A/N: Okay, so I lied. My update days are now on Mondays and Thursdays, because this story has a lot of ground to cover and I'm still not completely sure how I'm going to split it all up. But I do know I don't want to give it to you guys all in one go. Duh. But yes, a lot of ground to cover. And I'd rather this story NOT drag out for half a year or anything like that. So yes, two updates a week. Hope that makes some of you happy!
And also, I forgot about the disclaimer in the first chapter so here it is. Rated T, for some frowned upon words and whatever. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor will I ever.
Lastly, Marik = hikari Malik in this story. Okay, I'm done! Read on.
When Yugi wakes, he hears chatter. Happy chatter. Across the room Ryou's bed sheet is curved around an invisible shape, rising and falling with Ryou's breathing. Ryou has no control over his power once he falls asleep, which he hates, and he flickers in and out of sight. Yugi shuts his eyes for a moment, concentrating on sending his headache to the back of his mind, before forcing himself out of bed. There's a pile of clothes sitting at the foot of his bed, with a small note reading, hope these fit.
Yugi stares at the pile for a moment, before nimbly picking it up and putting it on his bed. He lifts the folded shirt, shaking it out. It's a normal blue shirt, with short sleeves and low neckline, and when he pulls it on, it shows his collarbone, but hangs a good ways past his waist. There's new, folded underwear, and a pair of jeans. The jeans are loose, even though they're a small men's size, but they don't fall down by much, so Yugi figures it was a good guess, other than the fact they bunched a decent amount around his ankles. He leaves his old clothes on his bed in a haphazardly folded heap and slips on the oversized shoes, and glances back to Ryou's bed on his way out; the breathing is still slow and rhythmic.
His feet pad down the hallway, and he looks down the steps, torn between walking down them or running back to his room. Slowly, the stairs creak as he lets his weight press into them. His nervousness causes little ice particles to form on the banister, solidifying against the wood and around his hand. The chatter is getting louder, and as his feet push off the last step, he feels the pleasant happiness trickling out from the kitchen door. He takes a breath, and walks in, unnoticed and quiet.
Yami's laughing a deep, velvety laugh, eyes sparkling and lips parted to reveal brilliant white teeth, his hand under a pan that seems to hover just barely above his palm. Mai's rolling her eyes, telling him something else as she flips the sizzling eggs in the pan. Bakura has one hand reached out towards Yami and the pan, but his eyes and other hand are on a floating jug of juice, as it fills the glasses lined up on the bench.
Tèa and two men Yugi hasn't met sit at the table, arranging plates and cutlery while trying to keep the table cloth from crinkling. Both men are taller than her, incredibly taller than Yugi himself; one with a wicked smirk and the other – an angelic smile.
Tèa places napkins in the middle of the table and a gust of wind send them fluttering into the air. She frowns at the smirking one, scolding, "Joey."
Something bumps into Yugi's back, and he stumbles forward; he feels Ryou's hands on his waist, and even when he's invisible, Ryou still hides behind him. Yugi resists rolling his eyes, and it's times like this he remembers he's the older one. Jumping forward garnered him more attention, though, and Yami says, "Hey, you're awake."
The two men at the table look up in interest at the new guest, and Tèa says, "Hey, Yugi, come sit down."
Bakura, not turning from the three knives he has buttering the toast, adds, "And Ryou too."
Ryou sparks into sight, guiltily, still grasping Yugi's shirt as he asks, "How did you know?"
Bakura turns his head a little, and smiles. "I could sense your energy."
"Don't be afraid, Hun," Mai tells Ryou, smiling encouragingly, "you don't have to hide here."
Ryou acts as if she reprimanded him, lowering his head. A breeze ruffles his hair, and the man called Joey says softly, "Cheer up, dude."
"We can't be any worse than the shithole we found you in," the other man says, grinning. "I'm Marik, by the way."
"Joey," Joey introduces hurriedly as well, although Yugi already caught his name.
They say their own names even though it's unnecessary, since it appears the men already know who they are. Tèa pulls out seats for them and Mai asks them how they like their eggs. Once seated together, with Joey to Yugi's left and Bakura to Ryou's right, the talk dies down a little in favor of the guests.
"So how did you sleep?" Mai asks, lifting her toast to her mouth.
"Great," Yugi answers, chewing on the inside of his cheek for lack of words. When he places the egg into his mouth, it goes cold, like all hot foods do and there's condensation on his metal fork. Two glasses drift through the air, coming to sit in front of Bakura and Yami, while Joey flicks his fingers over his coffee, blowing the steam away. There's a screech from a parrot outside, loud and ringing.
"Cassie says Tristan's coming," Tèa translates, and Yugi watches her. She notices, and explains, "I understand animals."
"Which is good when Marik decides he wants to be a snake for hours on end," Bakura replies, and Yami snickers.
"They're jealous because they don't have cool shape shifting abilities," Marik tells Ryou and Yugi, smugly.
