The Three Kings: Strike

Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Studios, and TV Tokyo. Harry Potter is owned by J. K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, Arthur A. Levine Books, and Warner Bros. Please support the official releases.

Warning: Mentions of panic attacks, child abuse, child murder, amputations, violence, past character death, infidelity, suicidal thoughts, homophobia, and loss of control.

Chapter 17: Homecoming

Keith sits in the brig of the Cerulean, stripped of his wand, his identity, his life, and thinks, What the hell am I doing?

The moment that he and his team crash-landed onto the deck of the massive, metal ship, they'd been confronted by the mutated bird-dragon form of the Lady Pharaoh, red feathers erupting from her back as lightning danced across her long, snake-like body. Behind her, kneeling over Pegasus's rotting corpse, was a grey figure with dark bat wings and a rack of horns, his arm stretched over his head and holding the Millennium Eye like a trophy.

Keith had known who he'd been in an instant. So, delirious and half mad with pain, he'd charged at Bakura, preparing to die so that he could kill Thief King with his bare hands.

He'd been stopped before he could even get near the mage. The crew of the Cerulean had pinned Keith to the ground, shouting in a myriad of languages and pointing guns and wands at his head. Only after Tilla had handed over the Millennium Spellbook had the Thief King given the order that saved Keith's life.

And for what? Keith wants to punch something, wants to hit something, but his entire body hurts so much that he lays there and waits for death.

Everything that he'd known was a lie. Trista Latner, the small woman with dark hair and dark eyes, was his mother. She'd had him and his twin brother for an experiment, something about documenting the changes that aging and de-aging had on the body over time. Latner had required two wizarding children - For comparison tests, she'd written in the notes that the Spellbook revealed - and had been forced to carry her own after being denied the pair that she'd initially requested.

Latner had kept her sons around until they'd stopped being useful sometime in the seventies when she'd shipped them off to France to join the Seedling program. There in the Gardens, Latner requested that the two of them face off against each other for her own entertainment.

It's crucial to blood Seedlings early, Latner's notes had said. Merlin only knows how late these two are joining the program.

Keith grips her hair, trying to piece together everything that he'd learned in the last few days. He feels sick to his stomach as his fingers thread through the strands, remembering how Latner had written that she'd permanently transfigured his hair. Keith's biological father had had a jealous wife in a high position within the Department, and Latner had changed his hair from black to blond to hide his true parentage.

Nothing about me is real, Keith thinks and curls up into a ball, wanting it all to stop.

When he opens his eyes, Bakura is inside his cell.

Keith doesn't think about it - he just attacks, running headfirst toward the Thief King and then right through him, crashing into the metal bars. Keith curses and blinks the stars from his eyes, "What? Did you steal Ryou's powers too when you killed him?"

Keith's head is pounding with a migraine, but even he doesn't miss the look of confusion that passes over the mage's face.

"What are you talking about?"

Keith bares his teeth, "I asked you to save him, you piece of shit! Not kill him!"

"Keith, what-"

"Ryou!" He screams, taking a swing at the mage. Bakura effortlessly blocks him, then ducks low, kicking his foot out as he spun, and catches Keith behind the knee. He sprawls backward and hits the wall. Bakura turns him around and pins his face to the metal, his grip cold and solid.

"Stop. Fuck, Keith. Just stop," the mage hisses. And that's when Keith realizes that while everything else about his life may be fake, but how he'd loved Ryou had been real. And his hatred of Bakura is just as powerful.

Keith uses his entire body weight to force himself off the wall, catching the King by surprise. He kicks back, planting his foot in Bakura stomach and shoving, sending the mage into the far wall. Keith throws a quick series of jabs that Bakura manages to duck around, but the mage is still sucking wind as he twists and spins away from him.

He could kill me, Keith thinks, remembering the Spirit with his black teeth and severed throat, grinning sadistically as he'd thrown Unspeakables into the air with the wave of a hand. So why hasn't he?

I don't want to, Bakura had said in Keith's apartment that day that he'd shown up out of nowhere.

