Chapter XXXII: Unexpected Shadows
Hello again, everyone and welcome back! We're glad to see you still with us and thanks for reviewing! We welcome our new reviewers and welcome back our older ones and hope your questions are answered when we can answer them! Anyhow, let's get on with the story!
Last time, Jaden recovered from his fight with the Supreme King, while Annie discovered that her body had somehow been regenerated thanks to the Orichalcum stone. With help from Belowski, Adrian faced his own inner darkness, which, in another timeline, could've destroyed him one way or another. He revealed that he and Echo were in fact not even adopted siblings, and that his parents had been drug dealers who sold to Gilbert Gecko. And so he and Echo decided to confront the man they called Father. What will happen now? Read on!
Disclaimer: Check the last few hundred chapters.
Authors' notes: Adrian is definitely a bit different than he was in canon as this is an attempt to make him a bit more likable on Peach's part. He isn't under Yubel's influence now and neither is he fighting Viper. He's let himself relax and actually be truly nice in this timeline. Further, we've attempted to give Echo a deeper personality than she was given in canon. We didn't see her much, but we know that she was pretty tough and can conjecture she was independent. Her weak point, though, was Adrian. In this timeline, though, we have hopefully given her a bit more life. So we hope you don't mind too much.
Warnings: Physical abuse, death… Yes, it's definitely what happens with a lot of father figures in the Yugi-verse. So this isn't a fluffy chapter with sappy 80s reconciliation music. This will not be pretty, so hang in there. Thank you.
Across the water on California's north coast, Gilbert Gecko sat smugly at his desk. The world was his oyster and he could have anything he wanted. And then his view screen rang on the private line. "Hello, Echo...Adrian... what are you doing together? Have you anything to report?"
Echo visibly tensed when her father came on-screen, and the slightest hint of fear and loathing entered her eyes. "No, Father. We called you for a different reason."
Gilbert Gecko was a somewhat rotund man with dark hair around his balding head. Steepling his fingers, he asked, "What is this, then?"
"The gig is up, Gil, because I remember now," Adrian answered. His eyes were narrow behind his glasses and he looked every bit the calculating spy that Gilbert had trained. "You bought the meth from my mom and dad and your men are the reason they're dead..." Echo hadn't expected Adrian to be so bold, to say it all at once. She inwardly cringed, nervous to see her father's reaction. It was bound to be really bad after hearing all that.
Gilbert might've blown up, but today, he didn't. "I thought you'd find out some day, Adrian... but how did you?"
"Hypnotherapy..."
Echo was shocked that her father's voice hadn't even raised an inch. "Father...did you know all this time that Adrian was their son?"
Gilbert nodded. "It was assumed he was killed in the explosion... But a DNA test revealed who he was... I've known for a few years, given the boy an education and made him into a good information gatherer... He's more than he would've been..."
"You don't know that for sure, Father... He could have been just as great," Echo countered without thinking. Normally, she'd never argue with her father.
"Echo, why are you talking to me in that tone?" Gilbert asked tightly, a warning tone.
Echo flinched at the tone, head dropping slightly so that the shadow of her hat hid her eyes. She was an obedient little girl again. "I'm sorry, Father. It won't happen again, Father," she muttered, voice filled with pain.
Annie caught it, and it awakened her own fighting spirit. She wouldn't let this bully get away with intimidating her friends. "So my dad is right... You are an intimidating jerk," she scowled as her eyes narrowed.
"And who might you be?" he asked, giving her the look that intimidated his wife and children.
But Annie wouldn't quail, having faced down the Grim Reaper himself. "I'm Annie Hanson... And my dad warned me about men like you..."
"And I'm Syrus Truesdale... We won't let you hurt and intimidate Adrian and Echo anymore. Because we're their friends," Syrus added seriously, glaring at Gilbert.
Jaden stood as well. "I'm Jaden Yuki... and I'm Adrian and Echo's friend... and they told us everything..."
"WHAT?!" Gilbert snarled. "What did you tell them?" he growled at Adrian.
The young man stood tall. "I told them all about the scam you've put over the world. They know I'm not really your son..."
"You never were worthy," Gilbert smirked wickedly.
And Echo broke from her shell again. "You're right. It would take someone as evil, selfish, greedy, and uncaring as you to be worthy of running such a corrupt company."
"Why you little...!" he began angrily.
"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" Adrian shouted, defending the woman he loved.
"I'll call my daughter what I like, you little rat!"
"Adrian is not a rat! And I wish I wasn't the daughter of such a horrible man!" Echo countered again, glaring fiercely at him.
"That can be arranged, you little ingrate! I can cut both of you off! And I'll blacklist you..."
"Do that and I'll make sure Kaiba Corp, HanCo and Industrial Illusions ruin you!" Annie countered, eyes fierce. She knew full well that her father, Seto Kaiba and Max Pegasus would all join together to take Gilbert Gecko down. Seto, in particular, she knew, would be ruthless.
"We're not scared of you anymore, Father," Echo stated, eyes set.
Gilbert ignored his daughter. "And just how are you going to ruin me, young lady?"
Annie uncharacteristically smirked, holding up what looked like a remote control. It was the key to a recording system that automatically would save the conversation and send it to the three business moguls. "This whole thing has been recorded, Mr. Gecko, and whether or not it's admissible in court doesn't matter. The public will see it and will want your blood." And then Gilbert said some very... choice words.
And as usual, that set off Syrus. "HEY!! Don't you EVER call her that again!!" he yelled, anger spiking. If there was one thing that angered him, it was when someone insulted the woman he loved.
"And just who do you think you are, you little shrimp?!"
"He's my fiancé!" Annie stated angrily.
"Fiancé? Figures a little XXXX like you would get a weakling like him!" The teachers' jaws dropped at the language and Belowski's eyes were as wide as saucers.
