AN: Duke's lies have been revealed to Yami…what remains to be seen is what he does now…and how is everyone else going to react?

Many thanks to those who have continued to read and review – You should all realise how very important your feedback is to me. I like to know what you are thinking…

On that note, extra massive thanks to the following for their support and for taking the time:

Smellybelly69 (your reviews are always so great!); Nenya85 (thanks for your unflagging support and comprehensive character discussions); Kaibasbigbluedragon (often the first to come in – many thanks); Deck Divination (our work therapy continues); Janders (for your support); Bella (for enjoying my take); Guesty Cough (I look for you and try to guess – thought it might be 'the guest is yet to come'); Acirederf (always so supportive!) and Bill (and his nan – you certainly kept me in suspense this week ;).

Loads of gratitude – you are all so untiring…and to everyone else who is following and continuing to read :)

"Do not give way to useless alarm; though it is right to be prepared for the worst, there is no occasion to look on it as certain." Jane Austen, P&P.

Chapter Eleven

All the family were pleased that Yami was back and Solomon hugged him as he arrived. Joey was particularly keen to see him as the two were very close and in his current turmoil, he had felt the lack of his chief confidant. The family went out for Chinese food together to celebrate Yami's return and during the meal Yami told them of his visit. Everyone was happy to hear of how well things were going for Yugi and Tea and there was much curiosity about Pegasus.

Yami gave them a humorous account of the two evenings he had spent at Pegasus' home; he deliberately left out of his story any references to the difficulties of those dinners, instead describing the food, palatial setting and Pegasus himself. Since his host was something of a celebrity, his account was listened to with considerable interest.

"Is he really as flamboyant as we hear?" Arthur asked curiously.

"Probably more so," Yami laughed, recalling the effusive speech and red suit. Marik in particular was listening avidly; flamboyance was his thing after all.

"Any jewellery?" He asked eagerly, and pouted in disappointment at the negative reply.

"But he does have a quizzing glass with a golden eye on it…," Yami recalled, "It looked similar to your Egyptian stuff actually Marik, and he's very effusive – in a British way obviously."

Marik gave a sigh of contentment. Pegasus was a bit of an idol to him; having created the game they all loved and built a hugely successful business around it, whilst maintaining the ostentation and eccentricity of which they had all heard tales. Marik definitely approved, that was the way to be successful – force the world to accept you as you wanted to be. Toying absently with a lock of pale hair and lavender eyes unfocussed, he drifted into a pleasant daydream of becoming the right-hand-man at Industrial Illusions.

The others were used to Marik's oddities and took no notice, continuing the conversation.

Yami continued his tale, mentioning that he had met both Serenity and Bakura. At the latter name, Ryou became the most interested auditor, he concealed his suddenly increased attention well – not wanting another lecture – but he still felt the tug of that uncomfortable fascination. He was surprised by what he heard however, Yami described quite a different character than they had encountered weeks before. Carefully omitting all reference to Joey and Mai, Yami conveyed to Arthur and his father the interesting conversations he had had with Bakura, his positive opinion of him and his speculations concerning some previous disaster.

"What a pity he has suffered such tragedy, he sounds most interesting." Was the comment made by Solomon. Ryou almost laughed out loud, thinking how differently his father would have reacted to a description of Bakura a few weeks before. Instead he assumed an expression of polite interest, hiding his deepening curiosity behind an innocent façade.

Yami hesitated, he had reached the point where he must mention the presence of Seto Kaiba at the second dinner party and he was dreading the confessions he needed to make.

"Kaiba was present the second evening, he was in town on business with Pegasus." He began.

"How unfortunate!" Solomon declared.

"Was that difficult?" Asked Arthur, the two parents speaking almost at once.

Yami took a steadying breath and inwardly steeled himself, it must be done. Whatever his injustices towards Joey and the rest of the family, honour demanded it…

"I have to say I wasn't looking forward to it," he admitted, "but I actually spoke very little to him, he was discussing business with Pegasus for most of the evening."

"Well that was certainly a godsend," Arthur continued, "There were rumours of his upbringing – that foster father was a tyrant by all accounts – and that would give him a lot of leeway. But we always thought him a very difficult young man and with what we now know of his disposition from Duke, we would have been most unhappy to know you were forced to associate with him." He looked towards his partner as he said these words and Solomon nodded emphatically.

