So, I'm going to be rich and famous some day. I decided that about, um, fifteen minutes ago? Yeah. Sooo...peace out and be jealous.

Oh, and review. I'd LOVE to know what you think, good or bad. ^.^

Chapter 9: Flying Lessons for Demons and Angels

(And one really weird CEO)

After picking up some supplies and driving for a few hours near farmland and mountains, they finally came to a dirt road that lead them into a small field, dotted with early spring wild flowers and surrounded by oak and pine.

Yami got out and stretched. He took a deep breath of air. So far, so good. No cops, no demons, and no people.

From the back, Yugi helped Angie get out. He coaxed the quilt off of her.

"Come on, you don't need to hide from anyone. The sun's good for you."

She bit her lip as she slowly slid off the blanket. Her wings were pressed tightly to her back in blotches of grey and white feathers. Yami felt the strangest, unpleasant sick feeling curl under his ribs as he watched his brother take her hands and smile at her, knowing all too well what the tender look on his face meant. Of course he had been right. No one knew Yugi more than him.

He shook himself. He shouldn't be feeling this way.

Joey ran past him to them.

"This is probably the sickest thing I'll ever do!" he said.

As they made their way deeper into the plain, Angie started to relax. Birds twittered about them and a soft breeze blew through. The sky was speckled with clouds and the temperature was perfect. As Yami watched the grey splotches on her wings vanished to white and her hair turned so pale it nearly burned in the sunlight. He could feel his heart racing and his eyes burned.

How could anyone be so beautiful?

"Okay, don't push yourself. You still have a lot of blood loss to make up for." said Yugi.

"What do I do?" she asked.

"What did you do last time?"

"I don't know, I just panicked."

"Well you can't go wrong with good all fashion flapping." said Joey. "Back up, Yami."

Wincing slightly, she raised her wings. For a moment Yami thought her back would still be too sore to do anything, but she succeeded in raising her wings above her head, twice as long as her height, with end feathers spread out like fingers.

Yugi scrambled back as she brought her wings down. The force of the air blew in their faces, and fallen flowers lifted in the breeze.

She flapped three more times, faster, but Yami only saw her heels lifting in the grass. Her expression was wan and she panted.

"Don't push yourself," he tried to say, worried, but she suddenly went into a flurry of flapping. They all covered their faces as twigs, grass and dirt flew everywhere. Above his elbow he saw her rise a few feet, beautiful wings scooping and throwing the air into the ground.

And then she was down, face first, into the ground.

"That was brilliant!" hollered Joey as the twins ran to her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said faintly. "I think I blacked out for a moment."

"You don't have to get it down all today, we can always find another place for you to practice when you've recovered." said Yugi.

"But I want to fly. I want to fly so bad."

"You did." said Yami. He wanted to reach out and touch her: caress her face, run his fingers through her hair, run his hand down her wings.

He smacked his head. Yugi starred.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." said Yami. He suddenly had the strong urge to bash his head in and replace his brain with something that didn't think stupid thoughts about the girl his brother had finally fallen for.

"I want to try again." she said. She got to her feet, face pale, wobbling.

Joey pulled her to her feet the rest of the way, and Yami stopped himself from smacking his head again when he felt a slight twinge of jealousy. "I got some pointers for you then. You should try getting some height. Maybe you should try getting on top of the car."

Joey smirked at Yami, but he just blinked at him. The smirk turned into a look of concern, but Joey didn't say anything.

"I don't think the car would be enough." said Yugi. "Baby birds always have trees to practice from, but proportionally finding something that's as tall as a tree to a bird to someone as big as Angie...we'd need a cliff."

Angie cringed. "That sounds horrible!"

"Relax, we're not pushing you off a cliff." said Yami.

"It is an idea, though."

"Let's just try the car. It will at least get you a bit of more air beneath you."

Together, the three boys lifted Angie onto the trunk and she crawled onto the roof, careful of the dip. Joey was still looking at Yami, waiting, but Yami just kept his eyes on Angie as she lifted those huge wings once more and pumped. The car shook, dirt flew up in mass quantities, and in one more pump she was airborne, flapping frantically.

They cheered. When she reached the treeline they hollered and Joey and Yugi started running around in circles, but Yami held still, trying to shake the burning sensation from his eyes.

And then she stopped flapping and glided across the clearing, only about twenty feet in the air, but they all chased her shadow, whooping.

