I know I'm late. But please don't hate me. I wroted teh chappie...
After about an hour of driving, Malik spoke up, "I want to call my brother and sister when we get to the next hotel."
"I thought you didn't want to drag them into this?" Bakura asked after a long pause, eyes still fixated on the road.
"It can't hurt to call them. Just so they don't get worried when I don't answer the home phone. They must be really worried, I haven't talked to them in over a week and a half…"
Bakura narrowed his eyes and snorted, making his opinion of the idea quite clear, "And what are you gonna tell them, exactly? 'Oh, hello, brother dearest, yeah, it's all good, I'm just on the run from a group of criminals who want to kill me. How's your day been?' Even you must think that sounds stupid."
Malik blew air out of his nose in annoyance, "You forgot the part where I'm kidnapped and sold into sex slavery, only to be kidnapped again and forced to leave my home forever."
Bakura humphed, ignoring the twinge of guilt in his gut, "Whatever. I guess you can call them."
"I wasn't asking your permission," Malik said quickly, glaring in Bakura's direction.
"Then why did you bring it up?" Bakura shot back, looking annoyed.
"…Because I need money to use the phone at the hotel," He mumbled after a pause, looking away. It hadn't occurred to Bakura that Malik didn't have any money, but it made perfect sense; Malik's wallet and everything he had on him were taken away that night, and it's not like he ever had the chance to go home.
Bakura sighed, "Fine. Just tell them you're phone broke or something and you couldn't call them."
"They're going to know something's up. The university has probably called and told them I haven't been attending classes. I'm not gonna be able to lie my way out of this."
Bakura thought for a moment, but drew a blank for the moment, "Well, you better think of something. Because you're sure as hell not telling them the truth."
"No fucking duh," Malik mumbled, eyes returning to the window as he watched the dull countryside fly by him. The sky was cloudy, and Malik dully noted that it was definitely colder here than in London, even with the heater on.
It was another of hour before Bakura got into an exit ramp. The sign said they were in Newcastle upon Tyne. Wow, Malik thought, no wonder it's so cold…We're really far north…
"Hey," Malik said, "How come we came here? It's fucking cold as hell…"
"I have a friend here. He owns a car dealership."
"He's not one of them, is he?"
Bakura rolled his eyes, "You think I would be coming here to him if he was? He'll sell me a car for cheap because he owes me a favour-"
"For what?" Malik interrupted, curiosity getting the better of him.
Bakura smirked, remembering the good times, "Oh, nothing big. Anyway, I'll get a new car and I'll have him forge some passports for us. It'll take him a few days, so we'll have to hide out for a while longer."
"What do we need passport for?"
"To take an aeroplane?" Bakura said, giving him a look as he drove along a relatively busy road, lined with houses.
"Oh…" Malik sighed. He wasn't familiar with the methods of travel; when his siblings sent him off to Egypt he went by boat. How was he supposed to know he needed a passport to go on an aeroplane too? "No need to treat me like I'm an idiot."
"You are an idiot," Bakura stated. Malik glared in response, but didn't say anything. Bakura pulled into the parking lot of a big car dealership. All around there were hundreds of cars, all different makes and models. Bakura stopped in front of the entrance when a tall, blonde man came out to great them. He was dressed in a blue suit that was contrasted with a red tie, making him look business-like. Bakura rolled down the tinted window of his car, looking him in the eye. The man's expression deadpanned.
"Aw, damn… I thought I was gonna get to make a sale," the man sighed, crossing his arms. He smirked at Bakura, "I heard about you. Quite the daredevil, huh? I thought you might turn up here."
Bakura didn't look surprised, "What'd the offer you?"
"Couple thousand. Not enough. They've told everybody about you. You're lucky you and I are old friends, or else I'd be turning your ass in the moment I saw you," he laughed. It was then that he noticed Malik in the other seat, "So this is the kid you ran off with, huh? I can see why…" He trailed off, looking Malik over, elbows resting on the window of the car. The Egyptian shrunk back in response, feeling uncomfortable with the man's penetrating green eyes. "Tell you what. Trade me the car and the kid, and I'll give you a brand new 2014 Jaguar XFR-S for a bargain," He said with a smirk and a wink.
