Hello my lovelies! I've MISSED you! Yes, I'm alive! The fic is alive! (So is AIF, by the way.) Real life's been hogging all of my time. :)

Rune Caster: *tackleglomp!* LOL It figures the chapter you review and mention long breaks between updating that this would happen, no? :P Thanks for reviewing and I'm happy to say it's NOT dead. It's just taking me so darn long.

XxYourXxDisasterXx: LOL Sooo...we want Afika dead already, huh? (Afika: *huffs* So unappreciated!) Glad you felt bad for kid Afika...even if the pity wore off due to what he's become. :P (Afika: Technicalities!) Severa and the rest of them? Umm...actually, they're not in this chappie. XD (Marik: WHAT?) *sweatdrop*

cgflower: *fidgets* The burning house? Umm...they're not...in this chapter? *smiles weakly* "There's no way you can off so many characters at once" *smirk* Wanna bet? You don't want Afika to die? Doesn't seem like there are many alternatives does it? (Minkah: We could put him on a diet of happy pills and caffeine!) (Malik: Oh god no) LOL You're so cute about the chapter dedication thing. I do it because I lurv you and hate it when I miss one of you loyal reviewers! 3

enigmaescatic:"Malik has finally shown his dumb ass...*is hoping you aren't planning on killing him AGAIN*" LOL Don't worry. Before I began this story (the first half) I promised he wouldn't die in this story. THERE. You now know a very small portion of how it ends! XD (Afika: And I could care less) (Malik: HEY!)

dragonlady222: Yes, Afika does appear to be a hopeless cause, doesn't he? Sadness for him and Minkah...and everybody. :P Yes Kek does need to die, doesn't he? (Kek: Do I have ANY fans?) (Afika: *smirk* You're not hot like I am) (Kek: *growl*)

Sagira98: Yes yes! A cliffie! 8D Kek? Oh this chapter begins the final piece of the "puzzle". Enter: Kek. :) The chapter revolves loosely around him, which is one of the main reasons we don't see anything from the other group in this chappie. *sweatdrop*

Fallin-Alone-Scared-Lost: lol yes yes glomp Afika all you please. (Afika: *death glare*) "Is Malik being there a good thing or a bad thing?" Ah the question of the hour. The parts with Dimah and especially little Afika are so sad. (Afika: *scoffs* YOU wrote them, idiot!) That doesn't make them not-sad! (Afika: -.-;)

Peepz: How goes the grapefruit, mighty artist? ;) Short chapter, just like I mentioned I might do. And no, Malik is NOT going to die. I vowed he wouldn't in this story. XD

MIGHT WANT TO RE-READ EVEN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER TO REMIND YOURSELVES WHAT'S GOING ON (lol) This chapter shall be dedicated to Rune Caster and enigmaescatic. Song is by Red Delicious. NOTE: Info at the end of the chapter regarding where this story stands now! The chappie is semi-short, but I wanted to give you a bit to gnaw on while you await the rest. ;) Enjoy!

Bring You Down

Last night I had a revelation
Somehow I have to make you pay
It's all about manipulation
And what it takes to get my way
I don't believe in soft solutions
No one makes a fool of me
Without receiving retribution
No one hurts me and goes free

I've heard it said, to err is human
It's forgiveness that's divine
I thought about forgiving you, but
I want revenge, I want what's mine
I think it's time to settle scores now
It's time to set the record straight
You'll know it's coming, you won't know how
Or when, you'll have to watch and wait

I've got the power to bring you down

You know it feels intoxicating
To be intimidating
It's invigorating
To see you shaking

You know something, you see it coming,
You know I will stop at nothing.

Chapter 24: Proper Execution

(Dimah's POV)

With the vigorous stealth training Apophis themselves taught me, I do what I did once before. Up until that point no one had ever done it; not that we were aware of, at least. At the time I'd carried a fatherless child inside. If I died, so would it.

Using only my fingertips of my ruined hands, I nimbly turn the knob of yet another door in the maze of a building. They've made this place a labyrinth. This isn't the same base as the one I escaped from several years ago. Nimr and the others no doubt wanted to make certain I do not achieve such again.

I do my best not to make a sound as I hobble down another empty corridor; rags tied around my feet keeping me from leaving a trail of bloody footprints to follow. Even if my body is broken my spirit is ablaze. I cannot die yet. I must find the boys. I will not abandon them. My gut tells me that if I find one I will find the other.

There's no telling what has become of my son. Afika would know. That boy seems to know everything that goes on around here. I see myself in him, who I was; what I did in order to survive.

Afika made it no great secret as to Minkah's fate. Whether it became actuality is a completely different story. It will not take place as a shooting target but in the ranks of the assassins themselves. It's the last place on earth I wanted my son to be.

