TW: Language implications that there is fear of Atem having suicidal thoughts

Marik looked over at the empty desk where his former partner-in-crime usually sat. Once again Bakura was still mysteriously absent. He wasn't answering his phone, and Kat kept evading the question of where the other elemental had gone by changing the topic. Marik finally took it as a hint that something was going on that she was reluctant to share with anyone at the moment.

"I don't like it," Imhotep stated. "Bakura vanished just after he did."

Imhotep appeared even more bitter today about Atem's impromptu departure. The fact that Atem also wasn't answering his phone, and that Mkhai wasn't sharing any info about his new location, probably didn't help.

"Can't you peek in on them using the Shadows or something?" Marik questioned.

"I'm not sure where either are, and without having a way to narrow down the search area, I may end up looking right past them. I'm not as well practiced in the art as Shae and the others."

"That kinda sucks, but it makes sense." Marik shook his head in exasperation. "As much as I think it's kinda odd, I'm willing to bet that they're in the same area."

"Well, I at least know Bakura hasn't killed my old man yet. Shae wouldn't keep that a secret." Imhotep scrunched his face. "I just wish I knew why she was being so secretive, even with me."

"Maybe she's just giving you time to cool down," Yugi stated from his spot beside Imhotep. "You have made it pretty obvious how upset you've been over the whole ordeal."

Imhotep's head fell a bit. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Honestly, I'm just glad she seemed to be in a better mood when the two of you showed up for dinner last night," Yugi said towards Marik.

"Sorry again for showing up unannounced like that," Marik said apologetically. "It was her idea."

Yugi smiled. "Grandpa didn't seem to mind, and it was nice to spend some time with her." His face fell a bit. "Though she didn't seem to take that Mario Kart loss too well."

Marik's face fell as well. "Tell me about it. You only hit her with the Blue Shell. I'm still trying to convince her that Rainbow Road wasn't my fault."

"How's that working out for you?" Imhotep questioned knowingly.

"She shoved me off the bed last night, then transformed and took up the whole bed by spreading her wings across it."

Imhotep chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds exactly like something Shae would do. So where did you end up sleeping?"

"Where I usually sleep. I just lifted the wing covering my side of the bed and crawled under."

Imhotep rolled his eyes. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

"For fucks sake! How many times do I have to show you?! Over, around, up from under, in the loop, tighten. How fucking hard is that to understand?"

"Why are you still here? Don't you have school?"

Bakura jerked the tie around Atem's neck tight before smoothing it and tucking the tail.

"You can't be trusted to be left alone. You might do something stupid."

"Once again, why do you care?" Atem asked in annoyance.

"I'm not repeating myself again. Now stop fussing. Roland will be here shortly to escort you."

"And what will you be doing while I'm away?" Atem asked warily.

"Thinking about how much I already regret assigning myself this task."

"Then leave. I don't need you here."

"Last night I went to the bathroom, and by the time I returned you'd burnt cup ramen. How the fuck does one burn cup ramen? I don't think even your ex is capable of doing that!"

Atem's mouth remained shut. He'd carry that secret with him to the Afterlife.

The sounds of a helicopter on the roof alerted them that Atem's transport had arrived.

"Now have a good day at work and play nice with Kaiba," Bakura said sarcastically using his 'Ryou' voice. "I made sure to pack a little snack in your briefcase just in case you start to feel a bit peckish."

Atem glared boredly at the elemental. "Do me a favor and throw yourself under a bus."

As Atem made his way to the elevator, Bakura mocked blowing him a kiss while batting his eyelashes. Atem simply rolled his eyes as he walked through the elevator doors.

Bakura's face became focused the moment the doors shut. He pulled out his phone, pressed the first number in his contacts, then held it to his ear.

"He's gone. Let's hurry up and get this done."

Atem's head fell forward, landing with a 'thunk' on the desk. This was not what he'd expected to be doing as a 'Duel Strategy Analyst'. From his understanding, his job was to find the weak point of various duel deck builds.