Syrus was about to snap back at the older man, but something in Echo clicked. She remembered just how many times her father had thrown that insult her way, and she'd had enough. "FATHER! I don't care what you call me, but don't you DARE insult theonly friends I have that way!! You may be my father, but you don't love me... And I don't care! But now you're going down, and there's nothing you can do to stop us."
Gilbert might've gone on at the group on the other end of the line, but then... "Gilbert! What did you just say?!" Rachel Gecko gasped, stunned. She looked very much like her daughter, but with a less severe hairstyle and a softer face.
Echo's eyes widened at the voice. "M-Mom...?"
"Echo... honey... Oh my... Did he just call you... that word?!"
"No, Mom... Not this time... He insulted one of our friends."
"Gilbert!" Rachel gasped.
"Echo and the Hanson brat had it coming. She'll ruin us, Rachel!"
"Wrong, this'll ruin you, Father," Echo corrected in a low growl.
Rachel took a deep breath. "Gilbert... You can't expect to get away with this behav--" CRACK! Gilbert slapped her, hard.
"RACHEL!" Adrian shouted. He'd never seen Gilbert lash out at the woman who had cared about him enough to call him her son.
"MOM!" Echo shouted at almost the same moment, eyes wide. "YOU XXXXXXX!! How could you hit her?!" She couldn't stop herself from calling her father a word she'd learned from the sailors.
Rachel was stunned for a moment, the red mark coming across her face. Her husband of 25 years had only hit her three times before that. All of those times she had been able to dismiss because he had done them in moments of frustration, or so she thought. But this... she could not explain this away. "This conversation is over," Gilbert said. "And you two will no longer be welcome at this house."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Rachel countered, her dark eyes snapping. "You're leaving, Gil... And my lawyers will say as much..."
"You ungrateful XXXXX!" And then, as Gilbert snapped off the connection, both adults became aware of a young presence in their room.
"Mommy? Daddy?" called a young voice, standing just inside the door. It was little Sid Gecko, only six years old, wearing his red-striped polo and jean shorts. He had short, brown hair and big, brown eyes that shown with innocence and worry. "I heard yelling..."
"Sid, sweetheart, go to Mommy's special room, now," Rachel said calmly, though there was an edge of panic in her voice. "Daddy's going to leave the house for a bit..."
"No... Mommy's leaving because she doesn't know how to listen," Gil growled softly, stepping toward Rachel again.
Sid, obviously confused, looked from one parent to the other. Who was he supposed to listen to? But then, he saw the red mark on his mother's face, a mark he'd only seen a rare few times on her and numerous times on his big sister. And Sid may have been a kid, but he knew from experience that it was a bad thing. "Mommy! Are you okay?!" he asked in fright, running to her.
Rachel took a breath. "Sidney, I'll be all right. Go to my room, right now..."
"Rachel... you deserved that..." Gilbert moved closer, and out of instinct, the mother picked up her child and ran for her room, barricading the door.
"Daddy's not okay right now, baby. And Mommy's going to call someone to help..."
Now Sid was scared. This had never happened before; he'd never seen his father look so terrifying. Usually, Gilbert Gecko collected himself before appearing before his son. It was the first time Sid had seen this horrible side of his father, and it truly frightened him. "M-Mommy...I'm scared... Why is Daddy like this?"
"Daddy's just very angry, Sid... He's gotten angry before... And he needs a time out because he also called somebody a very bad word," Rachel explained softly as she grabbed the phone and began dialing. "And I'm calling the police to stop him."
"The policemen?" Sid frowned. "Are they going to come and take Daddy away? Did Daddy do something really bad??"
"Daddy hit Mommy and it's not okay to hit, Sid... So they may take Daddy..." Rachel got on the phone and within 15 minutes, the police were at the mansion.
Rachel was still on with the operator when the officers made their way to her room where Gilbert was pounding on the door in blind rage. When the police got his attention, he said, "My wife is acting irrational! She's got our son in the room with her and I think she'll hurt him!"
"Now, sir, we need you to calm down," stated one of the officers. She had long blonde hair pulled into a tight bun and blue eyes.
With her were two other officers, one an African American man with dark brown hair and green eyes. "We'd like you to step away from the door, sir," he added.
Gilbert pulled himself away from the door. A third officer, a tall woman with auburn hair pulled into a ponytail, dark green eyes and a feminine yet muscular physique knocked on the bedroom door. "Mrs. Gecko, please come out. This is Lita Travers. I'm a police officer."
"Okay," the woman answered calmly. "It's going to be okay, Sid..."
Sid nodded, holding tightly onto his mother's hand as they opened the door. He looked up at his father in a mixture of confusion, worry, and complete innocence to what the man had done. "Daddy...?"
"Ma'am, sir, we need to ask you a few questions," Officer Lita said. "Can you let go of your mom's hand for a minute, little guy?" she asked with a warm smile.
Sid frowned and held it tighter. "Why do I need to let go of Mommy? Are you gonna take Mommy away too?" he asked fearfully.
The blonde officer crouched down so that she was eye level with Sid. "No, no. We're not going to take either of them away. We just need to talk to them, okay? You can stay with Officer Jones while you wait. Okay?" she explained in a soothing tone.
"Hey, little guy. You want to try on a real policeman's hat?" Officer Jones, the dark-skinned policeman said kindly. Sid blinked, but nodded and smiled a little. Letting go of his mother's hand, he went off to the side with Officer Jones and put on the too big hat.
As the officers started to speak with Rachel first, Gilbert Gecko decided to make a move. "Sid," he whispered, and then made a slight motion that the boy should come to him.
Sid had already given Officer Jones his hat back, and the man was busy answering a call on his radio about a nearby domestic disturbance. So he didn't notice Sid going over to his father and taking his hand, fully trusting the man who had raised him. "What, Daddy?" he asked.
"Let's take a little walk while Mommy and the officers talk, okay?" Gilbert whispered. 'Rachel will never see him again,' he thought.