My breaths wheeze in the dry air, parched throat clinging to every speck of dust. Even if I could find the boys, how shall I flee? It's no longer about my escaping. That ship has sailed.

I'm low on time. How long before my absence is noticed? I waste none of the precious seconds.

Pressing my ear against the unfinished wood of the nearest door I listen for any sign of life or sounds that would indicate it leads to the outdoors. I continue this pattern with each door weaving aimlessly through the labyrinth of halls. Multiple times I fall to my knees as my breath fails me and my strength slips away. I'm being driven solely by my willpower now.

A minute whimper turns me to stone. Mind forgetting my physical limitations, I hurry five doors ahead. Listening attentively I perceive there's more than one person inside. Picking the lock with ease, I detect the nervous shuffling within. Reminding myself what these children are capable of, I open the door cautiously. It's as dark as the halls inside the small room. Several pairs of eyes peek at me from the darkness. Then a match is struck. The child holding it up is bloodied, one eye swollen shut. He can't be more than ten years old. There are seven others, all in the same age group and badly mistreated. My heart bleeds at the sight of them. There is no threat in their features. They're fairly new recruits.

"Come malaa`ikah," I beckon to them with my injured hand; every single child flinching at the movement. "I won't harm you. Come."

The match goes out, the scent of smoke spreading throughout the room. I fear to leave the door open for the smell attracting attention. With a light crack the teardrop of orange light rekindles. They're all on their feet crowded behind the child with the matches who seems to be the unofficial leader.

"They hurt you too," he whispers in a cracked voice.

I nod slowly, leaning at the waist so I'm eye-level with them. "I was leaving. Would you like to come with me?"

Doubt planted from their abuse spreads like an infection through them as they stir. The boy with the blackened eye tilts his head. Striking another match, he takes a cautious step towards me, the others following his lead.

"Where?"

"I'm not sure yet. Away from these mean people. I'm looking for two boys. They're…" I hesitate, imaging Afika and Minkah cuddled fast asleep back at the house. "They're my sons. Do you know where the other children are?"

The boy's face is far too grim for someone his age. "Those mean kids killed them."

A knot forms in my throat but I force out the words. "Mean kids?"

He nods. "Why are they so mean?"

The innocence is still there. I have to get these children out of this hell. The question still remains as to the whereabouts of Minkah and Afika.

"Do you know where the mean kids live?"

The child's eyes widen in fear. The rest of them shrink back into the shadows. I kneel down in front of them, my strength deteriorating by the minute. We're plunged into darkness as the match burns out.

"Please, my boys might be with them."

"Are they mean?" one of the others pipes up.

I'm unsure of how to answer to that and I can't see the children's faces. "My sons are not bad. They're trapped and scared too. I'm their only family."

The silence that follows shoots my hopes dead. I wait for them to collect their thoughts but time is running short. If I wait much longer, no one will be escaping. At this rate I'll never find Afika and Minkah on my own. This place is too vast.

"I saw them go," a different child peeps.

"Where? Where did they go?" I press.

After another moment of hesitation one more match is set aflame. A little girl, her hair severely chopped, nose bloodied, has come forward. She clings to the boy's arm while gazing at me with round brown eyes, nibbling nervously on the tip of her pinky.

"Can you show me?" I entreat the frightened child.

The boy looks down at her as she lets go of him and takes one tiny step forward.

"We get to go too? When you leave?" she asks with a hope that's already dashed.

I hold out my hand slowly in offering. "Promise."

(Malik's POV)

"Minkah, move aside," I repeat while never turning my attention from Afika.

When I barged in Minkah had that deer-in-the-headlights look. He's standing there bleeding from the arms and sides. I wouldn't have even noticed Ryou if Minkah's hand weren't resting on the younger brother's head. I can't see much, but I do see the reddish brown stain of blood.

Afika is ready to spring past Minkah and bite my head off. There's an insanity in his eyes that screams 'I'm going to fucking murder you!'. For everything—the bloody knife he's holding, the gun at his side, two easy targets before him—he doesn't move. Despite this the animosity is thickening like noxious smoke. It's pulsating in the air surrounding the black-haired assassin.

"Minkah," I prompt yet again, watching guardedly when Afika bristles. "Take Ryou and get out of here."

Still recovering from his shock, he shakes his head quickly. By that bewildered expression I can presume something has conspired here beyond a fight. Damn, I should have known he wouldn't be able to go through with this!

"Kek is outside. Niu's holding him off but we need to get Ryou away from here," I speak to the rational portion of his brain. "Let me handle this."

A wicked smile void of any amusement breaks across Afika's lips. "You think you can steal him away?"