The front door slams loudly, and Ryou briefly flickers out of panic, a blush rising on his cheeks when he realizes. Ryou's not used to the sound of manual doors. Yami chortles, and Tristan enters the kitchen, whipping off his hood, which seems to be an actual part of his everyday wardrobe Yugi notices, and running a hand through his hair.
"Morning all," he murmurs, heading for the coffee pot.
There's a few merry greetings, and it's Tèa's voice that ask, "You're up a little early, aren't you?"
He smiles down at his mug, pouring in the steaming liquid. "I figured I should be here for the Q&A."
"Ah, yeah," Yami says, pulling out a chair for Tristan and fixing his eyes on Yugi and Ryou. "Fire away."
"Let them eat first," Mai clicks, fussily.
Bakura snorts into his juice, and Tristan rolls his eyes as he sits down.
"First off, just for clarification," Tristan says, already getting into his role, "Ryou, you have the power of invisibility, and Yugi, you're an ice conjurer?"
They both nod, and Yugi asks intently, "How did you know that?"
"We've got the whole organization's records," Bakura tells them. "We know everyone that's in the system, and their abilities."
"How many more are there?" Bakura asks, beguiled.
"At least a dozen," Tristan answers. "It's a very rare condition of human evolution; that's why we didn't notice the organization for so long, because they've kept it very small and quiet, never housing too many together."
"Bakura and I came from the same one," Yami adds, for their benefit, "Marik and Tèa were together as well, in a facility not far from ours."
"Mai was never in S-CORP at all," Joey tells them, sipping his coffee, "and I was taken out only a week after I was taken."
"Yeah, Mai started this whole safe haven for kids who had nowhere to go after the rescue," Tristan says, and Mai ducks her head. "And Joey was the first."
"So last night was...what, a take over?" Ryou says, slowly.
"We didn't mean to wreck everything," Tristan says, grimacing, "we were just supposed to get you two out, but Yami and Bakura don't know how to do things calmly and quietly."
"I panicked," Yami defends.
"You set half the place on fire," Tristan chides back.
It lulls into a quiet moment, and Yami looks properly ashamed, while the others grimly remember the chaos from the night before. There's a quiet chink of cutlery on plates, and Yugi gives up on his cold and slightly soggy toast. He's not used to warm foods, at all.
"So you just run around... burning up buildings," Yugi notes, taking the glass of juice that's been set in from of him.
"Not at all," Tristan rebuffs, easily.
"We're just one part of the population," Bakura tells him, "and we're set on... well, rescuing. It's our area. The CIA passed it on to us, since it goes smoother this way." Yugi thinks that's ironic, because if that was smooth, the CIA must have botched up bad.
Joey moves his arm, and his elbow knocks into his steaming mug, causing the whole thing to topple. Boiling coffee falls towards his lap. Yugi, acting on reflex, reaches out to catch it; the coffee pours over his hands and with a hiss, it passes through his fingers and over Joey's thighs; Joey yelps.
"Are you burnt?" Mai asks immediately, and a few people rise from their seats.
"No, it's cold," Joey complains, and Yugi's hands are unmarked.
Mai gasps a second time and says, "Yugi, your arm."
The needle marks are a little worse this morning; they sometimes fade into the evening, but the purple and red look vivid, and there's even a hint of green bruising. He makes to quickly retract his arm, but Mai catches his wrist and stretches his arm out. Her hand goes white from the cold but she keeps examining, and Tristan stands up to get a better look. His secrets for all to see.
"I think you should take it from here, Bakura," Tristan says, subtly, seriously. Bakura nods, stiffly, and Yami keeps staring at Yugi's arm with a look of deep concentration and concern.
"Later," Bakura says, and Tristan sits back down, "I think we need a good breakfast."
After breakfast, Yugi tries to help carry the plates to the sink, but Bakura sends them hovering away, watching Yugi carefully, as if worried he's going to sprint off.
"Can we go for a walk?" Bakura asks, and Yugi nods, slowly.
Bakura leads him out to the backyard, and Yugi tastes the fresh air on his tongue. A rarity, in his life, it seems. The land surrounding the old house seems to stretch on, bumpy and concealed by trees after a point, but beautiful all the same, causing Yugi's breath to catch. Bakura beckons him down a stoned path, and Yugi follows, letting the sunlight bathe his face. He can hear the birds in the trees, something he hasn't heard for a long time.
"What did they do to your arm?" Bakura has his hands in his pockets, glancing at Yugi from the corner of his eyes, casually.
Yugi self-consciously rubs the spot in question, and answers, "Needles. You know. That sort of thing."
"They injected you?"
Yugi nods, uncomfortable. Bakura lets out a slow breath, and Yugi feels like he said the wrong thing.