Lifting his head to look at the screen, he realized that technically that's what he was doing…he'd just incorrectly assumed he'd be actually dueling while doing it.

He sat up straight and looked over the information on the computer again, but after several minutes of just staring at numbers and effect texts while trying to mentally calculate everything, he resigned to leaning back into the plush office chair while rubbing his eyes.

"Boring, right?"

Atem removed his hand to see Mkhai standing there while offering a to-go cup of coffee. He accepted the cup and took a sip before answering.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in mild annoyance.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm your office assistant."

Atem took a deep breath to calm the sudden wave of irritation. "You mean my babysitter."

Mkhai shrugged off the comment. "Look at it how you want. I wasn't the one telling Bakura to just go ahead and slit my throat."

Atem closed his eyes and pinched the space between them. "Gods, I can't stand the thief. Continuously being in his presence tests my sanity."

"Yeah, he does have that lovely little side-effect on people."

Atem lowered his hand to look over at his half-brother. "How have you managed to tolerate him across the millennia?"

Mkhai turned and leaned against the desk, gazing distantly at something apparently only he could see.

"Easily. Bakura talks and acts like he's someone big, but if you pay close enough attention, you can see him for who he really is. The mask he wears is extremely paper-thin."

"What are you saying? That you tolerate him because you know the 'real' Bakura?" Atem asked doubtfully.

Mkhai continued to stare off. "I know why he won't part with the Ring. Sis knows a little, but not that part of the story."

Atem casually rolled his eyes. "And how did you manage to wrangle that information out of him?"

"I didn't wrangle anything. He told me on his own."

"I highly doubt that."

Mkhai turned so that his gaze fell on his older half-sibling. "When you died, everything went to shit. My whole family was either dead or being dragged off for execution. The Ishtari turned their weapons on me. There was only one person in all that chaos that came to my rescue. Can you guess who that person was?" he asked with a scowl.

"He only did it because of the blood you share with Katrina. Had you been anyone else, he wouldn't have cared."

The scowl tightened across Mkhai's face. "Are you sure about that? He didn't even recognize me. I had done exactly as Set instructed me to do should the palace ever come under attack. I shed my gold, cut my hair, then hid. The Ishtari had found me and I was running blindly through the market while trying to blend in with the crowd. Once the people there discovered I was the one the Ishtari were after, they practically handed me over to them. No one asked why they were after me in the first place. Then out of nowhere he showed up, pushing his horse so that he could reach me before the khopesh did. We were nearly to the walls of Amarna when I started screaming that we needed to go back for Sis. It was only then that he realized who he had slung across his lap."

Atem's irritation vanished, being replaced by guilt. "I'm sorry. It was my thoughtlessness that created that chaos in the first place," he said quietly.

Mkhai turned away again, taking a deep breath to obviously center his emotions. "I never blamed anyone for what happened…not even you." There was still a hint of bitterness in Mkhai's voice.

"Then you would be the first," Atem said dejectedly.

"Sis doesn't really blame you either. She's just redirecting the anger she feels towards herself, because she feels that she's the one responsible."

Atem sighed heavily. "It wasn't her fault. My actions were mine, and mine alone."

Mkhai took another centering breath. "Did you know that she often wishes the illness had taken her. She told me once that if it had, you wouldn't have felt that you needed to choose. That you could have focused on finding someone more capable than her of producing an heir…and not had to worry about something as trivial as 'love'."

Emotions roiled within Atem, and they came out in the form of him slamming his hands onto the desk while quickly standing. "It was never about her! Not in that way! I wish she would understand that!"

A sudden wave of dizziness overcame him, causing him to grab his head while falling back into his chair.

Mkhai rushed over to him. "You okay!?"

Atem rubbed his temple. "Yeah…I think I just stood too fast."

"You don't look too good," Mkhai said in a concerned tone.

Atem tried to shake the fuzzy feeling in his head, but it wouldn't go away. Everything in front of him had begun to shift in and out of focus.

"Hey, now! Stay with me!"

Atem barely registered Mkhai's hands trying to catch him as the world around him faded to black.