"You talk like he's not the one making the choice," I snarl back, keeping my gun aimed at the bastard but worried for Minkah's safety to pull the trigger.

Why won't he move?

"I could say the same for you, Ishtar."

This strikes a nerve like nothing else. Afika's sharp eyes don't miss my fleeting reaction.

"You are going to let him choose, aren't you?" he 'inquires' in a smoothed level tone full of authority and inducement. "Or did you rush in here to shoot me point blank, uncaring of his take on the matter?"

The twisted bastard is using his gift of persuasion to lure in Minkah and throw a net of guilt over me. If I shoot now I'll only prove his words correct to Minkah. Truth be told, shooting Afika at my first opportunity had been my exact plan coming in here. That opening has already passed me by.

Minkah is pallid as he glances back and forth between the two of us. It's like we're severing his soul in half. I feel I'm somehow losing the battle; Afika having the upper hand.

Until a few months ago he was Minkah's entire world. How do I compete with that?

"This isn't about weighing options between me and Afika," I tell a distraught Minkah. "It's about the bigger picture. What do you want for yourself? What about Grandpa and the others?" When Afika's features jolt I knew I'm hitting closer to the target. "What about Ryou?"

"Is this really any of your concern?" Afika sneers threateningly, fingering his blade. "Perhaps, Ishtar, you should do more important things…" A bloodthirsty glint in his eyes. "Like protecting your own family and lover."

Warning sirens go off in my mind at that look and those words. Despite his disorientation Minkah catches on as well.

"What did you do to them?" he demands, also holding a long curved knife. Where did he get that from? I thought the army confiscated it.

"I haven't done anything to that pitiful group," Afika scoffs scornfully as if the very idea were mediocre. "Nor did I authorize anything to befall them…as of late."

"What about Severa?" Minkah insists upon the subject.

Afika shrugs with ease. "You already know I cannot account for her. She was quite devastated last I saw her."

What are they talking about? I thought Niu said Severa wouldn't break from the pack without Kasiya. Niu was going to try to convince the pair to join up with us. I wait for some type of confirmation from Afika or Minkah. Why haven't either of them brought up Kasiya? He sounded like a danger to me.

Unless…

"Malik, go back there and help them!" Minkah urges me.

"No."

There was an echo when I spoke. Then I realize it was no trick of the mind. It was Afika. Minkah gazes at his lover in confusion before a sort of fear floods into his eyes.

"He came here to fight. To put an end to this," the assassin states with dark eyes. "As have I."

Minkah takes a step to put his body fully between the two of us, preventing a clear opening for either. With one hand on his brother and the other locked tightly around his knife, he's trembling awfully.

"Damn it, Minkah, take Ryou and get out of here!"

He locks me in a steady gaze. "I can't let you do this. Either of you," he adds forebodingly giving Afika a sidelong glare. I'm uncertain as to whether he's intent on protecting Afika because he cares, or he's simply worried for my own safety.

My eyes dart to the older assassin, waiting to see how he responds to such an affirmation from Minkah. I expect to see anger and I do. But something is off. It's almost like he pulled it out of a crate and plastered it across his face. It's real and yet…it's not.

Shit.

He still has few cards up his sleeve.

(Niu's POV)

Kek has taken refuge in the trees after I sprayed the forest with bullets. I don't care if I have to raze the entire area. I will find him.

"Who's hiding now?" I call with a mocking edge to my voice to rile him up. "What?—you can only fight people who don't have a means of defending themselves?" Time to pour gasoline on the fire. "How do you expect to defeat Afika if you can't even face me?"

His booming laugh gives me a general idea of his whereabouts but not enough to take him down. Readying the gun, I hone in on my senses, alert for any movement ahead of me.

"And your IQ has given you a false sense of security." Kek's voice reaches me in the otherwise quiet winter night. "In the real world if you can't fight you die...as you are about to find out."

A blistering pain surges through me in rapids of acid burning me from the inside out. Collapsing on my stomach in the snow, mind stunned in pain and confusion, I urge myself to rise. I'm coughing violently. It's like the air won't reach my lungs. Like breathing fire. My vision distorts severely, eyes watering as if all of the liquid in them had been dried. What the hell was that?

"This has gone beyond pathetic," Kek yawns, the snow crunching under his large boots as he approaches.

Immediately I scrabble for my gun, arms flailing in the snow as my blurred eyes are cast about in desperation. I grimace, choking back a cry of pain when his foot slams down on one of my hands.

"Do you know how many times I've met up with avengers?" He looms over me, and when I squint I can make out the modified gun in his hands as he examines it. "Know how many were successful in taking me down?"

I block out the images of my family slaughtered beyond recognition. This can't be about them as much as I would like it to be. The gun had never felt so heavy as it did tonight. It's the weight of the lives it's already taken. I'm no longer a weakling techie.

