paid the hit, there was a million dollars for each one of you. In the end, the Gate earned eight million dollars for all eight of you." Ryou explained.
"Okay. She definitely couldn't afford that." Atemu said.
"I know. I suspected that she was working for someone else." Heba said.
"Any idea who?" Seth asked, wanting to get whoever did this.
"All we know is that this guy's name is Falcon, which is probably an alias so that no one knows who he is." Joey said.
"Falcon? We've never had to deal with someone with that name before." Malik said.
"We don't even have a clue as to who this guys really is." Joey said.
"How did Vivian get mixed up with this guy?" Yami asked.
"No idea, but the way that things sounded, someone who works for Falcon picked her up. Apparently, she's nothing but a prostitute." Heba said.
"Meaning she entertains anyone that the Falcon sends her in exchange for her life of luxury." Malik said.
"Pretty much. He must have figured that it would be safe to send Vivian to order the hit because no one would be able to connect her to him. I doubt that Vivian even knows what Falcon looks like." Heba said.
"What do we do?" Ryou asked.
"I don't know. Vivian is our only link to this guy, and it looks like she doesn't know spat. We're back at square one." Joey said.
'No. I have deal with Falcon before.' Heba thought. He looked up at Yami, who didn't even notice. 'And Yami is going to hate me for this, but it's probably better than that.' Heba thought.
"So, what do we do?" Akefia asked.
"You have to stay out of sight. If you leave here, there is a good chance that the Gate will find you and kill you." Ryou said.
"What do you suggest? That we change our looks, change our names, and start completely different lives?" Mariku demanded.
"Well, it would be a good start." Joey said.
"There is no way that we are going to do that!" Seto growled.
"Calm down, all of you!" Heba snapped.
All eyes turned to Heba.
"They'll stay here for the time being. You leave, and you die. We're trying to prevent that." Heba said.
"What are we going to do?" Joey asked.
"We're going to work on finding out who Falcon is." Heba answered.
"Do we even know where to start?" Malik asked.
"We'll figure it out. It's what we do, after all." Heba said.
Everyone nodded their heads.
Seto was at his computer, working furiously while the others were talking.
"I can't believe that we're stuck here! I hate being closed up like this!" Akefia growled.
"We know what you mean. We're safer here though, until whoever this Falcon guy is, is caught." Seth said.
"Come on. They're keeping under lock and key." Mariku growled.
"And we would be dead without them. If they hadn't shown up when they did, we would have been dead a few days ago. They obviously know what they are doing, and we should let them do it." Marik said.
"Seto, what are you doing?" Atemu asked.
"Just a little research." Seto said.
"For what? You can't work for your company." Bakura said.
"Actually, I've managed to tap into the computer system that they use here." Seto said.
"You did?!" they all exclaimed.
"Yeah. They have good security measures. It's taken a while to get by them. It's amazing what they have the ability to do. They have access to every kind of computer system there is. They can get into any files that they want without much trouble." Seto said.
"Like what?" Yami asked.
"Finical records, private records, work records, anything that you could think of. They can gain access to private court files, police files, and even personal computer records. I can't believe that they haven't been spotted." Seto said.
"I would say that they are that good." Akefia said.
"Can you see who all they've killed?" Marik asked.
"Yeah. For the past twenty years. They keep very detailed notes." Seto said.
"Who have they killed?" Atemu asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
"No one I would miss. They do kill the lowlife scum that gets away with crimes just because they have money. I mean, they've killed rapists, murders, drug users, drug distributors, kidnappers, black marketers, and the list just goes on." Seto said.
"So, they get the people that use their money, wealth, and power to get out of going to jail." Bakura said.
"That's the size of it." Seto said.
"You know, I think that they deserve it. I mean, no one deserves what these people do. I mean, I know that we all have money, but it's not like we break the laws like these guys do." Seto said.
"I don't get it. How did they go from being the teenagers that they are to being assassins?" Yami asked.
"There's no way to know." Atemu said.
Seto then found something that brought a lump to his throat. "Guys, we might have a problem." Seto said.