He grits his teeth, Well, fuck that.

Keith reaches in over Bakura's guard, using the extra length in his arms to his an advantage, and grabs the mage's shoulder with on hand and his arm with another. Keith sweeps his leg out and catches the back of Bakura's thigh, twisting the Thief King's body. But before he can flip the mage like Kitamori once flipped him, Bakura uses Ryou's power to slip away, phasing through Keith's fingers like a ghost. Bakura ducks, rolling around Keith and throws himself feet first at the wall. The mage jumps off of it and spins midair, unfurling his leg and kicking Keith in the head with all of his strength.

Keith falls to the floor, his jaw connecting with an audible crack. Stars appear on the sides of his vision, blinking in and out as he contemplates getting up again. But Bakura makes that decision for him, climbing onto his back and pressing a firm hand into his neck, holding him there with surprising power.

"Keith. Stop. Just stop," Bakura says.

Tears spring uncontrolled from Keith's eyes. Fuck. Fuck, he thinks as he shakes, fingers clawing at the concrete floor as it gets harder and harder to breathe.

The pressure on his back disappears. Bakura turns him over, looking terribly concerned, but Keith doesn't care because his lungs can't get air to his body fast enough, his chest heaving with each breath.

"Shit, Keith. I think you're having a panic attack," the mage says, his eyes wide with shock. "Can I touch you? I'm going to try and help."

Keith reaches out in his terror and grabs onto Bakura's sleeve, just wanting something to ground himself with. Bakura takes that as permission and hauls him onto one of the benches, Keith's limbs limp and cooperative. The mage places Keith's hands on his head, stretching his elbows out on either side and tells Keith to match his breathing.

"Come on. In and out. One more time," Bakura tells him as he kneels in between Keith's legs.

"I- I can't-" Keith says between shaking gulps of air.

"It's okay. It's going to be okay," the Thief King promises. "I can control air, Keith. I am not going to let you suffocate, I swear."

That should not be as reassuring as it is.

They sit there for a long while, Bakura directing Keith's breathing until he is cold and sweating. Tear tracks run down Keith's face and he squeezes his eyes shut, hoping to keep them at bay. He leans down and presses his forehead against the Thief King's.

" Why? " Keith rasps out when he'd finally able to speak again, eyes fluttering open. The Thief King has startlingly purple eyes, he notes. "You were supposed to save him? Why didn't you?"

Bakura doesn't answer right away. Keith feels the mage gently pulling his arms away from his head and placing his palms firmly against the crappy metal bench that they're sitting on.

"Ryou really did love you," Bakura says, his voice so small, like he's admitting some terrible secret.

Keith wrenches himself away and refuses to miss the warmth that radiated off the Thief King's body, "How would you know?"

"Because he told me," Bakura answers as he stands. Keith feels the bottom of his stomach drop as the mage walks over to the other side of the tiny cell, leaning against the wall before sliding down to the floor and looking so fucking uncomfortable. "Time passes differently inside the Ring. When you asked me to save him… Keith, for me that was centuries ago."

Keith looks up just in time to see the Thief King wrap his arms around himself, fingers clutching at his arms.

He doesn't want to talk about this, he thinks and remembers how the Spirit had once told Keith that he had been twenty-one years old when he died. He's just a kid.

"Ryou used to talk about you a lot, when he wasn't talking about his family. For the longest time, I thought you were his father," Bakura says and, fuck, that's enough to bring back Keith's tears, his hands covering his mouth to stifle the agonizing scream that wants to erupt from his throat. "We had fifty years together in the Ring."

And it's the way that Bakura says that that causes the pieces in Keith's head to click together, forming a complete puzzle. He remembers Ryou's admission, I think I like boys, too, and Kitamori's guess that the King Commander wasn't interested in women and how the legends say that the Thief King tried to steal the Lady Pharaoh's heart. Maybe the Thief King didn't want the Pharaoh, Keith thinks. Maybe he wanted her husband instead.

Keith looks up at Bakura and realizes that, holy shit, he might be looking at Ryou's boyfriend of nearly half a century.