"It isn't true." Yami blurted, there was no easy way to talk about this. "I ran into him on another occasion (Yami was deliberately obscure here) and accused him of criminal behaviour towards Duke. We argued and something I said (here he blushed but it luckily passed as a sign of emotion at the news) made him decide to be frank for once. Duke is not what we believed; he's done some terrible things."

Everyone at the table was listening intently now and Yami proceeded to tell them all that he knew of Duke's behaviour towards both Kaiba and Bakura. He omitted only the circumstances which had prompted the disclosures and spared himself nothing in the telling; admitting that his own flattered vanity had influenced both his initial assessment of Duke and his implicit acceptance of Kaiba's guilt. There was a moment's silence as everyone present tried to adjust their opinions.

"Don't be so hard on yourself bro'," Joey said urgently, "how were you supposed to know Duke would lie like that, you wouldn't behave that way and you'd never expect anyone else to. Sure - you may have been conned, but Duke's the bad guy here not you."

"Your brother is right," Arthur agreed, "we have all been taken in, but what a terrible way to behave…and then to further slander your victim…"

"I don't believe it!" Tristan suddenly interrupted, "Duke's not like that! It can't be true!"

"I'm afraid it is Tris," Yami said sadly, looking at his distressed brother with commiseration

Tristan pushed back his chair and stood up, "Well I won't believe it, I'm going to find him and ask!" He declared, and before anyone could protest he abruptly left the restaurant.

The others looked at one another in consternation.

"Is it absolutely certain Yami?" Solomon asked quietly.

"Yes," replied Yami flatly, "Pegasus can confirm it – amongst others apparently – and it makes too much sense."

The family sat for a long time talking the whole matter over, eventually they were all convinced and saddened at what it revealed of Duke Devlin whom they had all liked. Arthur summed up the situation as they prepared to go home.

"Well Tristan is clearly not going to react well to this, he has got so friendly with Duke lately – and thinks such a lot of him." He sighed, "What a pity, but one thing is certain…people must be told, Kaiba's name has to be cleared and Duke is clearly not to be trusted. How I hate to be any part of it, but it's not your fault Yami – he has brought this upon himself."

Yami was comforted by both the hug he received at this point and by the support of his family. He had known they would see the honourable course of action but was unhappy that he was obliged to be the author of it. He also knew he still had a very difficult conversation with Joey ahead of him.

Later that evening when he and Joey were alone in his room, Yami at last broached this uncomfortable topic.

He began by telling of all that had passed between himself and Kaiba – this was Joey – he would never keep secrets from him. When he finished talking about Kaiba's declaration, leaving nothing out, including the manner in which it had been expressed and what he had said in refusal, Joey was stunned.

"He must be crazy!" Was Joey's first response, "what did he think you would say when he spoke to you like that?"

"I don't believe he did think," Yami responded wearily, "at least, not about anything outside of his own feelings."

"How did he take what you said? I bet he didn't enjoy all those things you accused him of…what else did he say? Was there anything about Mai and me?" The last question was asked anxiously.

"Well that's the thing Joey; he sent me an e-mail next day – specifically to answer my charges about you and Duke. You already know what he said about Duke, this was how I knew it. About you and Mai…," his voice wobbled and he trailed off. "I'm so sorry Joey! I didn't want to be right about this…that stupid conversation – it was nothing…let me show you exactly what he said. Yami showed Joey the pertinent section of the e-mail, told him of what Yugi had said and explained his own reappraisal of Kaiba's interpretation.

"We know he was wrong, but you can see how it happened." He said at last, his tone revealing how he ached for his brother.

A few tears made their way from the corners of Joey's eyes, ran over his cheeks to his jaw and hung for a second; he wiped them away with a quick movement.

"What a fucking mess," he croaked, "don't tell the others, there's no point everybody hurting. I can't contact her anyway and there's still the essential fact that she left and hasn't contacted me since. If she had only talked to me, we could have worked this out."

Yami hugged him and the brothers clung together for a moment, each taking strength from the other. By mutual consent, they then both went to their rooms, exhausted by the futility of the situation.