"What?" Mariku asked.
Seto looked up at them. His expression said a lot.
"What?" Yami asked.
"You might need to see this." Seto said, turning the computer to them.
They all looked and grew silent.
"No. That can't be. It can't." Yami said, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"This is in their databases, Yami. There's no way around it." Seto said.
"It was before Ryou, Malik, and Joey joined them." Seth said.
Yami shook his head. "No. This can't be." Yami said as tears filled his eyes.
Atemu wrapped his arms around Yami as he broke down into sobs.
Seth gritted his teeth in anger. 'If it's the last thing that I do, Heba is a dead man.' Seth thought.
On the computer screen was an assignment for Heba from seven years ago.
Assignment 234: Heba Morin
Marks: Aknankanon and Amara Akana
Code: 147
Everything that followed was about the two, including that they had only one child, Yami Akana.
"You called, Leader?" Fire asked.
"Yes. I need to see some of our protectorates, so I'll be gone for a few days. I want you to monitor anything and everything that has to do with Vivian Wong. Anything you find, send to Fox. He will be handling everything until I return." Heba said.
"I understand. I'll do it, Leader." Fire said.
"Good." Heba said before leaving the room.
Fire watched him go. 'We only have a few protectorates. I wonder why he needs to go to them.' Fire thought.
"You don't actually believe that, do you?" Joey asked.
"Well, Marik and Mariku were sincere. I'm not saying I'm jumping into bed with them. I'm just saying I want to talk to them about maybe being together." Malik said.
"I've thought that same about Bakura and Akefia. I know they were sincere, and I have missed Bakura, and you know that I always loved Akefia. I would like the chance, but I just don't know right now." Ryou said.
"Where'd Heba go?" Malik asked.
"Something about having to see some of the protectorates we have. Not sure why, but he said that it was something he needed to do. Heba said that he would be back in a few days." Ryou said.
The doors to the room were suddenly opened, and Seto, Seth, Bakura, Akefia, Marik, and Mariku stormed into the room.
"All right. Where is he?" Seth demanded.
"Where's who?" Ryou asked.
"Where's Heba at? He's got some explaining to do." Akefia growled.
"He's not here right now. He had something that he had to do. Why?" Malik asked.
"Because that lying bastard is the worst person on the face of this planet." Seto growled.
"Really? Lower than screwing another guy behind your boyfriends back." Joey spat.
"This is lower! Killing innocent people isn't something that is considered high on the moral list." Mariku growled.
"Hold on! What are you talking about?" Ryou asked.
"This!" Seto said, slamming a file down.
Ryou looked at it. "This is an old assignment file. How did you get this?" Ryou asked.
"I hacked into your system. Explain that to me." Seto snapped.
Ryou looked over it. "No way. This can't be." Ryou said.
"What?" Joey asked.
"This is an assignment for Heba from seven years ago." Ryou said.
"What does it say?" Malik asked.
"That Heba's the one responsible for Yami's parents' death!" Mariku growled.
"Aknankanon and Amara Akana were Heba's marks." Ryou said as he looked at the file.
"No way! They never did anything low and underhanded. No one would have ordered this." Joey said.
"Someone did! Heba used Yami to get close to his parents!" Seth spat. His narrowed and he said, "That bastard killed my aunt and uncle!"
Ryou, Malik, and Joey looked at each other.
"None of you knew about this, did you?" Marik asked.
"No. We had no idea. We didn't even join this organization until after what happened with all of us. Heba never told us that this happened." Joey said.
"Well, he's dead the next time that I see him." Seth growled.
"Does Yami know?" Ryou asked.
"Yes. He broke down because of this. He really loved Heba, and he found out that Heba was the one who killed his parents." Seto said angrily.
Ryou, Malik, and Joey looked at each other.
"Heba's going to explain this if I have to train a gun on him!" Joey growled.
"You will?" Bakura asked, surprised.
"Yes. This is inexcusable. We can turn down assignments if we want to. He could have refused to kill them, and he didn't." Joey said.
"That's odd." Ryou said.
"What is?" Malik asked.