I'm a killer.

"Did you find it refreshing? Spilling blood?" the excitement pulsating in his voice is more than apparent, barely containable. "Or is it the thrill of the hunt?" He turns his boot sharply so the tread grinds into the back of my injured hand. "I still have to repay you for this burn on my face. How's this for a start? I think I'll finish on you what I began on Minkah and that Bakura brat."

Rage surges within my chest and I yank back with my shoulder in an attempt to free myself, nearly dislocating it in the process. "If you so much as lay a finger on that boy…"

Kek chuckles. "It's a bit late to be threatening me about that I'm afraid."

Why didn't I stop him before when we had the chance? This is my fault! I've had so many opportunities to act but instead stood aside and let the injustices continue. Someone else has always fought my battles for me. In a sense, I was using the assassins for their 'skills' as much as they were using me for mine. The final goal was to be reunited with my family. Upon hearing of their deaths everything changed. I was no longer blinded by my own selfish wants.

It was their murders that freed me.

"You've come to care about them as well," Kek observes with scorn when I don't respond. "Is it because you wish to help Minkah or are they serving as substitutes for your own dear family?"

It cuts deep but I won't let him tarnish the fast friendships I've made with bullshit like that. They're real and honest. Things he would never understand.

"Why now?" I croak hoarsely, throat parched.

The noxious gases knocked me off my feet. Whatever he threw at me was quite effective. I should have been more cautious. He probably stuffed his pockets with 'treasures' from the army base he obliterated. It would explain the explosives laid underneath the snow in a perimeter around the house.

Kek raises his eyebrows as a sign he doesn't follow. I try to clench my fingers beneath his foot; anything to confirm they are still operable.

"Why wait so long to take down Afika?" I demand to hear his reasoning even if I fail to understand his perverse logic. It could aid me in figuring out what the hell he plans to do next. "For someone who claims to despise him you've sure taken your sweet time."

While this earns a smirk, there ignites a dangerous spark in those beady eyes.

"Proper execution of my plans."

"How vague."

Contempt ripples across his features in a sneer. "I don't expect you to comprehend. You've just had your first taste of blood. Even with Apophis you were shielded."

"It has to do with Minkah." I manage to wriggle my fingers that are quickly numbing.

"Naturally. He is Afika's bitch."

Even though I'm being held down my mind is racing. Ever since I went searching for background information I could smell the lies rotting. Watching interactions between Afika and Kek, I could see the buff assassin knew more than he would say, always hinting to Afika. Kasiya and Severa noticed as well; the former advising me not to involve myself. Meddling is a dangerous game to play with these individuals, but I think I now know who holds the key –the missing piece to the story – to the past.

And he's standing on top of me.

"There was a reason you revealed his mother's name to us." I force myself to still, knowing struggling will only distract him from the dialogue. I cannot hide anymore. "You meant to set him off. Get him furious with Afika…enough that he'd want to kill him. Why?"

"You are persistent, aren't you? What do my reasons and motives matter?"

"What did Afika do?" I insist, wondering how fast I can move my other arm to knock him off balance.

Fast enough?

The laughter in his eyes speaks of something far more sinister at work. "Once again, I fail to see why it matters to you."

This stirs something deep in my gut that makes me nauseous. Something is critically wrong. Did I make another mistake?

Wedging the barrel of the gun under my chin, he roughly forces my head back so I'm looking straight at him with stinging eyes. Like me, he has taken on a new suspicion.

"Who did you send ahead to lend a hand?"

I cannot hold back the smirk even as shudders run through my body. No one has ever used one of my own devices against me before.

"Why does it matter to you, Kek?"

Next I'm rolling sideways through the snow as there's a horrible cracking sound. The side of my face is throbbing as I finally still, coated in snow. I don't need to touch my jaw to know it's broken. Kek is already tramping towards me with far more vicious objectives than a kick to the face.

Suddenly I'm hovering. I assume I'm unconscious. Then I realize he's holding me by the throat, my feet dangling in the open air. Reaching up I clasp my hands around his thick wrists, desperate to inhale as my vision swims. It's like my brain can't register what's happening; not allowing me to kick or fight back. I just stare at him, choking powerlessly.

"I'll make a deal with you," Kek states thickly with narrowed eyes. "You tell me who you sent in there and I will allow you to learn the truth of Dimah Rabiya before even her beloved son. Then we go inside and join the rest of them." Thick fingers constrict around my throat to reveal my second option. "Or I break your neck right here and now. Your choice."

Stalling won't do any good. He could drag this out for a while, but he won't. Kek wants to get in that house and take control of the situation. He's been waiting for this moment for a long time. If I don't answer he'll simply kill me.