Bakura scoffed, "Tempting, but don't think so. I want the cheapest car you have."
He sighed, "Cheap, shitty cars don't suit you. Come on, I'm telling you it's a great car. You'll love it."
"Liam. Not. Interested," Bakura stated firmly. The man now names Liam rolled his eyes.
"Oh, fine. You're as stubborn as always… I suppose you also want a fake ID?"
Bakura smirked, "Fake passports. One for him, too."
"Yeah, now you're talking! I knew you wouldn't bother me if all you needed was a stupid car."
"I take it you don't get to do much these days?"
"Nah, it's slow up here. Boring. It was more fun when you and I worked together on all that pink panther stuff…" He trailed off again, nostalgia in his tone. Malik's eyes widened. Pink panther? Like, the organized crime gang?
"Well, I'm afraid we won't be working together anymore. I'm leaving the country."
"I can't believe you threw it all away over some dumb kid," Liam sighed, receiving an angry glare from Malik.
"I'm not a dumb kid," Malik growled.
"It speaks! This one's a keeper, Bakura," he winked, making Bakura flush as he remembered how he woke up this morning.
"Fuck you," Bakura growled.
Liam clicked his tongue, "Language, Bakura."
Bakura just rolled his eyes again, "Let's just hurry this up. I need to get a new car soon, and I still have to check in to a hotel. So try to make it snappy with those IDs."
"Sure, whatever. I suppose you'll want the car for free?"
"Hell yes. You owe me after I saved your ass from life in prison."
"I would not have gotten life!" He shot back. Bakura got out of the car, ignoring Liam. He beckoned for Malik to get out, and the Egyptian did slowly. He didn't like the idea of being around two criminals alone, though he knew neither of them wold hurt him. Much.
"I don't plan on keeping this car for long, I just need it for transportation for a few days while you make the passports. After that I'll be abandoning it when I leave the country."
"Yeah, I figured as much. Where're you headed?"
Bakura shook his head, smirking, "As if I would tell you."
Liam acted like he was hurt, dramatically holding his hand over his heart, "Oh, 'Kura, you don't trust me?"
Bakura growled, and shot Liam a fierce glare, "Don't call me that. You know I hate it."
Liam just laughed, "Hence the reason I use it. Now, this is the cheapest car I have right now. She's used, but I think she still runs. A plus is that it only has 35,000 miles on it! Although I hope you don't plan to go more than 4000 miles more, the Yugo usually self destructs at about 40,000…." he said, scratching the back of his head. The thing was a nasty shade of rusted orange and looked like it kicked up more smog than all the cars in the country combined. Not that Bakura really cared about the environment. Bakura ran his hand over the chipped paint on the exterior, looking with distaste at the inside. It smelled of cigarettes and had stains scattered all around the worn interior, and the seats were tearing. But as long as it would start up, it was good enough.
"You're now seriously expecting me to ride in that pile of crap, are you?" Malik chimed in, looking with distaste at the pile of scrap.
"So sorry, princess. I didn't realize you were so high maintenance," Bakura said sarcastically, "But limousines are a bit high profile for somebody who's trying to disappear, don't you think?"
Malik glared at him, "Fuck you."
"Girls, you're both pretty," Liam butted in, earning a bitter glare from both Malik and Bakura, "Now, about that car…"
"I'll take it. Are the keys in your office?" Bakura said, irritation growing with every minute. He just wanted the damn car already so he could leave.
"Eager, huh? Yeah, they're in my office. Just pull your car around back and I'll give you the keys."
"That sounds rather suspicious," Bakura pointed out, only half-teasingly.
Liam rolled his eyes, "It hurts that we've grown so far apart these days. You don't even trust me anymore…" he joked, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.
Bakura scoffed as he turned and walked back to his car, beckoning Malik to come, "Please, I never trusted you."
…
After a short while of trying and failing to get Bakura to buy a fancy car at a slashed price, Liam finally gave in and handed Bakura the keys to the rusty old Yugo 55. In turn Bakura gave his car keys to Liam, who took them excitedly.
"It's not often someone trades such a nice car for a pile of shit like that," he beckoned to the orange pile of economically-minded scrap.