"We think they were trying to change your DNA. It's a relatively new theory of theirs." Bakura kicks a stone down the path. "Have you ever heard of artificial selection?" Yugi shakes his head, and Bakura continues, steadily. "They do it in plants all the time; take certain genes to make the plants stronger, tastier, more fruitful. They mutate the chromosomes, creating a newer, better, version. Did they take your blood?"
"Mine and Ryou's, frequently," Yugi replies; grass has grown out of the stone path, and it crushes under Yugi's feet.
"They would have experimented on that to see what 'special' gene you had; why you were able to do what you do. See, that's the only reason you're different; a mutated gene. Nothing too scary." He smiles, briefly, but Yugi doesn't match it. "We think they injected you to test their theories; they must have had a complex one, judging by the number you have. Tristan – well, the government really – thinks they want to create a new race of people."
Yugi stops under a large tree, shadow falling over him, and Bakura stops as well, giving Yugi a soft sort of look.
"You get headaches, don't you?" Bakura asks, and Yugi's eyes widen a little.
"How do you know so much about this?" Yugi's eyes flicker to Bakura's inner elbows, but they're blemish free.
Bakura makes a face, and folds his legs underneath himself, sitting in the cool grass. Yugi mimics him, plucking a dark blade of grass as Bakura says, "I'm going to tell you a story."
Yugi waits, and Bakura weighs his words.
"There was this man and woman, both working for S-CORP, and part of the research team on figuring out about the genes, how they're created and make us do what we do, and safe placement in human subjects. They were quite... taken with their work, and wondered if they could make the most advanced child. Most humans only use a small portion of their brain, but it's been proven that people with special abilities have a certain gene to let them unlock more area and brain matter in times of struggle, and to fully operate their... unique ability. They experimented and warped the DNA of an embryo to what they thought was a fool proof plan."
"The woman became unwell in the last few days of pregnancy. Being scientists, both of them wanted to see their experiment finished; their perfect child. The woman did not survive childbirth. The man was distraught, and handed his 'perfect child' over for observation and a childhood of blank rooms and endless tests."
Bakura frowns, scratching his stubble. "I never really forgave him. I was not as perfect as he'd hoped. I suppose it's mutual dislike. I was an angry child, who turned into an angry teenager. The person you see now was nothing like how I used to be." Bakura looks away, back towards the house, but makes no move to get up. "You see, natural selection takes generations, and only the fittest survive. Me? My 'special' genes? Would not survive. The side affects of brain swelling and headaches prove that humans aren't supposed to survive in this manner." Bakura directs his speech to Yugi. "Your headaches show they've altered your DNA. Not dramatically so, I would guess, but I can't be sure."
Yugi stares at him, and Bakura seems surprised. "What?" Bakura asks.
"You're not... your parents did that to you?"
"They're not my parents," Bakura dismisses harshly, but then with a sad smile. "I don't have parents. I'm just an experiment. I'm not like the rest of you; you have random mutations thrown in by nature, I am genetically engineered."
Yugi bites his lip, and looks over the canopy of leaves and branches hanging over them, shading them. He says, "You say they altered my DNA."
"Yes. Whether it was effective or not..."
"Why not Ryou?" It's a question that's been nagging in the corner of his mind, part childish resentment, part curiosity.
"I would guess," Bakura says, slowly, purposely, "either they were testing it on only one, first, or... they couldn't find Ryou's gene. It would make sense, given his skill is made for evasion."
Yugi nods, dumbly, and rips a few more strands of grass from the ground. He had forgotten the feel of it between his fingertips, and relishes privately in the nostalgia. He remembers a tutor at S-CORP that would teach him, and whenever they talked about plants or the outside, Yugi would beg to go outside, but they wouldn't let him. Told him it was dangerous.
"You said they're trying to create a new race," Yugi says, staring out over the mowed lawn leading to the back veranda of the house. "Why?"
Bakura leans back of his elbows, his legs spreading out; sunshine filters through to hit his face is spatters. "We're not certain. It's just a theory, but it works out. Imagine a whole race of gifted people? Who could hope to compete?"
"Is that why you take us? To stop them from taking the gene?"
Bakura frowns deeply at this, perturbed. "We rescue them because that's no way to live, and we know that. They get treated like lab rats," Bakura spits out, "and I'll be damned if I'm just going to stand by. We have these abilities, and the least we can do is use them to protect our own."
Yugi sits quietly, clenching his own wrist. "Thank you," he says softly.
Bakura deflates into the grass, sighing.
"You're welcome." And for the remainder of their time outside, they observe the beauty of nature in undisturbed silence.
A/N: Bakura sure is out of character, eh? I'd like to think he was the crazy, psychotic Bakura we know and love before him and Yami were rescued. Other than Ryou and maybe a few others, throughout this story you're going to find that many characters, especially Yami, are going to be the complete opposite of their canon personalities. Just please keep in mind that it's because of, mostly, the circumstances in the story.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you guys on Thursday.