"How well can you even speak with this injury?" He muses running his thumb along my broken jaw line that's hanging unnaturally off to the left. "How's this? I'll say a name and you make a noise. A whimper is fine by me." Kek's lips pull back exposing all of his teeth like a predator ready to rip into its victim as he draws our faces closer. "It's Ishtar, isn't it? Don't bother denying it. He's the most logical person you would bring. He could potentially ruin everything for me and you probably don't even realize," the assassin adds in a low growl. "So let's get this over with so we can join our companions. I'll give you the answer to your question since you are so obsessed with the matter." Instead of the gun, when he lifts his hand there is a wicked knife in his grasp. "And then I'll make a few alterations to ensure you don't fuck this up for me."

(Minkah's POV)

"You protect people like him but you never dig deeper to unbury the truth. Did you ever wonder, Minkah, why they were so intent on tracking her down again?" Afik asks offhandedly while keeping his eyes trained on Malik.

My pallet dries. This is what I've been waiting for: the truth. But now that the moment has finally arrived I'm not sure I can bear to hear it. How many times have my perceptions been altered due to newly surfaced 'truths'? Every time we think we've found what really happened, I find another scar…another twist in this bizarre and sinister tale.

"I already know about her," I inform him coldly as I stand as a blockade between him and Malik. "She led excavations even after her family was murdered…"

"Wrong."

The single syllable slices through me like a khepesh. I swallow hard, waiting for enlightenment. Afika tilts his head to the side, eyes leaving Malik to graze over me to Ryou. On my brother they linger, causing the hairs along the back of my neck to stand on end. It's only when his gaze returns to me that he speaks.

"She went straight from the Rabiya estate to Apophis." He offers a grim smile at my surprise. "You cannot always trust the history text. Haven't I always taught you that? History is written by those who have something to hide."

"In which case you've written out plenty of Minkah's history," Malik snaps from my other side, inching forward in impatience. "Why should he believe anything that comes out of your mouth now?"

"They killed the entire household. You've already learned that," Afik continues as if Malik were nothing but an annoying specter stranded here. "Why would they keep her? She had to have been worth something to them despite her age."

"You're saying…she was an assassin?" I ask slowly, not believing it for a moment. It doesn't fit.

"How else do you think she met Charles Bakura?"

My stomach drops to my feet. I knew I was not planned but…I was conceived in the midst of a plot for her to get information from him? All of this time I she was fighting to keep me from that life and I thought it was because of what had happened to her family. That's not the only reason.

She knew firsthand what a life in Apophis was like.

Malik is practically beside me by this point, all but pushing to get past me. He's ready to end this with or without answers. "That's a load of crap. You'll do anything to break other people down in Minkah's eyes and make yourself a martyr!"

Brown eyes narrow and a sneer appears. "Is that so? All right then, have it your way. But you're going down with me on this one, Ishtar."

"What the hells are you talking about?"

I can't tell if it's delight or hatred feeding the fires now. Afika leans towards us as if he's going to whisper in our ears. When he does speak is voice is ominously low, and every syllable is marked as if torn from his throat.

"The Rabiyas were the leading group of Egyptologists in search of a great legend. It was believed even by their rivals that they would be the ones to discover it, if anyone. It is unclear whether they had discovered it by the time Apophis attacked their home, intent on capturing several of the heads of the family." Afika's lips quirk in a sober wryness. "They fought back. The women and children committed suicide when it was clear there was no escape. Only one was captured alive. Siraji Rabiya's youngest daughter."

It hits me in one fell swing. While Um may have been trained in the ways of the assassins, she held critical information that Apophis wanted.

"An unlikely story," Malik scoffs, muscles clenching when I press my arm against him to hold him back. "If what you say is true then they would have just killed her once they got what they wanted."

Afik raises his eyebrows in a look of disdain. "That's just it. They didn't. Yet she kept them believing she held some clue at the very least. So they kept her, deeming her useful at attracting new recruits. When Minkah was born it was all the easier to do so. What child wouldn't trust a young mother with an infant?" he spits with a loathing that makes me sick.

"She wouldn't do that!" I shout before I can stop myself.

It can't be true. Nothing that I remember would ever lead me to believe she was capable of such things. She wouldn't use me like that. And she wouldn't trick children into joining Apophis.

It's not true.

A deep chuckle from behind Malik causes everyone's attention to snap to the doorway. My stomach jolts at the sight. Niu, only partially conscious, is hanging in Kek's grasp. His jaw is horribly jutted to one side in a gruesome display. Far too much blood is pouring out of his gaping mouth. His eyes don't focus on anything as he's in shock from the amount of pain.

"Niu!"