"The code that's listed. I don't recognize it." Ryou said.
"What is it?" Joey asked.
"The code is 147. I don't recognize it." Ryou said.
"You have codes?" Akefia asked.
"Yeah. The kill code is 259. Reconnaissance code is 497. There are a few other codes, but none are this." Ryou said.
"Any way to find out what the code means?" Joey asked.
"I'll look into it, but Heba is going to explain it." Ryou said.
"Unless my aunt and uncle had some kind of secret life that we didn't know about, he's a dead man." Seth said.
Malik, Ryou, and Joey were sure that he would follow through with his words.
After his lover completely broke down, Atemu had taken Yami back to their room to try and calm him down. Atemu held Yami and spoke soothing words to him in order to try and get Yami to calm down.
Eventually, Yami fell asleep from the emotional exertion.
Atemu continued to hold Yami even after Yami fell asleep. 'I can't believe that Heba did this to him. Yami didn't deserve this regardless of what happened. Heba used Yami to get close to his parents to kill him.' Atemu thought angrily. He had met Yami's parents and thought that they were wonderful, and he couldn't believe that Heba had done.
Yami shifted in his sleep as he snuggled closer to Atemu.
'Heba is going to pay for this. I don't care what it takes.' Atemu thought.
Heba sat on a plane that was flying to his destination. 'I didn't want to do this, but I have no choice. Falcon is back, and I cannot take any chances.' Heba thought.
Heba settled back into the seat as he tried to relax. Thoughts of what was going on was going through his mind.
'I know that Yami will hate me when he learns everything, but this was the only way.' Heba thought.
"When he gets back, I swear that I am killing him." Seth said.
"Okay. We get that you want him dead. Stop saying it!" Joey snapped.
"Look. Just because you support him because he's you boss, fine, but I'm breaking his neck for this." Seth growled.
"Seth, calm down. This isn't helping matters. We can only wait and see what he has to say." Seto said.
"Where is he, anyway?" Bakura asked.
"We don't exactly know. All we do know is that Heba was going to see one of our protectorates." Joey said.
"Protectorates? What's that? Afekia asked.
"They're people who had hits put out on them by other organizations. If we learn of them and can save them, we will help them change their look and give them an entirely new identity. We keep a constant check on them and ensure that they are not found. If they are in danger, we go in and save them and get them somewhere safe." Joey said.
"You protect people, too?" Mariku asked.
"We're protecting you, aren't we?" Marik asked.
Ryou was getting irritated because he was trying to work on the computer, but wasn't able to concentrate because of the talking.
"Any idea which protectorate he was going to see?" Malik asked.
"Don't look at me. I didn't even know until he told me." Joey said.
"Ryou, do you-" Malik started.
"THAT'S IT! EVERYONE OUT!" Ryou shouted.
"What?" Joey asked.
"I concentrate with all of you yakking, so get out!" Ryou shouted at them.
Everyone dashed out of the room.
Ryou sat down and turned around to get back to work. 'I need quiet to concentrate, and I really want to find out what is going on.' Ryou thought.
Yami and Atemu were stunned when they saw the others run out of the room so fast.
"Damn! Ryou's scary when he's mad." Akefia said.
"I've never seen that side of him." Bakura commented.
"That would be because you don't know the new Ryou. Being assassins has brought out some new sides of is." Joey said.
"Well, he is trying to do some work." Malik said.
"What's so important about that?" Seth asked.
"Ryou likes to have peace and quiet when he works." Joey said.
"What is he doing?" Yami asked.
The others looked to see them standing there for the first time.
Yami's eyes were red. It was clear that he had been crying.
"He's working on something important." Malik said.
"Did you talk to Heba?" Atemu growled.
"No. He's not here at the moment." Seto said.
"Where's he at?" Yami asked.
"He went to see one of our protectorates." Joey said.
"You protect people, too?" Atemu asked.
"We're protecting you guys, aren't we?" Malik asked.
It wasn't long before Ryou walked out.
"Did you figure it out?" Bakura asked.
