If you didn't pay attention to the 'Rated M for adult language' portion of the summary, here's a reminder. ADULT LANGUAGE. This fic will be filled with F-Bombs galore! You have been warned.

Yugi jumped up to catch Marik as he began to fall forward. Marik gasped for breath as sweat dripped from his forehead, his eyes wide with fear.

"What happened? You were gone for a long time!" Yugi asked with concern.

Marik didn't answer. His mind was still reeling with both what he saw in the soul room, and the encounter with Bakura himself.

There had been no emotion in the Spirit's voice when he had spoken. No amusement at the idea of slitting Marik's throat. No anger when he had told him to get out. His voice had been void of everything.

"Marik! Marik! Talk to me!" Yugi shouted in concern.

He opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, but found he couldn't. He was still frozen with fear. What would have happened if Bakura had decided to answer his own question? Could the Spirit kill a person through their mind alone?

Marik was finally pulled from the thoughts of all the grim possible outcomes when he heard Yami's voice begin to shout at him.

"Marik! Say something! Anything to let us know that it's just you that has returned!"

The Pharaoh was gripping the Marik by the shoulders, shaking him in an attempt to get some sort of response.

Marik slowly regained awareness of his surroundings. Looking down, he saw the Millennium Rod was still clutched tightly in his hand. His knuckles paler than usual at how hard he was gripping the golden relic. He threw it across the room as hard as could, recoiling away from it as if it were a cobra ready to strike.

"Never again..." he said in a barely audible whisper.

Yami looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What-"

"Don't either of you ask me to do that again!" Marik spat venomously, his eyes narrowed in anger.

Yami stared at the Tomb Keeper, shocked by his tone.

"Are you-"

"Yes, it's just me! No darkness or evil persona! Just Marik fucking Ishtar that almost got his neck sliced open! Thanks for being more concerned about if I'm the bad guy, and not whether I'm okay!" Marik interrupted, tears of anger forming in the corners of his eyes as he faced the Pharaoh.

Yami sighed. "I was trying to ask if you were alright. I highly doubt the dark you would have so vehemently cast the Millennium Rod aside."

The anger vanished from Marik's eyes as he looked away.

"I...I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"No need to apologize. I'm the one that has doubted you from the beginning. I unfairly judged you when all you wanted was a chance to do right. Yugi wholeheartedly accepted that you were a better person after your darkness had been cast into the Shadows, while I could not. A good Pharaoh would have been more like Yugi. I'm the one that should be apologizing."

Yami released his grip on the teen in front of him. He closed his eyes, trading places with his host. Yugi was always much better when it came to comforting others.

"We're both really sorry. Me most of all," came Yugi's soft spoken voice. "I knew Bakura wouldn't be happy about us poking around, but I didn't think…" he trailed off, not wanting to bring up the bit Marik had shouted about almost getting his neck sliced. It was obvious that's what had brought him back to his own body in such a fearful state.

He wrapped his arms carefully around Marik's shoulders, being careful not to put pressure down where the winged sun had been carved between them. The Egyptian teen leaned into the embrace, tears falling silently from his cheeks.

"Ryou's soul room is gone," Marik stated quietly after several minutes had passed.

Yugi pulled away slowly, so that he could look directly at Marik.

"What do you mean his soul room is gone?"

"I mean as in it's gone. Not there. Vanished."

"How is that possible? Ryou told me that the two were interconnected, and that the Spirit of the Ring couldn't exist without him. Unless it was another lie that Bakura led him to believe."

"It's possible. That's not all. I was able to enter Bakura's soul room. There were two other doors in there."

"Could Ryou be trapped behind one?"

"It's possible he could be behind at least one of them. The other, I'm not certain."

"What do you mean?"

Marik proceeded to describe in great detail everything that he had witnessed while in Bakura's soul room and the events that had transpired forcing him to return in such a fearful state.

Yugi sat down beside his friend, his mind trying to process Marik's words. Nothing added up. Ryou's soul room being gone. The Spirit of the Ring hiding at least two things behind doors in his own room, where no one technically should have access to outside of his host. The need to have one door sealed with a key only he possessed, and another sealed with some sort of magic. Last but not least, a framed photo of Ryou's family from long before he ever took possession of the Ring.

Yugi had a nagging feeling in the back of his head, and it wasn't due to the Pharaoh (who was busy doing his own thinking on the information given by the young Tomb Keeper).

"Tell me more about the photo of Ryou and his family. Down to every last detail."

"Like I said, it appeared to be Ryou when he was maybe a few years old with what I assume to be his mom and dad. His mom looked to be pregnant and his dad had the Millennium Ring around his neck."

"What did his dad look like?" Yugi asked. He had never seen any pictures of Ryou's mom so he couldn't judge if that was who Marik saw in the photo, but he had met his dad. It had been at an unveiling ceremony at the local museum for a discovery that both Mr. Bakura and Grandpa Solomon had worked on together. He couldn't recall what the discovery was though, as he had been more excited to meet the shy white haired boy at Mr. Bakura's side. It was rare to meet other kids at these types of events, even rarer that they would be the same age and share similar interests.

"Well, he kinda looked like Ryou. Except he had darker skin, about like mine." Marik pointed at himself before continuing. "He also had this scar that ran down his right eye and across his cheek." He drew an imaginary replica down his own face.

"I don't know who the man in the picture was, but that is not what his dad looks like." Yugi stated. He was more baffled now than before.

Marik pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Great, so another question we most likely won't ever know the answer to."

"It's getting late. How about we pick this up tomorrow with the rest of the gang?" Yugi said as he noticed the time on his alarm clock.

"Sounds like a great idea." Marik stretched out slowly from his curled up position. He hadn't realized how tightly he had been curled up until he felt the ache in his knees and shoulders as he stretched out. "I think I'm going to go take a nice, hot shower. My body is tense, and there's no way I'm going to be able to sleep otherwise."

"Go for it! After what you just went through, I would say it's well deserved!" Yugi said with a small chuckle. He rose to his feet, offering his hand to help his friend do the same. Once Marik was standing, he walked to his side of the room and flopped backwards onto his bed.

Marik stayed standing in the same spot, silently mulling over something.

"Thank you," he said after a long moment had passed.

"For what? All I did was help you up."

Another long moment.

"For everything. Giving me a chance. Allowing me to stay here. Trusting in me even when everyone, including myself, didn't. Being there just now. Not judging me for my weakness," Marik said quietly.

Yugi sat up on his elbows."That's what friends do. And what do you mean by 'Not judging you for your weakness'?"

Marik's head dropped lower, the fringes of his blond hair hiding his eyes.

"You saw how I was. I was an emotional wreck." He placed a hand over his face. "And all you did was give me a hug like my sister would have if she were here. Gods, don't tell Ishizu or Odion about what happened!" he choked out, tears dripping from between his fingers.

Yugi raised himself from his bed, crossed the room, and gave his friend another much needed hug. It was brief, but enough to send the message Marik needed.

"Gods, I'm such a crybaby," Marik sniffled as he finally began to regain his composure.

"No! You just had a lot to process, that's all!" Yugi said in reassurance. "Now go get a shower then try to get some rest."

So, in case you can't tell, Marik has just had a very long day! I had to make sure he got some well deserved hugs after what I, I mean Bakura, just put him through!

I would like to thank everyone that has read this far! If you are enjoying my fic (or are just extremely curious to see where I am going with it), please leave a review :D They help motivate me to keep going!