"But why did you kill him?" Keith asks again, so utterly confused.

"Ryou… He made a choice," Bakura swallows. "The same choice that Yuugi made so that Atem could live. The same choice that someone else is going to have to make so the King Commander can come back."

"To die?" Keith asks, thinking of the article that he'd read on Yuugi Mutuo, the blindingly intelligent girl from San Francisco. To think that that girl was dead now, just so that some being from the dawn of time could live, makes his skin crawl.

Bakura doesn't answer, but the fact that he can't hold Keith's gaze is all that he needs.

"Fuck you," Keith says, but can't find any of the spite he wants to put into his voice. He feels so empty inside, so done with everything. "Get out."

"Keith, wait-"

"Get the fuck out of my cell," he snaps, gripping at the bench to keep himself from falling over. He feels so lightheaded, almost drunk with his agony.

Bakura nods and stands, fists clenched at his sides. He walks towards the bars, but stops suddenly, his back turned to Keith.

"Captain Tadesse is going to want to speak with you before we make landfall tomorrow. Just like she's talking to the rest of your team.," Bakura tells him. Before Keith can throw another punch at him, the Thief King slides through the bars and disappears entirely once he's on the other side.

Keith breaks. Howling and screaming, kicking at the walls and clawing at his face. He's considered bashing his head against the metal bench just to end it all when his wallet falls out of his pocket, wizard coins and muggle money spilling everywhere. And there, in the middle of the mess, is the ripped half of the Andrews family portrait. Keith looks at it just in time to see Amane Andrews slide out the side like she usually does when he looks at it, leaving only her brother.

Ryou stays in the picture as Keith picks it up, smiling and waving, his blue eyes soft and carefree in a way that Keith doesn't remember him being in life. That sticks with him for some reason, and Keith doesn't understand why it does until he's sitting on the bench again, his head in between his knees and just trying to keep his breathing even.

Then it hits him.

The Spirit of the Millennium Ring had been horrifically scarred, with chunks of flesh missing from his body and his throat cut wide open, blood endlessly flowing from his wounds. But his eyes had been bright red, whereas Thief King Bakura's had been purple.

I asked him why he killed Ryou. And he never actually answered me, Keith rationalizes, staring down at Ryou's blue-eyed portrait with dawning horror. He swallows around the lump in his throat. Yuugi Mutuo's eyes had been blue too. And that Pharaoh girl had purple eyes, just like Bakura.

Had the Spirit of the Millennium Pendant had red eyes as well?

It's stupid and there's no way that Keith can prove it, not with Bakura long gone. But it's a tiny glimmer of hope, the last flickering light in the darkness, and Keith latches on to it like the miracle it just might be.

Blue and red make purple, he thinks desperately. Maybe Bakura doesn't even realize it, but Ryou could still be alive somewhere in his subconscious.

It's the only thing that makes him stand up and go with the Cerulean's captain when she comes to unlock the door to his cell, trailing behind the other handcuffed members of his team, and onto the bridge.

Kisha sits at Delphia's bedside, watching as one of the Cerulean's doctors slides a needle into the older woman's arm. It's connected to something that the doctor calls an IV Drip, a bag of clear liquid that hangs from a rod.

"She's severely dehydrated," the doctor says like it explains everything. He looks nothing like the muggle doctors in the books that Kisha reads, with no white lab coat or clipboard. Instead, he's wearing a dirty green shirt and shorts with open-toed sandals. He glances over at Kisha and raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing…" She looks down at Delphia's withered wrist. The doctor walks away to talk to another patient down the row. Beside her, Royce taps her shoulder.

"We've got a visitor," he says. Kisha looks up and sees Duke Devlin standing awkwardly at the foot of Delphia's bed.

"Hey," Duke says, giving them a small aborted wave.

Kisha quickly scans his body, looking for weaponry, but sees none. Why is he unarmed? She wonders silently.

"Hi," she answers back.

"I've been talking with our leaders. We're going to docking in San Francisco in about an hour," Duke tells them. "You three will be remaining there with us until we return you to the International Confederation."