"How do I land!" she cried, before crashing face first into an oak.

All three of them ran beneath the tree to catch her. Yugi got smacked back by a wing, Joey fell under the brunt of her, and Yami collapsed beneath her weight. For a full minute the four of them laid there, groaning. Then, as one, as though they were all along the same thought pattern, they started to laugh.

"You...you okay?" panted Yami through his mirth.

"Yeah," gasped Angie, "it was a nice tree."

"Shut up, you look like a tiger with all those scratches."

"Rawr."

They fell over plenty of times on the way up and back to the car.

"Why are we laughing so hard? That wasn't even funny."

! #$%^^&%$#

Marik hissed. The abandoned old barn that Cain had pushed him in for the day was filthy. He twisted against the dirt and rubbed his arms, anxious that the dirt would get into his pores, or worse, his hair.

Cain snorted. Marik zoned in on him and bared his teeth. His body still ached, however, so he said nothing.

"OCD much?"

"Aren't I helping you enough, oh black master?" said Marik scathingly.

"The female is gone, so I'll forgive you for your tone."

"She had the right idea. Probably living it up in some disgusting, human hotel."

"What other hotels are there?"

Marik snarled and turned away. He hated that look on that bastard's stupid face. One of these days he'd snap and be damned if he was killed, it would be better than living in such humiliation: wing broken, bruised, bossed around like some ninny.

"Don't you find it ironic?" Cain said.

"Sure."

"You aren't even paying attention."

"What, your highness?"

"Human hotels. That's all there are. In fact, thats all there is. Our food rules the world. Irony." Cain smiled as though he should laugh, but looked up into the cracks of the barn where sunlight seeped through.

"And I suppose you mean to change that?" said Marik, though he didn't really care.

"Do you really think I'd go all this way to kidnap a measly girl?"

"A cherubic girl."

Cain flicked his wing. "Like I said, a measly girl."

Marik crouched down and scratched at the floor to hide his small smile. "You're running, though. There's other birdies out there and they're coming to get you."

"I'm not afraid of them."

"Oh?" Marik suddenly felt a stroke of daring that made his head spin. "Is that why you tried so hard to keep your girl birdie hidden? Probably even went as far to dye that pretty white hair to cover the scent..."

Pieces of old hay and dead bugs flew at him from the force of Cain's wings. Next thing Marik knew he felt claws on his shoulders. Sharp pinpricks told him they had broken skin. His breath caught.

"How do you know that?"

The breath was like the edge of fire across his neck.

Damn him and his mouth. But he had just enough of the dare drug in his brain to answer.

"I've wandered this city for decades without catching a whiff of you or your pet, and those brothers came here looking for something." Marik turned around to catch a glimpse of the massive wings that threatened to swallow him whole. "Strange you should start running so soon after they came to town."

"You know nothing."

"Of course."

The claws tensed even further. Marik bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. He refused to show any more weakness. He would keep every last shred of dignity he had left or so help him he'd tear his own wings off!

Then a cold cheek, like smooth scales of a snake, slid against his cheek. He shuddered. His stomach turned.

"Think what you like. You're lucky enough to help me raise our kind to their proper place. Just think, Marik. Hotels, all nice and OCD clean, just for you."

The hellish breath whooshed over his face as Cain laughed and pulled away. Marik covertly gasped for breath and slunk away to a corner of the barn, swiping at webs and wrapping his wings around him. His shoulders beaded with dots of bright blood.

Damn him. Damn that bastard. Marik didn't care if daemon's ruled the world. What was wrong with this one? It was fun hunting down the stupid sheep of humans that didn't even know there was a wolf among them. Not to mention he really liked his apartment. It was clean, and he had earned it himself.

He felt out his wings and try to estimate how soon they'd be healed, but after the semi incident…

Marik moaned with pain. Mangled. His wings were mangled.

Damn him. Damn him to hell.

The sunlight slowly faded away and the barn got darker. Marik didn't notice until he heard a distant rumble of thunder. He straightened. A storm? It was too early for the sun to have set. He nervously looked over at Cain, who had his wings stretched out till they looked cramped in the old barn. Every muscle in his body was taunt.

"Well," his master murmured, "well well. Fancy that."

The chase was on.