Tristan had left the restaurant in a fit of righteous fury, 'how could they all accept Kaiba's story without even talking to Duke. It just wasn't fair! He determinedly ignored the small voice inside him which whispered that the evidence must be pretty damning and convinced himself that Duke would have an explanation for all of it. He must have.

Since first encountering Duke, Tristan had felt an attraction to him but he had fought it when confronted with the unpleasant reality of his flirtation with Yami. When their initial interest in each other had seemed to dissipate he had inwardly rejoiced, only to be even more hurt by Duke's departure with Bakura.

Two weeks later, when Duke had returned to town he had been determined – he would make Duke see him. They had already been friendly and things had seemed to be moving in the direction he hoped for. Over the last few weeks they had been getting closer and he thought they had discovered a connection – now this! Always straightforward Tristan headed for the dicing club to confront him.

He didn't have far to go and entering the club cast a swift glance around. Unsurprisingly Duke was present and catching sight of Tristan, he raised a hand in acknowledgement before strolling over.

"How's my favourite dice buddy?" Was his friendly greeting, and Tristan had to steel himself to resist responding to the caressing tone.

"We need to talk Duke," he said, the unexpectedly grim tone causing Duke's eyebrows to rise in enquiry and a wary look to appear on his face.

"Sounds ominous…," he replied, trying to smile but scanning Tristan's face with a slight hint of anxiety.

"I'm sure it does, let's get a table where it's quieter and we can discuss it."

The unfamiliar force of manner and the decision in Tristan's tone had an impact on the dicer. He had got to know the other man a lot better over the past few weeks and found to his surprise that he had under-rated him. Actually Duke was beginning to like him a lot and to look forward to spending time in his company, but he had thought that he had the upper hand.

Duke was used to being sought after, his good looks and easy charm often attracted people and he took it for granted that he was the one who would decide how things would progress (lately there had been some failures, but he had done his best to forget about Yami and Bakura). This new, serious Tristan disconcerted him and he followed almost meekly as the other led the way.

"What's the problem?" He asked cautiously, attempting to sound nonchalant.

His assumed calm dissipated rapidly as Tristan began to speak and by the time he finished Duke's face was white. It had all come out. Everything he had tried to conceal and all the lies he had told, in addition - he found to his disbelief that in the face of that solemn and questioning regard, he was unable to summon his usual poise.

Tristan's warm, brown eyes met his frankly from beneath his dark hair. They were searching but not accusing, clearly he wanted to have his faith rewarded with some plausible explanation. Almost wildly Duke cast about in his mind, but he there wasn't one and abruptly the impulse to dissemble any further - left him. He felt…guilty…all the self-deception and excuses he had used in his own mind to rationalise his behaviour were a sham. He had known it, tried to run from it and ultimately concocted a convincing story to cover it up, but none of this had worked and he foresaw the need to leave - was approaching again…

As the silence dragged on Tristan could see the truth in Duke's eyes, their usual sparkle had died out and eventually he turned them to the table. The flames of indignation, which had sprung from the confidence and admiration he had for his friend - gave a feeble flicker and died. He looked at Duke sadly, "so it's the truth then, isn't it?"

Duke glanced fleetingly at him and quickly away, then he jerked his head once in assent. His mortification and the desire to avoid any more of this conversation became urgent things and he pushed back from the table, beginning to rise from his seat.

"Don't you dare try to leave," Tristan ground out quietly.

Duke looked swiftly at him, this time meeting his eyes and confusion was briefly visible in his own. "I thought you'd have wanted me to?" He replied uncomfortably, slowly lowering back into his seat at a shake of the head.

"What are you going to do?" Tristan asked, trying (but failing) to conceal his disappointment at the failings all this revealed in his friend.

"I think perhaps I'll move on, I've really been here long enough anyway…," Duke tried for an airy tone, struggling to regain his usual self-assurance.

Shaking his head slowly, Tristan directed a piercing look at him, "Pack it in, for God's sake -drop the act. Running away won't fix this (here Duke flinched slightly), how far are you going to go? You can't run from yourself, however much you might want to. You've got to man-up and deal with it…at least that will give you back your self-respect, and maybe gain you some from others."