"San Francisco?" Kisha frowns and then remembers what Keith the Unspeakable had said about the city being under mage control.

Duke nods to someone that Kisha can't see before three people walk into view. The man in the middle is ridiculously tall in comparison to the other two, but he's thin in the same way that Delphia is and clinging to a similar IV Drip like it's a cane. Duke introduces him as Matthew Jacques.

The other two are short, around five feet tall. The woman has a shock of long, red dreadlocks, while the man is someone that Kisha recognizes - the white-haired boy with the scar from the Putnam's. Both of them have bright purple eyes and seem to exist with an aura that makes Kisha wonder if they're actually human.

Kisha scowls at him, "I guess it wasn't a transfiguration accident after all?" When he tilts his head in confusion, she clarifies, "You said you shrunk and got white hair-"

"In an accident. Right," the mage nods, remembering their brief conversation back in William's Abbey. Then he shrugs, "To be fair, I needed you to calm down."

"You landed me in prison, asshole."

The girl speaks up, "That was not anyone's intention. We had no idea that the Department would attack its own citizens." She extends a hand, "My name is Atem. This is Bakura. He and I are in charge of the San Francisco mages."

"You're Kisha Borrego," Bakura says, not asks. Then he turns to Kisha's companions, naming them in turn.

"You will be treated as prisoners of war according to the Geneva Convention, meaning we will provide you with food, hygiene, clothing, and medical care while you stay in San Francisco," Atem explains. "You will be bound with magic to my brother, Matthew, for the duration of that time."

"Bound?" Royce frowns, "You want to control us?"

"For your protection as well as ours," Bakura says. "We will not abuse this power. You have our word."

"If you wish to make requests, you will be welcome to do so at any time," Atem continues.

Kisha glances at Royce, who's suddenly perked up with nervous energy. She knows what he's going to ask before he says it.

"Is there… any way that we can get in contact with our families? To let them know that we're alright?" He asks and Kisha knows that he's thinking of Shawn, his boyfriend. Royce must be terrified, considering that he has no way of knowing if Shawn was on the island when it went down in flames. Kisha thinks about her mom and dad for the first time since she was taken and is almost overtaken by the wave of yearning that flows through her.

A look is shared between the four mages. Matthew Jacques answers, "We don't know if it is possible, but we are willing to try as long as you do not give away your location or what's happening."

Royce nods, nervously picking at his fingers.

"Is there anything else?" Atem asks.

"Duke said that you'd be returning us to the Confederation," Kisha says. The four of them make various noises of affirmation. "When?"

"We've received word from one of our contacts that the American Minister for Magic is going to be speaking to the Confederation two months from now," Duke explains. "We're planning on crashing that."

Kisha frowns, "The Confederation is one of the most secure buildings in the wizarding world. You can't just break into the place!"

"People said that about the Department's island and the American Ministry of Magic. That didn't stop us then. It won't stop us now," Bakura confirms.

"Whatever you want, they're not going to give it to you just because you returned us," Kisha argues.

"You're not the only leverage that we have," Atem says. "Now, would you please submit to the binding? It will only take a minute."

Matthew uses magic unlike anything Kisha has ever seen before. He has them write their names on a piece of paper with a black muggle marker with ink that seems to dry the moment it's used. Matthew mutters to himself while he wraps a loose string from his shirt around the paper.

"I'm going to test it," Matthew says, turning back to Kisha and Royce. "Will you stand up, please?"

Kisha feels her limbs move on their own and suddenly she's up and out of her chair alongside Royce.

Matthew nods, satisfied with his work, "I'm not as good as Amanda, so any request has to be phrased as a question." He looks up at Kisha, holding up the wrapped paper before sliding it into his pocket, "We'll burn this just before we return you to the Confederation."

The mage then limps off, collapsing next to a bed that contained a barely conscious one-legged man.

"Get some rest," Bakura tells them. "We'll come around when it's time to disembark."

He and Atem nod to Duke, who stays behind and watches the two of them leave hand in hand. Duke moves forward, sinking into the chair on the other side of Delphia's bed.