# $%^&*^%

Rain pattered on the tin roof. Thunder rumbled, almost like a content purr, somewhere in the sky. Against it all was Yami's guitar, strummed as though part of the storm. Joey tapped his drums mildly, eyes half closed, and Yugi, red power light on, put his fingers to the keyboard and held them still.

"Remember the words I taught you?" he asked.

Angie, with her wings spread out about her like a loose blanket, nodded, her nose shaded pink with a blush. Her whiteness made her glow in the dim light of the warehouse.

"If you forget the tune, just follow me." said Yami.

"You promise you'll be sure to laugh if I'm bad, right? I don't want you to be so serious."

"We already said we would, didn't we?" said Joey.

"We'll follow your lead. Whenever you're ready." said Yugi.

Angie nodded and closed her eyes. Rain pattered. Wind blew in the quietest of groans. Yugi loved this. The rain, Yami's quiet guitar, Joey's clicking drums. This was exactly what he imagined for his song.

And then Angie started to sing.

"Head in the clouds, don't want to come down, what's so great about earth? Up here the sky is blinding blue with a wider heavenly berth."

His blood spiked and his chest exploded with light. Was that a voice? A human voice?

"But every time it rains

it all comes crashing down,

eyes still full of blue skies-and freedom

wailing at the clouds that let me down

let me down:

Why?"

She breathed out the 'why', and Yugi breathed with her. No, this was a sound. A heavenly sound. The song of an angel. Were these really the same lyrics that he had written? With her carefully pronouncing the words and rolling around the notes like a dance, he didn't recognize it anymore.

She continued and they followed after her, being transformed by her till Yugi found himself playing better than he ever had and he could hear the emotion in Yami's electric guitar.

And then the climax hit and they all rose, and in that moment, it as though they all had wings and not just Angie. All of them singing, 'why, why, why?!'

Before Yugi was ready, the song was over, and Angie stood before them self-consciously, her eyes big, green, and sitting above her blush.

"Well?"

"Huh." said Joey.

"Huh? What's that suppose to mean?" she asked. "Look, I've never sung for anyone before and Cain always hated the sound, so it's okay if you tell me I'm awful-"

"Gorgeous." blurted Yami.

One of her wings twitched. "What?"

"How could you ever," said Yugi, feeling breathless, "ever, ever, EVER get the idea that you sound awful? I've never heard a more beautiful voice in my life! Oh my god, are you for real?"

"I don't know," said Joey, "she does sort of have those big feathery things on her back."

She put her fingers to her head. "You mean, for reals?"

"Yes, for reals." said Yugi in exasperation.

"I think we got ourselves our lead singer!" Joey faced Yami with his grin, but Yami said nothing. Joey frowned. "What? Aren't you going to protest?"

"Why would I? She's amazing."

Joey sighed. "Oh nevermind." He gave Angie a thoughtful look, however, which Yugi could tell made her uncomfortable. He tinkled on the high keys to get her attention.

"Look, Angie, we're not pulling your leg. Could you sing for us? Be a part of our band?"

Her eyes sparkled and her expression lit up. "I can't believe this is happening-yes! Of course! I'll sing whatever you want me to."

"Good!" said Joey. He set out a beat, "then lets do that song again. Freaking gave me chills. I can hear our number boys and its on the top of the charts."

This time when Angie begun to sing, Yugi barely hit his queue on time. Even how her voice echoed against the background of the rain ran through him like fresh air.

The warehouse door slid open with a crash. They all stopped and Angie whirled around with her wings squished against her back, hands to her throat. Images of demons and police flashed in Yugi's mind and he squeaked.

A tall figure stood there, an umbrella in his hands and a larger man at the door, drenched in rain. As he stepped in and lowered the umbrella, the dim stormlight hit his face. He had narrowed eyes and dark, well trimmed hair. Yugi thought he had the kind of face you'd see on a celebrity, and the way the other man in his wet dark suit stood stiffly at his side would support that theory.

"So you're what's leaching my electricity." said the tall man. He couldn't have been much older than they, but that didn't stop Yugi from being intimidated.

"I told you plugging in your guitar was a bad idea, Yami."

"Shut up, Yugi, not all of us have battery powered instruments."

"You have an accoustic, don't you?"

"Quiet," snapped the young man, and they all stiffened.

Angie looked positively horrified. Yugi could see the tips of her feathers shivering.