"These are special circumstances. How much for the other stuff?"
"Well the IDs won't take long, only a day or so. But passports have to be flawless. That'll cost you. I'd say about 7000. Each. And you'll have to give me at least 4 days."
Bakura grimaced, "I was afraid of that."
"What, you can't pay?"
"No, I can, I just was hoping not to spend a fortune."
"Well, you could get them cheaper from someone else, but they'd be shit quality and would land you a minimum of 10 years in prison. Not to mention the whole kidnapping charge."
Bakura rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Just make them good and I'll pay your price."
…
Bakura and Malik got in the car and drove off, Malik complaining that it was so cold and the car didn't have a heater.
"What did you expect? This car is more than 50 years old."
Malik sighed, "What hotel are you checking in to?"
"I can't check into a hotel until we have our IDs. We're gonna have to sleep in the car for the night while we wait for him to finish."
"You've got to be fucking kidding! How come you could get a room at that motel and not one at a hotel here?"
"Because that place was in the middle of nowhere. They don't ask for IDs if you slip them some extra cash. But hotels are much more secure, regulations and all that. I'll need an ID even if I do pay in cash. And they don't take bribes," Bakura explained, annoyance in his tone.
"We'll fucking freeze to death in this car overnight!"
"It's not that cold. You'll be fine, I have some blankets in the back."
"I hate you," Malik groaned.
"The feeling's mutual."
"Excuse me, but I think I have a much more legitimate reason to hate you than you have to hate me."
"You've successfully ruined my life. I think that's a pretty good reason."
"I ruined your life?! How about you ruined it yourself! You're the idiot who kidnapped me when I wasn't even the person you were looking for! And not only that, but you just handed me over to those freaks like nothing!"
Bakura growled, signalling Malik to shut up, "I saved you from that didn't I?"
"I would have never been in that situation if it weren't for you! I would be at my apartment, attending university, I would actually have a fucking life!"
"Sounds like a shitty life to me. Come on, you hate England. You hate that it's so cold, you hate the city, you hate the people. And you especially hate attending that university. What were you even studying? Probably some bullshit you weren't even interested in. Don't fool yourself."
Malik was silent for a long time. It was all true, and he knew it. He hated World History, but his sister insisted he study it so he could work at the museum she was partners with just so he was guaranteed a job. He hated never getting to be alone in the cramped city. He hated his grimy, water stained, bug infested excuse for an apartment. He especially hated the coldness that reminded him so much of those long, winter nights living underground with no blanket or anything to keep him warm. All Malik wanted was to live his life how he wanted. No more living under somebody's control.
"You don't know anything about me," Malik mumbled, averting his eyes.
"I think I've figured you out quite well, Malik Ishtar."
Malik just sighed, "I don't want to go back to Egypt."
"Of course you don't. Just another controlling government trying to tell you who you can and can't be. Am I right?" Malik winced. Is it really that obvious I'm gay?
"You just want to live your life on your own. No more bullshit getting in your way. Right?"
Malik just nodded, not looking at Bakura. The pale man said no more, knowing his point had been made.
"I know they think they're helping me, but they're just butting in to my life. I didn't want to come here to England. I didn't want to go to university. But they think they know what's best for me."
"Where are you gonna go, then? What are you planning to do?"
Malik just shook his head again, "I have no idea."
"You should probably think of something in the next few days. Because you're certainly not sticking around with me. And I still have to buy the aeroplane ticket."
Malik snorted, "As if I would ever want to," Although you're the only one who's ever understood me…
"Whatever."
Malik decided to pry into Bakura's life a little. If Bakura got to know about him, then he should get to know about Bakura, "What about your family? Aren't you leaving anyone behind?"
Bakura's features tensed up, and he didn't take his eyes off the road as he spoke, "You're not getting anything out of me."
"Oh, come on. It can't hurt to tell me a little bit about yourself."
"Drop it," Bakura growled.
Malik sighed, supposing he would just have to live without knowing anything about the pale man to the right of him. Whatever. It's not like I really care, anyway. After the next few days I'll never have to see him again.
But for some reason the thought made his stomach feel queasy.
*sighs* I need a beta...