"How is she doing?" He asks, tilting his head towards the sleeping older woman.

"Could be a lot worse?" Kisha answers. "Thank you for helping us."

"We're not doing it for you," Duke says, repeating the words that she's heard since they came to the Cerulean. "But, you're welcome. I guess."

There's a silent, awkward pause where the three of them try to look anywhere except at each other. Royce finally break it by asking, "So what can you do?"

"Hmm?" Duke raises an eyebrow, confused.

"I always heard that mages had weird powers or something. So what can you do?" Royce repeats.

Duke smirks, "I'm not a mage."

Kisha's eyes widen, remembering how Duke had introduced himself as a squib back that Putnam's, "You're a muggle?"

"Non-magic," Duke corrects her. "And yeah."

"But you know about magic!"

"Hard not to, in this business," he says. "There's lots of non-magics who know."

"I mean, I guess," Royce says. "My folks are like you and they know. But I never thought…"

"What? That non-magics and magics could exist together? Seriously, what do they teach you in those wizarding schools?" Duke snorts, leaning back in his chair.

"So, is that your plan here? To end the Statute of Secrecy?" Kisha asks.

Duke blinks, looking a bit amused, "Right now, we're not thinking that far ahead. We just want you to stop killing mages."

"We don't kill mages. If they can't convert them, the Department sends wizard born mages to a camp, away from society," Royce tells him.

Duke rolls his eyes, "I bet your parents also told you that your favourite pet just went to live on a farm after it died. The Department kills mages that can't conform to wizard standards." He licks his lips, looking tired, "About a month ago, we had an eight-year-old girl wash up on our shores after she escaped execution on their island. You've spent enough time in their cells to know that there's no camp."

Duke clenches his fists, "My sister, Lindsey, was fourteen when they took her. She could control plants. She would…" he coughs roughly and Kisha realizes that he's trying not to cry, "...She would grow vegetables in the tiny garden box outside her bedroom window. Carrots and tomatoes and shit like that. Lindsey never hurt anyone - hell, she went vegan when she was eight, wouldn't even swat a fly if it bit her. That didn't save her when-"

Duke chokes up and Kisha wants to reach across and wrap him in a hug. He looks no older than she is, maybe nineteen or twenty years old.

"I'm sorry," she says. And it sounds so utterly inadequate, but there's nothing else for her to do.

"The Department has torn apart entire families right under your noses because no one cares about the victims. We just want it to stop," Duke says when he's finally able to speak again. "And we want those that are still alive to know that there's a safe place that they can come to. That's it. That's what all this is for."

Kisha bites her bottom lip, her mind whirling as a lump settles in her throat. Beside her, Royce seems to come to the same conclusion that she has.

"You know, I never really wanted to work at Putnam's. I really wanted to get into politics," she tells Duke. "Maybe when we get back... because of what happened… Well, maybe there's something that we can do to help change the way things are."

"And I know the Pendergrass family pretty well," Royce says. Duke frowns in confusion, "Neal Pendergrass is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I don't know what I could do, but… maybe…" He trails off, swallowing hard. "I'm in love with his son," he admits, and Kisha is suddenly tense and ready for a fight. "I love him and I'm not sure where he is."

But Duke doesn't even blink at the mention of a boyfriend, instead offering Royce a tiny smile, "There were no other prisoners on the island. All the other cell blocks were empty. If he were there, he'd be on this ship right now."

All the strength goes out of Royce's body and he collapses into his arms, relieved beyond belief, "Of course they wouldn't touch him. Merlin, I was so fucking scared!"

"We'll try to find a way to get you in contact with him. I promise," Duke says. He looks up at the clock, "I'm needed on the bridge. I've got to go." He rises warily to his feet, "Thanks. For listening."

He takes a few steps forward before Kisha launches herself at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Duke goes ramrod straight, unsure of how to respond. She feels him awkwardly pat her back.

Of course, this is the moment when Kisha remembers that she wrote her floo address on the back of a receipt. She'd been a bit disappointed when he'd never tried to contact her afterward. It feels like that was a lifetime ago.