"Walk?" Sid repeated, surprised. But he'd gone for walks with his father before, when he had free time. And the policemen hadn't said they couldn't leave. "Okay!" he answered happily, glad to get some more time with his father.
Gilbert took the boy by the hand and took a few steps when Officer Lita looked up. "Hold it!" she shouted.
"Try and get me!" Gil shouted back, grabbing his youngest child and starting to run.
Sid cried out in surprise when his father abruptly picked him up, face contorting into slight pain. He looked up at his father and then back at the police officer. "Daddy! She said to stop!" he shouted, thinking his father hadn't heard.
"Stop in the name of the law!" Officer Jones yelled, chasing after Gilbert along with the blonde policewoman.
"GILBERT! LET HIM GO!" Rachel shouted, tears in her eyes. Gilbert got down the hall, Sid struggling in his grip and screaming. He wanted nothing more than to get out of the house with Sid and fly off somewhere, but he knew he couldn't outrun three police officers.
So he looked on the wall and saw an old-fashioned hand gun. He pulled it off the wall and held it to Sid's head. "You're letting me out of here with the kid! Or he dies!"
Sid froze, remembering what he'd learned in school about guns. They were dangerous and they hurt people, and you should never trust someone with a gun because they could hurt you. But that didn't make sense, because this was his daddy. You could trust your daddy, and your daddy wouldn't hurt you on purpose. Right? 'Then why is Daddy pointing a gun at me? I don't like this...' he thought, tears springing to his eyes. "MOMMY!!" Sid cried, reaching for the only person who could comfort him and make things simple again.
Officer Jones already had his gun out of its holster and had it aimed at Gilbert, and the blonde officer was in the same stance. "Put the gun down, Mr. Gecko. Don't do anything you'll regret... We don't want to hurt you."
"Let the kid go, Mr. Gecko. You don't want to hurt your son," Officer Lita tried.
"Gilbert, please!" Rachel pleaded, tears in her eyes.
Gilbert let Sid down. "There... You can have him, Rachel... You can have everything! I don't care!!" But he didn't set the gun down.
Sid didn't hesitate; he ran into his mother's arms, still crying. "M-Mommy!" he sobbed, still confused and hurt.
The three police officers kept their own guns trained on Gilbert. "Mr. Gecko, put the gun down. I'm certain you and your wife can talk this all out," the blonde officer tried in a reassuring tone.
"No... we can't... I admit it, I hit her... You can see the bruise marks... And I've hit my kids when they deserve it... I've done everything I've done because I loved my family... But no more, because I'm through..." He stepped forward to the police officers. The distance between them was about 50 yards. "You aren't going to take me to jail..."
"HALT AND DROP THE GUN!" Officer Lita shouted.
But Gil, as if mocking them, took another step. 'I'm not getting out of here alive,' he thought, smirking crazily.
All three officers had an idea of what Gilbert was planning, but they continued to try and stop him. "Mr. Gecko, if you come any closer we'll be forced to shoot!!" Officer Jones warned.
"Mr. Gecko, consider your family! Don't do this to them!" the blonde officer added.
"Don't do what?" were Gilbert's last words in this world. He then walked faster. And Officer Lita Travers reacted as she'd been trained in the police academy. She targeted, tripped the hammer on her gun, let out half a breath and pulled the trigger, letting off a single round. And in a split second, Gilbert Eliazar Gecko fell back onto the red runner over the wood floor.
Rachel held Sid to her. "Don't look, baby... don't look..."
Sid had cringed at the loud sound of the gun shooting, and shivered in his mother's arms. "Mommy...is Daddy okay?" he asked worriedly. Guns hurt people. Meanwhile, Officer Jones carefully went to Gilbert's body, keeping hold of his gun as he crouched down. Placing two fingers to the older man's neck to check for a pulse, he frowned and shook his head. He respectfully closed the now-deceased Gilbert Gecko's eyes.
"Honey... Daddy..." Rachel was physically shaking, unable to speak. She had seen Gilbert's death all too clearly, and she turned green and set her son down before she vomited all over the floor.
"Mommy!!" Sid yelled, shocked. As the blonde officer kneeled beside Rachel to help her, he turned to try and see if his father was okay. And then he saw him on the ground, not moving. Blood was starting to seep out from under him from the bullet wound in his chest. "D-Daddy...?" Sid whispered, beginning to shake. Getting no response, he flipped, and ran towards his father's corpse shrieking cries of, "DADDY!!!"
Officer Lita ran after the boy and caught him. "Shh... Shhh... I'm sorry, honey. I'm sorry..."
Sid squirmed in her grip, reaching out towards his father. "Let go!! DADDY!! Daddy, get up!!" he screamed, face wet with tears. Even if his father had just threatened to kill him, he still couldn't believe he was gone. He couldn't. His father just had to be alive.
Rachel had finally regained herself and managed to move to her child. "Sidney... baby, Daddy can't get up..." She still had tears in her eyes and looked dreadfully pale.
Sid clung to his mother, burying his face in her shoulder. "But why, Mommy?? Wh-Why can't Daddy get up?" he asked, tiny body quaking.
"Daddy's... dead, honey..."
"No," he moaned, still not wanting to believe it. "H-He can't be... Mommy, Daddy can't be...d-dead..."
"He... he is, honey... Just hold onto me," she murmured softly. And he did, crying his heart out as he was forced to accept the fact that his father was gone. This would end up scarring him for the rest of his life, even if he didn't know that now.
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Back at the academy, Adrian shivered slightly. "I've got a bad feeling about this... I shouldn't have just blurted it out."
Echo frowned, shivering herself. Something didn't feel right. "Maybe...maybe we should call Mom, Adrian."
"Hopefully Gilbert didn't do anything to her... I'd never forgive myself if he hurt her because of me..."