"No. I don't know what it means. Only one person would." Ryou said.
"If this is about what Heba did, you can't really believe anything he says." Atemu said.
"Look. We didn't know anything about this. We still don't know anything more than what is in this file. Trust me. We have no idea what is going on." Ryou said.
"You never knew?" Yami asked.
"No. Heba never mentioned it. We never even knew about it." Malik said.
"Then we have to wait until Heba comes back. He can explain it, although we might not like what he has to say." Joey said.
"Or believe it." Seth said.
Heba drove a car down the road. He pulled up in front of a quaint two story white house.
Heba pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. He walked up to the door and knocked on the door.
A woman opened the door. "Heba, what are you doing here?" the woman asked.
"We need to talk. Something's happened." Heba said.
"I can't believe that Heba would be so low that he would use you in order to get close to your parents to kill them." Atemu said as he paced the room.
Yami sat on the bed, not saying a word.
"I mean, I get that he's an assassin, and I know that this is what he does, but he had no right to do that to them, and he certainly didn't have a right to use you to do it." Atemu said.
"Atemu, stop." Yami said.
"My pacing getting on your nerves?" Atemu asked.
"No. Heba didn't use me." Yami said.
"Yami, he went out with you because he knew that your parents were the people he was supposed to kill." Atemu said.
"Atemu, if you must know, I was the one that asked Heba. He didn't even talk to me at school. I was the one who initiated everything. He didn't use me." Yami said, putting a hand to his head.
Atemu walked over and sat down by him. "You mean, you were the one that wanted to go out with him?" Atemu asked.
"Yes. I know he knew who I was, but I was the one started talking with him. I was the one who wanted to go out with him. I started everything." Yami said.
"I never realized that." Atemu said.
"Yeah. I hate what he's done, and I'm never going to forgive him, and I'm going to let him know that, but I can't blame him for getting close to my parents. That was my own fault." Yami said.
"Wow." Atemu said.
Yami closed his eyes. "I never thought that he would have been after my parents, though." Yami said.
"You know that it wasn't your fault." Atemu said.
"I know, but I just don't get why he would do it." Yami said.
"I guess you'll have to ask Heba that question." Atemu said.
"I don't even know if he'll give me a straight answer, or one that he wants to hear." Yami said.
Marik and Mariku were sitting on their bed, making out, when there was a knock on the door.
Mariku growled. "Who the hell could be interrupting us?" Mariku growled.
"Who is it?" Marik asked, rather frustrated at being interrupting, too.
"It's me, Malik." Malik said.
The two instantly say up.
"Come on." Marik said.
Malik entered the room to find them sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm not disturbing you guys, am I?" Malik asked.
"Of course not, Malik." Marik said.
"About what you two told me yesterday. I wanted to talk to you." Malik said.
"Sure thing. What is it?" Mariku asked.
"I know that you were both serious about loving me, but did you have to sleep together first?" Malik asked.
Both winced.
"Well, it wasn't the smartest thing, really. We didn't like lying to you, but we just didn't think that you would feel the same way. We are sorry." Marik said.
"Yeah. We didn't mean to cause all that. We definitely didn't mean for you to become an assassin." Mariku said.
""Well, truthfully, I kind of like it. It's helped me a lot, although I'm not sure I want to keep this up." Malik said.
"What do you mean?" Mariku asked.
"If you two really want me still, I'll talk to Heba about leaving the organization. If you don't,-" Malik didn't get to finish as he was pulled onto the bed by the two.
"Oh, you're leaving the organization then." Mariku said.
"Because you're not leaving us." Marik added.
Ryou was pacing his room, thinking before he finally decided what he wanted to do. Leaving his room, he went down to the room that he knew that Bakura and Akefia were in. Ryou knocked on the door and said, "Bakura. Akefia. It's me, Ryou. Can I talk to you?"
"Come on in, Ryou." Bakura said.
Ryou walked into the room to find the two on the floor with Akefia pinning Bakura down. Ryou blushed and said, "Am I interrupting something?"
"No. We were just wrestling. What's up?" Akefia asked as he got off of Bakura.