He's still pretty cute, she thinks as she detangles herself from him, blushing furiously. Especially with that dumbstruck look on his face. She always did have a thing for tragic fantasy heroes.

"Um…" Kisha stammers. "I'll… see you around?"

"Probably," Duke says and it gives her a bit of satisfaction to know that he's as red as she feels right now. "I've got to-" He points in some vague direction behind him. "I've got to go."

"Yeah. Bye," Kisha offers him a smile and Duke nearly stumbles backward into someone passing by as he attempts to leave.

Seto watches from the docks as the Cerulean makes landfall. Beside him, Mai bounces her daughter on her lap, overjoyed to finally be back with her.

"Joey is coming home!" Mai smiles beautifully and Haley laughs, as radiant as her mother. "He's coming home and he's going to bring back all of our friends! And then we're going to go get ice cream! How does that sound, Haley-bear?"

"Can Seto come too? And Mokuba?" Haley asks, looking at Seto and reaching up to him. She likes being up high and Seto is the tallest person she can grab onto right now.

"I've got to take care of my brother, Haley," he bends down to look her in the eye. When Atem had called with the news, that Mokuba was safe, but missing a leg, Seto had had a breakdown right there on the phone. Mai had been there, guiding him through to the other side and holding him while he wept. "He's going to be very tired after everything that he's been through. But when he's feeling up to it, we'll all go out for ice cream. I promise."

I need to look for a new place to live, the ever-logical side of his brain supplies. And arrange something with the university. Thank the gods that the current president had a mage wife. He'd at least be understanding of their situation, if nothing else.

Haley pouts a little but seems to understand. Rafael and Alister swoop in, taking her off Mai's hands as the crew of the Cerulean throw down ropes to tie the ship to the dock.

"You know, Joey and Serenity are thinking of moving out of the hotel," Mai tells him.

Seto frowns, confused at the change of conversation, "I… know? He mentioned it in passing before the mission began." He looks at Mai out of the corner of his eye, "Did he ask you to move in with him?"

Mai nods, "Uh huh. So he'd be looking for a place with good accessibility for Serenity." She tilts her head towards where the blind girl is sitting next to Kuirmet, who's playing the role of goblin ambassador until Nurnok, Skrags, and the baby are safe to leave the hospital.

Seto swallows around the lump in his throat. He thinks he sees where Mai is going with this, "It's a big step for you two. I wouldn't want to intrude-"

"Seann," she says, calling him by the name of his previous cycle, the one where they had last met and finally grew to understand one another. "Move in with us."

He struggles to find the right words to say, "I can't-"

"He loves you, you know," Mai tells him and Seto's heart skips a beat. "I think he always has. I don't know what kept you two apart all these cycles, but whatever it is, it's stupid and you need to stop."

"You're his girlfriend," Seto forces out through clenched teeth. "And Cassie… Kisara's here, and I-"

Mai rolls his eyes at him, "Monogamy isn't always the answer, Seto." She sighs, "Look, all I'm saying is that I'm open to it. If you want to date Joey, I'm alright with it. And if you and Cassie want to get together too, that's fine too. Hell, I'd welcome the extra pair of hands at home, dealing with Haley. And I know that she'd love it if you'd move in."

Seto remembers having a similar conversation with Kisara all those cycles ago, remembers how frightened he'd been at the idea of it. He's not so scared now.

"We kissed. Once. At Lakewood," he admits.

"I know," Mai says and he turns to her in shock. She offers him a cheeky grin, "He told me."

A slightly hysterical laugh erupts from Seto's throat before he quickly tamps down on it. The Cerulean is lowering the gangplank onto the dock.

"Move in with us," Mai asks again. "Bring Mokuba with you. We'll help, all of us. Together. As a family."

Haley runs full tilt at Seto's legs just then, laughing and screaming as she clings to him, and Seth recalls his first daughter and how she'd smiled up at him just like this. His heart clenches, remembering how Nurnok had once told him, We all cycle. Only some are lucky enough to remember.