"Sid should be safe... He wouldn't hurt him," Echo muttered, though the worry still nagged at her.
"I didn't think he'd ever hurt you... But that one time," Adrian began and then stopped. Echo sent him a look, frowning deeply. That was the last thing she wanted to talk about.
Jasmine looked up, sadness and pain in her eyes. "Your own dad hit you? My dad would never lay a hand on me, and any guy who would have... well, I'd shudder to think what he'd do..."
Echo sighed. "He didn't do as much to me as he did to Adrian... But he did slap me..."
Jaden's eyes were wide. He hadn't spoken since his defense of the younger Geckos. And now his face just spoke of disbelief and pain. He'd never seen husbands and wives act that way toward each other and it stunned him.
"Jaden?" Alexis asked, looking worriedly at her fiancé.
He blinked. "Lex... how could he do that? He's supposed to love her..." His eyes went down. "I mean... you aren't supposed to hurt somebody like that, especially when it's someone you married or your kids..."
"Jay," she sighed. "I don't know why he did it or how. But he did...and hopefully he's going to get the same treatment Chazz's brothers did for it."
"He'll get out of it," Adrian said dully. "He's got good lawyers..."
"But so did Slade and Jagger. And they still went to jail," Alexis pointed out.
"Yeah, but they slipped up the night before trial... Gilbert won't be that stupid..."
"Maybe not," Echo muttered, wondering why she was so worried.
"Yeah..." And then Adrian's personal cell phone rang. "Hello, this is Adrian."
"This is Adrian Gecko?" an unfamiliar baritone male voice at the other end of the line asked.
"Yes, it is. Who's calling please?"
"This is Officer Louis Jones of the Verona Police Department. I'm afraid I'm calling under the least desirable of circumstances. Is Echo with you?"
"Yeah," Adrian answered, the worry in his voice coming.
Echo caught the worry and looked over at him, frowning. 'Who is it?' she silently mouthed.
'The police,' he mouthed back. "Officer, should I turn on my speaker so she can talk to you as well?"
"Of course," the older man answered. Echo tensed, a cold feeling settling over her body. Did this have to do with the bad feeling she'd had ever since her father hung up? "Miss Gecko? Are you there?" Officer Jones asked when Adrian had the call on speaker phone.
"Yes, I am," she answered, hands clenching and unclenching.
"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your father has passed away..." The teachers moved close to the Gecko daughter and the unofficial Gecko son. And all over the room, everyone had various expressions of pain, sympathy and disbelief.
Echo froze, eyes widening while her pupils shrunk in pure shock. Her jaw dropped slightly and she stared ahead, as if lost in thought. "Wh... What...?" she barely managed to mutter.
Adrian put his arm around the best friend he'd ever had and the woman he loved. "How... how did it happen?" he dared asked.
"There was a call made by your mother for help due to a domestic violence situation, and she had called from her bedroom. She came out of the room after we arrived and your father attempted to leave the home with your little brother, Sidney. He actually put a gun to the boy's head..."
"WHAT?!" Adrian yelped in shock.
"WHAT?!?!" Echo yelled at the same time, heart rate shooting up. 'HE DID THAT?! How could he?! Sid,' she thought. "Is he all right? Did he hurt him??"
"Sidney was unharmed... physically, but he did see what happened after one of our group of officers was forced to open fire."
"Oh, no... Sid," Echo moaned, only able to guess what seeing that had done to him. Especially at such a young age.
"Oh, no... He saw Gilbert... get," Adrian choked, his own recent remembrances coming back to him.
"Adrian...we need to call Mom and Sid," Echo said, looking over at him.
The police officer took a breath. "I'd advise that you wait at least a half hour. Your mother and brother are both resting."
Echo nodded. "All right..." The shock was beginning to wear off, and the pain was hitting her. Yes, her father had abused her and ignored her. But he was still her father, and it hurt her deeply to know that he wasn't there anymore.
Adrian was in shock himself, much as Echo was. He hadn't had a great relationship with the man he'd tried calling Father, but it hurt all the same. So when the police officer hung up the phone, he hugged Echo close. "I can't believe it," he murmured softly, and again it was as if they were the only two people in the room.
Echo hugged back, closing her eyes. "Neither can I," she muttered in a pained tone. "We were just talking to him... It happened so fast... He's gone..."
"Y-yeah..."
"Guys... would you like to be alone in another room for a bit?" Miss Fontaine asked gently. Echo silently nodded, again remembering that they were with other people. The nurse led them down to an abandoned room. It looked much as the other rooms did, but there was a single picture on the nightstand. A small boy stood with his rotund father and tall, slim blonde mother in the picture. And the boy was very familiar, had Adrian been paying attention. Miss Fontaine left them alone together.
Echo sat on the bed, finding it too difficult to stay standing. She was grieving for her father, but also for her mother and little brother. They'd had to watch him die, and Sid had even been put through the horror of having his own father threaten to kill him. "Adrian," she groaned, burying her face in her hands.
Adrian sat with her, aching in every part of him. "I know... I know... Echo... I should've... I should've just... not said anything... Then he'd still be alive... And Sid and Rachel wouldn't be hurting..."
Echo looked over at him again. "No, Adrian... Don't blame yourself for this... It had to come out...eventually... Father's the one who made it this way..."
"But... Echo... I set him off..."
She reached over and grabbed his hand. "Adrian, I was there too. I argued with him and upset him more than you did... What he had with the family couldn't last..."
"But... you..." He pulled her close, hugging her tightly. He was out of words. She hugged back, feeling much the same way. There weren't any words to say how they felt, and the embrace was comfort enough.
In the other room... "Man... that poor little kid," Aster muttered, knowing by experience some of the hell little Sidney was going through. "I didn't see what happened to my dad, but it was bad enough..."
"I can't even begin to imagine what he's feeling right now... I can't believe that guy put a gun to his own son's head like that," Syrus muttered, frowning deeply.