Another rumble of laughter escapes Kek's throat, blood oozing down his chin as he chews on a wad of something that makes a nauseating squelching. More blood appears, running out of his own mouth and dripping from his chin as if he just bit into an overripe cherry. He's also in possession of Niu's gun which he's holding up in a lazy manner.

"Dear Afika," he croons in a mockingly sweet tone, pausing a moment to gnaw on whatever is in his mouth. "Once again you've left out my favorite part of the story."

(Malik's POV)

Oh my god.

Even as I stand on guard I cannot keep my eyes from straying to Niu. It's difficult to decipher where the source of all that blood is. He makes feeble gurgling sounds as if he were drowning and then more blood spurts from his uneven mouth. Is it his lungs? His thick coat makes it impossible to see where the wound is located on his body. Despite his jaw being broken it is not the crucial origin.

Kek has him by the back of neck. Niu's partially kneeling, arms hanging limply at his sides; swinging like a flaccid puppet at Kek's movements.

Why did I leave him to fight Kek alone? We both knew the risks involved. While his technology gave him advantages, he doesn't think like a killer. That makes all the difference.

I just didn't…couldn't imagine this.

"Niu!" Minkah makes to intercede.

"Nah-ah." Kek tightens his grip so Niu's neck pitches to one side as he increases the pressure on our friend's spine. "I wouldn't come any closer if I were you."

I realize all too late that we are literally trapped in the middle of an ongoing war between Afika and Kek. We're all pawns to be used. Right now Niu is a sacrificial offering. It doesn't take a genius to deduce I'm next.

"You haven't gotten very far here, have you?" Kek comments with a barely perceivable amount of relief. "That's good. I didn't want to miss it." He eyes me skeptically, as if sizing me up.

What the hell?

"You're a bit early," Afika replies in monotone, as if indifferent to the other's presence.

His seeming lack of reaction gets under Kek's skin. "I didn't want certain people to ruin my fun, is all. You can forgive that, can't you, Afika?"

"Looks like you've had plenty of fun," the black-haired assassin refers to Niu's beaten body.

Kek twirls the gun effortlessly with his large fingers as he bites deeply into the contents of his mouth. Blood streams from between his lips. Every muscle in my throat tightens making me incapable of speaking. If that were his blood he wouldn't be nearly so lucid. Minkah has gone white, trembling in barely contained rage; having come to the same conclusion as me. Perhaps he's figured out more.

"Let Niu go," he growls. "He doesn't have anything to do with this."

"That's not exactly true," Kek replies, one cheek filled as he moves the substance to one side to talk clearly while readjusting his hold on Niu's neck. "He insisted on getting involved." Brown eyes dart to Afika. "So I told him. Everything." Afika's features twitch but he doesn't react. "But don't worry. I didn't want him to blurt everything to Minkah." Niu moans, eyes rolling back in his head. "Even if he wakes up he won't be sayin' nothing."

"Because you busted his jaw?" I snarl at him, finding my voice.

Shoulders shaking in uncontainable laughter, Kek carelessly spits a chunk of something from his mouth. Blood spurts from his lips instead of saliva. What looks similar to an oversized gob of gum lands on the wooden floor, blood gushing from it. Possibly pink in color, though the blood could have dyed it. Only then do I recognize the odd texture. It's shredded and misshaped from where his teeth gnawed upon it ruthlessly. Flesh. Sensing my confusion, Kek reaches in front of himself and yanks Niu's broken jaw further open pulling a choked scream of anguish from our friend. Niu's limbs jerk at the pain, body convulsing as Kek's forces his head back so we can see into his damaged empty mouth.

"Our secret's safe with him," Kek mocks tossing Niu to the side roughly like a rag doll. I don't try to catch him, knowing Kek will not miss an opportunity like that. Our friend lays motionless, blood flowing from his mouth, the remains of his severed tongue less than a foot away.

"You fucking bastard!"

Kek takes a lazed fighter's stance as I lunge, placing myself between him and Niu. The fury boiling in my blood is bringing the old me to life. Going against everything I have strove to be, I don't suppress it. I need to be that person in order to fight him. The bastard laughs, not showing the unease he possessed when he saw me here earlier.

"Does the little tomb keeper want to fight?"

His biting words send a chill to my bones. The contempt and malice is unmistakable. I'm an obstacle of some kind that also poses a threat. However, it appears that it is my presence, not my readiness to fight him that unnerves the bulk of an assassin.

"Malik…" Minkah begins tightly, reminding me just who it is I'm challenging.

"I'm leaving Afika to you for the moment," I ground out while never looking away from Kek. "I'll deal with this piece of shit."

"But...!"

"Fine by me," Afika drawls after a long silence from him. "It will complicate things less."