Hafash? He thinks, staring down at the little girl in wonder. Is it you?

"Seto! Seto!" Haley grins, bouncing on her toes. "I want up!"

"Alright," he smiles, swooping down to pick her up. "Look, there. On the ship."

Seto points up at the Cerulean to where Joey's head just popped up over the upper deck. Gods, I love him. Joey's grins and lets out a whoop, disappearing for a second before reappearing with an extremely exhausted looking Mokuba. Seto's brother gives him a tiny wave.

We're going to be alright, he thinks hopefully as Cassie walks down the gangplank, trailing after her sister, Meron, to greet the customs officer. Behind the two of them is Duke Devlin, who has dealt with this man several times before when he's brought everything from weapons to refugee families through the docks.

Joey helps Mokuba down the gangplank, his brother's arm slung over Joey's shoulder. Seto sets Haley down, his legs carrying him forward without him even being conscious of it.

The fabric of Mokuba's pants is tied off just above where his knee should be, but that doesn't stop him from forcing Joey to move faster, hopping down the gangplank as quickly as he can go. Seto meets him in the middle, throwing his arms around his brother and burying his face in his shoulder. They're both shaking hard, crying with relief.

"Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you." He's not sure which one of them is speaking, but Seto doesn't care. His brother is home and safe and in Seto's arms. He doesn't think that he's ever been this overwhelmed before.

When he finally looks up, Seto sees Joey standing there, his eyes so filled with love. And for the first time in millennia, Seth doesn't even think twice. He reaches out, cupping Jono's face with his hands, and pulls him into a kiss. Together they laugh into each other's mouths, fingers twining into each other's hair, bodies pressing so close together. Wolf whistles fill the air around them and Mai's laughter rings out louder than any other sound, but Seth doesn't care.

"Thank you," he whispers again. "Thank you."

We're going to be alright, he thinks, pressing his lips to Jono's over and over again. It might take a while, but we'll get there. We always do.

Bakura pulls away from what appears to be Atem's family reunion and slides over to where Cassie is standing next to Meron.

"Can I talk to you two?" The white-haired mage asks. Cassie glances at her sister, who in turn looks over to where Duke Devlin is talking to the customs operator. The man is turning a blind eye to all of the people who are coming off of the Cerulean. Meron nods and the three of them disappear behind a large cargo crate.

"Before the island blew, Reiko Kitamori was kind enough to gift us with something interesting," Bakura says as he pulls out a large stack of files that he passes over to Cassie. "We also just received this from the goblins in London," and then hands Meron a scroll.

Cassie skims the files, her eyebrows raised at their contents. Meron unrolls the parchment and frowns at whatever she sees.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Her sister asks.

"The Goblin Queen has requested that we deliver that to a witch named Amane Andrews," Bakura explains. "We know that you're helping out the team of Unspeakables that came with us from the island," and Meron's eyes narrow suspiciously since there no way that Bakura should know that. "But we're wondering if you'd send them on a slight detour before they head off to wherever they want to go."

Meron re-rolls the scroll and twirls it in her hand, "Fine."

"And these?" Cassie asks, holding up the papers that he'd given her.

"Both of your parents work for the French government. I'm sure you can get those into the hands of the French Minister of Magic, if you really tried," Bakura says and Cassie's fingers clench around the files. She could go home and visit her family, if only for a day.

"Consider it done," Cassie promises.

"Oh," Bakura turns back to Meron, his mouth twisting into a sly smirk. "Can you tell Kitamori that whatever she's planning on doing, the Ministry and Department are going to be very distracted when Minister Palamo delivers her speech to the Confederation."

Meron looks intrigued but doesn't ask for details.

As they leave the confines of the crates, Bakura asks Cassie to pass on their thanks to the Jackals.

"And Leo," he adds, a little hurried. Cassie chuckles.

"He's a flirt, isn't he?" She says, thinking again of the sickly boy in Toronto. She hopes that Odion is taking good care of him while she's away. "He sinks his magic into anyone he gets a hold of."

Bakura frowns as they come up on his partner, Atem, "Leo's a mage?"