"I've watched so many movies about domestic violence on the women's networks... I never thought I'd see it played out in real life," Annie murmured.
Alexis sighed. "This reminds me of what happened to Joey Wheeler's dad..."
"Yeah... The police took him down too," Jaden remembered. "Man..."
"Kids, this is one of those times we just need to pull together and around the people we care about," Chancellor Shepherd said, speaking for the faculty. "We can't understand why it happened the way it did, but we can understand that this doesn't have to cause us more darkness..."
"He's right. We need to help Adrian and Echo through this so we don't lose 'em too. Not when we're so close to beatin' this," Jesse added, looking and sounding like a determined Jaden with blue hair.
Jaden looked at his southern twin. "Jesse's right. We won't lose them... and nothing's gonna stand in our way. We'll keep them together and not let Darkness take 'em! Should we still let them be alone, though?"
The teens looked at Miss Fontaine. "Miss Fontaine? What do you think?" Alexis asked.
Fonda thought carefully. "They need a few minutes together, and I'll check on them..."
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Back in the room... "Echo... you need to talk," Adrian said softly.
"But, Adrian..." Echo muttered, looking at him with an expression that screamed she was against the idea.
"You feel that darkness in you, don't you?" he asked, worried the darkness would come for her if she didn't talk.
She looked away, frowning. "No... Adrian, maybe it won't..."
"Echo, look at me," he asked. She tensed, for two reasons. One, because she knew Adrian was serious and wouldn't take no for an answer. Two, because she remembered what usually came after those words when her father said them. She slowly turned her gaze back to meet his eyes, the pain in her own obvious. The pain in his eyes was obvious too. "You can't be lost... I don't think I'm... strong enough," he murmured.
"Adrian...I..." She bit her bottom lip. "I'm scared," Echo muttered, and then, in a louder voice, "I'm scared, okay? I'm scared to face it...what happened... I'm scared of him."
"You won't face him alone," he answered, keeping her in the hug. Part of him wanted to kiss her, but figured it would be too soon. Instead, he held her with all the strength he had. And she let him hold her, closing her eyes and allowing herself to absorb the strength of his embrace. She knew he was right, she knew she had to face this. That didn't make it any easier. "Ready?" he asked her after a very long moment.
She sighed against him. "Yeah...I guess...it's now or never..." she muttered.
"Then we'll call and let Sid and Mom... I mean Rachel... I mean... well, we'll talk to them, all right?"
"All right... And, Adrian, call her what you want... It won't change our relationship."
He flushed slightly, with a hint of a smile. "It's going to be hard to explain to the world how it all happened... But... I think we're strong enough..."
She managed a smirk. "You think? We are strong enough... Or, at least I am. Think you can keep up?"
"I can... and I will," he answered, standing and holding her hand. "Ready?"
She nodded and stood, taking the offered hand. And so, they walked back out to the common room and found themselves inundated by strong hugs and condolences. When that was over, Adrian took a deep breath. "We have another patient to get free of inner darkness..."
Echo sighed and looked away, obviously very uncomfortable. "Let's just...get this over with..." she muttered, frown set on her face.
"Okay, Echo... Just lie down on the couch... Adrian can stay with you if you'd like," Annie invited.
Echo nodded and sat down, quickly making herself comfortable. She pulled off her heavy boots and hat, and undid her hair from its tight French twist. It fell past her shoulders in black waves, and it was the first time Adrian had seen it down in a long time. Sighing again, Echo laid back against the pillows on the couch.
"Whoa," five girls said, clearly impressed.
"Echo, you look like a properly fed model," Annie said, eyes wide. "You're gorgeous..."
Echo blinked in surprise and blushed; it wasn't the first time she'd been told she was pretty, but it still embarrassed her. "Thanks... But I don't really care about my looks," she muttered. It was true, a reason why she didn't mind dressing in her uniform and hiding her beauty.
Jasmine and Mindy normally would've said something about that, but realized now was definitely not the time for that. "Well, you are pretty," Blair said, "but let's work on what's inside... Right, Annie?"
"Right... you have to feel good on the inside before you really feel good on the outside... Just remember, Echo... all of us are your friends here. And whatever happened, we'll all help you and Adrian through it."
Echo nodded, closing her eyes. "I probably don't have to tell all of you what it's about... I'm sure by now you all know my father abused Adrian and myself, as well as my mother..."
They all nodded, sitting down on various places on chairs and the floor. "Of course, Echo, go on," Mindy answered calmly.
"Well, Father didn't adopt Adrian until I was eleven and a half. I was their only child up until then, but I might as well have been non-existent to my father. He never showed me any affection...and barely gave me a glance when we were all together for meals... I tried hard at everything I did, to try and impress him, to earn his love... I took piano lessons, karate lessons, tennis... Mom convinced him to hire tutors for me since I was always so busy. It was like this until I was eight... I think Father was frustrated because Mom wouldn't get pregnant again, and he was desperate for a son... He started getting angry, all the time. And since he didn't want to hurt my mother and risk lowering her chances of giving birth...he took out his frustration on me..."
Blair's face went white. "He... hurt you?"
Echo grimaced, face contorting with pain. She could still feel the harsh snap of a hand against her face. "Y-Yes... He'd slap me sometimes...using one excuse or another... Almost always when Mom wasn't around. But...he used insults a lot more..." She could remember those clearly, too. And the toll each one took on her psyche. "He said things like...how he'd rather nothing had been born instead of me... Or, how I could never amount to anything worthy of even working for his company, because I was just a dumb girl... Once, he...he even said if it wasn't for Mom...I'd have been dumped at an orphanage... Or even just on the streets..." Echo hated crying, but now she couldn't stop herself from doing so. Crying had always given her father a reason to hit and berate her, so she'd learned how to steel herself and stop. Echo had given up feeling all together, really, until Adrian showed up.