Duke interrupted him, "How can I do that? Everyone's' going to despise me."

"You won't have to do it alone… I'll stand by you," was Tristan's staunch response.

Once again Duke was shocked by Tristan, the bluntness of this previously unseen version left him without a comeback and more than that he was…grateful. How had he not realised that this steadfast and principled man was hidden inside that previously admiring and stoic exterior. One thing he knew, he had definitely under-estimated him.

"Thank you, even though I know I don't deserve it," was all he could find to say.

"No, you don't…but I don't run out on my friends," Tristan replied, "I don't give up easily either, so consider yourself warned." He added with a flash of humour.

As the two continued to discuss his misconduct, Duke finally consented to acknowledge the injustice and dishonesty of his actions and told Tristan exactly how he had come to behave in such a way. He felt a surprising amount of relief at this unburdening; perhaps things would work out more easily than he had thought.

Or then again, perhaps not.

Joey was just on the verge of finally dropping into an exhausted sleep when the insistent buzz of his phone tugged him slowly back to full consciousness.

"Damn it Tris!" he muttered groping across the bedside table. His searching fingers finally encountered the handset and he brought it to his face.

He almost dropped it again as he saw the caller ID, and hastily pressed it to his ear.

"Mai?...Mai?" For a long moment there was no response and he held his breath, heart hammering.

"Yes Joey, it's me," it was unmistakeably Mai's voice, quiet and guarded but finally calling him.

Joey let out his breath in a soft whoosh of air, "You blocked me Mai…and I didn't know where you'd gone. I didn't even know where to start looking! I've waited, and waited…but it's been months…I'd pretty much given up hope. Why did you leave?"

"Cut the crap Joey and don't try to pretend any more, I know what was going on – Kaiba told me." Mai's tone was cold and flat, but Joey could detect both hurt and bitterness behind her words. "I'm only calling to finally let you know what I think of you, I don't like loose ends and I won't leave this without getting some closure."

Joey took a deep breath to get himself under control, part of him wanted to scream at her down the phone but a far bigger part was terrified she would hang up if he did so. He had to get through to her.

"Listen to me Mai," he began, "I know what Kaiba told you, Yami found out – but just because Kaiba believed it, that doesn't make it true. He's a friend of yours and he's never thought much of me. You must know what he's like – would it really surprise you if he overheard something – out of context – and jumped to conclusions?" He rushed on, desperate to convince her, "Why didn't you talk to me? Did you have so little trust in me? I love you Mai. Can you honestly tell me one thing I did which would cause you to doubt it?"

The silence this time was even longer and Joey waited anxiously.

"I know what people can be like…and your proposal was pretty sudden – wouldn't you say?" The last was sarcastic.

"That's not a straight answer," here Joey couldn't help feeling slightly triumphant – she hadn't hung up and she was listening. "I know I rushed things…at first I thought that was why you ra…went away," hastily he altered the last word but too late.

"Ran away? Ran away?!...I did not run!" 'At least she sounds more like herself,' Joey thought, but Mai hadn't finished. "I left because I wasn't ready to face you and I didn't want to stay and look even more of a fool." Her voice wavered slightly towards the end and Joey's heart twisted inside him.

"You've never been a fool Mai," he said gently, "Maybe I was a fool, I let you slip away."

Mai's reaction to this betrayed her insecurities, "I'm won't be that person Joey!...I need to move on with my life, I've always been a winner." He could only just hear the last words, as they were spoken almost to herself.

"I thought you'd found something more important than winning, are you telling me I was wrong?"

"Joey, I'm sorry - I tried my best," her tone was becoming more resolute.

"I'm going to keep fighting until I get through to you Mai, I know deep down you value what we had, I won't give up trying." Joey's certainty was absolute and he gripped the phone fiercely, trying to will her into trusting him.

"Don't you think it's too late for all this?" Mai asked, she still sounded guarded, but just maybe wistful?

"Don't say that Mai," now Joey's voice was the one that shook, "I won't let it be…we need to talk about it properly…in person, not like this…won't you at least risk that much? Isn't even the possibility you were wrong worth that to you?"

Silence….