"Agreed," Kek smirks knowingly at Afika, earning him a disdainful sneer. "Ishtar will only get in the way. I'll be back shortly without him to finish this. Don't go too far down memory lane without me!"

It takes me a second to realize what has happened as I gape at the empty doorway. He ran! What the hells? Isn't he one of the most feared of the assassins? Why the devil is he fleeing? Is it a trap? He couldn't have planned for me. Or does he really want me away from Afika and Minkah that badly? I take a step to follow him but hesitate, casting a glance at Niu's unmoving form. Afika takes note of this.

"He only will be involved if he involves himself again. Bothering with him is a waste of my time." He raises his eyebrows. "If you do manage to come back in one piece we can deal with Niu's fate then…if he hasn't bled to death. No time for dawdling, Ishtar."

I grit my teeth. The last thing I want to do is leave Minkah with this bastard. Not to mention Ryou and Niu are both wounded and defenseless. Afika could easily use that to his advantage. But I know that if I don't go then Kek is going to involve everyone at once, not just me.

"Malik, I don't…"

"Shut up." I kneel down to assess Niu's current condition, knowing Minkah will cover me. Ripping a piece of fabric from my undershirt I hastily wad it up. Gently grasping his broken jaw I delicately press the small wad of fabric to the wound to slow the bleeding, making extra certain it won't fall back into his throat. This is all I can do for him. Gently lowering his head back to the floor, I lean closer to him to check his breathing. He's wheezing in shallow painful breaths.

"If you do slay one another I won't shed a tear." Afika is not even trying to hide his smugness. "It will be killing two birds with one stone…maybe three," he adds dryly with a brief glance at Niu.

Shooting him a promising glare, I reply in a low voice. "Don't get too comfortable. When I finish with your friend out there I'm coming back for your head."

(Ryou's POV)

There's echoing all around me.

It's not so much cold anymore. I cannot feel my body. Despite this, it's not like descriptions dying people have given of being out of their bodies looking down upon themselves. I'm still here. At least, I think I am. The pain is gone, replaced by a numbness that encompasses my being. I can't complain for that.

The voices sound familiar. I cannot discern who they are or how many. It was just Afika and me before. Who had he said was coming? We had been waiting for someone.

Kek.

That monster was tracking us down. Is he here? A fear spikes within me enough that I'm able to make my eyelid twitch. I won't lie here waiting for him to carve into me again!

"…happened?"

I only catch the one word but it vibrates anger and resentment. The voice is so recognizable, and in the fog of my mind I pull forth the name it belongs to.

Minkah.

My brother's here!

Putting all of my effort into this single task, I manage to crack open my eye just a slit. The first thing that comes to my mind is red. Then the pungent odor hits me as my senses awake with me. Blinking several times to clear the film from my eye, I stare at the body sprawled on the floor, head surrounded by a pool of blood.

No…

As I focus upon the person I see the definable features that allow me to identify them. Niu. What happened? What's he doing here? Why isn't Minkah helping him?

'Get up! Niu, please wake up!' I urge him, unable to utter so much as a syllable. He doesn't move or show any sign of life.

Don't die. Don't die. Don't die.

"While we wait..."

"No," Minkah cuts in. "We're going to finish this here." Footsteps leave my side, moving away from me. "Tell me, Afika. Now."

I take this opportunity of tension between them to catch a glimpse of their current stance. Minkah's back is to us, a wall blocking Afika from Niu and me. Afika is standing by the window. Only his silhouette is visible to me. A silver glint flashes off objects in their hands as they move.

Those knives they always carry.

"What happened to her?" Minkah commands an answer from his former lover.

I know that answer all too well. Afika told me that he killed her as she lay helplessly in her prison cell. He could have saved her and Minkah both, but decided instead that she was not worth the effort. Will he tell Minkah the same though?

"And why," my brother asks so quiet it's almost inaudible, "did Kek want to get Malik out of here so badly?"

"He's agitated."

"Why?" Minkah prompts.

Afika stills, having moved from in front of the window and into the gloom. "That you will blame Ishtar more than you do me."

(Dimah's POV)

"How much further?" I ask as the small girl tugs me along. The rest follow closely, bumping into one another in an effort to keep as close as possible.

There are cracks in the ceiling's wooden beams, silver moonlight slipping through guiding us. This light does little to soothe the children. They are as silent as the grave due to their fright. They've already seen firsthand what happens in the confines of this compound. I wanted to come back for them in case I should be caught, but they would not be left behind. They would not risk being abandoned in such a place.

"Why do we hafta find the mean kids?" she whimpers clutching to me.

"Not all of them are mean."

"Yes they are," a boy behind us mutters.

Hastily I turn around as a figure appears in a doorway down the corridor. I cannot get a clear view, my eyes left to depend upon the deceitful shadows. The person is shorter than me. He does not leave me to wonder.