That causes Atem to turn around and she looks almost as excited as Bakura does to talk about him, "Are we talking about Leo? Cassie, could you please thank him for all of his support. We could not have done this without him and the Jackals."

"Will do, but Bakura's already got you covered on the thanks," she says. Then she answers Bakura's question, "And yeah, Leo's a mage. But I was exaggerating on the about that aspect of his powers. Leo's a touch telepath, amongst a few other things. He'd actually have to be here to do anything."

She's not expecting the two of them to freeze, staring at her like they'd seen a ghost. Bakura's jaw is gaping wide and Atem brings up a hand to cover her mouth.

"A touch telepath?" Bakura finally forces out. Cassie frowns, confused.

"Yeah," she answers. "And a healer."

She swallows hard, thinking of the dramatic irony about what it meant to be a mage healer, since Leo could help everyone but himself.

"A healer, too?" Atem gasps, her head snapping towards Bakura. Smiles split across both of their faces, thousand-watt grins that seem to light up the entire city.

"It's him! It's- Atem, Leo's-" Atem cuts Bakura off mid-sentence, pouncing on him and kissing him full on the mouth. Bakura responds just as passionately, lifting her off the ground and spinning her in the air.

Cassie does not understand what is going on.

"Well, looks like Seto Kaiba isn't the only one getting laid tonight. Should have jumped on that sooner, Cassie," Meron mutters in Cassie's ear and claps her on the shoulder before turning back to the Cerulean. She doesn't have time to tell her sister that Amanda Green had shacked up with her girlfriend, Tea, in one of the rooms onboard and hadn't come out until very recently. Green is still rocking the sex hair.

Cassie turns back and, yep, Bakura and Atem are still going at it. At least Seto looks appropriately scandalized because the rest of Atem's family seems to be cracking jokes at his expense.

She misses her brothers more than ever. So she calls them.

"Cassie? Cassie!" Stéphane exclaims when he answers the phone.

" Bonjour, mon petit frère, " she smiles. "Is maman home?"

" Non. She's still at the office," Stéphane tells her.

"Could you pass on a message for me?" Cassie asks, a smile working its way onto her face. "Tell her that I'm going home."

Hello again!

I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last chapter: Safiruu, Tz342, Moonfirekitsune, dragomira, green lilah, and anita15. You guys are awesome!

I also had a guest reviewer who goes by the name of Sleep Deprived. I'm going to answer your comment here:

I was only awake to organize my emails when the notification for this chapter appeared. I'd be logged in, but I'm too lazy, sorry.
I feel really bad for Skrags. He doesn't deserve this bullshit. Same for pretty much everyone, really.
This is really interesting to read, but also really depressing. I gotta go to sleep, or I'd probably write a better review.

Skrag really doesn't deserve any of this. He's a great man who just wants to have a peaceful life with his wives and his child, but Department has already robbed him of some much. But he's so strong, just like the rest of his family, so you know that he's going to do his best to weather this storm.

I hope that you get a good night's sleep!

On another note, a couple of you have told me that you'd like some extra information on the characters in the Three Kings series (Skrags was a popular one after the last chapter). I've told some of you that I might write an Interlude book in during the two-year gap between Strike and Resist, but now that this idea is in my head, I'd like to offer an alternative.

Would any of you be interested in me adding in a collection of companion stories that would center around characters and time periods that are not fully covered in the main storyline? If I were to do it, I would probably start publishing them around the same time that Resist was coming out. It would slow down the chapters of Resist, but it would certainly broaden the scope that the Three Kings series would cover.

Just off the top of my head, I can think of stories like 'Skrags And His Ill-Advised Attempts At Courting A Pair of Goblin Princesses', 'Igraine, Sam, And Ryou vs. Hogsmeade', 'Cassiopeia's Death Scene', 'Em And The Weirdos That Drink At The Hog's Head', and 'What Happened In Lakewood?'.

Please let me know what you think in either a comment or in a PM and I'll take it under advisement.

Until next time,

AlcatrazOutpatient