"So you thought you could sneak into my storage and use my electricity for your dorky band practice, eh? What's with the wings, does that help you pretend?"

They all blinked and exchanged looks with Angie. He thought her wings were fake?

"Well?" he demanded.

"We didn't think it would be too much of a bother on you. It's not like Yami's guitar is a power chugger-"

"Even if it was," snapped the man, "it's not the power it's the principle. I don't like squatters near my merchandise."

Yugi took another look at the boxes lining the walls that they had discounted when they had first come in there. He fidgeted uncomfortably and tried to switch off his keyboard as covertly as possible. The cement floor felt awfully cold against his butt.

"We can pay you for your loss," said Yami, "I have some cash in my car, if you'll just let me get it-"

"I don't want your money. Besides, by the look of your junker, you need every cent."

Yami's face flamed with anger and his eyes narrowed. "What do you want from us then? If you want us out, just say so."

"Yeah, stop with this 'my balls are bigger than yours' crap." said Joey.

"Fine," a slow, rather unpleasant smile spread across the boy's handsome face. "I want you to play for me."

There was a stunned silence in which all the band members stared at him. The young man snapped his fingers over his shoulder.

"Close the door."

The wet, suited man in sunglasses bowed and did as commanded.

"Well?" he said.

Unable to think of anything to say, the band exchanged looks with one another. Then Joey, with an uncertain shrug, started up the beat. Still looking a bit red in the face, Yami strummed his chords and plucked the melody with a scowl. Yugi looked at Angie, whose knees were pressed together beneath Yami's too-big shorts, and nodded. She started to sing, voice wavering at first, but still unearthly in its beauty. Yugi quickly flicked his keyboard back on and played.

The whole time the young man just stood there, hands in his coat pockets, face unreadable. His man stood by the door, muttering something into his collar every now and then. When Yugi had the chance he'd peek over to try to learn more about their audience, but all he saw was clean cut hair, a button up shirt, and jacket and shoes that looked expensive enough to come from a top designer line.

They finished on the last 'why' of the lyrics, and Yami led it off into silence with his strings. Thunder rumbled.

When the guy didn't respond, Joey spoke up. "I'm afraid we had to use more of your electricity for that-"

"Shut up." said Yugi through clenched teeth.

The fine cut man didn't react to this. "What are you doing out here anyways? Couldn't you just practice at home?"

All of them, as one, looked down at their feet, except Yugi, who politely met the young man's gaze.

"Um, we sort of are on our own." said Yugi. "Mitigating circumstances. That's why we're sorta here. Our tent won't go up in the rain, and, well, Yami thought it would be a good place to practice."

"You live in a tent?"

"Well, um, we plan to."

He dead panned. "You plan to."

"We sort of just bought it yesterday. We were heading to the city to play for some tips, and-"

"How long have you been on your own?"

"Does it matter?" said Joey. "We're all big boys, we can take care of ourselves. Why do you sound so shocked."

"I'm not. I'm just surprised a bunch of squatters have instruments a geeky angel costumes, though I'm kinda confused as to why only she has the wings."

"We're not squatters." said Yami. "And she's, uh, the lead singer. Kinda goes with our theme."

"And your theme is, what, Angels? Don't tell me that's your band name."

The boys fell silent. They had talked about their name loads of time but had never decided. Angels sounded pretty stupid, but if they could keep going with the idea that Angie's wings weren't real, then who cares?

"Pathetic."

Joey threw down his drumsticks. "Why the hell are you here anyways? If we're squatters tell us to leave already!"

"Be quiet, or I'll change my mind."

"Change your mind?"

"Yes," the way he looked at them all was almost like a glare, but his thin smile ruined it. "You're coming with me. I'm going to be your sponsor."

!# $%^*%$

"I hate rain. I really do."

"This is bad."

"No duh, it's bad. That daemon could be anywhere now."

"There's no way a daemon would risk this. What if the sun comes out randomly and there's nowhere to hide?"

"Just shut up, Jake. I'm trying to listen."

"How long are we going to sit in this tree?"

"Yeah, aren't trees bad to be in during a thunder storm?"

"For someone who flies daily, you'd think they'd understand lightening."

"I do understand it. It's a rhetorical question, Orphus."

"What about Angelynn? What if he's going after her now?"

"Max-"

"Oh no."

"Fly! Fly!"