"Where do you think you are going?"

One of the children lets out a muffled scream as another slaps their hand over her mouth. They all back away from him. The girl beside me quickly lets go of my hand. A fear the likes of which I haven't witnessed in years encompassing them. I place myself between them and the older boy. It takes all of my willpower to keep from collapsing. Their fear of him proves his deeds.

"Afika," I whisper hoarsely at the malice in those eyes.

"What are they doing out of their cell?" he demands in a hiss that makes the terrified children whimper.

I stand my ground even as the children cower back. They know him. They know the side of him I've been trying desperately to save him from.

A hatred so clear gleams in his eyes that are cold, lacking any of the familiarity he showed when living with us. This is the same look he gave me when he ran away. Only this time there are no tears.

"Where is Minkah?"

Afika's jaw clenches and he wraps his fingers around the hilt of the knife at his waist. More noises of fright emit from the cluster of children behind me. Why won't he at least answer me?

"I won't let you harm them," I speak softly in forewarning.

"Would you look at this? She brings recruits and then takes them away," another voice chuckles. Afika bristles, sending a glare over his shoulder at the newcomer. A taller, more muscular boy approaches from behind Afika. "They had told us she left before. That she is a traitor."

He looks to be in his early teens, but it's difficult to tell in this gloom. The harsh living conditions these children are forced to endure only makes it all the more complicated. His light hair is scraggly and unkempt. Those eyes track us, searching for the weakest link. We will find no mercy in them. They are wilder than those of his fellow assassin. Afika watches him with mistrust, guard up more than ever in the presence of this 'comrade'.

"Let us pass," I state with as much authority and clout as I can muster. While I was taught how to kill and fight I am in no shape to be doing either. Walking alone has drained me enough.

"To where?" the older boy jeers, drawing a jagged knife.

"Where is Minkah?" I insist, looking to Afika for some sign. "Malak?"

The older boy barks out a rough laugh. "Did she just call you a fucking angel?"

Afika's face remains a mask of contempt. His eyes stray past me to the innocents who are trying to disappear into the gloom. The tall boy recovers from his amusement, licking his lips in anticipation.

"Which do you want, Afika?" he asks, eyes hungrily roving over me and the children.

(Malik's POV)

I walk slowly down the hallway, knowing Kek won't leave any traces of his presence unless he wants me to find him. In my head I go over everything I can remember Minkah and Niu told us about the bastard. He likes to torture people, as proof of Niu and probably Ryou's conditions. He's apparently Afika's rival. This strikes it as strange that he would lead me away when he has Afika right where he wants him. To pass up an opportunity like that?

"Come on already," I mutter impatiently under my breath.

Something is wrong. He should be facing me. There's no way he could be afraid of me. For some reason I do not know, he perceives me as a threat to his cause. But what impact could I possibly have that would alter the results of this impasse? I'm not an assassin.

Kicking a door open hard, I have my gun ready to fire. It's a small bathroom. And it's vacant. Cursing, I check the hallway for him before continuing my search.

Does this have something to do with being almost romantically involved with Minkah?

I fail to see how that could matter to Kek. It seems like he'd want to mess with Afika's head. I think me being there would do the trick. Why then? What am I missing?

Wait.

It's not that he's afraid of me.

He's afraid of me being there.

And I'm not worth his time.

Fuck.

"Minkah!" I shout spinning around and racing faster than my heartbeat down the house's halls. "Watch out! He's…!"

The violent slamming of a door announces I'm too late. I pick up my speed, ramming my shoulder into the door only to find it locked. A scraping near the doorknob informing me something has been drawn across it, preventing me from opening it. I can't blindly shoot at the door with a weapon of this power. I could hit anyone inside.

"Minkah!" I yell banging my fists onto the wood, not caring if I bust my hands. He's trapped in there with those two maniacs! "Minkah!"

"Perfect." That deep chuckle reaches my ears from the other side of the wood. "Right where I want all of you."

Ouch. *winces at Niu* Umm...sorry?

Niu: *holds up middle finger*

Ahem. Anyway, we're now in the center stage. An explanation is in order here: I can't write out the "present" days and post them. I need to write out the past completely as well and THEN place it strategically throughout the present. Plotlines always change when written out and I want to be extra sure I know where this is going. So the past must be written. I have plenty more written out already, it just hasn't been meshed together properly yet. :P Working on it!

AIF is not dead, but I have been using all of my energy on this story when I get the chance to write (which hasn't been happening often)

I was able to give you this tidbit of chapter. Looking forward to the next chappies with great anticipation! 8D

Please bear with me and I'd LOVE reviews/inspiration/and cuddly luffable threats ;)