"Echo," Adrian moaned softly, lifting her into his arms gently. "How could he say that to you?" And Dr. Crowler, fighting tears himself, handed the young woman a box of Kleenex.
Echo gratefully accepted the tissue, dabbing at her eyes. "I...I don't know... But he did... And...if I told Mom...he'd just hit me more... Crying made it worse too... So...I just stopped. I stopped...feeling. You probably noticed...when we first met three years later," she muttered, sniffling.
He nodded. "You smiled a little, but you took a long time to really trust me..."
She sighed. "I admired you... I was in awe by how you got his attention so easily...how he loved you like he never loved me... He wasn't angry anymore, and he stopped hitting me. That was another reason I admired you... Your arrival stopped most of his abuse. Part of me wanted to learn how you did it and do it too… and part of me just wanted to help you reach a goal that was made out of my reach."
"He just managed to hide the bruises better on me," Adrian answered softly. "He got mad at me when I didn't learn something quick enough... It always happened after my boxing or tae kwon do lessons... or anything that left a bruise... And after a while... I stopped fighting him..."
Echo nodded. "I know...I realized that a little while before Mom found out she was pregnant again. Part of me felt guilty... As if you were taking the hits meant for me."
"I had three months before they found out... But I was glad to take those blows... if it meant you were okay..."
"Father still hit me sometimes...but it was a lot less... After I realized, I was there after his beatings to help you... And I just wanted to help you even more, instead of be like you. That's why...when Sid was born...I felt the same anger and jealousy you did..."
Adrian's eyes widened in shock. "I... didn't know... Did you think of... getting rid of him like I did?" He took a deep breath. "I won't think less of you if you did..."
Echo shook her head. "No, but I did think of helping you do it. Like I said...all I wanted to do was help you become the heir to the company..."
Adrian sighed. "I realized something being here, Echo... Gaining power that way wouldn't have been right. To sacrifice an innocent life just to further my own standing... The ends would never justify the means... and you would take the fall to protect me. And that still wouldn't be right."
"You're right... I think I already knew that...but I ignored it... Because I don't just admire you...I love you."
"I love you too, Echo," he answered, unable to conceal a most un-Adrian-like blush. "And feeling that way about you means I could never ever ask you to take the fall for me or make a sacrifice for me. I'd rather take the bullet."
"Well, hopefully it won't ever come to that, Adrian," Echo replied, smiling slightly at him.
"Not if I have anything to say about it," he answered, hugging her close. "Is there anything else that's hurting you?"
Echo shook her head again. "No. I think that's it. And I do feel better... Telling someone about how I've felt all these years..."
Adrian and all of the others were smiling now. "Let's... let's call... Rach... Mom... darn," Adrian groaned. "Well, let's call her and Sid... it's been a bit..."
"Good idea. We need to talk to them," Echo agreed, running a hand through her hair. That had to be the longest it was out of its French twist.
Chancellor Shepherd stepped forward. "We'll let you two have some privacy if you'd like..." Adrian looked at Echo, his eyebrows raised in a silent question.
Echo nodded. "I think that would be a good idea too..." And they made the call.
GXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGXGX
Back at the Gecko mansion, Rachel laid on the big bed in the room she'd once shared with Gilbert. Sid lay curled next to her. The county coroner had been quick and removed the body from the house. The police had also taken photos of the crime scene and their statements. "Sid," Rachel asked for the first time since the police had left, "angel, are you all right?"
Sid's eyes were red and puffy from crying, and he still shivered slightly every now and then. His eyes held a blank look to them, though, as one who was still going through shock usually did. He didn't answer, but nodded slightly so that his mother wouldn't worry too much.
She held him close to her, remembering when he was a baby and had cuddled to her like this. "It's okay, baby... it's okay... Mommy's here," she murmured. He clung to the front of her shirt, wishing everything had just been a big nightmare. Whenever he had nightmares his mother would hold him like this, so for the moment he could pretend it was. Burying his face against her, he tried not to think about his father's bloody corpse on the carpeted floor.
Rachel knew her son wasn't okay, and the truth was she wasn't any better. "Honey... we're... going to see a special doctor soon, okay?"
Sid finally managed to speak, his curiosity as a child getting the better of him. "What kind of doctor, Mommy?"
"A talking doctor, called a psychologist, and he'll help us talk out our feelings. And we're also going to talk to Rabbi Kleinman too..."
Sid liked Rabbi Kleinman; he was always nice to him at the synagogue. "Why...is he going to help us talk about our feelings, Mommy?"
"Yes, honey... It's good to have both a rabbi and a psychologist help us because it's not just our minds hurting... Our souls hurt too," she answered gently.
"So...him and Rabbi Kleinman are going to fix our boo-boos?" he asked.
"Yeah, sweetheart... They'll help us..." And then the home phone rang. Rachel answered. "H-Hello?"
"Mom? It's me, Echo..."
"Echo? Honey, are you all right?!"
"Y-Yeah, Mom... I'm here with Adrian. Do you mind if I put you on speaker?"
Rachel nodded and then remembered she wasn't on video phone with her older kids. "Of... of course, honey..."
"Hey, Mom... I mean, Rachel... I mean..." Adrian began, hating himself for not knowing what to call the woman who'd taken him in and treated him like a son.
But she stopped him. "Adrian, honey, what's wrong?"
"They... our friends know that I'm not really your son... and there's something else..."
In the strange tradition of seeming mother's telepathy, she asked, "Did you tell then how you feel about Echo?" On Adrian's end of the phone, his jaw dropped.
And Echo blushed, eyes widening in surprise. "M-Mom!! You knew?!" she stammered.
"Echo, I'm your mother. I know everything," Rachel countered with a brief return of joy in her spirit. Echo, Adrian and Sid were the bright spots in Rachel Gecko's universe and she knew that her daughter and the boy that should've been her son were crazy about each other.