"Jake!"

"Just go, I'll get him."

"Orphus!"

#$%^$#

"The name's Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp."

The name kept repeating itself over and over in his head. Kaiba. The Seto Kaiba. Rain pattered across the hood of the car as they followed the sporty Mazda through the countryside.

"This is just too weird." said Yami. "I'm can't believe we actually agreed to follow him."

Joey had his arms slung over Yugi's seat and his chin on one. "Yeah. What if he's, like, some creepy molester and he's luring us into his trap?"

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Aren't we a bit old for that?"

"What are squatters?" asked Angie.

"Homeless people who live on other people's property." said Yugi. "And we have to do this, this could be our break through!"

"We're homeless squatters?" whispered Angie, sounding both fascinated and horrified.

"No-I mean yes." said Yami. "Sort of-look, guys, this is just way too lucky. Almost no band gets it this easy, a sponsor after only playing in a warehouse after two days of being out. This is weird."

"Yeah! What happened to going hungry in New York and having to turn prostitute to save ourselves before our big hit after years of scrambling to live off of tips on the street?"

"Joey, you sound way to excited about that prostitute part."

"Just saying."

"Who's Seto Kaiba?" asked Angie.

"Only the filthiest rich man in the computer industry! He's a child prodigy, that guy is. Inherited the company from a man who adopted him and his brother from an orphanage."

"I thought Bill Gates was the richest man."

"Bill Gates died, remember?"

"He did? Oh dear, I didn't think he was that old."

Joey snorted. "He wasn't."

"Oh. Did Bill Gates adopt him?"

"There are more computer guys out there than Bill Gates, Angie."

She blushed. "I know that, I'm just asking. So...what's Kaiba saying when he says he's going to sponsor us?"

"Well, essentially he's going to get us on stage and in recording studios." said Yugi.

Her feathers went up in excitement. "You mean we're going to be a real band? Already?"

Yugi looked uneasy. "Well, whether we sell or not-"

"Man, stuff it, Yug, we're going to do great! With Angie's voice, your skills, and my killer drums-"

"You mean my killer guitar. All you do is keep the beat." said Yami, flicking chewbacca with a grin.

"Watch it." growled Joey.

"We're going to be a band!" she practically glowed. "That means-that means we can make albums for everyone to hear and sing in front of people and-" her expression fell and she suddenly looked sick. "We're going to play in front of people."

"What's wrong?" asked Joey.

She dropped her head, hiding her face. "My illusionary shawl is with Cain. I...I can't go on stage like this." she gestured to her wings, which drooped down her back and into the footwell.

The atmosphere in the car grew distinctly awkward and blue. The twins exchanged worried looks. Yami thought he felt a little sick too. They couldn't just leave her, and her voice was probably a big reason why Kaiba had jumped on them so quickly. If she couldn't sing…

"No problem." said Joey. "We'll just get some wings for us too."

Everyone paused.

"What?" said Yami.

"You heard me. Remember what we told Kaiba? We're the Angels. We can make it our thing to wear wings in public at all times because of some artsy fartsy crap. Get's in the mood or whatever." When no one responded, Joey looked around. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Joey, you're freaking brilliant." said Yami.

"Would it work?" asked Yugi nervously. "I mean, what if someone finds out-"

"Who'd believe them?" said Joey.

"You guys are really…you're going to look like me?" Angie sounded breathless.

"Yep. We'll be winged freaks all together."

There was a squeal and Yami's rearview mirror filled with feathers as Angie glomped Joey.

"I love you! I love you all! How could there be human beings so wonderful!"

"Aw jeeze," said Joey, and Yami snuck a glance back to see the very pink face of his blond friend. He smiled at the smile the squealing angel hung around his neck. For the first time Yami had met her, her face was flushed with color. He looked over to smile at his brother to see if he was thinking the same thing as him, but Yugi's eyes were on her, and his face was alight with that familiar expression.

Yami quickly turned back to the road. The uncomfortable worm had curled up in his gut again and pressed against his lungs. His brother loved her. His little brother, his twin, his other half, loved her. He couldn't have these feelings, he couldn't.

"Just one thing, guys. Angels is probably the stupidest and most cliche name I've heard."

"We better make it good, then."

"Oh, I will!" squeaked Angie.

"And one other thing: what the hell was a CEO doing out here in a warehouse?"