"Come on Mai, if Kaiba was mistaken don't you owe that chance to both of us?"

"I just don't know Joey," Mai sighed. "Can you let me think about it? I'm so confused right now…"

"I've waited this long haven't I?" Joey forced the bitterness from his tone, "It's alright Mai I'm right here, just don't think too long, don't throw us away."

"OK Joey, I need to go…I'll be in touch."

"I love you Mai, and I won't give up on you," was Joey's farewell and the conversation ended.

Lying in the darkened room, sleep now firmly out of reach, Joey clutched the phone tightly to his chest…and hoped.

The next morning everyone looked tired - well everyone except Marik who had enjoyed a great nights' rest, dreaming about his wonderful future career with Pegasus.

"Morning," he said loudly as he came brightly into the room where everyone else was drinking coffee and trying to wake up. An assorted chorus of groans and unenthusiastic "Morning Marik" brought him up short. "Wow, talk about doom and gloom."

"For goodness sake Marik, have some empathy," Solomon said tartly, handing him some breakfast. "You heard the conversation last night…and don't you have to be in college this morning?"

"Oh right – Duke," Marik replied vaguely, then resumed his formerly chirpy tone. "Yep, I'm just leaving, us entrepreneurs need business knowledge you know," with this final obscure (to everyone else) utterance - he snagged a piece of toast, waved an airy hand and strolled out of the door.

Solomon stared after him, "oblivious," he muttered in aggravation, and then turned his attention to Tristan. "What happened after you left?" He asked.

"I spoke to Duke," Tristan's tone was defensive. "Yami was right…he admitted it, but he's still my friend." the last statement was made in a slightly challenging tone.

Arthur looked at him, "are you sure that's the kind of person you want for a friend Tris? Don't you think your brother deserves your first loyalty?"

"Of course I'm loyal to Yami!" Tristan declared hotly, "This makes no difference to that, but I talked to him and I'm going to help him. You always say we should stick by our friends!"

"So you should," Arthur agreed, "Ought he to be a friend? That's rather the question."

"What are you saying? If a friend makes a bad mistake you just dump them and move on? I won't do that." Tristan said with determination.

Arthur regarded him steadily and then turned to his partner, "He's right you know. I don't like it much…but I'm proud of you Tristan. Tell us what happened."

Blushing at the compliment and brown eyes resolute, Tristan told them everything which had occurred with Duke the night before. He made no attempt to soften or excuse the behaviour and emphasised that Duke knew he done a great deal of wrong and would be exposed. "He feels guilty and wanted to leave town but I've convinced him he needs to do this right. He's going to try to make a fresh start, but he knows it's going to be hard," he concluded.

"I wonder if he realises how hard," sighed Solomon, "but it's the right thing Tris, I'm proud of you too and we'll try to back you up."

Yami had listened to all this with a mix of emotions. He was very angry with Duke but had to concede that Tristan was right, this was the honourable way to proceed. Only one point had still to be emphasised. "Kaiba's name has to be cleared – fully – that's the most important part of all this as far as I'm concerned, I feel that I was implicated," he interjected. "As long as that's understood, I think what you're trying to do is admirable Tristan. I don't think I could be so generous, I'm still too disgusted to be that reasonable," he added honestly.

Tristan looked at him beseechingly but said nothing and Yami nodded to him, "OK I'll try, but I won't pretend nothing happened – and I will be clearing Kaiba's name. That's the best I can offer at the moment."

The conversation was allowed to drop for the time being and Arthur remembered another matter he needed to discuss with Yami.

"Yami, before you go…I've just recalled something I needed to ask you," he said.

The son in question looked enquiringly at him.

He continued, "I had a phone call from Ishizu, she knows you've only just come home but asked if you'd like to stay for a long-weekend with them in a few weeks' time?"

"Tell her I'd love to," Yami replied. He always loved visiting his 'cousins' and the tail-end of his previous trip had left him already feeling that a short break would prove welcome.

AN: Will Mai call again? What now for Duke? What will happen when certain people meet again? I think those are the main issues over the next few chapters…oooh and for those who await wet Kaiba…chapter thirteen

Hope to 'see' you all for next Friday's update!

EvilMidget6 x.