Echo sighed, smiling wryly. "I guess I should have known... But yeah, Mom, we told each other how we feel," she admitted.
"And... you're okay with it?" Adrian stuttered. "I mean... the world thinks..."
"The world will know the truth soon enough, Adrian... and please d-don't blame yourselves for what happened. I should've confronted Gil years ago... but when you love someone, you don't always make the best of decisions..." Rachel's voice shook slightly as she spoke.
"Mom..." Echo groaned. "Don't blame yourself, either. Please... You loved Dad... So did I, no matter what he did..."
Adrian drew a breath too. "Me too," he admitted. "I mean... maybe... he just didn't think about how it was... Maybe he didn't really know..." It struck him how little he knew of Gilbert Gecko. He'd never know Grandpa or Grandma Gecko as they had died fairly young.
Rachel thought about it. "Maybe he didn't realize. I remember his grandparents differentiated between adopted kids and biological kids..."
Echo sighed. "Whatever the case...he treated Adrian and I equally, even if one of us was biological and the other adopted."
"That, honey, I don't understand... Remember Aunt Miriam? Your Bubby and Pop-Pop gave her and your father equal inheritance and she made a successful business in New York."
"I know... So he has no one to blame but himself for his behavior..."
"Ultimately, we're all accountable to the Ruler of the Universe for our own actions," Adrian answered in his philosophical mode. "I remember Rabbi Kleinman saying that when I converted, and when I had my bar mitzvah... He said that at your bat mitzvah, Echo..."
Echo nodded. "You're right, he did... Mom, are you and Sid going to talk to him about this?"
"That's the plan, honey... And the fact that Adrian was never formally adopted," Rachel sighed.
"Uh," Adrian began uncomfortably, but somehow, she knew.
"Sweetie, if you're comfortable calling me Rachel, you can do that, or you can call me Mom... whichever makes you feel better. As far as I'm concerned, whether by incomplete adoption or maybe by marriage later..." Blushes occurred on the other end of the phone... "You're as much my son as Sid is..."
Adrian smiled at that. "Thanks... Mom... Hey, is Sid there?"
"Adrian?" Sid asked, sitting up on the bed.
"Hey, kiddo...How are you doing?" the older boy asked gently.
"O-Okay... Do you...do you and Echo know about Daddy?" Sid questioned, frowning.
"Yeah, Sid... A really nice police officer told us..."
Sid hesitated, wanting to say something now that the pressure of keeping it in was no longer there. "A-Adrian...Echo..."
"What is it, kid?" Adrian asked, unconsciously gripping Echo's hand.
On the other end of the phone, Rachel murmured, "Sid, what's wrong, sweetheart?"
Sid looked down, frowning deeply. "I...I'm sorry Daddy hurt you," he muttered.
Echo gasped lightly. "Sid..."
"I saw it...sometimes... But...I didn't want to say anything... Because it was Daddy..."
Adrian's eyes widened in anger and horror. "You... you saw?"
Sid nodded, even if they couldn't see it. "Sometimes... He hurt you...more than big sister, but... Daddy hurt both of you...and called you names… sometimes..."
Rachel pulled her baby close to her. "Angel... you should've told Mommy..."
Sid continued to frown. "It was Daddy... Daddy would get into trouble... And Daddy would be mad... He might hurt you or big brother or sister more... I don't like seeing you hurt..."
Rachel cuddled him to her, hot tears running down her face. And then Adrian remembered something. "Sid? Do you remember two summers ago when you were really little and Echo and I went to be counselors at that summer camp?"
"Y-Yeah...I remember..."
"Do you remember what we did when you were having trouble getting to sleep because we weren't there to hug you and kiss you good night?"
Sid frowned; he couldn't remember too much that far back. "No... What did you do?" Echo smiled, knowing where Adrian was going with this.
"We hugged over the phone..."
Sid thought he remembered, but was still confused. "How did we do that?"
Adrian grinned, remembering the warmth he'd felt that time. "You remember how a good hug feels, right? Hug Mom, okay?"
"Okay." Sid hugged his mother, closing his eyes.
"Now imagine that Echo and I are right there with you and Mom, and we have our arms around both of you..."
"Okay..." Sid concentrated hard, picturing his big brother and sister sitting on the bed with them. He imagined their arms around him, and could almost feel it as if they were really there.
Rachel, too, could almost feel her older children's presence like it was a tangible thing. "I remember this," she smiled. "And you two are with us..."
Echo nodded. "We are...and always will be. We promise, Sid."
Sid smiled a little, feeling better. "Thanks, big brother, big sister. I love you."
"Love you too, kiddo... Love you, Mom," Adrian said gently.
"I love both of you so much," Rachel was just able to say.
"I love you too, mom, Sid... We're here for you, if either of you need us at anytime," Echo replied, smiling.
Rachel thought of something. "Maybe... we should come out to you two..."
"Mom?" Adrian asked.
"Would you mind if we came out to Duel Academy? I think Sid and I need to get away from the house..."
Echo looked over at Adrian. Normally, she'd say yes right away, but with what had been happening... "Mom... It's been dangerous lately here. I don't know if it would be safe for you guys right now..."
"Yeah... Mom, when this is over... and we think it's going to be soon... you can come out," Adrian agreed.
"You mean those disappearances?" the worried mother asked.
"Yeah... They're still happening. And even if it's not as much, it's still dangerous. So...when we've beaten this thing, we'll be glad to have you come here to Duel Academy," Echo added.
"Okay... please be careful, both of you... I came close to losing one of my babies today... I won't you two too..."
"We will be, Mom... I think we're safe," Echo stated calmly.
"Mom, you can be safe too," Adrian added. "Talk out what you're feeling. Don't let it be buried. That's why we called earlier... We had to hold back the darkness with light..."
Adrian explained all that had occurred and Rachel listened carefully. "...So you two both talked it out?"