"Well, I was wanting to talk to you two about what you said yesterday." Ryou said.
"Sure. What is it?" Bakura said.
"Were you two serious when you said that you still wanted me?" Ryou asked.
"We were very serious. Ry, we never stopped loving you. Despite the fact that it's been seven years, we still do want you with us." Bakura said.
"Yeah. We're real sorry about what happened back then. We really didn't mean to cause you to become an assassin." Akefia said.
"Well, technically, I'm not an assassin." Ryou said.
"Then what are you technically?" Bakura asked.
"I do have the training, I admit that. I mostly help with reconnaissance, and I do a lot of the computer work. I don't go out for kills. I never liked the idea of killing someone. I have killed, but only in self-defense." Ryou said.
"Ryou, do you mean that you want to be with us?" Akefia asked.
"Yeah. I do. If you two still-" Ryou didn't finish before he was pulled down to them.
"Well, I would say that we're all together then." Akefia said.
"No kidding." Bakura agreed.
After a lot of thinking and arguing with himself, Joey decided that he needed answers. He walked to the room that Seth and Seto shared and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Seto asked.
"It's Joey." Joey said.
"Come on in, Joey." Seth said.
Joey walked into the room.
"Is there something wrong?" Seth asked.
"Yeah. Seven years ago, you two wanted to tell me something. What was it?" Joey asked.
Seth sighed. He then looked at Seto.
"Joey, I won't deny that I did cheat on you with Seth, and you have no idea how sorry about that I am. I really regret it, and I wish that it hasn't happened." Seto said.
"We wish that we had talked to you before we did anything, but we just didn't know how you would feel." Seth said.
"The point?" Joey asked.
Seth sighed. "Joey, Seto still loves you. He never stopped. And he loves me, too. The same way that I love you both." Seth said.
"So, this was all because you two didn't think that I would want to be involved with a threesome?" Joey asked.
"Partly. We also didn't know how you felt about me." Seth said.
"So you two decided to sleep together behind my back." Joey said.
"Not our brightest idea. I admit that, and you have no idea how sorry we are for that, Joey." Seto said.
"Can I just ask one thing?" Joey asked.
"What?" Seth and Seto asked at the same time.
"Do you still have feeling for me?" Joey asked.
Seto stood up. "Joey, I never stopped loving you." Seto said.
"Neither did I." Seth said.
"Then, I guess I need to be honest, too." Joey said.
"About?" Seto asked.
"I really wish you two had just talked to me because that would have made this whole thing a lot easier." Joey said.
"What do you mean?" Seth asked.
Joey sighed. "I did love you back then, Seth. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say to Seto. I didn't think ge would understand." Joey said.
"Then why did you run off?" Seto asked.
"Because I thought that you loved each other and that there was no room for me." Joey said.
"Well, there is plenty of room for you, Joey." Seth said.
"Still is." Seto said.
"After all this, you two still want me Joey asked.
"Yeah. We do." Seth said.
"Like we said, we want to be with you." Seto said.
Joey smiled. "I think that I would like that." Joey said.
"I'm glad you think that, puppy." Seto said.
"One other thing." Joey said.
"What?" Seth asked, worried.
"The same rules apply with that nickname!" Joey growled, glaring at Seto.
Seto smiled. "Sure thing." Seto said.
"What am I missing?" Seth asked.
"He only let me call him puppy in private. He doesn't want it said in public." Seto said.
"Well, I can abide by that." Seth said.
"So can I." Seto agreed before they both pulled Joey into a hug.
Heba looked out the window. 'I know this is risky, but I have to do this.' Heba thought.
Heba walked out into the yard and looked up into the sky. There was a sadness in his amethyst eyes that few would be able to detect.
Heba sighed before he turned. 'The plane leaves soon. I just hope that this will make up for some of what I've done.' Heba thought.
Hope you liked it. I know I got Joey, Malik, and Ryou together with their lovers fast, but it'll be harder with Atemu and Yami. Trust me.
Next: Heba returns with some answers to what happened with Yami's parents.
R&R.