"Yeah... And Mom, it felt...well, nice. Like I was getting something off my chest that had been pushing me down for a long, long time," Echo explained, smiling.
"Good... just remember..."
"We know, Mom... We'll be safe," Adrian said knowingly.
"And we will too. Right, Mommy?" Sid asked.
"Of course we will... We'll see you soon... Bye, kids..."
"Bye, Mom... Bye, Sid..."
"Bye, big brother. Bye, big sister."
"Bye guys..."
And the two teens hung up, Echo sighing. "At least they seem to be okay..."
"They will be... We just need to get this bad guy taken care of," Adrian soothed, hugging her to him, as he now knew was perfectly acceptable.
Echo leaned into the embrace, glad that now they could do this without any awkwardness. "You're right. If it's as cliché as most villains...it'll attack soon."
Adrian bent his head slowly. Sure, other girls had tried kissing him before, but he'd hoped someday he could kiss Echo. And now, he wanted to in order to help her feel better and only if she wanted to. "Echo... I want to kiss you... but only if you're ready..."
Echo flushed at his words, looking up to meet his eyes. Of course men had teased and flirted with her because of her looks, but she had only ever wanted to kiss Adrian. And now that wish was finally coming true. "Adrian...kiss me..."
And the young man gently touched his lips to hers. It was amazing... 'I'm actually kissing her,' he thought.
'I'm actually kissing him,' she thought. It started as a tingling sensation in her lips, and then sent a shiver of happiness and warmth through her body.
He felt the shiver through her and coming through him. It was sheer electricity. And then they broke apart. "That was.... wow," he said, having sudden difficulty forming words.
She blinked dazedly, her face still red. "It was...amazing..." she breathed, leaning into him again.
"Yeah," he murmured, holding her close. "I think we'd better head back out there..."
"Good idea," she muttered back.
After reassuring everyone that they were okay, Echo and Adrian walked outside for a few minutes. Jaden walked outside as well with Alexis at his side. The latter couple stayed on the Ra Yellow deck. "It's gonna happen soon," he remarked softly.
Alexis nodded, looking out across the grounds. "Now that we're all okay...they'll attack and try to make us weak again..."
"Yeah... you know, I thought the minute Adrian and Echo were all right was when they'd hit... Remember when Kagemaru attacked?" he asked, chuckling nervously.
She sweat-dropped. "Yeah...right when we thought we'd finished everything and Chazz tried that silly duel..."
"Yeah..." The Slifer couldn't help but laugh and then sigh. "At least we know why he did it... He didn't really want you as a girlfriend... I mean, maybe he did at the time..."
"He just misunderstood his feelings, that's all... He got the kind of love he wanted confused..."
"Yeah... And now, he has an awesome sister... and in a bit, two brothers... I won't mind waiting a little longer for us to get married..."
"Me neither... Right now, we need to get everyone back. And we've made a major step..."
"Yeah," he answered, putting his arm around her. "We'll make it, babe... like we always have. And Atticus is still helping with the rehearsal dinner... He's got something big planned."
Her eyebrow twitched. "That's...never a good thing..."
Reading her expression, he stated, "It's a luau theme... Nothing bad... He talked with this group of kids from Hawaii and found out all about luaus..."
She blinked in surprise and looked over at him, then grinned sheepishly. "I should have guessed it'd be something like that..."
"He said if he did the... Hugh Heffner theme? I still don't get that... Scout would kill him...." Jaden did indeed look puzzled at that.
Alexis got a mortified look on her face, eyes widening enough to practically fall out of their sockets. "He...he wanted to..." Multiple veins popped out on her forehead. "ATTICUS!!! HE IS SO LUCKY THAT HE'S INJURED!!"
"Lex? What's the big deal? And why won't anyone tell me what it means?!" he whined. Alexis, currently too angry to bother being subtle, pulled Jaden close and whispered an explanation into his ear. Jaden listened very carefully to her explanation. His face turned crimson and then turned very pale. "He wanted to... WHAT?!" he yelped in horror. "OH MAN!!"
"EXACTLY!! IF HE WASN'T INJURED, HE WOULD BE WHEN I GOT THROUGH WITH HIM!!!" Alexis yelled, fists clenched tightly; one could practically see the flames around her.
"Lex... calm down... I mean... this is Atticus," Jaden pointed out, still crimson. "I may not get it, but... it's him..." He needed to calm her down and didn't want her to go ballistic on her Obelisk brother.
Alexis ground her teeth together, trying to get a hold on her anger. "That's the problem...it's HIM. He's so immature!!"
"Babe... he'll grow out of it... I think," Jaden tried, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I mean... I think I've grown up..."
Alexis sighed. "You have, Jay... And I know Atty has, but sometimes he can still be so immature!"
Jaden thought about it for a long moment. "Maybe... maybe that's what helped him survive..."
Alexis looked at him in confusion. "What?"
"Lex, think about it... Maybe that part of him that kept happy kept him together when Nightshroud took him over. And that's what keeps him okay," the Slifer mused. "It's what kept me together..."
Alexis frowned, considering this as she looked back out at the lawn. "Hm…maybe you're right, Jay... I guess it's not so bad if he stays the way he is... But I wish he'd grow up just a little more..."
"He already is... Look at him with Jasmine..."
"He does seem more mature than he was before they got together... I think she's a good influence on him."
"Give 'em time, babe. She'll rub off on him like you did on me." He turned her gently to face him, kissing her gently on the lips. She returned the kiss, glad for it as she took his hand into hers. He was probably right; Atticus would grow up eventually.
Gilbert Gecko is dead, and the gang has helped Echo deal with her own pain. And so the confrontation with Trueman is coming. Will our group be able to stand against him this time? Next time, stay tuned for "Jaden Versus Trueman, Darkness's Envoy!" Until then, please read and review! Thank you!